‘History of the Bible’ by John Barton, Anglican priest and Oxford bible professor. Recorded for BBC radio4, read by Hugh Bonneville:

This exceptional work, by one of the world’s leading Biblical scholars provides an account of how the different parts of the Bible came to be written; how some writings which were regarded as holy became canonical and were included in the Bible, and others were not.

It gives full weight to discussion of the importance of the Tanakh (Old Testament) in Judaism as in Christianity. It also demonstrates the degree to which, contrary to widespread belief, both Judaism and Christianity are not faiths drawn from the Bible texts but from other sources and traditions.

It shows that if we are to regard the Bible as ‘authoritative’ it cannot be as believers have so often done in the past.

Revd Dr John Barton is the Emeritus Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford. He is also a practicing Christian and an ordained Anglican priest.