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The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart Paperback – April 1, 2002

4.5 out of 5 stars 148

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"The Bible and the social and moral consequences that derive from its interpretation are all too important to be left in the hands of the pious or the experts, and too significant to be ignored and trivialized by the uninformed and indifferent.


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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Easily the best contemporary book on the Bible for thoughtful people." — The Right Reverend Lord Runcie, 102nd Archbishop of Canterbury

"Lively...offers a crash course in biblical literacy in a nuanced but easy-to-understand style." — Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"This is a reading not from the right or the left but from the living, loving heart of scripture." — Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

“...Reflects Gomes’s great intelligence, open mind, humanity, wisdom, and struggle to understand the meaning of life and God’s word.” — Marian Wright Edelman, president, Children's Defense Fund

"...One of America's most compelling preachers ... a writer with flair and eloquence." — Harvey Cox, author of Fire from Heaven

"A riveting tour of this holy book with the guide both witty and wise ... great work of scholarship and imagination." — Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

About the Author

Peter J. Gomes has been minister of Harvard University's Memorial Church since 1974, when he was appointed Pusey Minister of the church, and serves as Plummer Professor of Christian Morals. An American Baptist minister, he was named one of America's top preachers by Time magazine. He is the recipient of thirty-three honorary degrees and an Honorary Fellow of Emmanuel College, the University of Cambridge, England, where the Gomes Lectureship is established in his name.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0060088303
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperOne; unknown edition (April 1, 2002)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780060088309
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0060088309
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.16 x 6.04 x 0.72 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 148

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
148 global ratings
Fundamentalists will not agree with these liberal views
4 Stars
Fundamentalists will not agree with these liberal views
The Bible is a huge topic: what can we believe? what do we need to know? can the Bible survive close scrutiny? is it really possible to translate an ancient text into the 21st century? The highly educated Baptist minister Peter Gomes (1942-2011) looks at the problem in three parts: (1) “bibliolatry” when you make the Bible a substitute for the authority of God (2) “literalism” where “the sovereignty of words now replaced the sovereignty of the church’s interpretation of scripture.” and (3) “culturism” where “scripture is invariably used to support the status quo, no matter what the status quo”, for example, slavery in 19th century America was justified in Genesis 9:18-27. Gomes discusses current issues such as the Bible and homosexuality, the Bible and antisemitism, the Bible and women’s rights, the Bible and suffering, and the Bible and evil. These are liberal views in fluent prose.
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Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2007
Dubbed by Times magazine as one of America's seven best preache's, Harvard professor of Christian Morals and pastor of the school's University's Memorial Church, Rev. Gomes' latest work, The Good Book, is a bestseller selection of the Book of the Month and Quality Paperback Book Clubs. This well-written, compassionate and thoughtful book is written for the general public to entice them back to reading the Bible through new eyes, paying more attention to its moral principles than the social practices.

Rev. Gomes asserts that Biblical literacy in this country is extremely rare. Among a thousand people polled in the US by the Barna Research Group 10 percent said that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife, 16 percent were convinced that the New Testament contained the Gospel of Thomas, and 38 percent believed the Old and New Testaments were written a few years after Jesus' death. Gomes observed humorously that, "These replies are worthy of the old Sunday school howler in which the epistles are defined as the wives of the apostles." (p. 5)

The Good Book is divided into three sections: "Opening the Bible" wherein Gomes warns against three dangerous and common temptations on Biblical interpretation: (1) bibliolatry, "the worship of the Bible, making it an object of veneration and ascribing to it the glory belonging to God," (2) literalism, "the worship of the text, in which the letter is given inappropriate superiority over the spirit, and (3) culturalism, "the worship of the culture in which the Bible is forced to conform to the norms of the prevailing culture." Section two, "The Use and Abuse of the Bible" is a historical account of how the Bible has been used to oppress certain groups: Jews, women, homosexuals, and minorities. Section three, "The True and Lively Word" explores what the Bible has to say about the good life, evil, suffering, temptation, wealth, science, mystery and joy."

