‘What is the Bible?’: A look at controversial author Rob Bell’s newest book.

Cheryl Chastain
Jul 24, 2017 · 2 min read

I love books with a question as the title. In fact, I prefer the question books over the answer books every time. The question books are open and brave and expansive, and that certainly describes Rob Bell’s new book.

The Question as the Way

Bell urges us from the beginning to read the Bible by asking a lot of questions. By asking questions, we engage with what is happening in what we’re reading, and we open our mind and and heart to what is happening.

Asking questions allows us to dig in, be invested, get some skin in the game. This is how to read the Bible. It’s the only way to read something this important.

In writing his book, Bell models the asking for us. There are more questions in this book than answers, which is, of course, the point. However, Bell does a generous amount of pointing and suggesting and hinting and recounting, so that some of the most unusual and exceptional things about this amazing library called the Bible are brought to the surface.

The author’s 25 years spent digging into this library make him an incredible resource of information about it. He calls this kind of reading “Turning the gem.” How you look at different facets of a cut stone to appreciate it on different levels helps you see something new each time. According to Bell, you don’t simply read the Bible; you dance with it.

He also does a lot of parenthetical (as if speaking to ones self) writing, which feels so wonderfully conversational I stopped more than once to answer him aloud. I also (more than once) chuckled to myself, because I noticed it was like he was voicing questions in my own head, and I was going right along with it, nodding and making all the noises of an interested reader (hmmm, oh really?, …interesting, ahhh … I always wondered about that).

The book is set up in three parts, with a fourth section to address some of the most common questions people ask about the Bible. Right from the start, Bell lets us in on the secret that his book is arranged like the Bible, which means it isn’t a straight line but an arc — a trajectory, in fact. Bell is taking us along a discovery journey, and like all journeys, it has its twists and turns and double backs, so he basically starts the book by saying, “Buckle up. This is going to be a sweet ride.”

Read the Full Review on Turning The Page: A site to empower your mental health through spiritual development

Cheryl Chastain

Written by

Writer. Speaker. Community Builder. Psychology and Relationships Hobbyist. Sleep Enthusiast. http://cherylchastain.me

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