Serving Up Scripture; How to Interpret the Bible for Yourself and Others

Biblical scholars Bashaw (Scapegoats) and Higashi (1 & 2 Samuel for Normal People) team up for a lucid guide to reading scripture. Using cooking as a guiding metaphor, they detail the complexities of interpretation, describing it as a process wherein different “chefs” with unique sociocultural backgrounds use the same basic ingredients to produce vastly different results. Among the book’s most useful elements are its tips on handling the Bible’s various “ingredients,” from its prose (don’t pay much attention to headings and verses, many of which were added millennia after the Bible’s composition) to the apocalyptic prophecies of Revelations (keep historical context firmly in mind when encountering “violent images and disturbing warnings,” which were used to jolt “empire-compromised readers into repentance” or assure first-century Christians their nonbelieving oppressors would get their comeuppance). While the cooking metaphor wears thin in a few places, it provides an accessible entry point into the sometimes-opaque world of biblical scholarship, and the authors’ colorful personal anecdotes enliven the proceedings. Church study groups will be especially edified. (Jan.)