Book notes: Eat This Book by Eugene H. Peterson

I finished Eugene Peterson's Eat This Book a couple hours ago. It challenged me along the way, but as I read he addressed most of my concerns, sometimes with the honest answer that many things need to be held in tension. i.e. Strong exegesis of the Bible and accurate translations are important, but not at the expense of approachability and meaningful understanding. I highly recommend this book. It has re-inspired me in my personal Bible reading, and will likely affect the way I lead Bible studies in the future.

The first two-thirds of the book provide a critique on the way we tend to approach scripture: with self-focus and personal feelings or needs. This all leads to his explanation of lectio divina, a more genuine approach to allowing God's Spirit to speak through scripture in lifeshaping ways. In the last third he describes the history and motivation behind his translation of the Bible, The Message.


Here are 7 excerpts:

"Too many Bible readers assume that exegesis is what you do after you have learned Greek and Hebrew. That's simply not true. Exegesis is nothing more than a careful and loving reading of the text...Greek and Hebrew are well worth learning, but if you haven't had the privilege, settle for English...Appreciate the learned Scripture scholars, but don't be intimidated by them....Exegesis is an act of love. It loves the one who speaks the words enough to want to get the words right...Exegesis is loving God enough to stop and listen carefully to what he says" (p. 55).

Later, Peterson explains why he supports what are called Bible "interpretations" or "paraphrases." Most of scripture was originally read and spoken in common vernacular so that it could be heard, understood and incorporated into their lives. Our scripture--if it is to affect how we live--should be read and heard in a voice that doesn't necessarily depend on a Bible scholar, dictionary or lexicon at the ready. He isn't putting down the intelligence of readers nor the importance of translators. He isn't talking about a "dumbed-down" version of scripture, but one that puts those same efforts toward accurately translating the historical meaning into our vernacular. --Again, that is the how most of the Bible's original texts began. He sees this as a recovery and clearer expression of the Bible, not an attempt to hide the word in casual clothes.

"The task is urgent. It is clear that we live in an age in which the authority of Scripture in our lives has been replaced by the authority of the self....I am not the only one to notice that we are in the odd and embarrassing position of being a church in which many of us believe ardently in the authority of the Bible but, instead of submitting to it, use it, apply it, take charge of it endlessly, using our own experience as the authority for how and where and when we will use it" (p.59).

"An arresting phrase in Psalm 40:6 serves admirably as a metaphor for lectio divina: 'aznayim karitha li, literally, 'ears thou hast dug for me.' Translators routinely but timidly paraphrase: 'thou has given me an open ear' (RSV); 'my ears you have pierced' (NIV); 'mine ears thou hast opened' (KJV). But the psalm poet was bold to imagine God swinging a pickax, digging ears in our granite blockheads so that we can hear, really hear, what he speaks to us" (p.92).

"There is the assumption that what we are reading is the 'word of God,' which means that it absolutely must be taken seriously. But 'seriously' in our present-day reading culture very often means literally....Metaphor is a form of language that cannot pass such logical scrutiny...The Bible is chock full of metaphor....For instance, 'God is a rock'...If we take the sentence literally, instead of going to church on Sunday mornings to worship we will visit the local stone quarry" (p. 94).


On meditatio in lectio divina--or context:

"Every biblical text must be read in the living presence of Jesus. Every word of the scriptural text is a window...into this great outdoors of God's revelation in the sky and ocean, tree and flower, Isaiah and Mary, and, finally and completely, Jesus. Meditation discerns the connections and listens for the harmonies that come together in Jesus" (p. 102).

On contemplatio in lectio divina--or application:

"The common American stereotype of contemplation is that it is what monks and nuns do in monasteries and convents....I am endlessly grateful for the men and women who gave (and continue to give!) themselves to such disciplined attentiveness to our Lord. But I am also determined to do what I can to get the term 'contemplation' into circulation in the world of the everyday" (pp. 110-111).
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"Every word of God revealed and read in the Bible is there to be conceived and born in us: Christ, the Word made flesh, made flesh in our flesh" (p. 114).


Now, I have just started Richard Giles book, Re-Pitching the Tent; Re-Ordering the Church Building for Worship and Mission. It is a book that Dr. Samuel Torvend recommended in one of our adult ed. forums, and one that several others in our new Art Ministry Team will also be reading this summer.