A Review of the Book "Reading the Bible Again for the First Time" by Marcus J Borg

Title: Reading the Bible Again for the First Time

Author: Marcus J Borg

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc

Year: 2002

302 pages

Even if you have read the bible repeatedly over the years, whether in full or in bits and pieces, we will never have all the information in order to understand the words completely. Which means that we are relying on many people's expertise - theologians, biblical scholars, literary experts, etc. Each perspective will be just that little bit different based on where that person's education, background, and biases stems from.

There is especially a lot of debate about whether or not the bible is the literal word of God or the inspired word of God. While the debate will probably never end, it is my opinion that the best way to build your depth of understanding of the bible is to take in many perspectives.

Marcus Borg has written many books about reading the bible from new angles, concentrating on blending tradition and reality. This book follows along that same path with a tagline that caught my attention right away - "taking the bible seriously but not literally."

As the book progresses, Borg goes through each of the parts of the bible, from the Creation stories to Revelation, discussing parts that could possibly have been historical events and pointing out the stories that are more likely to be leaning towards the metaphorical. Borg provides readers with some new ideas on how to interpret the stories found within the pages the Bible.

His writing is easy to read so that you don't have to have a Master of Divinity in order to follow along. This book is meant for those who want to delve deeper into their bible, looking for a contemporary way of being a believer while maintain the "richness of the bible."

It was quite an enjoyable read and I highly recommend it for anyone looking to do some biblical exploration.