In an interview about the book with the Harvard University Gazette, Gomes commented "I would say, one, the Bible is accessible. Two, it takes work. The Bible is not a Reader's Digest sort of enterprise, and you can't simply open it up, as 90 percent of religious people do, and just hope that inspiration oozes out of the page or that you can just figure it out because you're a reasonably intelligent person. But, three, the work pays off because the Bible has to do with issues, both great and small, that are as relevant as tomorrow's headlines."

The Good Book is filled with scholarship and imagination, with wit and wisdom sufficient to serve as a road map back to and through the Bible. I join with the former Archbishop of Canterbury, The Right Reverend Lord Runcie, who hailed The Book as "easily the best contemporary book on the Bible for thoughtful people."
23 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2014
I lead a group of 12-15 mostly older adults in a book study. We have now been reading and discussing Gomes' book for three weeks. The reader response has been great. Gomes brings the Bible into our world and shows us how to read it faithfully, yet free of all of the out-dated, out-moded baggage that has clung to it over the centuries. Gomes' is clearly a 'progressive Christian' who cherishes the Bible but also knows how to use it. He warns against puting the Bible on a pedestal, reading it literally, and using it to support one's personal critique of the status quo. Instead, he shows how the Bible speaks to current social issues as diverse as racism, abortion, homosexuality, money, nationalism, inclusiveness, and other such topics that bedevil us today. Recently one member of the group, who comes from a decidedly conservative religious background said " I had no idea we were permitted to read the Bible this way." Well written, engaging, and well worth the read! .
13 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2007
Being a person who is very much bothered by the idea that the Bible should be read literally, with no attention paid to the time, place, and culture in which it was written and in which it is being read, this book gave me hope. The author really encourages us to pay attention to the spirit (and the Spirit) and not necessarily "the letter". It was not exactly a breeze for me to read because there was so much I wanted to note and remember. I plan to reread the book with a highlighter pen in hand. I highly recommend the book to anyone who is interested in understanding what the Bible really has to say. The Bible is not static. In fact, if it is not a "living" word for us today, in our culture, there's not much point in reading it more than once. But if you're looking for the spirit in which it was written, you may wish to continue studying the Bible, as well as "The Good Book: Reading...".
10 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2008
Yes I had to use that pun. Because it's TRUE!

I love Peter J. Gomes, and he is rapidly becoming one of my preaching heros. He has such compassion for the biblical texts and for those that read them. Inside this book you will understand what the Bible is and where it came from.

Of course, a book about the Good Book would not be complete without an analysis of how it has been used, or mis-used, in the past centuries and today. Such issues as slavery, alcohol prohibition, women clergy, and homosexuality are addressed. I particularly found the chapter on temperance to be really interesting for the scare tactics that were involved, and the fear of those "Whiskeypalians".

Get this book!
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2009
This book is very helpful to people who are serious about reading the Bible. Some of us, myself included, are mostly 'head' people. For us, this book guides us in seeing the Bible through the heart as well as the head. Rev. Gomes lifts up some hard issues for people in the church, and with grace and graciousness, helps us to use, pehaps, a different paradigm in understanding how scripture guides our thinking on these issues. For 'heart' people, The Good Book helps in understanding how our God-given mind can help our heart in understanding what the scriptures are really saying to us today.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2013
This is a good reference book to scan but the subject has been covered in other text. If you haven't read the other text, this might be a good start.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2013
My Sunday School class is reading it. I only referenced one chapter, but they wanted to read the whole book. I am on the left and most of my class is on the right, but we are finding common ground in being Bible believers who are not happy with our present culture. Gomes' writing style is advanced, causing some minor hangups for some. I find rereading it bears good fruit. I can't wait until we hit more controversial chapters. Recommended for those who don't really know what they think they know darned well.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Aztec
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 1, 2018
Excellent book. Every Christian should read it.
One person found this helpful
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