I received a complimentary review copy of Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water and Loving the Bible Again from the publisher through a Twitter post. I am working on reading the Bible this year, and the book seemed a good fit.
Author Rachel Held Evans frames the book with her own story of growing up with the Bible as a magic book with wonderful stories. As she got older, the Bible became more of a weapon, not to be questioned. But, eventually, she saw beneath the magic to the gritty realism: Abraham willingly tying his son to the pyre, Joshua’s army slaughtering men, women and children when the walls of Jericho fall, and God sending flood waters to destroy humanity. Yet, even as she began to turn away from the Bible, its stories continued to surround her. It is a foundational book for Western culture, influencing Shakespeare and Civil Rights activists alike.
Each chapter of the book opens with a story that reflects the theme in the coming chapter. The chapters focus on various types of stories found in the Bible including origin, deliverance, and resistance stories as well as others. She embraces the complexities and contradictions in the Bible, pointing out that it can be used to support almost any point of view:
This is why there are times when the most instructive question to bring to the text is not, what does this say? but what am I looking for? I suspect Jesus knew this when he said, “Ask and it will be given to you; and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7)
Evans does not check her criticism of the United States and its treatment of the poor and oppressed. She extends that criticism to the white American church, which she believes has “chosen the promise of power over prophetic voice.” She describes modern day prophets who are pushing the church to live a more Christ like existence, resisting the organizational structure that has been built around the simple message of love and peace. She believes modern day resistance is needed in order to reclaim the magic of the Bible.
Yet, she also celebrates the God the Bible reveals in the details of the Parables: “I love these details because they reveal to me a God who is immersed in creation, deeply embedded within the lives of God’s beloved. Ours is a God who know how to mend clothes and bake bread, a God familiar with the planting and harvesting season, the traditions of bridesmaids, and the tickle of wool on the back of the neck.”
I am looking forward to heading back to the Bible with Evans’ prose in my mind: looking for my own magic in this book that has been part of my life.
