Reading the Bible
Over the past few months I’ve been writing about the Bible – why to read it, how to read it, what you miss if you don’t read it…
two interesting new-ish books came my way in the midst of this. Richard Foster’s Life With God details the connection between intellectual and spiritual reading, and for anyone intersted in Lectio Divina, there are excellent sections in in on that practice.
T A Perry’s God’s Twilight Zone is also a good read – subtitled Wisdom in the Hebrew Bible, it’s not just about the “wisdom books” but about wisdom as found throughout the Hebrew texts. From Solomon’s judgement about the two mothers, to Ecclesiastes on mid-life and old age, to Samson’s riddle, it’s packed with fresh looks at stories that are somewhat hard to fathom, either in their own context or in terms of contemprary relevance.
Perry’s is less of a devotional read than Foster’s, but both books engage both heart and mind.
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author musician theologian
Maggi has kept a blog since September 2003, writing about theology and faith, the arts and literature, and a little about life and random nonsense...
In an increasingly secularised society few people have a good working knowledge of the Bible. Yet a great deal of our culture is built on stories or ideas that come from the Bible. Literature, art, music, language and even the fabric of our society - such as our justice system - are built on Christian concepts and biblical references. The Writing on the Wall provides a fascinating introduction to the Bible's best-known, and most influential, stories. Each chapter gives some background to the text of the Bible, and shows how the stories have become enmeshed in Western culture. Adam and Eve, the ten plagues of Egypt, The Prodigal Son and Mary Magdalene all feature - along with how the Bible has influenced everyone from Shakespeare to Monty Python, and Caravaggio to Banksy. 
Giving It Up explores the Lenten idea of 'giving up', taking it beyond the traditional idea of simply abstaining from something, and suggesting instead that what we need to give up is our existing ideas about God. With a daily readings for each day of Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, it follows the heroes of the Bible who had to give up their own too-small ideas about God.
This is Maggi’s bestselling book of daily readings for each day of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. Advent is the beginning of the Church year, and marks the anticipation of the coming Messiah. These readings explore how beginnings and endings in our own lives are illuminated by the different Gospel narratives of Christ's coming.
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Wonderful once I managed to see it – they block all the interesting stuff at work.