Reading the Bible with the Damned

by Ekblad, Bob

• ISBN13: 9780664229177
• ISBN10: 0664229174
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-09-19
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Pr

Summary

Exploring the challenges that both the churched and the unchurched have faced regarding giving and receiving the word of God, Bob Ekblad encourages us all to learn to read the Bible together as a whole. In this compelling book, he reflects on how Christians have often found it difficult to proclaim God's good news to every realm of society, while those who have needed it most have frequently deemed themselves unworthy due to social circumstances or sinfulness. InReading the Bible with the Damned, Ekblad offers concrete advice on how to bridge this gap through a variety of insights ultimately leading to spiritual transformation. This book is full of examples of how Scripture changes lives for those who attend Bible studies and for those who lead them, offering practical suggestions on many passages from the Old and New Testaments.

Author Biography

Bob Ekblad is executive director of Tierra Nueva and the People's Seminary in Burlington, Washington

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Preface	xiii
Chapter 1: Reading Scripture for the Liberation of the Not-Yet-Believing	1	(10)
Chapter 2: New Beginnings Require New Readings: Reading Genesis in and out of Jail	11	(14)
Chapter 3: Getting Back into the Garden	25	(36)
Chapter 4: God Empowers the Down and Out: Nonheroic Reading of the Patriarchal Narratives	61	(32)
Chapter 5: Encountering God in Exodus and at Today's Margins	93	(20)
Chapter 6: God's Empowering Call to the People: Reading Isaiah with Exiles	113	(14)
Chapter 7: Reading and Praying the Psalms	127	(28)
Chapter 8: Reading the Gospels with Tax Collectors and Sinners	155	(24)
Chapter 9: Following Jesus, the Good Coyote: Reading Paul with Undocumented Immigrants	179	(18)
Notes	197