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The Return of the Chaos Monsters and Other Backstories of the Bible
Gregory Mobley plunges beneath the Bible's surface to reveal its "backstories" -- the tales that constitute the backbone of the people Israel and of the body of Christ. Viewing the Bible as "essentially, relentlessly story," Mobley provides an easy-to-understand seven-part thematic overview of the Bible that guides readers through the drama of the Hebrew Bible, highlighting the interconnectedness of biblical stories. Each story is a variation on a single theme -- the dynamic interplay between order and chaos.
Intriguing Ancient Near Eastern myths, personal anecdotes, and popular cultural references from movies, musical theater, and writers ranging from Dr. Seuss to William Blake pepper the book throughout. Arresting chapter and section titles such as "It's Love That Makes the World Go 'Round" and "Lord Bezek's Big Toes" capture the imagination, and Mobley's own lyrical, energetic writing style -- exercised on vibrant biblical material -- propels the reader forward. Readers will find his enthusiasm contagious!
Intriguing Ancient Near Eastern myths, personal anecdotes, and popular cultural references from movies, musical theater, and writers ranging from Dr. Seuss to William Blake pepper the book throughout. Arresting chapter and section titles such as "It's Love That Makes the World Go 'Round" and "Lord Bezek's Big Toes" capture the imagination, and Mobley's own lyrical, energetic writing style -- exercised on vibrant biblical material -- propels the reader forward. Readers will find his enthusiasm contagious!
167 pages, Paperback
First published November 22, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 13, 2018
In 2014, while reading Michael Heiser's book "The Unseen Realm," I was introduced to the world of comparative studies between the ancient Near Eastern cultures and Israel. I was immediately taken in, and have found that I now have an ever growing desire to learn exactly how it is that a knowledge of these cultures through archaeology and their literature can help to open up the Bible. Upon looking at the write up on Mobley's book, I thought that it may be a good, concise, introductory read on one theme which has been illuminated by growing in our understanding of the ancient ways of thinking and writing. That being, as the title indicates, the theme of chaos, and, of course, its opposite, order.
I found the book to be just that. It offered up enough information to make it a worthwhile read, yet left the subject open enough to engender further study in those who are piqued by the morsels of information given here. I found Mobley's writing to be easily grasped, even though it was sometimes choppy.
Mobley's opening salvo in chapter one is centered around the biblical creation accounts in Genesis, Job and the Psalms. Here Mobley depicts God as ordering the primeval chaos so that the creation may be fit for man to inhabit. Yet, even in the midst of this order, we are told that there is still room for chaos to break through. This usually happens as man acts out in ways which go against God's created order, thus opening avenues for chaos to prevail upon mankind and creation in general.
The remaining chapters highlight the various means God has put in place in order to enlist mankind in helping Him to manage chaos. The first of these is the Torah. Mobley, in chapter two, describes the Torah as God's instruction manual given to mankind so that mankind can assist in the management of chaos. Chapter three deals with the former prophets, describing this section of Scripture as the section where we see God instituting moral cause and effect in order to reward fidelity to the instruction manual and promote the management of chaos. The next chapter deals with the latter prophets, and is entitled Anger Management. Here the idea of prophets mediating the relationship between God and man in order to care for the health of creation is expounded upon. Chapter five discusses the Psalms, unpackaging the dual ideas of praise and lament, and putting forth the ideas that our praises contain energy which augment God's management of chaos, while lament is a type of report back to God on how He is doing in that area. Chapter 6 looks at the wisdom books and how we, as humans, are able to catch glimpses of God's design for managing chaos, and how living according to these principles is another expression of our partnership with Him in managing chaos. Chapter seven looks at apocalyptic literature from the perspective that sometimes chaos gets out of hand and we must rely upon God to ultimately subdue the chaos as He did in the beginning.
These brief descriptions of the main chapters are simply, by and large, paraphrases of the the subtitles which accompany each chapter. Mr. Mobley does a good job, in my opinion, of making his case for the prevalence of this theme throughout the Scriptures, yet he does so in an economy of words, and without going into too much tedious detail. Overall I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it is a short, easy read, that does a good job of opening up one viable perspective on a theme which many believe is prevalent, yet greatly overlooked, in the Scriptures.
