---
product_id: 54200918
title: "Reading the Bible Again For the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously But Not Literally"
price: "£20.18"
currency: GBP
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/54200918-reading-the-bible-again-for-the-first-time-taking-bible
store_origin: GB
region: United Kingdom
---

# Reading the Bible Again For the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously But Not Literally

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## Description

One of the vital challenges facing thoughtful people today is how to read the Bible faithfully without abandoning our sense of truth and history. Reading the Bible Again for the First Time provides a much-needed solution to the problem of how to have a fully authentic yet contemporary understanding of the scriptures. Many mistakenly believe there are no choices other than fundamentalism or simply rejecting the Bible as something that can bring meaning to our lives. Answering this modern dilemma, acclaimed author Marcus Borg reveals how it is possible to reconcile the Bible with both a scientific and critical way of thinking and our deepest spiritual needs, leading to a contemporary yet grounded experience of the sacred texts. This seminal book shows you how to read the Bible as it should be examined in an approach the author calls "historical-metaphorical." Borg explores what the Scriptures meant to the ancient communities that produced and lived by them. He then helps us to discover the meaning of these stories, providing the knowledge and perspective to make the wisdom of the Bible an essential part of our modern lives. The author argues that the conventional way of seeing the Bible's origin, authority, and interpretation has become unpersuasive to millions of people in our time, and that we need a fresh way of encountering the Bible that takes the texts seriously but not literally, even as it takes seriously who we have become. Borg traces his personal spiritual journey, describing for readers how he moved from an unquestioning childhood belief in the biblical stories to a more powerful and dynamic relationship with the Bible as a sacred text brimming with meaning and guidance. Using his own experience as an example, he reveals how the modern crisis of faith is itself rooted in the misinterpretation of sacred texts as historical record and divine dictation, and opens readers to a truer, more abundant perspective. This unique book invites everyone whatever one's religious background to engage the Bible, wrestle with its meaning, explore its mysteries, and understand its relevance. Borg shows us how to encounter the Bible in a fresh way that rejects the limits of simple literalism and opens up rich possibilities for our lives.

Review: Biblical realism without losing the heart - I have struggled for a few years to get to grips with the many problems presented by the bible. The classic evangelical approach is that every word is to be taken as literal truth. I did a talk a few years ago about Joshua and the levels of violence were disturbing. I found myself admitting that I had very little to say. Then there are the inconsistencies in the gospels and the frankly unbelievable stories such as Adam and Eve, Jonah and Balaam's ass. The warning has always been that if you select only those parts of the bible that you like that you water down the whole. This excellent book by Marcus J Borg addresses those very concerns. He present s the bible in a new way - from the point of the view of those who wrote the various documents and those who would have received them. He places the bible within the world that it came into being, rather than as a guide book to be interpreted as if it was written last week. So, for example, the gospels might be history - a factual narrative, testimony - statements of the impact of Jesus or metaphor - stories to tell readers what Jesus was like. But Borg does not write this in a way that dilutes the bible. On the contrary he points out that each of these is valid. The underlying truth remains the same. He writes as an academic but in a way that does not hide his own passion and love for the scriptures. A great read and highly recommended for anyone seeking the truth behind the most popular book in history.
Review: Another excellent read - This is another insightful book from Marcus Borg. The introductory chapters on how people read the Bible are very interesting. The chapter on the Pentateuch will be familiar to anyone who has done and introductory course on the Old Testament with its fairly standard discussion of J & P, and the Chapters on the Gospels and on Paul repeats will be familiar to anyone who has read some of Borg's other work. Where this book stands out, however, is in the chapters on the Prophets and on Revelation. I would definitely recommend it for those chapters.

## Features

- HarperOne

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | 501,851 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 285 in Jewish Theology 398 in Old testament Criticism & Interpretation 876 in Philosophy of Theology |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 590 Reviews |

## Images

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Biblical realism without losing the heart
*by S***H on 28 June 2014*

I have struggled for a few years to get to grips with the many problems presented by the bible. The classic evangelical approach is that every word is to be taken as literal truth. I did a talk a few years ago about Joshua and the levels of violence were disturbing. I found myself admitting that I had very little to say. Then there are the inconsistencies in the gospels and the frankly unbelievable stories such as Adam and Eve, Jonah and Balaam's ass. The warning has always been that if you select only those parts of the bible that you like that you water down the whole. This excellent book by Marcus J Borg addresses those very concerns. He present s the bible in a new way - from the point of the view of those who wrote the various documents and those who would have received them. He places the bible within the world that it came into being, rather than as a guide book to be interpreted as if it was written last week. So, for example, the gospels might be history - a factual narrative, testimony - statements of the impact of Jesus or metaphor - stories to tell readers what Jesus was like. But Borg does not write this in a way that dilutes the bible. On the contrary he points out that each of these is valid. The underlying truth remains the same. He writes as an academic but in a way that does not hide his own passion and love for the scriptures. A great read and highly recommended for anyone seeking the truth behind the most popular book in history.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Another excellent read
*by R***T on 20 October 2013*

