The Good Book: Discovering the Bible's Place in Our Lives

I tend to like books whose ratings vacillate between five stars and one. Clearly some readers get it and some don't. The Bible has been used for centuries as an excuse for slavery, for bigotry, for war, for torture, for anti-Semitism, for homophobia, and for misogyny. It has been used as a crutch for those emotionally immature enough to need to feel right and morally superior. The people who would use the Bible in this way--and they continue to flourish and proliferate--will probably have little use for Gomes's impressive volume, and so be it. For the rest of us, however, The Good Book is worthwhile and enriching. It illuminates the Bible for both the veteran churchgoer and the uninitiated. In teaching Sunday school and Confirmation classes for the Episcopal Church and in delivering funeral and wedding sermons, I have drawn on Gomes's book again and again to help convey the Christian message. Anyone interested in reading the Bible with "mind and heart" will find The Good Book to be a good read.

Gomes takes the Bible off its pedestal and presents it to us as a tool for Christian living. This book is a must read for any Christian struggling to read and understand the Bible in modern terms. He explores many of the controversial topics of the Bible, including race, homosexuality, women's roles, anti-Semitism, wealth, and more. He challenges the reader to accept the Bible as an interpretation of fantastic religious events with historical and sociological significance. He teaches the reader to deal with contradictions within the Bible, even within individual books of the Bible. He helps the reader to discern for himself what facts are crucial to an individual's belief in Christianity and what facts enrich the stories of the Bible. This book challenged my beliefs in positive ways and taught me to never "idolize" the Bible again.

As amember of a multi-denominational federated, protestant Church I am overjoyed to be in a weekly study group focusing on Peter Gomes' The Good Book. Being in a diverse religious group there are individuals who have vocal doctrinal agendas that are expressed as ultimate truth. Many who do not share these views become silent in response to those individuals and their interpretations. Reverend Gomes has helped us to find our voice, and that voice is compassionate, concerned and inclusive. His fresh and loving perspectives on religious "hot topics" are enlightening and liberating and his humor and humility engage the reader in a personal way.As a result of studying this book I have been truly touched with grace, wisdom and the pure hope that we can come to realize that "Now we know only in part; Then we will know fully, even as we have been fully known. And now faith, hope and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love." 1Corinthians 13:12-13

As a former pastor and now professor of religion in the Bible-belt, I found Gomes' reflections to be heart-warming and encouraging. In a culture where the Bible is often used to support exclusion and condemnation, Gomes presents the biblical message of inclusion. In a religious climate where the Bible is frequently literalized and idolized, Gomes presents the Bible as a "living text," the spirit of which transcends human attempts to place truth in a box. I found his writing at once stimulating and familiar. It was familiar in at least two ways: 1) his message is consistent with the spirit of the Bible and 2) I repeatedly found myself thinking, "I wish I had said that!" Gomes' content and writing style are readily accessible to the general reader. This volume is a "must read" for anyone interested in interpreting the Bible in the contemporary context.