Does the Bible Tell Me So?

by Margaret Nutting Ralph

Publisher:

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

, 2019

Overview

What does the Bible teach and what does it not teach? Does the Bible Tell Me So? addresses this question by first examining how the Bible has been misinterpreted in the past and then asking if the same mistakes are being made today.

The topic of how to interpret scripture so as to correctly understand what it teaches is extremely important not only for creating unity among Christian denominations but for civil dialogue and peaceful decision making.

To correctly interpret the teachings of the Bible, various contexts must be taken into consideration: the literary form the biblical author is using, the beliefs at the time of the original author and audience, and the two-thousand-year process of ongoing revelation modeled in scripture. In this book, author Margaret Nutting Ralph explains each of these three contexts and applies this method of interpretation to historical issues, demonstrating how the Bible was abused to support the deep-seated prejudices of well-meaning people of the past. She then examines this approach in relation to current issues to determine whether scripture is being misused today.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 Considering Context

2 Slavery Is Moral: Does the Bible Tell Me So? No

3 Women Should Not Vote: Their Place Is in the Home: Does the Bible Tell Me So? No

4 Jesus Loves Me: Does the Bible Tell Me So? Yes

5 God Created the World in Six Days: The Theory of Evolution Is Incompatible with Scripture: Does the Bible Tell Me So? No

6 Homosexual People Cannot Marry: Does the Bible Tell Me So? No

7 Divorce and Remarriage Is Always Wrong: There Are No Exceptions: Does the Bible Tell Me So? No

8 Christ Is Present in Eucharist: Does the Bible Tell Me So? Yes

9 Christ Established a Hierarchical Church: Does the Bible Tell Me So? Yes: But This Is a Partial Truth

10 Scripture Shows a Growing Interest in Mary: Does the Bible Tell Me So? Yes

11 Only Christians Can Be Saved: Does the Bible Tell Me So? No

12 The End Is Coming! The End Is Coming!: Does the Bible Tell Me So? Well, It Depends on What You Mean by “The End”

Postscript

Bibliography

Biblical Index

About the Author

Praise for Does the Bible Tell Me So?

With this book as their guide, readers—whether in local parishes or university classrooms—will be able to uncover a message of love and inclusion in even in the most difficult and contentious of topics.

Ralph addresses a clutch of compelling questions in the context of the Bible. . . Ralph finds evidence for her conclusions in the context of literary form; the beliefs at the time of the original author and audience; and the 2000-year process of ongoing revelation that is modeled in Scripture. Her thoughtful book will be of interest to contextualists, fundamentalists, and seekers of every persuasion.

All Christians know that reading the Bible is important, but not many of us know how to do it. We pick and choose verses, post them on our social media, and use them to reinforce what we already believe. If scripture is to be a prophetic and transforming text for our age, we’ve got to learn to read in context—in the perspective of the literary form, the setting of ancient culture, the situation of the author’s world view, and the framework of God’s whole revelation. Explore the most hotly-contested biblical issues in our day by letting Margaret Nutting Ralph help you determine whether or not the Bible tells you so.

The concept and approach of this book are brilliant. In a clear, logical manner, Margaret Nutting Ralph makes a compelling case for reading scripture in context and cautioning the reader from discerning messages in scripture that were never intended. In doing so, she empowers the reader to discern rich meaning from scripture that she or he may have missed otherwise.

Margaret Nutting Ralph is an excellent pedagogue who has the uncanny ability to help believers to appreciate both the importance and the limitations of scripture for Christian living today.

Ralph’s a fixture in Central Kentucky’s Roman Catholic community and formerly served as a long-time academic at Lexington Theological Seminary, where she directed the seminary’s Catholic studies program.

Her dozen-and-a-half books, most or all of which are about the Bible, have been translated into multiple foreign languages. Several of her volumes remain fixtures on my own bookshelf. The concept of Does the Bible Tell Me So? is engaging. Ralph takes 11 controversial issues on which people often trot out the Scriptures to prove their point, and then discusses what the Bible actually says, and doesn’t, about those matters.

This book may be a place to begin the study of some of the more problematic issues of belief and practice confronting believers today.

Product Details

• Title : Does the Bible Tell Me So?
• Author: Ralph, Margaret Nutting
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication Date: 2019
• ISBN: 9781538129623

About Margaret Nutting Ralph

Margaret Nutting Ralph is the director of the Masters in Pastoral Studies degree program for Catholics at Lexington Theological Seminary. She has given numerous presentations on biblical topics to parish, diocesan, state and national groups throughout the United States, in Nassau and in Canada, including the East Coast Conference; Anaheim Conference; National Conference of Catechetical Leaders; Chief Administrators of Catholic Education; National Catholic Education Association; Gather Me a People Conference. She has published many books and articles on religion and the church, including A Walk Through the New Testament: An Introduction for Catholics (2009) and bestseller And God Said What? An Introduction to Biblical Literary Forms (2003).