Exploring the challenges that both the churched and the unchurched have faced regarding giving and receiving the word of God, Bob Ekblad encourages us all to learn to read the Bible together as a whole. In this compelling book, he reflects on how Christians have often found it difficult to proclaim God's good news to every realm of society, while those who have needed it most have frequently deemed themselves unworthy due to social circumstances or sinfulness. In Reading the Bible with the Damned, Ekblad offers concrete advice on how to bridge this gap through a variety of insights ultimately leading to spiritual transformation. This book is full of examples of how Scripture changes lives for those who attend Bible studies and for those who lead them, offering practical suggestions on many passages from the Old and New Testaments.
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Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover
"This book by Ekblad …moves the Bible away from safe, conventional church venues and reads afresh among the alienated and marginalized. The effect of such a new interpretive context is that the text takes on a poignancy and sharpness that bespeaks the stirring of God’s spirit. We may be led by Ekblad to read the Bible yet again, as if for the first time." --Walter Brueggemann, Professor Emeritus, Columbia Theological Seminary, and author of several Westminster John Knox Press books, including An Introduction to the Old Testament: The Canon and Christian Imagination and Reverberations of Faith: A Theological Handbook of Old Testament Themes.
"Bob Ekblad is more like Jesus than most people I know…How different the world will be when more of us share Christ’s life and heart in the same way. I say when, not if, because this book will hasten the transformation." --Marva J. Dawn, Teaching Fellow in Spiritual Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia, and author of Unfettered Hope: A Call to Faithful Living in an Affluent Society and Powers, Weakness, and the Tabernacling of God.
"Bob Ekblad has raised an ominously serious question…what does the Bible say to the suffering down our street - across our town and city - and out in the fields where our supermarkets get our produce? The responses are both enlightening and challenging, and Ekblad has written a book to teach all of us about the Bible, faith and liberation, and the realities of our own social system." --Daniel L. Smith-Christopher, Professor of Old Testament, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, and author of A Biblical Theology of Exile.
About the Author
Bob Ekblad is Executive Director of Tierra Nueva and The People's Seminary in Burlington, Washington. For ten years, Tierra Nueva has worked with migrant, impoverished, and imprisoned populations in northwestern Washington state. Ekblad is a minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and is known internationally for his courses and workshops on reading the Bible.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Reading the Bible with the Damned is gripping, even from the title. The book emerges from the work of Bob Ekblad, a jail chaplain and director of Tierra Nueva and the People's Seminary in Burlington, Washington. Ekblad examines the hermeneutical and pedagogical issues that arise from encountering the Christian scriptures with the marginalized, namely inmates and undocumented immigrants. The purpose of the book is to provide a resource for people of faith who endeavor to "bridge the gap" between the mainstream and the marginalized. Ekblad's thesis is that these two realms must learn to read and interpret the Bible together, in order to formulate a fuller and more transformative vision of the Christian faith.
The book begins with an identification of the pitfalls many mainstream readers encounter in their more traditional readings of the Bible, whereby the message of the Bible is made to support the status quo or dominant paradigm. Ekblad encourages his readers to challenge these theological assumptions by reading the Bible with those outside one's own nationality, race, gender, class, or economic status.
The rest of the book focuses on reading specific portions of the Bible in this new light. There are chapters on the Creation narrative, Cain and Abel, the Patriarchal narratives, Exodus, Isaiah, the Psalms, the Gospels, and the Pauline Epistles.
This book is the product of a class taught at the People's Seminary in conjunction with Regent College. I attended this class when it was taught last year and it proved to be the single most transformative experience of my graduate education. I walked into the class with one career plan, and walked out with another.
Bob, through his teaching and friendship, reminded me of things I had long since forgotten about the very nature and purpose of the Christian life. Ambition and achievement must always take a back seat to serving "the least of these" as though they were Christ himself. Real life happens outside in the cold, not inside a classroom. Bob is aware of this and manages to gently lead his students, sometimes literally, outside of their comfort zones, and into labor camps and back alleys.
This book reflects Bob's work, and so I recommend it as strongly as I can. Whether one is clergy or laity, newcomer or veteran of street-level ministry, this book will revolutionize and hone your skills in reading and/or teaching the Bible. It is a book for anyone who has ever wondered whether the Bible has any "good news" for those outside the dominant economic, political, social, and religious structures.
The book begins with an identification of the pitfalls many mainstream readers encounter in their more traditional readings of the Bible, whereby the message of the Bible is made to support the status quo or dominant paradigm. Ekblad encourages his readers to challenge these theological assumptions by reading the Bible with those outside one's own nationality, race, gender, class, or economic status.
The rest of the book focuses on reading specific portions of the Bible in this new light. There are chapters on the Creation narrative, Cain and Abel, the Patriarchal narratives, Exodus, Isaiah, the Psalms, the Gospels, and the Pauline Epistles.
This book is the product of a class taught at the People's Seminary in conjunction with Regent College. I attended this class when it was taught last year and it proved to be the single most transformative experience of my graduate education. I walked into the class with one career plan, and walked out with another.
Bob, through his teaching and friendship, reminded me of things I had long since forgotten about the very nature and purpose of the Christian life. Ambition and achievement must always take a back seat to serving "the least of these" as though they were Christ himself. Real life happens outside in the cold, not inside a classroom. Bob is aware of this and manages to gently lead his students, sometimes literally, outside of their comfort zones, and into labor camps and back alleys.
