|
The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart | 
 enlarge | Author: Peter J. Gomes
Publisher: HarperOne
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy Used: $3.95
You Save: $13.00 (77%)
New (27) Used (36) Collectible (1) from $3.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  42 reviews
Sales Rank: 34790
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9 x 5.8 x 1
ISBN: 0060088303
Dewey Decimal Number: 200
EAN: 9780060088309
ASIN: 0060088303
Publication Date: April 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Small amount of writing inside. Light cover wear, tight binding. FREE Delivery Confirmation. Let the little guy take good care of you.
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Biblical studies have historically been consigned to theological schools and church groups. In The Good Book, Peter Gomes, pastor of Harvard University's Memorial Church and a professor of theology, has written a vivid, common sense and wise analysis of what the Bible means for us today. As an African American gay man, Gomes is interested in re-viewing the biblical passages on sexuality and race, but The Good Book is much more than a revisionist look at controversial biblical passages. Gomes is interested in rediscovering how the Bible can find a place in our emotional and political lives, as well as in our religious beliefs.
Product Description
"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.
Download Description
Why is the Bible so often used as a tool for division and exclusion? And why are so many intelligent and compassionate people embarrassed to say they find wisdom and comfort in the Bible? In this groundbreaking book, the man Time magazine called one of the seven best preachers in America provides answers to these questions and shows what the Bible says about topics that concern Lis all, including joy, suffering, evil, and goodness. With compassion, humor, and insight, lie gives readers the tools and understanding they need to make the ancient wisdom of the Bible a dynamic part of their modern lives.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 37 more reviews...
 A Good Book about a Good Book 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!
 This book is very well written......... September 5, 2007
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
....and I'm sure that Dr. Gomes is a decent man, who loves God, and The Bible. Still, I think he misses the mark. He holds that The Bible is a great book, worthy of study, but not necessarily the infallible Word of God; some of us disagree.
The main controversy centers around Dr. Gomes' defense of homosexuality, asserting that The Bible is merely condemning non-consensual sex; numerous denominations, including Dr. Gomes' own, hold homosexual conduct to be a mortal sin, with the sinner in need of Christ's forgiveness. The Bible speaks against some forms of consensual heterosexual sex, too [Exodus 20:14]. Of course, EVERYBODY is against rape; Dr. Gomes is setting up a straw man. A good friend and co-worker is a Christian Conservative Republican lesbian [life is filled with contradictions]; she holds that a close reading of The Bible only condemns male homosexuality.
I gave this book two stars, instead of one; as I said, it is very well written, and well organized. Also, Dr Gomes is quite right about some things; people in this country are possessed of Biblical ignorance to an absolutely appalling degree...in some of my other reviews, I've spoken about historical ignorance; this is FAR worse. In fact, there will be hell to pay someday. The main good point is Dr. Gomes frequent encouragement to read The Bible, and learn for ourselves; to that, I can but say AMEN.
Great insight! July 14, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
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...".
The Bible and Homosexuality May 21, 2007
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
If you want to understand what the Bible says about homosexuality, this reference book will explain it in the context of today's society.
A Bible reference for intelligent people February 13, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
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."
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
