Reading the Bible Again For the First Time
Taking the Bible Seriously But Not Literally
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4.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Conflict about the Bible is one of the most divisive issues for Christians today.
For millions, an unquestioning, literal interpretation has become a stumbling block to faith, not a foundation for it. How can we move beyond biblical literalism to find a more authentic way to engage with sacred scripture?
Leading figure in biblical scholarship Marcus J. Borg offers a liberating new path. This insightful guide introduces a historical-metaphorical approach, providing new lenses for seeing the Bible not as a divine rulebook, but as a profoundly human response to God. Borg demonstrates how understanding the historical context of the biblical texts opens up a deeper meaning and appreciation for their power.
This work of profound theology is an essential resource for personal bible study, discussion groups, and anyone seeking to take the Bible seriously without taking it literally. It is an invitation to read the Bible again for the first time, finding in its pages a more mature and compelling faith for the twenty-first century.
This book lays the foundation for a new way of reading scripture:
Biblical Criticism: Learn how modern biblical scholarship, far from destroying faith, can illuminate the ancient meanings of the text and make them come alive.History and Metaphor: Discover the crucial difference between history remembered and metaphorical narrative, and why understanding this distinction is key to reading the Bible with intellectual integrity.A Human Response to God: Move beyond seeing the Bible as an inerrant divine product to appreciating it as the powerful, human story of two ancient communities and their experience of God.Postcritical Naivete: Explore a path beyond both childhood literalism and adult skepticism to a mature ability to hear the biblical stories as true, even while knowing they may not be factually so.
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The title of this book comes from the author's experience of "unlearning" his literal reading of the Bible from childhood in favor of a "historical-metaphorical" reading derived from his 35 years of studying the Bible as an academic. Borg, an Episcopalian who teaches at Oregon State University, is a member of the Jesus Seminar, author of The God We Never Knew and the counterpoint to evangelical N.T. Wright in The Meaning of Jesus: Two Views. Borg offers a highly readable and succinct introduction to biblical criticism, outlining the kinds of cultural, theological and historical lenses through which people read the Bible and explaining how those readings affect their relation to God. The historical-metaphorical reading that Borg presents includes both the "historical illumination of a text in its ancient context" and a metaphorical approach that "enables us to see and affirm meanings that go beyond the particularity of what the texts meant in their ancient setting." He applies this approach to the Bible in sections, wending his way from the creation stories to Revelation even as he advocates a journey from "precritical naivete" (the acceptance that the Bible is literally true) through "critical thinking" to "postcritical naivete" (accepting again that the Bible is true even if that truth does not depend upon factuality). The book is copiously footnoted without being in the least stodgy, and is open about Borg's own spiritual journey without being didactic or disrespectful of the tradition he has left.
