American author THOMAS WILLIAM DOANE (1852-1885) is considered one of the most significant contributors to the Free Thought movement, which held the view that belief should be based on the epistemology of scientific and logical laws, rather than on faith. In support of this philosophy, Doane undertook extensive research delving into the parallels between Christianity and preexisting religions from around the world, ultimately meaning to show the difference between eternal truths, both spiritual and scientific, and fable. Here, in a work first published in 1882, he takes a methodical stroll through each of the most popular Biblical myths from both the Old and New Testaments, including the Flood, the Exodus, Samson, the Star of Bethlehem, baptism, and the temptation of Christ. By providing copious evidence of the preexistence of the morals and indeed, associated details of each, as well as thorough bibliographic information, the fruit of Doane's labor is a fascinating survey of world religions and a compelling critique of the originality of Christian dogma.

American author THOMAS WILLIAM DOANE (1852-1885) is considered one of the most significant contributors to the Freethought movement, which held the view that belief should be based on the epistemology of scientific and logical laws, rather than on faith. In support of this philosophy, Doane undertook extensive research delving into the parallels between Christianity and preexisting religions from around the world, ultimately meaning to show the difference between eternal truths, both spiritual and scientific, and fable. Here, in a work first published in 1882, he takes a methodical stroll through each of the most popular Biblical myths from both the Old and New Testaments, including the Flood, the Exodus, Samson, the Star of Bethlehem, baptism, and the temptation of Christ. By providing copious evidence of the preexistence of the morals and indeed, associated details of each, as well as thorough bibliographic information, the fruit of Doane's labor is a fascinating survey of world religions and a compelling critique of the originality of Christian dogma.

Embedded in portions of the biblical text are performance modes of thought that preserve a pre-literary way of thinking that can be analyzed through performance analysis. Even as literary forms of thought are embedded in non-literary forms of communication (television and radio announcers, preachers, actors, conversation), pre-literary forms of thought (i.e., performance modes of thought), became embedded in early literature. Performance analysis is designed to identify and describe these performance modes of thought embedded in the prophetic literature. While recognizing the contribution of various forms of literary criticism, performance analysis enriches literary analysis by bridging the written word to its oral world. Doan's and Giles' book has two major components: the development of performance analysis methodology and the application of that methodology to select portions of the prophetic texts found in the Hebrew bible.