This is another insightful book from Marcus Borg. The introductory chapters on how people read the Bible are very interesting. The chapter on the Pentateuch will be familiar to anyone who has done and introductory course on the Old Testament with its fairly standard discussion of J & P, and the Chapters on the Gospels and on Paul repeats will be familiar to anyone who has read some of Borg's other work. Where this book stands out, however, is in the chapters on the Prophets and on Revelation. I would definitely recommend it for those chapters.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Good Book for Someone Looking for a More Liberal Interpretation
*by P***H on 17 August 2013*

It suggests a more free way of having the Bible communicate to you the Divine message than has often been the case, or at least as much of it as the Bible includes. The Bible contains and alludes to ideas at many levels, some of which have been shrouded through translations and revisions, but some of the revelation of this "pearl of great price" was never given at the time of its writing. For both of these reasons the most informative way to read it (or any other text, for that matter) is with the help and interpretation of the "Still small voice" that is within each of us. Course, there seems to be a "Catch - 22" situation implied here, in that the Bible seems to be the manual for learning how to hear that voice. Incidentally, if anyone is objecting to my suggestion that the Bible is not a complete courier of the Divine message, this is clearly so because, by any reasonable measure, its most illuminated and transformative part is the Gospels and Jesus' teaching, ..... and it clearly reports that before his departure he states "I have yet many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now". There are also many other references to becoming still and listening for further guidance and clarity. So, what about the "Catch - 22" referenced above? Well, it turns out not to be a problem because the source of the "Voice for Truth" within us (that for which the shorthand label is the word "God") has many ways to communicate with us and it will find a way to get through to anyone who has reached a state of willingness to hear, .... the only thing that ever blocks it is our confidences in what we have decided is how things work, ..... what we have learnt through "eating from the tree of knowledge", .... very little of which has any absolute truth to it, as we are, from within the human condition, "seeing through a glass darkly", ..... or more informatively we are observing through a lens of misperception, .... this idea that, from the human egoic perspective, what we observe and believe to be reality is actually an illusion is a recurring theme in many schools of religious belief (and Plato's cave). And science does not address this issue because it simply assumes that what we are observing is real. Now, what about this book? ..... well, the choice and process of backing out of the beliefs we have incorporated (and the extreme limitations of life apparently as a body) can be likened to retracing a path over a series of stepping stones, .... as we retreat from the ignorance, frustration, limitation, mortality, repeated sickness, etc. of this completely unreal experience, ... which, incidentally, death is not the escape hatch from, .... unless one chooses it at that point, ..... as we do that (which each one does eventually) what is beneficial depends on where one is on the chain of stepping stones, ..... As regards this book, it could be of enormous value to one just releasing himself from the shackles of a literal reading of the Bible. It is well written and argued with abundant references. However, to one "further on", if I may use that phrase, it seems to me that it risks writing out the mystical content. The author discusses at some length the concept of "reading lenses", .. i.e. "interpretational lenses", ..... but it seems to me (as I am sure he would admit) that he brings his own credibility lens sharply into play, ..... almost offering authoritative direction on what is literal and what is symbolic, .... and, in particular the limits on the possibility of the miraculous, ..... which, if they really did occur as recorded (or close to it), rather undermines the purpose of at least some of Jesus' ministry, .... One of the greatest difficulties with the Bible is discerning what is literal and what is symbolic, .... for some this book may facilitate a softening of previous confining convictions, ..... and it does have some magnificent uplift to share on many of the Bible stories, .... but as one might expect, falls some way short of God's explanation of them, ..... However, it may of course, be an essential ingredient for some towards the opening of that door. Finally, I have alluded above to translation and revision risking dilution and corruption of the original writings or, more particularly, the actuality of the event that was being described, ..... i.e. the effect of the passage of time on these sacred works being lossy, ..... however, if the transcribers are themselves open to revelation, as I believe those commissioned by King James (and others at different times) may have been in some form, whether able to hear the "Voice for Truth" or not, then we also have the possibility of Divine accretion, ..... i.e. an "adding unto" the previous content, ..... so I do not agree with Borg's statement that the Biblical writings are always and only an account of the Hebrews' and Israelites' beliefs, meanings and understandings at that time.

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*Last updated: 2026-06-06*