Description
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WHY THIS BOOK?
The ancient Greek word for “truth” means unconcealing or unforgetting. Yet today many ideas and stories that were once critical to how early Christians understood, practiced, and defended their faith often remain “hidden in plain sight” in our Bibles. These ideas are concealed from us by the distance between languages, between eras, and between cultures—yet they are so worth unconcealing and unforgetting. In this book, discover:
- The forgotten women who co-founded Christianity
- Whether the first-century church thought there was a hell
- What happens when you realize that in Greek, faith is a verb
- Why gender in the Bible is more complicated than we think
- Which concepts our modern tradition takes for granted that would have been alien to the original readers (like homophobia)
We have also forgotten that to read the Bible is to receive an invitation to adventure—to encounter the impossible, to move mountains, to walk on water. Instead, we have been taught to read the Bible tamely, to make no choices, to risk no questioning of our tradition. What would happen if we took the adventure? If we readers walked out into the wilderness toward God, leaving home far behind? If we stepped out of the boat of our received tradition, out onto the crashing waves?
Let’s find out.
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AMAZON REVIEWS FOR THE BOOK (4.6/5 STARS):
“This is the first book on the Christian faith that hasn’t felt like a set trap waiting to spring as I turn the pages.”
“This could be the most important book I’ve ever read.”
“Thank you so much for writing this book for those of us who need to shed the guilt and fear instilled in us by early religious experiences. Thank you for bringing the focus back to love.”
“Incredible book that I am reading slowly in order to soak up all the information I can.”
“This book is amazing! This is what I was always missing in the Christianity of my youth. It is a deeper dive into the real, original, contextual meaning of Bible passages that are often used as weapons.”
“This is the best book I ever read, and I’m not exaggerating! I read it last January and since then I think about this book every single day. I’m from Brazil, a country where the Bible has been causing trouble to women, homosexual, children and any other minority one can hear about… This book brought me to tears because they gave me hope that one day, Christianity could mean love and kindness, and real justice, as Jesus means to me.”
“Stant Litore has studied ancient languages and cultures, and this is a scholarly book. But he’s also a writer with a poetic ear, and he knows how to write with clarity. This book is very accessible to the general reader… Stant Litore writes with the voice of a prophet, and if this book has political fallout, it’s because he sees modern issues in the words of the ancient prophets. ‘What room would any of us have in our hearts for fear, if we lived such lives of love? If we drank living water until it bubbled up inside us in an agalliasis, an upwelling of extreme joy?'”
“I have to say, first, that I’m not a Christian, so it’s possible that I’m not the intended audience for this book. But I grew up seriously Catholic, and I have a love for languages, words and meaning, as well as a passion for history, and this book tickles all of those interests. The author is clearly more serious about language and translation than I am, and he treats words and their meanings with reverence and patience. He never talks down to the reader.”
“Stant Litore’s reexamination of Biblical tests asks what we’ve lost or added to the original meanings as the text was translated two or three times before we could first read it in English. He pays particular attention to the role of women and to groups like homosexuals Bible-believing Christians can be too quick to cast aside under the general label “sinners” when the truth is more subtle. As a Christian and a historian, I accepted a lot of his ideas and struggled with a few, but his ability to look at Latin, Hebrew, and Greek words and their contemporary meanings offers rich insights for a Christian or non-Christian reader. This is a must-read for those wishing to understand the Bible as it was written.”
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This bookshop currently ships books to the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Russia. The books are not returnable or refundable. If you would like your copy signed and personalized to someone, please include a note at checkout. Thank you for getting the book, and I hope you have an exhilarating read!
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ISBN 978-1732086937
363 pages.
Cover Art by The Rustic Vegan.
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