Beginning ~ with reason and revelation

Beginning — In this book, I propose that if we want to understand the ideas the Hebrew Scriptures were written to advance, we should read these texts much as we read the writings of Plato or Hobbes — as works of reason or philosophy, composed to assist individuals and nations looking to discover the true and the good in accordance with man's [sic] natural abilities (p. 31).

The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture ~ by Yoram Hazony, 2012, philosophy, 394 pages

What if the Hebrew Bible wasn't meant to be read as “revelation”?  What if it's not really about miracles or the afterlife — but about how to lead our lives in this world?  This book proposes a new framework for reading the Bible to show how biblical authors used narrative and prophetic oratory to advance universal arguments about ethics, political philosophy, and metaphysics.  It assumes no belief in God or other religious commitment and no previous background in Bible.  Here's a list from the Amazon page about this book (slightly edited):

• People say that Bible is about obeying God’s commands, but biblical figures such as Moses, Aaron, and Pinchas [spelled Phinehas, in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible; see Exodus 6:25] disobey God and are praised or rewarded for it.
• People say Abraham was praised because of his willingness to sacrifice his only son on an altar, but Abraham never decides he will sacrifice Isaac.  He believes God will back down, and the Bible tells us so explicitly.
• People say that the biblical heroes are mostly men, but the Bible goes out of its way to emphasize that no fewer than five different women risked their lives in the struggle to save the infant Moses, suggesting that without every one of these women the Jews would never have left Egypt.
• People say the Bible is about faith as the ultimate value, but the law of Moses includes no commandment to have faith, and the Bible tells us that Moses himself was unable to attain a perfect faith in God.
• People say that God calls himself “I am that I am” at the burning bush, implying (as tradition has it) that he is perfect being, eternal and unchanging, but the original text actually says the opposite of this:  In Hebrew God says, “I will be what I will be,” suggesting that God is not perfect, but rather imperfect and changing.
• People say that the biblical kingdom of the Israelites was destroyed because it turned to idolatry, but the fall of the kingdom begins with Solomon, his inability to control his desire for big armies, women, and gold, and the ruinous taxation and enslavement of his people that result from this.
• People say the story of Cain and Abel is about hatred between brothers, but Cain and Abel aren’t just any brothers.  They stand for conflicting ways of life — the life of the farmer vs. that of the shepherd.  Abel is just the first in a line of biblical heroes (including Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and David) who choose the life of the shepherd and what it represents and thus win God’s love.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.