iCrucified

I recently received an advance copy of The Blue Parakeet, the latest book by Scot McKnight. The sub-title pretty much sums up the subject of the book; it reads, “Rethinking How You Read the Bible.” When describing The Parakeet, I use the term “pretty much sums up…” because I think a second question the book posits is part of the bigger picture of The Blue Parakeet; that is for me, anyway. The bigger picture question is “How do I (we) live out the Bible today?”

Scot proposes the “how do we live it” question while tossing out a number of difficult passages from the Bible. These difficult passages are what he calls the “blue parakeets” (you’ll have to read the book to find out the story behind that label; it’s a pretty cool illustration). Without giving a definitive answer to how we live it, Scot suggests the answer to “how we live” can be found in “how we read” the Bible.

The opening chapters describe some of the various methods people employ for reading the Bible. Each of these methods produces unique outcomes which bring with them certain challenges when the reading moves to life application. I enjoyed the descriptions of the different styles (or ways) that people read the Bible and was able to personally relate to what was being described. I have approached reading the Bible in some of the ways that Scot illustrates, and I have experienced the general outcome (incongruous application) which results from reading the Bible in a way that was not intended. McKnight proposes that the Bible was meant to be read as a story and he walks the reader through his reasoning for this belief. Although I do not need convincing (I share the same belief), I think the points put forth by the author to build his case are very persuasive. Read the rest of this entry »