The Bible in a Disenchanted Age

"A compelling argument for taking the message of the Bible seriously". "This delightful little book addresses a very large question: How does reading the Bible differ from reading works that are comparable to it in important ways. Scrupulously fair and, in fact, generous to non-Christians (including contemporary skeptics), its author draws on his profound engagement with Christian sources and his immense humanistic learning to probe the challenges and subtleties-and also the rewards-of holding a commitment to a scriptural religion in our time. I highly recommend this thoughtful, sensitive, and stimulating volume. I profited from reading it and so will you. "-Jon D. Levenson. , Harvard University"In this gem of a book, Walter Moberly addresses the difficult question of what it might mean to trust the Bible in an era marked by distrust, particularly when any sort of religious claim is at stake. With his characteristic clarity, candor, breadth of learning, and intellectual generosity, Moberly proves a sure-footed guide through the thicket of challenges to trusting both the Bible and the God to whom it bears witness. "-Marianne Meye Thompson. , Fuller Theological Seminary"How is reading the Bible not. like reading any other book. Moberly elegantly reflects on this question, deftly articulating a distinctive account of biblical interpretation. Challenging the 'evidentialist' approach typically adopted on the right and the left, he instead develops a participatory hermeneutic of trust, in which interpretation is pursued in continuity with religious community and the biblical text is engaged with 'full imaginative seriousness. ' This hermeneutic remains hospitable to other approaches and seeks to learn from them. Yet Moberly also invites renewed conversation between academic biblical study and traditional Christian faith and practice. "-Stephen B. Chapman. , Duke University"This book is vintage Moberly: a sensitive reading of a variety of biblical texts that provides the modern reader-whatever his or her theological inclinations-with a compelling argument for taking the message of the Bible seriously. Refreshingly free of glib truisms, it plumbs the depths of biblical religion. Reading this book is a moving experience. "-Gary Anderson. , University of Notre Dame