Product Description

Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading Eugene Peterson is convinced that the way we read the Bible is as important as that we read it. Do we read the Bible for information about God and salvation, for principles and truths that we can use to live better? Or do we read it in order to listen to God and respond in prayer and obedience? The second part of Petersons momentous five-volume work on spiritual theology, Eat This Book challenges us to read the Scriptures on their own terms, as Gods revelation, and to live them as we read them. With warmth and wisdom Peterson offers greatly needed, down-to-earth counsel on spiritual reading. In these pages he draws readers into a fascinating conversation on the nature of language, the ancient practice of lectio divina, and the role of Scripture translations; included here is the inside story behind Petersons own popular Bible translation, The Message. Countering the widespread practice of using the Bible for self-serving purposes, Peterson here serves readers with a nourishing entrée into the formative, life-changing art of spiritual reading. 6 hrs.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1895292 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-15
• Format: Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Binding: Audio CD

From Publishers Weekly
Peterson is a retired pastor and popular author best known for The Message, a paraphrasing of the Bible into modern idiom. In this slender book, he invites Christian readers to encounter the Bible anew. Drawing on language in Ezekiel and Revelation, Peterson says that we ought not read the Bible the same way we read a cookbook, a textbook, or even a great novel. Rather, Christians are to absorb, imbibe, feed on and digest Scripture. Peterson recommends a type of Bible-based prayer called lectio divina, in which the person praying meditates on a short passage of Scripture and listens for God to speak through the text. Peterson's exposition of lectio divina is one of the fullest to appear in recent years. Throughout, he cautions that lectio is not a systematic way of reading, but a "developed habit of living the text in Jesus' name." The last chapter, in which Peterson ruminates on his own experience translating the Bible, will be fascinating to Peterson's devotees, but is more myopic than the rest of the book. However, this is a worthy sequel to Peterson's 2004 hit Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places.
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From AudioFile
Grover Gardners precise narration conveys Petersons somewhat redundant message on spiritual reading. Using the examples of the angel speaking to John, the Revelator, from the Book of Revelation, and Ezekiel, the biblical prophet, Gardner captures the metaphor in ringing tones, when he says, Eat the Book. Spiritual reading can be likened to a dog chewing on a succulent, juicy bone. Just as the dog chews, savors, and lingers over its bone, Peterson recommends that Christians chew and savor and linger over Holy Scripture. Gardners gentle vocal personality lends itself well to persuasion as he gives full value to the details of spiritual reading and encourages listeners to regain the lost art of biblical meditation. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine