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gbdill's review
5.0
Excellent read. All my life all I have ever known is a mostly literal understanding of scripture. Rarely, have I read or understood the Bible as a metaphorical narrative. In this book, Borg humbly takes you through the entire Bible and provides what he believes could be a metaphorical understanding of much of the stories contained within it. He doesn't claim to be right or have all the answers, and he provides several possibilities of what these stories may mean. But, I am glad that I have now been exposed to another form of hermeneutic of scripture besides only the literal interpretation. At this point I believe the Bible could be understood with both perspectives (literal and metaphor), but the challenge is to discern what could be which. As Borg mentions, it only makes sense that most of the scripture was addressed to a particular audience and isn't necessarily supposed to be a prescription for all people for all times and all cultures. But, we can certainly glean truths from these ancient narratives that can be applied to our lives today. The bottom line is that the Bible is about a story of how people connect with the Divine, and how we are to treat and love others. And Borg addresses this multiple times through this book. I highly recommend "Read the Bible Again for the First Time" especially to those, like me, who have only been exposed to one stream of interpretation, namely literal. But, I also recommend it to those who are thirsty to hear and understand what God is speaking to us today. Kudos to Borg for a very well written and insightful book.
10_4tina's review
challenging
slow-paced
0.5
The title and the blurb on the back felt so spot on for a Christina book. And then I read it and it was terrible. Heretical - not a word I use much, but it truly drifted so far away from fundamentalism that there wasn't truth left. I have been into the BEMA podcast lately and expected this book to be along those lines. Instead, the author minimizes Jesus, ignores biblical commands, and rewrites much of the old testament to be a gospel of social justice as opposed to a story of God redeeming His people. If I buy-into the conclusions of the author, I'm left feeling like the Bible isn't worthwhile and the author's version of Jesus is not even respectable. At the point at which I get to his conclusions, I'm not trying to keep the scriptures. I'm confused by the co-existence of Borg's conclusions and the Bible.
I read all the way through and highlighted nothing. I certainly don't recommend this for Christians who believe the Bible to be true/authoritative even a little and also think that I wouldn't recommend it to non-Christians either. Why bother with the Bible if you don't think it's at least mostly true?
I read all the way through and highlighted nothing. I certainly don't recommend this for Christians who believe the Bible to be true/authoritative even a little and also think that I wouldn't recommend it to non-Christians either. Why bother with the Bible if you don't think it's at least mostly true?
need_to_read's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
robinbirdsong's review
4.0
Helpful in formulating a way to push back against literal readings of the Bible, while offering another approach, which he calls "historical-metaphorical." This approach investigates the historical context of who is writing and why, while still being open to metaphorical understandings that can be informed by tradition and the holy spirit. The introduction was very good, but the quick scan through the whole of the Bible felt like too much like scratching the surface. And the writing was on the dry side; for this reason I much prefer a book like Rachel Held Evans' [b:Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again|36576151|Inspired Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again|Rachel Held Evans|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1518673569l/36576151._SY75_.jpg|58318491] that both describes and embodies this rethinking of Biblical hermeneutics.
maviemerveilleuse's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
kimses's review
3.0
This was a very interesting perspective of looking at the bible from a metaphorical perspective. It wove in the history of the era which lent a whole new light to what the passages meant. Near the end, it got a little dense with too many examples and it became a trudge to get through. But overall, it was worthwhile to read.