What the Bible Really Teaches

Format: Paperback

ISBN-13: 9780281056804

Amazon UK: What the Bible Really Teaches

Language: English

Standpoint: 0 Not yet classified

Genre(s): Polemic and Theology

Topic(s): Biblical studies and Fundamentalism

Especially suitable for: Evangelicals

NB This book is not specifically about LGBT+ issues, but we have made an exception and included it here because it is so helpful to LGBT+ people from a conservative evangelical/fundamentalist background. It helps them to see that a more open and scholarly approach to Scripture is more biblical, not less.

Do you know what the Bible says about marriage, life after death or the Second Coming of Christ? Do you understand what the Bible teaches about atonement and forgiveness? What do the Gospels tell us about the resurrection of Jesus? Where does the Bible really stand on issues of sexual morality, abortion and same-sex relationships?

Keith Ward, formerly Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford, is well placed to explore what the Bible really says, and he comes to some surprising and challenging conclusions. In many cases he demonstrates that the Bible teaches the exact opposite of what fundamentalists say it does.

In this fascinating and engaging book, he shows how to let the Bible speak and be heard, free from the distortions and bias caused by reading Scripture through the dogmatic lens of fundamentalism. As Professor Ward underlines the importance of allowing the Bible to be its own interpreter, he encourages us to read its life-changing ancient texts with fresh vision and sharp insight.

Reviews/Comments

“This book is a much more considered polemic against fundamentalism than the last one I read, and makes some good points about our approach to the study of the Bible – giving some good principles of biblical interpretation, and warning against the dangers of confirmation bias (where we only read the books by the “sound” writers).

… “I agree with Ward that fundamentalism picks and chooses which texts it treats as literal and which it chooses as symbolic (or ignores altogether). This is an intelligent book that makes an excellent case that fundamentalism is not quite the bible-based Christianity it claims to be. As a thesis, this deserves consideration.” — Sir Furboy