How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian

Struggling with Divine Violence from Genesis Through Revelation

By: John Dominic Crossan

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

Many portions of the New Testament introduce a compassionate Jesus who turns the other cheek, loves his enemies, and shows grace to all. But the Jesus we find in Revelation and some portions of the Gospels leads an army of angels bent on earthly destruction. Which is the true revelation of the Messiah - and how can both be in the same Bible?

How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian explores this question and offers guidance for the faithful conflicted over which version of the Lord to worship. John Dominic Crossan reconciles these contrasting views, revealing how different writers of the books of the Bible not only possessed different visions of God, but also different purposes for writing. Often these books are explicitly competing against another, opposing vision of God from the Bible itself.

Crossan explains how to navigate this debate and offers what he believes is the best central thread to what the Bible is all about. He challenges Christians to fully participate in this dialogue, thereby shaping their faith by reading deeply, reflectively, and in community with others who share their uncertainty. Only then, he advises, will Christians be able to read and understand the Bible without losing their faith.

©2015 John Dominic Crossan (P)2020 eChristian

A Brilliant, and Brilliantly Flawed Thesis

John Dominic Crossin is such an intelligent theologian and Bible student. His concept of dueling God presentations is terribly thin; a god authoring a Bible under this concept would be a god only for scholars. Most people are not capable of the subtle dichotomy suggested here, and the god of the Bible is not sophisticated enough to craft such a deep - yet useless - holy tome. This is the furthest I’ve ever heard a believer reach to claim a merciful god from the jaws of a brutal holy book.