I found the book to be just that. It offered up enough information to make it a worthwhile read, yet left the subject open enough to engender further study in those who are piqued by the morsels of information given here. I found Mobley's writing to be easily grasped, even though it was sometimes choppy.
Mobley's opening salvo in chapter one is centered around the biblical creation accounts in Genesis, Job and the Psalms. Here Mobley depicts God as ordering the primeval chaos so that the creation may be fit for man to inhabit. Yet, even in the midst of this order, we are told that there is still room for chaos to break through. This usually happens as man acts out in ways which go against God's created order, thus opening avenues for chaos to prevail upon mankind and creation in general.
The remaining chapters highlight the various means God has put in place in order to enlist mankind in helping Him to manage chaos. The first of these is the Torah. Mobley, in chapter two, describes the Torah as God's instruction manual given to mankind so that mankind can assist in the management of chaos. Chapter three deals with the former prophets, describing this section of Scripture as the section where we see God instituting moral cause and effect in order to reward fidelity to the instruction manual and promote the management of chaos. The next chapter deals with the latter prophets, and is entitled Anger Management. Here the idea of prophets mediating the relationship between God and man in order to care for the health of creation is expounded upon. Chapter five discusses the Psalms, unpackaging the dual ideas of praise and lament, and putting forth the ideas that our praises contain energy which augment God's management of chaos, while lament is a type of report back to God on how He is doing in that area. Chapter 6 looks at the wisdom books and how we, as humans, are able to catch glimpses of God's design for managing chaos, and how living according to these principles is another expression of our partnership with Him in managing chaos. Chapter seven looks at apocalyptic literature from the perspective that sometimes chaos gets out of hand and we must rely upon God to ultimately subdue the chaos as He did in the beginning.
These brief descriptions of the main chapters are simply, by and large, paraphrases of the the subtitles which accompany each chapter. Mr. Mobley does a good job, in my opinion, of making his case for the prevalence of this theme throughout the Scriptures, yet he does so in an economy of words, and without going into too much tedious detail. Overall I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it is a short, easy read, that does a good job of opening up one viable perspective on a theme which many believe is prevalent, yet greatly overlooked, in the Scriptures.
July 21, 2012
OK I just have started reading this and still am in Chapter One but I laugh and reflect on how easily he draws one into quite profound thought from the Ancient Near Easter world that it would be so easy just to read past too quickly. It is delight to read.
April 21, 2021
I found this amazing book after my pastor used it to shape one of his recent sermons. Holy wowza. Gregory Mobley's prose is bright and action-packed like a lightning storm. He's pure fun to read. But the real zinger is his analysis of the role of the Old Testament prophet.
Prophets suffer the stereotype of being God's angry mouthpieces of wrath and judgment, but Mobley points out here that warning Israel of God's looming punishment is just half the job description. The other half comes next, when the prophet himself, having preached dire sermons of hellfire and damnation, turns around and stands in the breach to face Jehovah and plead for mercy. Prosecutor has become defense attorney. And that is because this is what God Himself does. As my pastor pointed out (and Mobley doesn't), Jesus is the ultimate Prophet who stood in the breach and faced His Father, pled for mercy, and took all God's righteous wrath and judgment on Himself. Astonishing.
So will you be a prophet for God's people? For whom can you rise up and stand in the breach?
Prophets suffer the stereotype of being God's angry mouthpieces of wrath and judgment, but Mobley points out here that warning Israel of God's looming punishment is just half the job description. The other half comes next, when the prophet himself, having preached dire sermons of hellfire and damnation, turns around and stands in the breach to face Jehovah and plead for mercy. Prosecutor has become defense attorney. And that is because this is what God Himself does. As my pastor pointed out (and Mobley doesn't), Jesus is the ultimate Prophet who stood in the breach and faced His Father, pled for mercy, and took all God's righteous wrath and judgment on Himself. Astonishing.
So will you be a prophet for God's people? For whom can you rise up and stand in the breach?
