The Bible after Babel

<DIV>Biblical scholars today often sound as if they are caught in the aftermath of Babel -- a clamor of voices unable to reach common agreement. Yet is this confusion necessarily a bad thing? Many postmodern critics see the recent profusion of critical approaches as a welcome opportunity for the emergence of diverse new techniques. In <I>The Bible after Babel</I> noted biblical scholar John J. Collins considers the effect of the postmodern situation on biblical primarily Old Testament criticism over the last three decades. Engaging and even-handed Collins examines the quest of historical criticism to objectively establish a text's basic meaning. Accepting that the Bible may no longer provide secure foundations for faith Collins still highlights its ethical challenge to be concerned for the other -- a challenge central both to Old Testament ethics and to the teaching of Jesus.</DIV>