What do you think?
Rate this book
How to Read the Bible Well: What It Is, What It Isn’t, and How To Love It
How to Read the Bible Well takes on the big questions about the Bible that we've always wanted to ask. What do people mean when they say it's the Word of God? In what way, exactly? How can an ancient world text be offering supposedly timeless truths? Can we really take what "the Bible says" as authoritative for life today? Isn't it obviously sexist and outdated? Do we have to believe in Adam and Eve, and the world being made in six days? Why did God command genocide in the Old Testament? Are people really going to burn in hell for eternity? Why is there evil and suffering in the world? And, how can we explain the Big Story of the Bible, from cover to cover, in ways that will make sense to people today? Stephen Burnhope suggests there are very good answers to all of these questions and more--once we know how to read the Bible well!
236 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 3, 2021
7 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 3, 2022
There are so many things to take into consideration when reading the Bible - particularly if you are looking to it to increase your faith and develop your relationship with God.
But the more I think about it, whether or not you agree with Burnhope, his theology, or his hermeneutic, or whether or not you even believe in God, this is a great resource because anyone with an interest in reading the Bible should have an understanding of what they’re approaching. Especially because we are all interpreting when we read a book from so many authors, where the newest information in it is 2,000 years old, and we don’t even have any of the original documents. There’s no way to approach the Bible completely “objectively” without our perspective, beliefs, or baggage. (If there were, then it wouldn’t be the case that every single Christian denomination (maybe every single Christian) has a different interpretation.) It’s a tad arrogant to believe “my interpretation is the only correct one, even though most Christians in the last 2,000 years have had a different interpretation.”
And early on, Burnhope brings up a great point - how many stories in the Bible contain people who misunderstood what God wanted? Even when they were talking to God! It’s ironic to think that we would never have that problem.
How can we approach a book that we feel is so important to our faith, without considering how we read it? Unfortunately, as Burnhope notes, “…there is a strain of anti-intellectualism in every Christianity…” We need to get back to critically thinking about things as we attempt to understand them.
He reminds us of some important things that we can’t forget.
For example, we need to be thinking about what God was intending to communicate to the people at that time. Any good communicator considers their audience - would God be any different? If God was trying to say something to the people at the time these words were written, they had to be written so the people of that time would understand it - if you believe the Bible is the Word of God, you have to realize that these words weren’t just written for people in the 21st century.
Burnhope asks, “But is it really possible to sanitize any human writing—however much God is involved—from all of the cultural, moral, and ethical assumptions of the times?”
Based on the Bible itself, we need to ask, was God’s intent to drop down a book intended for us to dissect to create a system of laws? I like the quote from evangelical scholar Professor F.F. Bruce (via Scot McKnight):
“I think Paul would roll over in his grave if he knew we were turning his letters into torah.”
And in a single paragraph on page 97, he summarizes how I came to reject fundamentalism and a legalistic reading of the Bible, when he talks about a single chapter in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, where most churches cherry pick which of those verses we need to codify into laws.
As Burnhope notes,
“…there is nothing in legalism that is compatible with authentic Christian faith.”
I love the timeliness of Habakkuk 2:4, as Burnhope notes that New Testament writers quoted it 3 times!
“The righteous shall live by faith.”
Interesting discussion on post-modernity. The people in the Bible had a pre-modern worldview. Today, the prevalent worldview is post-modern. Biblical fundamentalists use a modern lens, meaning, they’re both not interpreting it correctly and not understanding the current culture.
Burnhope adds,
“Because we live in an age of science, we tend to expect the Bible to give us facts and data and technical information—like a textbook would. But that wasn’t the expectation of the people at the time the Bible was written.”
Other important things to think about that the author discusses include Heaven and Hell, the humanity of Jesus, and how the Bible relates to Judaism.
Overall a great resource for anyone who wants to study the Bible.
Thank you to Stephen Burnhope for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
But the more I think about it, whether or not you agree with Burnhope, his theology, or his hermeneutic, or whether or not you even believe in God, this is a great resource because anyone with an interest in reading the Bible should have an understanding of what they’re approaching. Especially because we are all interpreting when we read a book from so many authors, where the newest information in it is 2,000 years old, and we don’t even have any of the original documents. There’s no way to approach the Bible completely “objectively” without our perspective, beliefs, or baggage. (If there were, then it wouldn’t be the case that every single Christian denomination (maybe every single Christian) has a different interpretation.) It’s a tad arrogant to believe “my interpretation is the only correct one, even though most Christians in the last 2,000 years have had a different interpretation.”