February 8, 2023
Gregory Mobley’s The Return of the Chaos Monsters: And Other Backstories of the Bible (2012) packs an ambitious and interesting perspective on the Hebrew Bible into a slim volume. What the book calls “backstories” are overarching themes that inform the Biblical narrative, and according to Mobley, most have to do with how God and humans manage chaos in order to maintain a livable, orderly universe. The backstory to creation is that God has subdued the chaos, sometimes personified as monsters like Leviathan, allowing the creation of the cosmos, but the chaos can and will return. The other backstories describe how God has partnered with humans and given them laws to promote the maintenance of an orderly universe; actions like murder that are contrary to the laws invite chaos and threaten the health of creation. While most of the book tells a fairly coherent story about chaos management, I did think that the final section on the apocalypticism, which frames apocalyptic thinkers as the world’s first “conspiracy theorists,” sidetracked the argument, although this may reflect how apocalyptic writing, with its Christian flavor, differs from earlier Israelite writing. But overall, Mobley provides a comprehensive, fresh look at most of the Hebrew Bible, which is no mean feat.
I was frustrated, however, that Mobley seems to skirt what to me is the most obvious question arising from his analysis: when God is angry that human sin is damaging the world by letting chaos in, is it because he is genuinely worried that creation won’t hold and everything will be destroyed, or just annoyed that we’ve made a mess in his nice cosmos? Does he just want us to feel involved in chaos management, like a parent with a preschooler, or can he really not pick up our slack? And if God does truly need human help, not just want it, what does that mean for the conception of God’s omnipotence? Haven’t we strayed into a dualist system, where chaos itself is an equally powerful being locked in a perpetual duel with God, rather than an instrument of God’s will? I suspect the Bible holds no clear answer to this question because the people behind the biblical texts had differing beliefs about Yahweh’s relative power and place in the cosmos. Mobley does touch on this issue in his discussion of the Kabbalistic and Hasidic concept of tzimtzum, the purposeful contraction of God that allowed the world to contain many beings. This line of thought suggests that God decided to reduce himself and disperse his power into his creations, and now requires humans to willingly lend it back to him in order for him to wield it. But I wished the book had grappled with this fascinating problem in clearer, less abstract terms (and without so much use of the term “love-energy,” but that is just a personal preference).
Mobley writes in a personable, conversational tone that in general makes the book very easy to read. He does stray into some aggrandizing language about stories in the introduction, and I am baffled by the decision to use a long and rather upsetting personal story about a dead horse to explain a very simple literary concept, but overall his writing is engaging. In particular, I loved his phrase “a savvy madam’s mendacious affirmation of male performance” in reference to the sex worker Rahab stroking the egos of the Israelite soldiers she saves; the playful suggestion that Lucifer volunteered to serve as the Adversary and take the fall for evil in the universe because he had better “dramatic range” than Michael or Gabriel; and the idea that the Book of Job presented a system of “quantum morality,” where the normal ethical rules break down and bad things happen to good people, compared to the simple Newtonian morality of cause and effect that operates in most of the Bible, where good things happen to good people.
Admittedly, I was a little apprehensive when I read that Mobley was an ordained American Baptist minister; I’ve been burned before by sermons masquerading as scholarship. His personal religious leanings do bleed through a few times, especially when he suggests following the discussion of the Book of Job that God allows bad things to happen because of love, or when he fills the conclusion with discussion of a few minor biblical stories involving windows to expound on the importance of grace. But for the most part, Mobley seems to let the text and historical scholarship, rather than preconceived religious notions, guide his analysis.
In summary, some minor issues aside, this book is entertaining, covers a wide swath of the Bible, and offers an interesting perspective. And even better, it’s short and well-written enough that you can polish it off in a few sittings.
