Richard Gist

I won this book in a give away. I found it listed under memoirs. I would have put it under ¨memoirs and musings¨, because author Richard Gist freely mixes memories with spiritual awakenings, philosophy and private opinions.

I was slightly alarmed when Gist wrote in his preface/ introduction: ¨I can't even say it's good stuff worth the reader's time, only that I enjoyed committing my thoughts to paper.¨ followed by a statement that the work was not professionally edited. I expected the worst. I needn't have worried. Despite the fact that the author likes to ¨pontificate¨(his own word), he does it with wit and insight in human nature. Throughout the thirty plus some half chapters, he touches on every human concern one can possibly think of, from dog fights to faith, from conception to military service, and from fishing with dad to the mystery of girls. I was actually glad that Gist kept the professional editor away from his writing, because now it sounds like the stories grandparents tell their family and friends: warm, intimate, full of colorful digressions, and whole. Yes, certain parts are a little long winded, but that is the par for the course in this case.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and thought is well worth the reader's time.



… (plus d'informations)

Definitely a candidate for the Dubious Disciple top ten award this year. I can’t recall when I last enjoyed a book this much. Gist brings the Bible alive as ancient Hebrew storytelling, and though there’s sometimes a bit of speculation involved, the flavor of his interpretation is so fascinating that it must be spot on.

Gist describes himself as a “still growing, though retired, minister, who enjoys what he is continuously learning about the Bible.” He does not pretend to be a biblical scholar, yet he brings a common-sense approach to understanding Jewish literature. One fun example is his discussion of the difference between Hebrew prophecy and Christian prophecy. Hebrew prophets were never future-tellers the way we want to believe they were; they were actually more likely to go around playing music, falling into trances and stripping naked.

So why don’t we understand the Bible the way ancient Hebrews did? Because we’re Christian. Within two or three generations after Jesus, Greek-speaking gentiles took over the church. The early Christians did not understand Jewish literature, they began to distance themselves from Jews, and soon even became enemies. People began to read scripture literally, which buried the subtle messages within. The Jesus movement, instead of promoting the prophets’ dreams, somehow turned into a religion.

Nowhere is this more evident than in comparing two early Christianities, which Gist labels Pauline and Petrine. Pauline Christianity won the race–it’s what we all are familiar with today–but Petrine Christianity is more loyal to its Jewish roots, and thus surely more loyal to Jesus.

So if we’ve been wrong all along, is there hope for us to learn what the Bible really means? Yep, I think so, if we can outgrow this tendency to read scripture like a literal history book, and Gist is the person to help us! His approach is loads of fun, his writing is engaging, his research is fascinating, and most important of all, he simply makes sense.

Buy this one for sure.

FriesenPress, © 2014, 176 pages

ISBN: 978-1-4602-4272-8… (plus d'informations)