And early on, Burnhope brings up a great point - how many stories in the Bible contain people who misunderstood what God wanted? Even when they were talking to God! It’s ironic to think that we would never have that problem.
How can we approach a book that we feel is so important to our faith, without considering how we read it? Unfortunately, as Burnhope notes, “…there is a strain of anti-intellectualism in every Christianity…” We need to get back to critically thinking about things as we attempt to understand them.
He reminds us of some important things that we can’t forget.
For example, we need to be thinking about what God was intending to communicate to the people at that time. Any good communicator considers their audience - would God be any different? If God was trying to say something to the people at the time these words were written, they had to be written so the people of that time would understand it - if you believe the Bible is the Word of God, you have to realize that these words weren’t just written for people in the 21st century.
Burnhope asks, “But is it really possible to sanitize any human writing—however much God is involved—from all of the cultural, moral, and ethical assumptions of the times?”
Based on the Bible itself, we need to ask, was God’s intent to drop down a book intended for us to dissect to create a system of laws? I like the quote from evangelical scholar Professor F.F. Bruce (via Scot McKnight):
“I think Paul would roll over in his grave if he knew we were turning his letters into torah.”
And in a single paragraph on page 97, he summarizes how I came to reject fundamentalism and a legalistic reading of the Bible, when he talks about a single chapter in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, where most churches cherry pick which of those verses we need to codify into laws.
As Burnhope notes,
“…there is nothing in legalism that is compatible with authentic Christian faith.”
I love the timeliness of Habakkuk 2:4, as Burnhope notes that New Testament writers quoted it 3 times!
“The righteous shall live by faith.”
Interesting discussion on post-modernity. The people in the Bible had a pre-modern worldview. Today, the prevalent worldview is post-modern. Biblical fundamentalists use a modern lens, meaning, they’re both not interpreting it correctly and not understanding the current culture.
Burnhope adds,
“Because we live in an age of science, we tend to expect the Bible to give us facts and data and technical information—like a textbook would. But that wasn’t the expectation of the people at the time the Bible was written.”
Other important things to think about that the author discusses include Heaven and Hell, the humanity of Jesus, and how the Bible relates to Judaism.
Overall a great resource for anyone who wants to study the Bible.
Thank you to Stephen Burnhope for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
December 2, 2025
How to Read the Bible Well attempts to bridge the gap between academic biblical studies and the average Christian reader. Author Stephen Burnhope asserts that while “there are plenty of academic books around,” they are “not accessible for most Christians.” He intends to write “in a non-academic way, for ordinary readers.” Unfortunately, he risks falling short of the depth required to reach the stated goal of helping the “ordinary Christian” to “understand …more deeply.”
informs his ordinary reader that the Bible is: “written by lots of different authors. It’s also very long… And it’s very old, written between about 2000 and 3500 years ago, in a totally different world… Just think how differently people lived then, and thought then, compared to now. It’s almost impossible to imagine.”
Continuing in this accessible tone, he helpfully defines theological terms, although he often glosses over them too easily. For example, he defines “consubstantial” as “made of the exact same stuff.” He also defines terms that arguably don’t require definition for the average reader. For example, “genre” is defined as “how the books are organized” into sections at a bookstore. Humorously, he declares that there is no need to know what “zeitgeist” means “unless you want to sound clever at a dinner party.”
There is undoubtedly an appropriate setting for a book that simplifies Christian theology for the non-academic. One might argue, however, that the “ordinary Christian” is capable of deeper reflection than is offered here. This treatment may alienate readers who are intellectually curious but not theologically trained.
Burnhope oversimplifies not only terminology, but also significant doctrines, with which the Church has grappled for centuries, reducing them to coarse soundbites. On complementarianism, for instance, Burnhope confidently asserts: “We can see that Paul was not mandating exclusively male leadership as a God-given ‘timeless’ truth, but (at most) affirming what was ‘obvious’ and ‘natural’ in his world for propriety’s sake.”
