Asking Better Questions of the Bible: A Guide for the Wounded, Wary, and Longing for More
Ebook
Too often when we come to the Bible, questions make us uncomfortable. But questions are often a good thing. When we stop viewing the Bible through the lens of our own agendas and ask the questions the Bible is asking, something extraordinary happens. We form a new and deeper way of thinking about Scripture and understanding the Bible. As we do, we move further into the depths and mystery of God.
Asking Better Questions of the Bible is a journey into the original conversation of the inspired Text. In it, Marty Solomon (a host of The BEMA Podcast and the founder of the BEMA Discipleship ministry, a branch of Impact Campus Ministries) explores all the different portions of Scripture, examining how each is unique in structure and intent.
When we ask the questions the Bible is asking, we will
- understand the ancient Near Eastern perspective of words, numbers, and core principles like eternal life, truth, sin, and faith;
- recognize the literary devices and the reclamation of stories used in the Torah;
- read the historical books both as sources of inspiration and as cautionary tales;
- interpret the distinct genres in wisdom literature, such as psalms and proverbs;
- decipher the unique elements of prophetic literature;
- perceive the subversive nature of the Gospel accounts; and
- view the New Testament letters as inspired, authoritative interpretation of the story of God.
God can be trusted with our doubts and invites us to question. Let Asking Better Questions of the Bible show you a better way forward for interpreting Scripture.
I’ve been waiting for this book to be written for a long time. In Asking Better Questions of the Bible, Marty Solomon gives us a treasure map to uncover riches in the Bible by taking the reader back to the Hebraic context of the ancient world. You’ll never read the Bible the same way after going through this book.
This book is, above all else, an invitation. It’s an invitation to bring our whole selves to our reading of Scripture, confident that doing so will lead us into a deeper level of meaning and understanding. Solomon asks us to join him on a journey away from easy answers and toward a richer encounter not only with the biblical text itself but, more importantly, with the God who beckons us to draw near. For anyone committed to discipleship, this is an invitation to enthusiastically accept.
Marty helps us see that asking questions about the Bible shouldn’t make us nervous; instead, it can usher us into new possibilities in our relationship with God and his Word. By diving deep in fresh and engaging ways, this book will help you experience the goodness of God in what’s revealed in Scripture—and help you fall in love with Jesus for the first time . . . again.
Asking Better Questions of the Bible is for everyone who loves the Bible—or who wants to love the Bible but has been wounded by those using it as a weapon. With a writing voice as knowledgeable as a seminary prof and as accessible as a close friend, Marty Solomon provides the tools you need to find the God of goodness and love in these ancient pages. Whether this is your first or fiftieth time looking for God in the Bible, I urge you to pick up a copy of this book and find hope, life, and the freedom to imagine better questions.
If you find the bestselling book of all time—the Bible—irrelevant, inaccurate, or insignificant, you’re not alone, but you may want to reconsider. Marty’s latest offers both a nuanced and a faithful way to reimagine the text as both sacred and transformational. Read this book for tools and insights that will help you reclaim the bestselling book of all time.
This book is an invitation to a deeper truth and a better approach to applying it. There is so much in this book for small groups, discipling one-on-one, or even teaching from the stage. All followers of Jesus will be inspired to examine how we talk about what we talk about.
Well, I’ll be . . . Marty did it. He actually wrote a balanced, inviting, captivating book about the Bible. It is lively but not cheap. It is rigorous but not punishing. It is faithful but not fideistic. This book deepens the faith-giving approach to the Bible that so many of us have found in The BEMA Podcast. And, thank God, it’s readable!
In Asking Better Questions of the Bible, Marty Solomon offers wonderful examples and resources for doing precisely what the title suggests while inviting the reader to engage the Hebrew context and the distinctions between Eastern and Western thought. This alone is worth the price of the book and is desperately needed in modern biblical interpretation. Asking Better Questions of the Bible is a gem for those desiring to be shaped by the Text as opposed to simply deconstructing it. It offers a refined set of tools for a deepening relationship with the Bible and the God it reveals.
In this enlightening debut, Bema podcast host Solomon seeks to help Christians engage more deeply with the Bible and, by extension, with God. Rejecting straightforward approaches to Bible study, Solomon argues that recognizing scriptural complexity helps believers appreciate “the bigness of God,” and that asking hard questions, rather than signifying disbelief, can engender a more vibrant faith. His plan involves getting readers to recognize they are “literary tourists” who are studying the Bible, and also that they are not its intended historical audience. As well, Solomon suggests viewing the text through an “ancient Eastern perspective” so as to appreciate it within the cultural context it was created and to better perceive the individual perspectives and agendas of its writers. He also helps readers tackle anxieties that can arise from serious study, acknowledging one might initially feel one’s regressed in biblical understanding or even unintentionally misled others spiritually in the past. Accessibly written and forthright (Solomon is frank about the struggles in his own process), this guide provides a useful spiritual toolbox to assist readers in broadening their Bible study, without being prescriptive or wedded to one philosophy. Christians seeking a fresh approach to scriptural study should give this a look.
- Title: Asking Better Questions of the Bible: A Guide for the Wounded, Wary, and Longing for More
- Author: Marty Solomon
- Publisher: NavPress
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2022
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781641585729, 9781641585705, 1641585706, 1641585722
- Resource ID: LLS:9781641585729
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-04-02T09:52:45Z