Provides the clergy and the intellectually prepared laity an introduction to the scientific study of the Bible, which gives them a completely orthodox and loyal orientation, using the latest publications, and taking into account the most recent discoveries, those of Qumran, for instance. A sound synthesis of this vastly diffused research, even if one or the other of its conclusions should not be the last word, or if one or the other detail should need further refinement. Also points out the theological content of the sacred books, their contribution to the divine work of revelation; and helps to discover in every part of them or even in every fragment, their eternal religious value, through the inevitable contingencies of writings which are human but at the same time divine, written at times and in places so different from our own.