Reading the Bible for All the Wrong Reasons
Overview
The Bible can be hazardous to one’s health if read with faulty expectations. Writing with compassion and wit, Russell Pregeant shows that reading “without interpretation” is impossible. The right question is, which assumptions are appropriate?
Pregeant addresses the most common and most harmful assumptions about the Bible, beginning with the expectation that it will always “speak” as directly and immediately as a fortune cookie. The Bible’s authority is not a matter of its factual, historical, or scientific accuracy—so it can hardly “disprove” scientific theories of evolution and the nature of the universe. It does not provide crystal ball-like glimpses of the future and is not a systematic blueprint for personal morality or public policy; these are distortions of the meaning of biblical prophecy and biblical ethics. And while the Bible has long been read as a source for Christian doctrine, Pregeant emphasizes that Christians must take responsibility for their own uses—and abuses—of the biblical text. Only when respect and reason take the place of slogans and ultimatums, he argues, can the Bible exercise an appropriate authority in a mature “life in the Spirit.”
With the Logos Bible Software edition of Reading the Bible for All the Wrong Reasons, every word is essentially a link, equipping you to search the entire collection for a particular verse or topic—“Creation,” for example, or “grace.” This gives you instant access to a wealth of information on historical and contemporary ethical thought.
- Addresses common and harmful assumptions about the Bible
- Analyzes biblical prophecy, ethics, and authority
- More than a Fortune Cookie: The Testimonies of Two Communities
- Neither Fact Book nor Catechism: Rethinking Biblical Authority
- Neither Science nor Anti-Science: Genesis, Geology, the Big Bang, and Darwin
- Neither Crystal Ball nor Horror Show: Understanding Biblical Prophecy
- Neither Rigid Rules nor Billy Club: The Nature of Biblical Ethics
- The Bible and Our Beliefs: Reflections on Christian Doctrine
- Life in the Spirit: The Gospel of Grace and Demand
- The Biblical Witness and the Word of God
Top Highlights
“When any readers ignore that larger story and reduce the Bible to a personal guidebook, they miss what is most important about it.” (Page 11)
“Bible as a dialogue partner would mean opening ourselves to its many perspectives, prepared to have our own preconceptions challenged and overturned. Furthermore, in this kind of approach our own experiences, in a world very different from that of the biblical writers, have authority of their own. In fact, our own experiences are a necessary component in the process of negotiating the different points of view within the Bible itself.” (Page 31)
“They want to be convinced of truth rather than forced to submit to the mere assertion of truth. Good teachers or parents are able to lead children to understand why they should or should not accept some particular claim to truth.” (Page 32)
“Interpretation is not a mechanical process. There is no magic formula for interpretation that will ensure that everyone who follows the ‘right’ procedure will come up with the same, ‘right’ interpretation.” (Page 4)
“In summary, the role of the church is to testify to God’s actions in the world, which means proclaiming what God has done to repair the broken world and restore the divine-human relationship.” (Page 14)
In this thoughtful and accessible book, Russell Pregeant engages important questions about reading the Bible. He tackles tough contemporary issues ranging from biblical authority to care for the earth, from the rapture to evolution, from sexual and gender issues to the nature of salvation and the doing of ethics. What emerges is the contribution of the Bible to a compelling vision of the common good and of a just life lived in relation to a gracious God.
—Warren Carter, professor of New Testament, Brite Divinity School
For much of Western history, the Bible has been the primary source of the wisdom needed to inspire and guide conviction and commitment. Contemporary culture has abandoned that source of wisdom at a time when such wisdom is urgently need for human survival. Some have lost the wisdom by treating the Bible as a sacred object; others, by dismissing it as worthless or worse. Pregeant points the way to recovering and reviving its life-giving power.
—John B. Cobb Jr., emeritus professor, Claremont School of Theology
- Title: Reading the Bible for All the Wrong Reasons
- Author: Russell Pregeant
- Publisher: Augsburg Fortress
- Publication Date: 2011
- Pages: 160
Reviews
3 ratings
Bill
1/15/2017
Ron Harris
3/3/2016
Glenn Crouch
9/19/2014
This is the first book from this Author that I have read. The description of the book sounded excellent and I was particularly attracted to the chapter headings. After reading the introduction, I was convinced this was a book that I would enjoy. Sadly I was disappointed :( The Author raises many excellent points in regard to the misuse (though I would sometime argue "perceived misuse") of the Bible. In each chapter, I would again start to feel an affinity for the Author's development of his argument. However that changed most times when he addressed the argument. He seems to lump all of us with a more Conservative approach to Scripture together as Fundamentalists with very little education. For example, he boldly claims that there is overwhelming evidence that the Pastoral Epistles were not written by Paul and then seems to indicate that therefore we can basically ignore anything that we don't like in them. I agree that there are some good arguments for non-Pauline authorship but wouldn't say it was overwhelming and there are many noted scholars who disagree. It is just how dismissive the Author is. He often argues from emotion: this view of the Bible leads to these bad things, thus the view must be wrong. When it could as well be argued that it is not the view of the bible that is at fault, but the hardness of the hearts of the people in the way they apply it. I also felt that after an excellent setting the stage for a decent discussion on a many topics, he then almost trivialises things when addressing the solution. Academia and Science seem to be faultless but Church Tradition and History is always suspect. Besides my frustrations above, the Author is a good communicator and the book is easy enough to read. I do believe that the Author cares very deeply and justifiably for those who have been hurt from the misuse of the Bible. However he fails to convince me that he has the solution.
