The Word: Imagining the Gospel in Modern America

What do Americans do when they read the Bible? This lucid, observant book by a former Wall Street Journal reporter captures a wide variety of Christians engaging with their inescapable and sometimes inexplicable sacred text. From the rarefied seminars of the Society for Biblical Literature to the carefully rehearsed lectures of conservative Bible teacher Kay Arthur, Monroe clearly has a reporter's knack for finding, and recounting, the telling moment. The result is an impressively drawn and multidimensional portrait of the ways in which American churches are helping (or not helping) their members grapple with Scripture. Monroe documents with painful precision how little the Bible is actually studied, much less understood, in both conservative and liberal camps. Anyone who has attempted to lead a Bible study or who has participated in one will wince at Monroe's alarmingly apt vignettes of discussions gone astray and self-expression masquerading as interpretation. At times the book wobbles unevenly between journalism and theologizing (Monroe is clearly more adept at the former), and it is more limited in scope than the subtitle would suggest--Monroe's account is poorer for not addressing the interpretive traditions of American Judaism, Mormonism or Catholicism. With those caveats, this is an exceptional book and a model of personally engaged reporting. (June)