The Bible is the world’s most influential book. But books, like people, can be influential because of what they say, or because of what they are thought to have said. With a book as huge as the Bible, ...

“The Catholics have done it; the Protestants have done it; AND NOW THE JEWS ARE GOING TO DO IT!” So began a 1956 solicitation letter for, of all things, a new Jewish translation of the Bible. Fifty ...

Jesus of Nazareth obeyed kosher dietary rules and otherwise followed traditional Jewish codes of conduct — but within 20 years after his death, the Christian movement had jettisoned many of those laws ...