My father was a Social Gospel, far-left liberal, and to some degree a mystic. But we did not have Bible readings; we had prayers.

The Garden of Eden presents the same story: If you want to make yourself gods, you'll find you're akin to the animals.

There are surely many legitimate approaches to Biblical literature, and I think that it depends very much on one's experience and temperament which way one deals primarily with Biblical material.

I try to look at the texts and say: Is there a way that I can find history in the texts and separate it from what may be the mythological elements, and I don't find any rules for that.

With the Hebrew Bible, you're living in an austere world.

I would not speak of Judaism as a Talmudic or Rabbinic religion. It's a Biblical religion.

It fascinates me to analyze these things and, yes, to see layers in the texts and the building up of Biblical literature. I think this provides insights that one simply does not get by the direct approach.