Inspired

If this hadn't been a library book, I would have highlighted like, half the book. Instead, I had to make do with taking pictures of the passages I wanted to remember.

I love the compassion with which Evans wrote about tough topics. Lately I've been wrestling with the idea that so many people can have such vastly different, deeply-held beliefs of what the Bible says, in exact opposition to others' deeply-held beliefs. It makes me crazy, a little bit.

This book was like Evans wrapping her arm around my shoulders, with a calming shhhh, and telling me it's okay and let's look at all the hard parts, and sure let's roll our eyes at Paul a little bit before we start reading his mail to other people, and let's talk about what good news actually is and who it's for.

There's so much goodness in here, and I think the biggest takeaway I need to remember from this is that context matters. The Bible is a library of books in a variety of genres, and the authors had different reasons for telling the stories the way they did. Divinely inspired does not have to mean literally true, or literally historical.

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On war stories: “God save me from the day when stories of violence, rape and ethnic cleansing inspire within me anything other than revulsion. I don't want to become a person who is unbothered by these texts, and if Jesus is who he says he is, then I don't think he wants me to be either. There are parts of the Bible that inspire, parts that perplex, and parts that leave you with an open wound. I'm still wrestling, and like Jacob, I will wrestle until I am blessed. God hasn't let go of me yet.” - page 79

“Job's friends make the mistake of assuming that what is true in one context must be true in every context - a common error among modern Bible readers who like to trawl the text for universal answers. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar said some ‘biblical' things in their remarks to Job, and yet in that context, those things weren't true. We should be wary then, of grand pronouncements that begin ‘The Bible says.' Where? To whom? In what context? Why?” - page 98

The gospel writers using storytelling to talk about Jesus: “Sometimes those gospel stories step on your toes. Sometimes they challenge or annoy. Sometimes they force you to confront your privilege, your pride, or your lack of imagination for just how reckless and wild and indiscriminate the Holy Spirit can be.” - page 155

When talking about Jesus' miracles and how he went out among historically “unclean” people: “The apostles remembered what many modern Christians tend to forget - that what makes the gospel offensive isn't who it keeps out, but who it lets in.” - page 186