I was frustrated, however, that Mobley seems to skirt what to me is the most obvious question arising from his analysis: when God is angry that human sin is damaging the world by letting chaos in, is it because he is genuinely worried that creation won’t hold and everything will be destroyed, or just annoyed that we’ve made a mess in his nice cosmos? Does he just want us to feel involved in chaos management, like a parent with a preschooler, or can he really not pick up our slack? And if God does truly need human help, not just want it, what does that mean for the conception of God’s omnipotence? Haven’t we strayed into a dualist system, where chaos itself is an equally powerful being locked in a perpetual duel with God, rather than an instrument of God’s will? I suspect the Bible holds no clear answer to this question because the people behind the biblical texts had differing beliefs about Yahweh’s relative power and place in the cosmos. Mobley does touch on this issue in his discussion of the Kabbalistic and Hasidic concept of tzimtzum, the purposeful contraction of God that allowed the world to contain many beings. This line of thought suggests that God decided to reduce himself and disperse his power into his creations, and now requires humans to willingly lend it back to him in order for him to wield it. But I wished the book had grappled with this fascinating problem in clearer, less abstract terms (and without so much use of the term “love-energy,” but that is just a personal preference).
Mobley writes in a personable, conversational tone that in general makes the book very easy to read. He does stray into some aggrandizing language about stories in the introduction, and I am baffled by the decision to use a long and rather upsetting personal story about a dead horse to explain a very simple literary concept, but overall his writing is engaging. In particular, I loved his phrase “a savvy madam’s mendacious affirmation of male performance” in reference to the sex worker Rahab stroking the egos of the Israelite soldiers she saves; the playful suggestion that Lucifer volunteered to serve as the Adversary and take the fall for evil in the universe because he had better “dramatic range” than Michael or Gabriel; and the idea that the Book of Job presented a system of “quantum morality,” where the normal ethical rules break down and bad things happen to good people, compared to the simple Newtonian morality of cause and effect that operates in most of the Bible, where good things happen to good people.
Admittedly, I was a little apprehensive when I read that Mobley was an ordained American Baptist minister; I’ve been burned before by sermons masquerading as scholarship. His personal religious leanings do bleed through a few times, especially when he suggests following the discussion of the Book of Job that God allows bad things to happen because of love, or when he fills the conclusion with discussion of a few minor biblical stories involving windows to expound on the importance of grace. But for the most part, Mobley seems to let the text and historical scholarship, rather than preconceived religious notions, guide his analysis.
In summary, some minor issues aside, this book is entertaining, covers a wide swath of the Bible, and offers an interesting perspective. And even better, it’s short and well-written enough that you can polish it off in a few sittings.
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April 19, 2023Not only one of the best titles for any book about the Hebrew Bible, but The Return of the Chaos Monsters is up there among the greatest single volume introductions to the Tanakh. While Mobley will not meticulously go through every sub-canonical work with a fine-tooth comb or parse out the complicated historical origins of the people called Israel, he (with electric, slam poetic prose) provides a framework, a narrative strategy that will guide the reader of the Old Testament towards textual understanding, literary appreciation, and, importantly, meaning making in a world as seemingly meaningless now as in 587 B.C.
This framework is as follows: "the Bible is best understood as wholly narrative, and that most of its individual narratives are variations on seven basic stories, and that all seven of those stories are variations on a single theme: the dynamic interplay of order and chaos. This basic corpus of foundational narratives, and the seven backstories of our title, undergirds each respective section of the Bible." (9)
Creation, Torah, Former Prophets, Latter Prophets, Wisdom, Psalms, and Apocalypse: each canonical genre has its own genre, its own backstory in the fight against unleashing chaos, and thus its own theodicy as well. Mobley writes "each genre of biblical literature has it own governing metanarrative or subservient backstory that informs the way it performs the function of theodicy, making sense by building arks of narrative that preserve meaning and create order amidst a flood of incidents and accidents that threatens to sweep us away in its current...each genre of biblical literature offers its own theodicy, its own style of wrestling with the chaos that threatens to make existence meaningless" (13).
Each chapter that examines the backstory, the metanarrative, the theodicy for while chaos and not order, is a treat, an exposition that leaves you inspired to read the text, preach the word, and find all the ways you can to stop the flow of nothingness from infecting the blessedness of loved-made, life-giving something-- even if that means just praying unceasingly for YHWH to intervene. To historical-critical advocates, Mobley's philosophical-rhetoric style will come off as clever, but falling into all the same problems that former Old Testament theologies suffered when they condensed the whole of scripture into a theme or two, three, seven (Mobley does contend the whole of the bible can be boiled down to a single, overarching motif: "how to make meaning from the chaos of experience, the human condition," (2) but this the vehicle for every religion and systematic philosophy no?). The theologies will flatten difference or ignore it in order to emphasize the prevailing themes. Mobley does the opposite: he underscores, time and time again, the vast differences between biblical genres and within them! See his discussion on Wisdom literature, for example. The backstories provide direction, of personal/collective guidance and not map-making precision.
