by: Zach W. Lambert

• Format

  Paperback

  ISBN

  9781587436680

  Dimensions

  5.5 x 8.5

  Pub. Date

  Aug 2025

  SRP

  $19.99

  Carton Quantity

  48

  Number of pages

  208

  Buy

About

Zach Lambert has seen the Bible used countless times as something far from the "Good Book"--both in his own life and in the experiences of others. He has seen the Bible weaponized to subjugate women, justify racism, bash LGBTQ+ people, cover up abuse, and exclude people who speak out against these injustices.

In Better Ways to Read the Bible, Lambert calls readers to a more Christlike interpretation of Scripture. Lambert has created this accessible guide to help readers dismantle four common lenses for reading Scripture that lead to harm--Literalism, Apocalypse, Moralism, and Hierarchy. Instead, he offers four new lenses--Jesus, Context, Flourishing, and Fruitfulness--that promote wholeness, inclusion, and flourishing for all people. This book transforms the Bible from a weapon that condemns, oppresses, and excludes into a tool that helps and heals.

Better Ways to Read the Bible, which includes a foreword by Beth Allison Barr, welcomes all Christians to reengage Scripture in life-giving ways.

Contents

Introduction: How the Bible Beat Me Up
Section 1: We All Have Lenses
1. You're Reading It Wrong
2. We All Have Lenses
Section 2: Lenses That Inflict Harm
3. The Literalism Lens: "The Bible Says It, I Believe It, That Settles It"
4. The Apocalypse Lens: "It's All Gonna Burn Anyway"
5. The Moralism Lens: "Well, That's Not Biblical"
6. The Hierarchy Lens: "I'm Just Following God's Created Order"
Section 3: Lenses That Promote Healing
7. The Jesus Lens: "The Scriptures Point to Me"
8. The Context Lens: "The One Who Seeks Will Find"
9. The Flourishing Lens: "I Have Come That They May Have Life Abundantly"
10. The Fruitfulness Lens: "By Their Fruit You Will Recognize Them"
A Restored Reading