Includes bibliographical references.

Intro -- Title Page -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- Chapter 1: Invitation to the Torah -- Chapter 2: The Torah Gave Birth to the Hebrew Bible -- Chapter 3: Jesus' Bible was "Tanak" -- Chapter 4: Tanak is Intended to Show the Primacy of the Torah -- Chapter 5: The Message of Genesis: Finding Life -- Chapter 6: The Message of Exodus: Courtship and Marriage -- Chapter 7: The Message of Leviticus: Living Happily Ever After -- Chapter 8: The Message of Numbers: Remaining Faithful Over the Long Haul -- Chapter 9: The Message of Deuteronomy: Choose Life! --Chapter 10: The Message of the Torah -- Chapter 11: A Guide to Reading, Teaching, and Preaching the Torah -- Glossary -- Bibliography

We all love a good story. The Torah, or Pentateuch, is regularly defamed as "law." Actually, it's a saga about our search for happiness and how the God of the Bible fits into it. Lacing legal material into narrative punctuated with poetry, the Torah contrasts two provocative personalities named Abraham and Moses. Fascinating and fickle, their adventures portray two visions of approaching God. The Torah was written to render a verdict on who is the best model. This book demonstrates that Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are a unified narrative, framed as contrasting biographies, proclaiming a coherent message. It surveys each book's structure and themes to determine its argument and then articulates the Torah's message for people of all time, its vision of human happiness. It establishes that the Torah is the core of the Jewish and Christian Bibles and shows how the rest of the Bible elaborates its message. Ending with suggestions to help you read it, this book is your invitation to the Torah.