As John Stott writes in Between Two Worlds, Christian teachers are called to “bridge the chasm… to relate God’s unchanging Word to our ever‑changing world …[without] sacrific[ing] truth to relevance or relevance to truth.” If the goal is to explain complicated concepts so that the layperson can grasp them, one should not risk trivializing those concepts to such an extent that the reader may not appreciate that there exists any complexity or nuance to be grasped.
Postmodernism is presented briefly: “The belief that ‘what’s true for you’ need not be ‘true for me’” is “not as problematic as it first seems, since it leaves massive space for personal testimonies.” This is an intriguing perspective, and one that could lead to fruitful reflection. However, Burnhope does not linger long enough to help the reader think through the implications.
In his commitment to accessibility, he often reduces complex ideas to simplified summaries that reflect his own stance, without offering sufficient engagement with competing viewpoints. The result is a kind of “hit and run” approach—stating an opinion with confidence, but without the depth or nuance that would encourage readers to wrestle with the issues themselves. Ironically, the title, How to Read the Bible Well, is ironically undercut by Burnhope’s persistent underestimation of the average reader’s ability to do just that.
informs his ordinary reader that the Bible is: “written by lots of different authors. It’s also very long… And it’s very old, written between about 2000 and 3500 years ago, in a totally different world… Just think how differently people lived then, and thought then, compared to now. It’s almost impossible to imagine.”
Continuing in this accessible tone, he helpfully defines theological terms, although he often glosses over them too easily. For example, he defines “consubstantial” as “made of the exact same stuff.” He also defines terms that arguably don’t require definition for the average reader. For example, “genre” is defined as “how the books are organized” into sections at a bookstore. Humorously, he declares that there is no need to know what “zeitgeist” means “unless you want to sound clever at a dinner party.”
There is undoubtedly an appropriate setting for a book that simplifies Christian theology for the non-academic. One might argue, however, that the “ordinary Christian” is capable of deeper reflection than is offered here. This treatment may alienate readers who are intellectually curious but not theologically trained.
Burnhope oversimplifies not only terminology, but also significant doctrines, with which the Church has grappled for centuries, reducing them to coarse soundbites. On complementarianism, for instance, Burnhope confidently asserts: “We can see that Paul was not mandating exclusively male leadership as a God-given ‘timeless’ truth, but (at most) affirming what was ‘obvious’ and ‘natural’ in his world for propriety’s sake.”
As John Stott writes in Between Two Worlds, Christian teachers are called to “bridge the chasm… to relate God’s unchanging Word to our ever‑changing world …[without] sacrific[ing] truth to relevance or relevance to truth.” If the goal is to explain complicated concepts so that the layperson can grasp them, one should not risk trivializing those concepts to such an extent that the reader may not appreciate that there exists any complexity or nuance to be grasped.
Postmodernism is presented briefly: “The belief that ‘what’s true for you’ need not be ‘true for me’” is “not as problematic as it first seems, since it leaves massive space for personal testimonies.” This is an intriguing perspective, and one that could lead to fruitful reflection. However, Burnhope does not linger long enough to help the reader think through the implications.
In his commitment to accessibility, he often reduces complex ideas to simplified summaries that reflect his own stance, without offering sufficient engagement with competing viewpoints. The result is a kind of “hit and run” approach—stating an opinion with confidence, but without the depth or nuance that would encourage readers to wrestle with the issues themselves. Ironically, the title, How to Read the Bible Well, is ironically undercut by Burnhope’s persistent underestimation of the average reader’s ability to do just that.
August 14, 2024
For anyone who wants to take the Word of God seriously, I would recommend moving past this book. Burnhope writes with a pastoral and endearing tone, but he is unfortunately writing to please the world. He gives up massive ground when it comes to Scripture’s inerrancy (having no errors) and perspicuity (being clear and easy to understand its plain meaning).
I was shocked to find that he suggests some of the “trickier” passages in the OT for example (particularly, the Canaanite killing passages) may have been misinterpretations of what God wanted and more of a representation of the ‘culture du jour’. In light of this, he suggests that “we are at liberty to look at some of these stories and to say “No, that’s not what our God would say or do, because that’s not what he’s like.” — according to Burnhope, we can choose certain passages in Scripture we don’t like and say “that’s probably not accurate because it doesn’t fit the God I know”. For anyone trying to take their faith seriously, I hope you can see the huge red flags here. Who gets to pick and choose which parts of the Bible are accurate and which are mistaken?