This book reflects Bob's work, and so I recommend it as strongly as I can. Whether one is clergy or laity, newcomer or veteran of street-level ministry, this book will revolutionize and hone your skills in reading and/or teaching the Bible. It is a book for anyone who has ever wondered whether the Bible has any "good news" for those outside the dominant economic, political, social, and religious structures.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The title of this book really sucked me in. I had only a vague idea of what it was about when I ordered it. I thought it had something to do with liberation theology and work with the marginalized. It sounded like an interesting approach.
When I began reading chapter 1, I couldn't help feeling like I had walked into the middle of a conversation. With very little preliminaries, Ekblad starts going through an explanation of how he selects topics for his jail Bible studies and the procedure he goes through in facilitating them. I was left wondering about things like why he was doing this, what he hoped to accomplish, what his underlying theology was, and so on.
Then I got to chapter 2 when he began relating actual experiences he has had with the men in Skagit County Jail and how God has touched their lives through their readings of the Bible. Wow! This stuff is dynamite! Going from chapter 1 to chapter 2 was like going from a lecture on the physics of roller coaster construction to actually riding the roller coaster.
Let me tell you, it wouldn't matter if Bob Ekblad had no writing skill whatsoever (though he actually is a pretty good writer). The stories he has to tell about God stepping into the lives of men living at our society's margins are so powerful, so eye-opening, that they completely shine on their own merits.
Seriously, buy this book. If you're put off by the idea of liberation theology, don't be. He doesn't really put forward a hardcore liberation theology. His main message is the grace of God in Jesus Christ, and in any case this book isn't about theology, it's about rubber-on-the-road practical application of the Gospel in real people's lives. This is great stuff.
When I began reading chapter 1, I couldn't help feeling like I had walked into the middle of a conversation. With very little preliminaries, Ekblad starts going through an explanation of how he selects topics for his jail Bible studies and the procedure he goes through in facilitating them. I was left wondering about things like why he was doing this, what he hoped to accomplish, what his underlying theology was, and so on.
Then I got to chapter 2 when he began relating actual experiences he has had with the men in Skagit County Jail and how God has touched their lives through their readings of the Bible. Wow! This stuff is dynamite! Going from chapter 1 to chapter 2 was like going from a lecture on the physics of roller coaster construction to actually riding the roller coaster.
Let me tell you, it wouldn't matter if Bob Ekblad had no writing skill whatsoever (though he actually is a pretty good writer). The stories he has to tell about God stepping into the lives of men living at our society's margins are so powerful, so eye-opening, that they completely shine on their own merits.
Seriously, buy this book. If you're put off by the idea of liberation theology, don't be. He doesn't really put forward a hardcore liberation theology. His main message is the grace of God in Jesus Christ, and in any case this book isn't about theology, it's about rubber-on-the-road practical application of the Gospel in real people's lives. This is great stuff.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a fine book that allows us to overhear conversations with those locked out of our presence. Trust is key in his understanding of the life of faith and he reads the bible, attentive to oft overlooked details to combat the reduction the bible into a morality manual, or a book of role models, or a book that demands literal interpretation. At times he neglects elements of the text that would require Christians to live their lives in a distinctive manner, but this may be what allows for the inmates to hear him.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
New insights with new eyes
From one who has much experience in the third world and working with people behind bars comes this sharing of insights from people we don't often hear from. Read more
Published on March 8, 2007 by Mary Nelson
Excellent!
This book is not only a description of how the author ministers to people on the margins of society, but also an explanation of his philosophy of ministry and provides a radically... Read more
Published on January 3, 2007 by Adam Gonnerman
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
At the end of the Gospel of Luke, two disciples of Jesus (including one whom tradition has named Cleopas) leave Jerusalem for Emmaus with heavy hearts, not yet knowing of Jesus' resurrection, when a stranger approaches, travels with them along that road, and asks them what they are talking about. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Border Patrol, United States, Tierra Nueva, Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, Holy Spirit, Skagit County, Encountering God, God's Spirit, Spirit of God, New Testament, Old Testament, Minas de Oro, North America, Spanish Bible, Family Support Center, Lord's Prayer, Social Security, King of the Jews, Latin America, Son of Man, Today's Margins, Washington State Penitentiary New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
At the end of the Gospel of Luke, two disciples of Jesus (including one whom tradition has named Cleopas) leave Jerusalem for Emmaus with heavy hearts, not yet knowing of Jesus' resurrection, when a stranger approaches, travels with them along that road, and asks them what they are talking about. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Border Patrol, United States, Tierra Nueva, Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, Holy Spirit, Skagit County, Encountering God, God's Spirit, Spirit of God, New Testament, Old Testament, Minas de Oro, North America, Spanish Bible, Family Support Center, Lord's Prayer, Social Security, King of the Jews, Latin America, Son of Man, Today's Margins, Washington State Penitentiary New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 15
books:
See all 15 books this book cites
- The Academy of the Poor: Towards a Dialogical Reading of the Bible (Interventions, 2) by Gerald O. West on page 7, and Back Matter
- Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 30th Anniversary Edition by Paulo Freire in Back Matter
- Gospel of Solentiname by Ernesto Cardenal in Back Matter
- Learning to Question: A Pedagogy of Liberation by Paulo Freire in Back Matter
- Pharisees and Sadducees (Great Bible Discovery) in Back Matter
See all 15 books this book cites
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