Written for lay persons, students and clergy, either as individuals or in study groups, this book presents new insights into familiar biblical characters and events. Material from ancient texts enlightens readers about the creation, the garden of Eden, the flood, and other familiar stories. It shows how special interests and literary styles of the gospel writers influenced their accounts of what Jesus said. The Bible never 'says' anything because its writers do the saying. Words of Jesus may differ from what he actually said, because they were written from memory long after he died. Some questions about Jesus' life and sayings dealt with are: Was Jesus 'born of the Virgin Mary'? Did Jesus rise from the dead, and if so what kind of body did he have? What did Jesus really say? And about Paul the author asks, Did he separate himself from his Judaism to become a Christian? What is the central message in his letters? When considering biblical values, the author stresses the importance of understanding them in the times they originated and cautions against transferring or transforming meanings of sayings and events in the Bible to current times. Take your Bible and this book and learn how significant even the name of a biblical person or place is for insightful understanding of what you read.