I’m hesitant to over-accuse the author, but frankly, his commentary throughout much of the book bared an uncanny resemblance to the Serpent’s comments in the Garden: “Did God really say…?” Burnhope regularly brings up traditions or long-held doctrines by the church and then asks doubt-infusing questions like “are we really sure that…?” But then never gives much clarity on what we should believe instead.
I would not recommend this to anyone, except those who are trying to understand this line of thinking so that they may refute it.
I was shocked to find that he suggests some of the “trickier” passages in the OT for example (particularly, the Canaanite killing passages) may have been misinterpretations of what God wanted and more of a representation of the ‘culture du jour’. In light of this, he suggests that “we are at liberty to look at some of these stories and to say “No, that’s not what our God would say or do, because that’s not what he’s like.” — according to Burnhope, we can choose certain passages in Scripture we don’t like and say “that’s probably not accurate because it doesn’t fit the God I know”. For anyone trying to take their faith seriously, I hope you can see the huge red flags here. Who gets to pick and choose which parts of the Bible are accurate and which are mistaken?
I’m hesitant to over-accuse the author, but frankly, his commentary throughout much of the book bared an uncanny resemblance to the Serpent’s comments in the Garden: “Did God really say…?” Burnhope regularly brings up traditions or long-held doctrines by the church and then asks doubt-infusing questions like “are we really sure that…?” But then never gives much clarity on what we should believe instead.
I would not recommend this to anyone, except those who are trying to understand this line of thinking so that they may refute it.
October 16, 2021
I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
I read this book on the heels of another book on biblical interpretation, and initially found myself favouring the other title. In time, however, this book grew on me, and I began to appreciate the fact that it was perhaps written for a different audience. Burnhope is an academic writing to a non-academic audience, and at times I wish he had gone deeper, but perhaps he would then have lost his appeal to those new to biblical (re)interpretation. Burnhope brings his presuppositions to his writing that Christians have a personal God who can be known in relationship, and through the Bible (capital “W” Word of God). He writes intelligently, compassionately, and with a disarming sense of humour.
Chapter 1: What is the Bible?, introduces Burnhope’s approach to the Bible, and his view of it as “God-breathed,” God being the Divine Author through human writers in a way yet to be explained throughout the book. He asks not if it is the Word of God, but how it is the Word of God.
In Chapter 2: The Word of God or the Words of People? Burnhope asks the question, “might the ways in which Jesus as the Word of God (John 1) is fully God and fully human at the same time help us to grasp how the Bible as the Word of God is fully God and fully human at the same time?”
Chapter 3: The Bible Story as a Box Set was influenced by writers such as Brian McLaren. I tracked with most of “The Big Story of the Bible,” with the exception of Burnhope’s assertion that, “How it’s all going to end is all scripted.” I hold to more of an open theology where the future is not scripted, and depends on humankind for it to be “written.”
In Chapter 4: The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament, Burnhope chooses the Canaanite conquest as his “Exhibit A.” I wished he would have taken a story like the flood, where the violence is seemingly all attributable to God. Burnhope’s explanations that: (1) the Bible’s humanity shows through the OT texts; (2) the people’s understanding of God developed over time; and (3) God revealed God-self through Jesus, doesn’t explain NT violence, such as in Revelation. In addition, God’s “accommodation” when it comes to not overriding human violence if God could have stopped it is problematic for me. I hold more to a “God can’t” perspective, as in God can’t override free will, act outside of God’s nature, and needs human partnership to achieve God’s ends.
Chapter 5: How the Biblical Writers Saw Their World is a crash course on worldviews: from the ancient-world worldview (including a comparison of how God’s worldview might have contrasted with the biblical writers’ worldviews), modern worldview, and post-modern worldview.
In Chapter 6: Does the Old Testament Apply Today?, Burnhope outlines the interpretative principles that: (1) if an Old Testament command or law is not repeated in the New Testament, it is no longer valid; (2) if an OT law it is restated in some fashion in the NT it still applies; and (3) asking will practicing the law “promote and enhance the twin concepts of loving God and loving people or, conversely, will undermine and detract from them.”
Chapter 7: The Bible and Judaism provides an analysis of Jesus’ clash with the Pharisees, and covers old and new perspectives on Paul.
