The Prostitute in the Family Tree

I don't write homilies, but I often sit through them. Mr. Adams (again -- it's not THAT Douglas Adams) does a great job of showing how homilies can be made relevant and, dare I say it, secular by appealing to not only the faith in all of us, but also the rationality. Easy to read book that can be scanned or read cover to cover.

This was a great book. I picked this up thinking this was the "hitchhikers guide" Douglas Adams. I really enjoyed this book but I think it should be stated this is NOT the 42 guy. So if you're looking for his books, this is not one of them.

As other reviewers have stated, the writing is not all there - the book doesn't seem like a book so much as notes the author would use for a class - but the subject matter is unique and worthwhile. Until there is some other book about tbhe subject (adams or otherwise) this is what we have to deal with, and I'd much sooner take it than leave it.

I wish Dr. Adams had lectured at the seminary I attended. This book is an outstanding addition to the professional preacher's library. It discusses scripture in down-to-earth-language, exegetes passages clearly without excess scholarly fuss, and provides an "alternative" view of some of our favorite biblical texts that is still firmly based in scripture and accurate in interpretation. If your congregation is not primarily consisted of PhD's, you will find this book a very helpful and amusing resource.

No, this is not the Hitchhiker's Douglas Adams. But yes, the author delights in irony and satire in the Christian Bible. He finds it in counter-establishment interpretations of Jesus' parables, the letters of Paul, and portions of Hebrew scripture. Adams' key is to read the aforementioned passages not as universal moralisms but as mirrors of ourselves. We see our own foibles and shortcomings in the Biblical characters. For instance, Adams suggests the "Prodigal Son" is not some born again idealist we cannot hope to emulate but a con artist trying to keep his head above water. There is hope for us, says Adams, if we learn from the Bible stories that God does not give up on the morally disfunctional. One advantage of this approach is that it provides a coherent understanding of otherwise unfathomable passages such as the Parable of the Unjust Steward. The "prostitute" of the title is a reference in the Gospel of Matthew to Rahab, an ancestor of Jesus. That Jesus' family includes a prostitute is something many might like to cover up, but Adams uses it as a springboard for ironic understandings of scripture. Those who are looking for refreshing and subversive readings of Biblical texts will enjoy this book. It makes what is saintly look more human. The author details several practical methods for leaders of Bible studies to introduce his style of interpretation.