This introductory book is written especially for those who feel that they should know something about the world's most influential text, but may have been afraid to ask, put off by the Church, found the black leather cover and cigarette paper pages ominous, or just never got around to it. In the first half of the book, Clarke explores the question: 'Why would I bother with the Bible?' He then tackles questions like 'What is the Bible, and what do I do with it?' 'What I want to do in this book is explain how and to what extent the Bible is behind so much of Western life. I want to look at where the Bible has influenced different aspects of life, in order to give you some sense of just what a scandal it is that many people have had this knowledge concealed from them. AUTHOR: Greg Clarke is the head of the Australian Bible Society.