Nowadays, it’s not surprising to first read the blog before the book, and I was first introduced to Conrad Gempf by Jason Clark. When I saw Conrad’s book at SUFES bookstore I couldn’t resist the temptatation to get a copy. I thought about it before – i.e. how Jesus always had interesting questions and the way he used them. And now there’s a really fun-serious-witty-wise book that invites us to enter this “questioning” environment in the Gospels. Here’s a free sample chapter! Plus I think the cover is fantastic 🙂
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Jesus was a bit different from other religious teachers. Moses wanted to tell you the Law of God. Prophets were always telling you what the Lord was saying. But apparently, if you met Jesus on the street, he was more likely to ask you something than to tell you something. Even when other people asked him a question, he often replied with one of his own. ~ p. 19
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I asked a few questions to a group of “thinkers” and was delighted with the response…. made me think of more questions!
“For the time being, though, it seems pretty clear that Jesus was not giving a cryptogram to decode as much as a story to be taken to heart — a mystery or riddle to ponder.”
I wonder if we don’t too often treat the Bible as an archaeological site: ‘dig deep and handle with care’, when it seems more like a whole jungle or mountain view meant for the exploring!
Thanks for your kind words, Sivin. I, too, loved the cover (though quite a few people I respect did not). It’s by an artist named Curt Diepenhorst, and he’s done quite a few Zondervan covers. My favourite bit about it is the way that only Jesus’ ear is in focus. Curt will also be doing the cover for my next.
Thanks, Ben, for the image of archaeology v mountain view. I’ve always used the illustration of a biologist who dissects a puppy in order to find out what kids see in ’em. Archaeology and dissection are useful, even great, tools for understanding, but they ain’t the only ones, and for too long in the 20th century, biblical experts were too convinced of the exclusive superiority of their tools and methods.