Fixing Abraham: How Taming Our Bible Heroes Keeps Us from Knowing the Wild Ways of God

by Chris Tiegreen

Would we reject the Bible's heroes if we encountered them today? What would we say to Abraham about child sacrifice, to Ruth about the appearance of immorality, or to Jesus about the company he kept? Acclaimed writer and author Chris Tiegreen calls us to reconsider the sometimes sanitized way we portray our faith heroes—and the lessons we can learn from them. In the process, he challenges us to be more open to the wild and holy ways of a good and mysterious God. SaltRiver is an imprint of Tyndale House Publishers (www.tyndale.com).

Genres: Nonfiction, Christian

190 pages, Paperback

First published February 5, 2009

About the author

Chris Tiegreen is an award-winning author of more than 60 books and discussion guides that have been translated into more than 40 languages and read by more than 5 million people worldwide. He is also a collaborative/supporting writer on more than 40 book projects. As a journalist/photojournalist, he has written hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles covering city and county government, sports, and education. His experiences in media, ministry, and higher education bring a unique perspective to his writing, which often focuses on cultural commentary and devotional themes.

Reviews

[Leona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note on why I rated this so high:

While the language wasn't particularly breathtaking or anything, it was effective. What I liked about this book was the ideas it presented, though. It challenged my perceptions of how God works and who He is, how flawed the people He works through really are. Although he frames the Bible characters in such a way as to support his thesis, and some might argue that these are incomplete pictures and there are plenty of counterarguments that could be raised by his propositions - some addressed by the author himself - I feel like this is entirely valid; he is simply approaching what used to be seen nonchalantly with fresh insight, and he isn't trying to distort any truths by his take on the matter, just placing the truth under a different light in the hopes of illuminating something to help us understanding it better. So for all the things it didn't do well, I still think it deserves the five stars if only because it is real.

We try to fit God into a formula, a structure or pattern, this is how God works or God wouldn't do that and while there are certain absolutes, I do not believe in a God who is rigid and fixed and predictable. I believe He sometimes works in the unexpected, that He is not neat and tidy: that sometimes He works through ways we might find offensive, weird, deceptive, or sinful-- that sometimes He asks His people to sacrifice their son, throw themselves at the feet of a man in the middle of the night, marry a prostitute, or cook lunch over human dung. And that in all these God remains the same God from a thousand years ago, but He is never static. He continues to work in ways that surprise us and catch us off-guard.

So there.

[Ingrid Espinosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! I think it's very original and sincere, and I appreciate the well-researched entries. The content may be surprising, but it's convincing considering the good mix of professional tone and light-hearted sketches that definitely help me understand the scenarios better and take them to heart.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to look deeper int o the Bible or find God more dynamically in their lives!

[Carolyn Comings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and thought-provoking look at how present-day people might react to the personalities and actions of Biblical figures if they appeared in our world today.