DESCRIPTION
Gregory Mobley plunges beneath the Bible's surface to reveal its "backstories" -- the tales that constitute the backbone of the people Israel and of the body of Christ. Viewing the Bible as "essentially, relentlessly story," Mobley provides an easy-to-understand sevenpart thematic overview of the Bible that guides readers through the drama of the Hebrew Bible, highlighting the interconnectedness of biblical stories. Each story is a variation on a single theme -- the dynamic interplay between order and chaos.
Intriguing Ancient Near Eastern myths, personal anecdotes, and popular cultural references from movies, musical theater, and writers ranging from Dr. Seuss to William Blake pepper the book throughout. Arresting chapter and section titles such as "It's Love That Makes the World Go 'Round" and "Lord Bezek's Big Toes" capture the imagination, and Mobley's own lyrical, energetic writing style -- exercised on vibrant biblical material -- propels the reader forward. Readers will find his enthusiasm contagious!
Read more about the book in a blog post from Mobley on
EerdWord.
REVIEWS
Phyllis Trible
-- Union Theological Seminary
"In lively prose Greg Mobley combines the work of teacher and preacher, scholar and poet to explore the dominant story line undergirding the Bible. His passion for the subject guides the reader into mystery and mayhem, law and love, nature and nourishment. A book worthy of the informed faith it espouses."
Walter Brueggemann
-- Columbia Theological Seminary
"Mobley has written a thick narrative account of Israel's thick narrative. He does so with freedom and imagination while remaining faithful to the plotline of the old narrative. His book defies genre classification; it is part introduction, part theology, but mostly a playful tease that invites the reader into the indeterminate wisdom of the biblical text. Mobley's shrewd reflection on 'God's anger' is itself well worth the price of the book. But there is much more here that invites fresh thinking about texts we thought we already knew. This welcome and suggestive probe of biblical imagination ranges all the way from the stories of the ancient Near East to quite personal narrative memories."
Lawrence M. Wills
-- Episcopal Divinity School
"The Bible was composed by storytellers, and, nearly alone among commentators, Mobley brings the Bible's narrative world, often an oral narrative world, to life."