This framework is as follows: "the Bible is best understood as wholly narrative, and that most of its individual narratives are variations on seven basic stories, and that all seven of those stories are variations on a single theme: the dynamic interplay of order and chaos. This basic corpus of foundational narratives, and the seven backstories of our title, undergirds each respective section of the Bible." (9)
Creation, Torah, Former Prophets, Latter Prophets, Wisdom, Psalms, and Apocalypse: each canonical genre has its own genre, its own backstory in the fight against unleashing chaos, and thus its own theodicy as well. Mobley writes "each genre of biblical literature has it own governing metanarrative or subservient backstory that informs the way it performs the function of theodicy, making sense by building arks of narrative that preserve meaning and create order amidst a flood of incidents and accidents that threatens to sweep us away in its current...each genre of biblical literature offers its own theodicy, its own style of wrestling with the chaos that threatens to make existence meaningless" (13).
Each chapter that examines the backstory, the metanarrative, the theodicy for while chaos and not order, is a treat, an exposition that leaves you inspired to read the text, preach the word, and find all the ways you can to stop the flow of nothingness from infecting the blessedness of loved-made, life-giving something-- even if that means just praying unceasingly for YHWH to intervene. To historical-critical advocates, Mobley's philosophical-rhetoric style will come off as clever, but falling into all the same problems that former Old Testament theologies suffered when they condensed the whole of scripture into a theme or two, three, seven (Mobley does contend the whole of the bible can be boiled down to a single, overarching motif: "how to make meaning from the chaos of experience, the human condition," (2) but this the vehicle for every religion and systematic philosophy no?). The theologies will flatten difference or ignore it in order to emphasize the prevailing themes. Mobley does the opposite: he underscores, time and time again, the vast differences between biblical genres and within them! See his discussion on Wisdom literature, for example. The backstories provide direction, of personal/collective guidance and not map-making precision.
August 25, 2019
This book focuses on a subject that I’ve been meditating on and studying for quite some time; Chaos and Order. Gregory Mobley shows that the interplay between Chaos and Order are an underlaying theme that permeates scripture from beginning to end. In fact, the more I meditate and study it, the more I see it all around me. Not just in scripture, but in life and culture. Its in practically every facet of life—from marriage and family, to work, health, and entertainment.
The author goes through 7 backstories of the Bible and shows how this theme is buried beneath the text. He doesn't go into the implications, meaning, or applications; but I can see how it would affect every sphere of life once you grasp and understand this concept.
Chaos & Order on the surface seems to be dualistic, like there is some war going on between good and evil. And on one level there is that. But when you get to the heart of the matter you need both forces for creation to work the way it was intended to work. Creation will not produce the fruit it was made to produce without each force taking its proper place. Creation is the garden, and man is the gardener. Nature is wild and uncooperative. Man has to corral it, give it form and shape. He has to tend, and care for it. And only when he does will be be able to harvest its fruit and bring it to the table of Yahweh for the feast. Creation will not reach its fulfillment unless man takes his proper place as the gardener. Man will not reflect the creator unless he takes care of his life as if it were the garden given to him to tend.
There are so many implications to this line of thought that it would require its own book to think it through. A couple that stick out to me are these
Looking thought the this lens should affect how you view the topic of the existence of evil and why God allows bad things to happen. Suffering, both minor and major are a part of the foundation of what chaos is. And it has to be that way in order for it to function properly. This is a much deeper topic than I can go into here, but if you meditate upon it you’ll begin to see it is so.
It has consequences for how we live our lives, in marriage, work, health, etc. There is a necessary struggle that is built into the fabric of life and creation. This is apparent in every aspect if you know where to look. It’s built into your biology in how your muscles form and get strong. It’s in your relationships as you grow in love and friendship, going through hardship together is part of learning to love each other. Its built into work as you get paid for doing things the you wouldn't other wise go out of your way to do but is good for all of civilization. And it's built into the question of why we have diseases, mortality, and other hardships like war and famine.