In Chapter 8: Heaven and Hell, I agreed with Burnhope’s perspective that “Neither heaven nor the kingdom is referring to a place,” but disagreed that the kingdom’s coming requires supernatural intervention. I was also troubled by Burnhope’s opinion that everything and everyone damaging God’s creation will be removed. As Aleksander Solzhenitsyn has written, “The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” Unless God removes free will, it is hard to imagine a world without evil, pain, and suffering. Moving on to hell, Burnhope runs through the options—all variously supported by Scripture—of eternal conscious torment, conditional immortality, and universal restoration.
Chapter 9: Was Jesus Superman? outlines Burnhope’s views on Christology, including a strong emphasis on Jesus’ humanity, including having free will and requiring faith and trust in an uncertain future.
In Chapter 10: Where is There Evil and Suffering in the World?, Burnhope outlines his own tentative, partial explanations for the problems of evil and suffering. There were none I disagreed with; however, as I commented on under Chapter 4, a “God can’t” perspective has been helpful. Burnside touches on it when he says that God’s control (in a modern sense) cannot co-exist with human free will.
Chapter 11: Original Context and the Boundaries of Biblical Interpretation wraps up Burnhope’s thesis, and covers concepts such as anachronism (something from one time period that has been inappropriately placed in another, including worldviews), the word “biblical” (not a “one size fits all” adjective), context (including both secular and religious cultural context), and confirmation bias. He outlines how NT authors used the OT in ways that we should not necessarily mimic (on the assumption that the NT is “canonical”), as they develop the sensus plenior (“fuller sense”). Burnhope returns to the theme of original meaning v. meaningful in our day, allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture (which I hold in the limited sense of allowing the whole of Scripture—especially using Jesus as our primary lens—but seems to me to be a circular reasoning used in a larger sense), and the importance of interpretation within community (depending on one’s community!).
The appendix entitled “Bible Versions” is important, as the act of translating the texts in their original languages is an act of theological interpretation itself. I agree with having a version that can be read “devotionally,” but disagree with the NIV being one’s choice for a formal-equivalent translation, it being—in my view—too biased by Evangelicalism, including penal substitution. I much prefer the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). Burnhope, to his credit, recommends reading verses in different translations to compare and contrast them.
Overall, well written, and a good and important book—in particular for more conservative Christians to whom these concepts may be new. Burnhope is a fresh voice—not American!—that offers wisdom.
I read this book on the heels of another book on biblical interpretation, and initially found myself favouring the other title. In time, however, this book grew on me, and I began to appreciate the fact that it was perhaps written for a different audience. Burnhope is an academic writing to a non-academic audience, and at times I wish he had gone deeper, but perhaps he would then have lost his appeal to those new to biblical (re)interpretation. Burnhope brings his presuppositions to his writing that Christians have a personal God who can be known in relationship, and through the Bible (capital “W” Word of God). He writes intelligently, compassionately, and with a disarming sense of humour.
Chapter 1: What is the Bible?, introduces Burnhope’s approach to the Bible, and his view of it as “God-breathed,” God being the Divine Author through human writers in a way yet to be explained throughout the book. He asks not if it is the Word of God, but how it is the Word of God.
In Chapter 2: The Word of God or the Words of People? Burnhope asks the question, “might the ways in which Jesus as the Word of God (John 1) is fully God and fully human at the same time help us to grasp how the Bible as the Word of God is fully God and fully human at the same time?”
Chapter 3: The Bible Story as a Box Set was influenced by writers such as Brian McLaren. I tracked with most of “The Big Story of the Bible,” with the exception of Burnhope’s assertion that, “How it’s all going to end is all scripted.” I hold to more of an open theology where the future is not scripted, and depends on humankind for it to be “written.”
In Chapter 4: The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament, Burnhope chooses the Canaanite conquest as his “Exhibit A.” I wished he would have taken a story like the flood, where the violence is seemingly all attributable to God. Burnhope’s explanations that: (1) the Bible’s humanity shows through the OT texts; (2) the people’s understanding of God developed over time; and (3) God revealed God-self through Jesus, doesn’t explain NT violence, such as in Revelation. In addition, God’s “accommodation” when it comes to not overriding human violence if God could have stopped it is problematic for me. I hold more to a “God can’t” perspective, as in God can’t override free will, act outside of God’s nature, and needs human partnership to achieve God’s ends.
