Most Westerners are alert to challenges posed by Muslim fundamentalism, but few have given much thought to the implications of a similar phenomenon within the Christian communion. Literal readings of sacred texts are dangerous, for those who believe that they can quote the words of God implicitly claim the right to act with the authority of God. Word of God: Words of Men illustrates the abuses to which this leads, surveys discoveries about the composition and transmission of the Scriptures that make literalism untenable, and raises questions for readers of the Bible to ponder as they seek to understand how a work of human hands might function as a vehicle of divine revelation.