These are just a few of my thoughts on the implications of the book. Mobley doesn't go into most of this, but his book is the beginning to understanding these and many more things, showing that the foundation of understating God and creation, and our place in it all stems from understanding this undercurrent of thought of Order and Chaos.
The author goes through 7 backstories of the Bible and shows how this theme is buried beneath the text. He doesn't go into the implications, meaning, or applications; but I can see how it would affect every sphere of life once you grasp and understand this concept.
Chaos & Order on the surface seems to be dualistic, like there is some war going on between good and evil. And on one level there is that. But when you get to the heart of the matter you need both forces for creation to work the way it was intended to work. Creation will not produce the fruit it was made to produce without each force taking its proper place. Creation is the garden, and man is the gardener. Nature is wild and uncooperative. Man has to corral it, give it form and shape. He has to tend, and care for it. And only when he does will be be able to harvest its fruit and bring it to the table of Yahweh for the feast. Creation will not reach its fulfillment unless man takes his proper place as the gardener. Man will not reflect the creator unless he takes care of his life as if it were the garden given to him to tend.
There are so many implications to this line of thought that it would require its own book to think it through. A couple that stick out to me are these
Looking thought the this lens should affect how you view the topic of the existence of evil and why God allows bad things to happen. Suffering, both minor and major are a part of the foundation of what chaos is. And it has to be that way in order for it to function properly. This is a much deeper topic than I can go into here, but if you meditate upon it you’ll begin to see it is so.
It has consequences for how we live our lives, in marriage, work, health, etc. There is a necessary struggle that is built into the fabric of life and creation. This is apparent in every aspect if you know where to look. It’s built into your biology in how your muscles form and get strong. It’s in your relationships as you grow in love and friendship, going through hardship together is part of learning to love each other. Its built into work as you get paid for doing things the you wouldn't other wise go out of your way to do but is good for all of civilization. And it's built into the question of why we have diseases, mortality, and other hardships like war and famine.
These are just a few of my thoughts on the implications of the book. Mobley doesn't go into most of this, but his book is the beginning to understanding these and many more things, showing that the foundation of understating God and creation, and our place in it all stems from understanding this undercurrent of thought of Order and Chaos.
July 13, 2025
Warning: some readers may find this book heretical. I don’t. I have enjoyed the creative, unique approach to teaching us a deeper look (backstories) into the meaning of of the Bible, how the stories came to be, and what lessons its storytellers tried to impart. Grab a dictionary because there is a bit of academic and/or foreign terminology. That is balanced by a sense of humor that occasionally will leave the reader chuckling.
There are seven backstories, the first being Creation in which God separates Chaos from Order to make a habitable place for man and beast. But this is not a done deal. When people behave badly, it creates avenues for Chaos to sneak back in and disrupt Order. It takes some work for humans to fix what they broke and restore order, and the rest of the backstories have to do with the ways we partner with God to do that.
I would refer you to some brilliant reviews on Goodreads for a more in-depth look at this one of a kind book, particularly Daniel on April 12, 2018.
June 30, 2025
struggled with this one — thought it’d be more “intro to the Bible stories” & beginner-friendly to people interested in Christian theology. Some parts were really interesting and profound and some others had me completely lost
May 17, 2022
A mind-bender for me, but well worth re-reading when my brain cells cool down.
September 19, 2024
Seriously thought-provoking, although it contains a bit of outdated language. Very *Inspired* by Rachel Held Evans-esque
July 15, 2019
The author views the Old Testament as a collection of stories that reflect their wrestling to find meaning in the chaos of their experience. My disappointment in the book is that is all the author perceives the scripture to be. It seems to me that the people or Israel were unique among the ancients in their view that God was at work in their history and so scripture as the account of real history cannot be discounted. As Christians we also look at the Old Testament as jesus and the New Testament writers did, a perspective totally missing from this book. At the same time, the author is onto something important with this idea of back stories - ideas that the Old Testament writers and compilers were speaking to that were common assumptions in their era but not always immediately apparent to the modern reader. I enjoyed especially his treatment of Leviathan and the other monsters referred to in the Old Testament, as well as his summaries of the wisdom books.
