Description: Using the metaphor of cooking, Serving Up Scripture explains how the reader (or interpreter) of Scripture can make solid meals (trustworthy, insightful interpretations) from the ingredients (chapters and verses) in the Bible, putting the biblical text back into the hands of anyone who's ever felt it's been abused or its message mischaracterized.
Brief description:
Jennifer Garcia Bashaw is a professor at Campbell University and an ordained Baptist minister. She has a PhD in New Testament from Fuller Seminary and is the author of Scapegoats: The Gospel through the Eyes of Victims and John for Normal People: A Guide through the Drama and Depth of the Fourth Gospel.
Review Quotes:
"An accessible entry point into the sometimes-opaque world of biblical scholarship . . . Church study groups will be especially edified." ---Publishers Weekly
"What is the Bible? While that question has split families and denominations, this is the latest entry into the fray, offering its answer with an unusual motif: cooking. . . . Regardless of one's leanings, Bible aficionados will find much to chew on." ---Booklist
"Bashaw and Higashi are wise and learned guides to the Bible. Even more than that, they're loving and hospitable. Their heart for liberative, life-giving scriptural interpretation shines through in this friendly, accessible book--a gift to readers who have hoped for a more healing path through the Bible but didn't think they could access the necessary tools or skills to find their way there." --Jeff Chu, editor-at-large for Travel+Leisure, teacher in residence at Crosspointe Church in North Carolina, and author of Good Soil
"With the brilliance of scholars and the warmth of friends, Bashaw and Higashi invite us to take holy responsibility for how our interpretations play out in God's kingdom, and offer the accessibility and tools to work through our questions with curiosity and care. I cannot wait to shove this book into the hands of everyone I know." --Erin Hicks Moon, author of I've Got Questions and cohost of the Faith Adjacent podcast
"If Guy Fieri took a road trip through biblical scholarship, this would be his Triple D destination--it's got all the FLAVOR! Bashaw and Higashi have created the ultimate comfort food for anyone who's ever been intimidated by Scripture study. They've managed to make historical criticism feel like a dinner party with your smartest friends, serving up exegetical techniques that are 'money' and hermeneutical approaches that are straight-up 'bananas.' The cooking metaphor isn't just clever--it's transformative, helping you understand that interpretation is an art, a skill you can develop, and a joyful practice rather than a burden. This book is going to democratize biblical interpretation in the best possible way--taking it from Flavortown to Faithtown!" --Tripp Fuller, host of the Homebrewed Christianity podcast and visiting professor of theology and culture at Luther Seminary
"A brilliant guide to the complexities and subjectivities of interpreting the Bible. In a refreshingly accessible way, Bashaw and Higashi pull back the curtain on interpretation to reveal the role of the reader and their social position in guiding the production of meaning with the Bible. Using the analogy of cooking, they place the Bible reader in the role of the chef, who works with a variety of ingredients--the various voices of the biblical texts--to prepare readings that will be meaningful and useful to themselves and to their own audiences." --Dan McClellan, honorary fellow, Cadbury Centre for the Public Understanding of Religion, University of Birmingham
"Scripture says that 'people do not live on bread alone, ' but understanding how the meal the Bible offers us is prepared is an essential part of the feast. In Serving Up Scripture, Bashaw and Higashi masterfully expand this meal metaphor to explain the act and art of interpreting Scripture, and our role in that process. This book is helpful, fascinating, and a must-read for anyone who wants to take the Bible more seriously." --Josh Scott, lead pastor of GracePointe Church and author of Bible Stories for Grown-Ups and Parables