cover image Better Ways to Read the Bible: Transforming a Weapon of Harm into a Tool of Healing

Better Ways to Read the Bible: Transforming a Weapon of Harm into a Tool of Healing

Zach W. Lambert. Brazos, $19.99 trade paper (216p) ISBN 978-1-58743-668-0

Pastor Lambert details in his meditative debut manual how Christians can read scripture to promote “wholeness and healing” rather than hate. Explaining how the Bible gets weaponized, he contends that pastors and churches incorrectly frame the text as the inerrant word of God, giving rise to skewed interpretations that obscure its message or harm the very groups it calls on Christians to protect. Instead, readers should consider the Bible a “big, messy, and complex” collection of writings best analyzed in less literal ways. Those include a “Jesus-centered” lens that uses Christ’s love as a filter, and a contextual lens, which the author uses to convincingly debunk bans on women pastors, noting that the verse cited in support of such restrictions—extracted from a letter written by Paul to an Ephesian church—was meant only to address that specific church, rather than Christians “everywhere and for all time.” Elsewhere, Lambert outlines how a “liberation and flourishing” lens draws out biblical themes of justice for the oppressed and empowers readers to fight injustice in their lives. Intertwining teachings from a diverse slate of thinkers and theologians, including bell hooks and James Cone, with Lambert’s own experiences of deconstructing the rigid, Southern Baptist faith of his youth, this makes for a wide-ranging and cogent guide to seeing scripture in a new light. Disenchanted Christians will be energized. (Aug.)
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