Dan Kimball - How (Not) to Read the Bible

I use colored markers to underline passages when I read the Bible. Yellow means pay attention! Blue means very poetic. Green means super weird or hilarious. There is a lot of green in my Bible! Dan helps make sense of the bizarre and demonstrates why we can have confidence that the Bible is trustworthy and God inspired.

D AVID C ROWDER , Grammy-nominated artist, musician, and author

In our culture the Bible has, for many people, become an obstacle in the journey of faith. Biblical stories about sex, slavery, and divine violence are often too bizarre and disturbing for most modern readers. Dan Kimball understands this from personal and pastoral experience, and hes given us a thoughtful guide for reading these problematic parts of the Bible. If youre struggling to make moral sense of the Bible, or know someone who is, this book is for you!

T IM M ACKIE , The Bible Project

The Bible presents many problems to many readers, and they can be forceful and fearless in their questioning traditional beliefs in the Bible. Its because Dans pastoral heart has heard people ask these questions and because he has worked through their issues that there is no one in the world better to write this book than Dan Kimball. A book full of theological wisdom and pastoral care for honest Bible readers who have genuine and difficult questions about the Bible.

S COT M C K NIGHT , professor of New Testament, Northern Seminary

We need this book. Dan Kimball has long been a guide for a generation trying to find their footing in a post-Christian world, for those of us who want to believe, yet struggle to make sense of the Bible in our age. Yet again, he steps in to offer kind, intelligent, wise, and, as youd expect from Dan, funny guidance.

J OHN M ARK C OMER , pastor of vision and teaching, Bridgetown Church; author, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

Dan Kimball answers tough questions with both clarity and a genuine sympathy for those who struggle with them. His compassion and sensitivity are a result of his own struggles with the strange book called the Bible. In this book, Kimball describes how to resolve those doubts. We need to read the Bible cautiously and carefully, with ancient eyes, not modern ones. This book is Kimballs winsome and insightful tutorial on how to accomplish that task.

G REGORY K OUKL , president, Stand to Reason (str.org); author, Tactics and The Story of Reality

An essential resource for anyone whose questions about the difficult and often bizarre parts of the Bible lead them to doubt Christianity. It should be on the bookshelf of every pastor and parent who gets peppered with gotcha! questions about the Bible. It should be read with an open mind by skeptics and anyone on a spiritual deconstruction journey. Chances are, theres someone in your life who needs to read it right now.

B RETT M C C RACKEN , author, The Wisdom Pyramid: Feeding Your Soul in a Post-Truth World; senior editor, Gospel Coalition

The Bible is the most amazing and life-changing book ever. Yet today, many are confused by Bible verses that seem strange and disturbing. The good news is that when you learn how (not) to read the Bible, you will find there are answers and explanations that make sense. Dan shows ways of gaining confidence in how and why the Bible was written, and how to make sense of difficult Bible passages.

J OSH M C D OWELL , apologist; author, Evidence That Demands a Verdict and More Than a Carpenter; josh.org

Dan Kimball asks a question that I and many of my fellow nonbelievers have been asking: How do thinking people understand and believe the weird and disturbing things found in the Bible? As Dan points out, many of them dont, and as a consequence they leave the faith. Although I made a similar transition myself, it must be admitted that most initial salvos from atheists against the many disturbing and morally problematic biblical passages we quote have explanations, or at least historical context for what theyre trying to convey. While my skepticism remains undeterred, I will confess (if I may) that I learned a lot reading this book.

M ICHAEL S HERMER , atheist; publisher, Skeptic magazine; presidential fellow, Chapman University; author, The Moral Arc

What a brilliant and easy to understand guide to the Bible difficulties that perplex Christians and drive the mockery of skeptics. Dan writes with a humility and clarity that will draw you in and wont let you put this book down. Ill be recommending it for years to comethis is the most accessible resource Ive seen on the topic.

N ATASHA C RAIN , speaker; blogger; author, Talking with Your Kids about Jesus

Dan Kimball is a man after my own heart: part investigator, part pastor, and part storyteller. Dan deftly explains how to read the Bible the way it was meant to be read. Perplexed by difficult passages in Scripture? Struggling to respond to friends and family members who sometimes misread the text and assume the worst of God? This timely book will equip you to read more clearly and explain more concisely. It will change the way you consider and defend the truth.

J. W ARNER W ALLACE , Dateline featured cold-case detective; author; Cold-Case Christianity; senior fellow, Colson Center for Christian Worldview

Dan Kimball once again raises his voice to help us understand how this generation is learning about faith and the Bible. He shows ways to help understand the difficult parts of Scripture while being faithful to its historical and beautiful truths. Insightful, powerful, and practicalyoull love this book!

M ARGARET F EINBERG , author, More Power to You

Dan Kimballs book is a wise, honest guide to caricatures about the Bible as well as to challenging and difficult to understand passages. It is accessible, readable, and engaging. Kimball speaks with great pastoral concern and insight about the most troubling or perplexing questions raised by Scripture.

P AUL C OPAN , Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics, Palm Beach Atlantic University; author, Is God a Moral Monster?

Hand this book to a seeker who is struggling with Scripture or to a young person who is ready to give up on Christianity. Dan Kimball walks through the hardest passages of Scripture and the ways they are mocked on social media. On science, he shows how texts like Genesis 1 were not meant to answer our modern questions about evolution but to teach the ancient Israelites about the one true God and the goodness of creation.

D EBORAH H AARSMA , astronomer; president, BioLogos

Whether its learning to master a sport, cooking, driving, or some other skill, there are times when learning how not to think or perform a task is crucial to success. Dan Kimball has rendered such a service with his provocative, humorous, but ultimately instructive book. Never has the need for reading Scripture accurately, within the contexts of its ancient writers, been so dire. This book reorients readers to make that task possible.

D R . M ICHAEL S. H EISER , bestselling author; executive director, Awakening School of Theology and Ministry; host, Naked Bible Podcast

Dan Kimball takes us through the weird, the bad, and the ugly of the Bible with penetrating insight. Whether its misogyny, slavery, or violence, Kimball takes an honest approach and shows us how (not) to read the Bible and why we can still believe in a God who loves all people. A valuable resource for doubters, seekers, and anyone confused about whether the Bible is true and good for people.

R EV . D R . M ICHAEL F. B IRD (PhD, University of Queensland), academic dean and lecturer in theology, Ridley College, Melbourne