Customer Reviews

Chasing the Eastern Star: Adventures in Biblical Reader-Response Criticism

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Mark Allan Powell's Chasing the Eastern Star is an excellent book! Powell's purpose is to explain the purpose and method of reader-response criticism as it relates to biblical studies.

The last part of the book, uses the method of reader-response criticism to examine the story of the magi in the Gospel of Matthew. He reaches some surprising conclusions regarding the magi.

Powell's book is worth reading for the scholar, preacher, or educated lay person. He explains the potentially boring and difficult concept of reader-response criticsm in a very witty and lively manner. The only wittier bible scholar around may be Stephen Moore (read God's Gym to see what I mean).

Now that I have finished the adventure of reading Chasing the Eastern Star, I am ready for more biblical adventures regarding the bible and reader response criticsm.

This book turned into a very enlightening read. Powell thoroughly lays out his own particular brand of reader-response criticism which opened up a new world for me in biblical interpretation. Witte, contemporary, and straight-forward, the book is very approachable for both the academic and layperson.

Powell has proven himself a very open scholar, realizing that his interpretation is just that--his. He leaves the reader the option of agreeing or disagreeing with his views. Agree or not, the reader will walk away from the book with a whole new appreciation for the Bible as well as how people come to their own interpretations.