In the Alpina Non-Fiction publication, Andrey Desnitsky is presented as a Russian biblical scholar, researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Philology, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences, translator and writer. His main interests are translating the Bible into modern languages and popularising biblical studies. The same source lists his book The Bible: What Really Happened?.
Two Approaches to the Bible
According to Desnitsky, for some the Bible is a collection of sacred texts serving as the primary source of faith, while others regard it as the most important historical and cultural monument of human civilisation. He raised the question of whether these approaches can be reconciled, how to establish a dialogue between sceptics and zealots of the faith, and what arguments to use in the debate.
“The Bible is the story of a dialogue between God and humanity”
The Researcher’s Position
The material also conveys his understanding of the scholarly approach: an ideal scholar is fully objective — he takes into account everything, not only the facts that are convenient and pleasant to him, considers all possible explanations, and is aware of the limitations and weaknesses of his hypothesis.
The book in question is devoted to the Tanakh — the Old Testament.
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