Chapter 5: How the Biblical Writers Saw Their World is a crash course on worldviews: from the ancient-world worldview (including a comparison of how God’s worldview might have contrasted with the biblical writers’ worldviews), modern worldview, and post-modern worldview.
In Chapter 6: Does the Old Testament Apply Today?, Burnhope outlines the interpretative principles that: (1) if an Old Testament command or law is not repeated in the New Testament, it is no longer valid; (2) if an OT law it is restated in some fashion in the NT it still applies; and (3) asking will practicing the law “promote and enhance the twin concepts of loving God and loving people or, conversely, will undermine and detract from them.”
Chapter 7: The Bible and Judaism provides an analysis of Jesus’ clash with the Pharisees, and covers old and new perspectives on Paul.
In Chapter 8: Heaven and Hell, I agreed with Burnhope’s perspective that “Neither heaven nor the kingdom is referring to a place,” but disagreed that the kingdom’s coming requires supernatural intervention. I was also troubled by Burnhope’s opinion that everything and everyone damaging God’s creation will be removed. As Aleksander Solzhenitsyn has written, “The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” Unless God removes free will, it is hard to imagine a world without evil, pain, and suffering. Moving on to hell, Burnhope runs through the options—all variously supported by Scripture—of eternal conscious torment, conditional immortality, and universal restoration.
Chapter 9: Was Jesus Superman? outlines Burnhope’s views on Christology, including a strong emphasis on Jesus’ humanity, including having free will and requiring faith and trust in an uncertain future.
In Chapter 10: Where is There Evil and Suffering in the World?, Burnhope outlines his own tentative, partial explanations for the problems of evil and suffering. There were none I disagreed with; however, as I commented on under Chapter 4, a “God can’t” perspective has been helpful. Burnside touches on it when he says that God’s control (in a modern sense) cannot co-exist with human free will.
Chapter 11: Original Context and the Boundaries of Biblical Interpretation wraps up Burnhope’s thesis, and covers concepts such as anachronism (something from one time period that has been inappropriately placed in another, including worldviews), the word “biblical” (not a “one size fits all” adjective), context (including both secular and religious cultural context), and confirmation bias. He outlines how NT authors used the OT in ways that we should not necessarily mimic (on the assumption that the NT is “canonical”), as they develop the sensus plenior (“fuller sense”). Burnhope returns to the theme of original meaning v. meaningful in our day, allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture (which I hold in the limited sense of allowing the whole of Scripture—especially using Jesus as our primary lens—but seems to me to be a circular reasoning used in a larger sense), and the importance of interpretation within community (depending on one’s community!).
The appendix entitled “Bible Versions” is important, as the act of translating the texts in their original languages is an act of theological interpretation itself. I agree with having a version that can be read “devotionally,” but disagree with the NIV being one’s choice for a formal-equivalent translation, it being—in my view—too biased by Evangelicalism, including penal substitution. I much prefer the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). Burnhope, to his credit, recommends reading verses in different translations to compare and contrast them.
Overall, well written, and a good and important book—in particular for more conservative Christians to whom these concepts may be new. Burnhope is a fresh voice—not American!—that offers wisdom.
July 30, 2025
We used this as a small group study, reading a chapter a week and then using it as a springboard to provoke discussion. We enjoyed this format and found the book gave some useful insights that generated good conversation.
The book is aimed at people who are beginning to dip their toe into "deconstruction" or the complexities of the Bible - if you're looking for some humungous theological exploration, you may find this doesn't quite hit the mark. However, this is written well and offers challenge and depth.
My only criticism is that is strays off the topic of reading the Bible well towards the end, and veers into "big questions" territory. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, but I felt it slightly diluted the core message.
The book is aimed at people who are beginning to dip their toe into "deconstruction" or the complexities of the Bible - if you're looking for some humungous theological exploration, you may find this doesn't quite hit the mark. However, this is written well and offers challenge and depth.
My only criticism is that is strays off the topic of reading the Bible well towards the end, and veers into "big questions" territory. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, but I felt it slightly diluted the core message.
February 13, 2025
Some very interesting and thought provoking information, and then a section that was a lot more theological than I was expecting.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews