How (Not) to Read the Bible

Making Sense of the Anti-Women, Anti-Science, Pro-Violence, Pro-Slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture

By: Dan Kimball

Narrated by: Dan Kimball, Sean McDowell

Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

When Dan Kimball first sat down to meet with a student who was disillusioned by Christianity, he wasn't ready for what he was about to hear. The student had a positive church experience. He was grateful for his youth leader. But he had serious objections to Christianity. Why? He had begun studying the Bible and found he could no longer accept what it taught. Reading the Bible had led him to become an atheist.

In How (Not) to Read the Bible, pastor and best-selling author Dan Kimball tackles one of the most pressing apologetic challenges of the 21st-century church - how do we interpret the Bible?

Kimball introduces several critical principles to utilize when you open a Bible or listen to a verse. Then, he looks at five of the most common challenges that arise when people hear the Bible today, including: the relationship between science and the Bible, the violence we find in the Bible, the treatment of women in the Bible, the odd and strange commands we find in the Bible, and the Bible's controversial claim that there is only one way to know God. Kimball highlights several of the most common passages people find objectionable and shows listeners how to correctly interpret them.

This is an ideal book for those exploring Christianity or new to the faith, as well as Christians who are wrestling with questions about these difficult issues and the challenges of interpreting the Bible. Filled with stories and examples, as well as visual illustrations and memes reflecting popular cultural objections, How (Not) to Read the Bible will motivate listeners who are confused or discouraged by questions they have about the Bible and guides them - step-by-step - to a clear understanding of what the Bible is saying in context. The book can also be taught as a six-week sermon series or used in small groups for study and discussion.

Accompanying images and reference tables are available in the audiobook companion PDF download.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 Dan Kimball (P)2020 Zondervan

Excellent book that everyone should read.

This is an excellent book that everyone should read. Dan Kimball tackles difficult issues with honesty and integrity. It makes me love God more and love the Bible more. I would like to sit down with Mr Kimball for an afternoon and chat more about some of these things.

A must read for Christians!

Highly recommend this book to believers and non believers. Its great for the youth too about to start college (typically when they start to question what they believe in.) There’s a lot of weird verses in the Bible and this gives you the know how of how to approach those verse.

Good book

This was a good book. He did a good job explaining difficult topics and giving different opinions of what they could mean. The guy reading this was a little slow. if you put the speed to 1.25 it's not to bad just a little robot sounding. I would still recommend this audible book.

Concise and complete, yet humble

Dan Kimball does a great job explaining his position on a number of difficult passages in scripture. His non-actor reading gives it credibility and yet it doesn’t feel like an act or sermon. Worth a read/listen.

The book

Put it in 1.2x speed. But great biblically founded book with plenty of scripture included! Loved the context of verses and resources as well! Worth every dollar!

Deep answers to deep questions!

As someone who has been a Christian my entire life, I need deep answers to deep questions - not copy & paste simple responses. This book helped me solidify my belief that God’s character is both good and consistent, even though there are parts of the Old Testament that are a hard pill to swallow. Christians and unbelievers alike need more books like this.

Great book

Dan is the narrator! Clear voice and no weird mouth sounds! Great book and great narration.

Must Read

I enjoyed the book for the most part. I enjoyed the honesty from the author and his ability to tackle some of the more difficult Bible verses to understand.

This is a must read for all Christians.

Excellent read

This was an excellent read navigating some difficult topics through the Bible. Dan does a great job utilizing scripture to point to the authenticity of scripture

Thank you for writing this book!

Thank you for all that you’ve put into writing this book and making yourself available to those with questions!!