July 31, 2013
This is a great book for a contemporary Bible study with folks who are seeking to understand the primary narratives of the 7- or as Mobley ends up exploring, 8 - great stories being told in varying ways in the Biblical library. Mobley's interweaving mythic stories from popular culture is an aid to those who struggle and find themselves distant from the Biblical themes. Much of his work draws on and expands for less scholarly readers Jon Levenson's _Creation and the Persistence of Evil_, which is an extraordinary study and another great read. Mobley, a Christian, also has a keen appreciation for Jewish and Muslim traditions and how all three religions are sharing and differing in telling some of the narratives. Respectful, fun, and engaging, I recommend it for small group study, and especially to Unitarian Universalists considering a Bible-based adult education course in their congregations.
May 14, 2014
Fascinating book with a lot of history I hadn't been exposed to. I'm not sure I agree with all of his conclusions, but that may just be my education conflicting with my upbringing. Most of what he presents is very plausible, and I find his understanding of the central themes and myths in the Bible entirely believable and more than likely true. I would give this book 3 1/2 stars as it does tend to get a little dense and bogged down, specifically in the last two or three chapters, but it's still worth reading at any level.
May 28, 2012
This is a short, enjoyable look at how the stories of the Tanakh (and a wee bit of Paul) are woven into the annoying yet revealing tapestries we now see bedecking the Gospel. It would be enjoyable for any reader who wants to engage scripture at something more than face value. Also, it presupposes some level of familiarity with the Word: it is not necessary, but will save you some time reaching for your chair side Bible when one needs to refresh his memory.
January 4, 2013
Useful to get the ANE background of scripture and the back stories that inform it. Author seems to have a lower view of the bible and inspiration than I'd like
April 22, 2017
"What is it about stories that make them such a powerful vehicle for bearing religious meaning through time?" This is the question Mobley asks and answers in this engaging, lively, intelligent, passionate book about the seven backstories, prequels to, the stories of the Bible. For example, "Sometimes creation narratives in the Bible clearly assume (a) backstory, as when the prophet Isaiah talks about how the Lord will slay the dragon of chaos, Leviathan, on the last day, or when Job requests the services of a flautist capable of charming the primeval serpent from its basket, so that all hell might break loose and the calendar rewind from the worst week of his life all the way back to the formless void and deep darkness of the midnight before creation morning. . . . The drama beneath the surface of Genesis 1:21 ('and then God created the great dragons') is its causal dismissal of the importance of the chaos monsters. In Gn 1 they are not God's mythological opponents; they are merely one more phylum creation alongside the fish and fowl with whom they share day 5 and whose features they grotesquely combine. . . .
The backstory of each genre of Biblical literature offers its own theodicy, its own style of wrestling with the chaos that threatens to make existence meaningless.
Western thought is dominated by concern for chaos management. (In ) the seven backstories presented here humans are invited (the prevalent Christian view) or drafted (the prevalent Jewish view) to partner with God in chaos management. We are supposed to do something, nay, do a lot of things: perform justice, love our neighbor, follow, hear, seek, endure to the end."
This is a book, rather like the Bible, that is 'elegantly simple', accessible, and at the same time, holds a depth of meaning as interesting as our own personal story is to us; the personal but age-old story we keep telling ourselves over and over, as we fashion it and simultaneously recreate it, along our journey.
The backstory of each genre of Biblical literature offers its own theodicy, its own style of wrestling with the chaos that threatens to make existence meaningless.
Western thought is dominated by concern for chaos management. (In ) the seven backstories presented here humans are invited (the prevalent Christian view) or drafted (the prevalent Jewish view) to partner with God in chaos management. We are supposed to do something, nay, do a lot of things: perform justice, love our neighbor, follow, hear, seek, endure to the end."
This is a book, rather like the Bible, that is 'elegantly simple', accessible, and at the same time, holds a depth of meaning as interesting as our own personal story is to us; the personal but age-old story we keep telling ourselves over and over, as we fashion it and simultaneously recreate it, along our journey.
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