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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

"This Book Will Change Your World": reading the Bible based on Transmillenialism/ Agapetheism


Kevin A. Beck is author of a free book, "This Book Will Change Your World."
Preview below, download link here:

People read the Bible in countless ways. Is it a blueprint for the course of history? Or does it contain a secret code for unlocking the secrets of the universe? Does the Bible present a formula for our post-mortem destinies? Should it be read literally, allegorically, or figuratively?
Was each word dictated by the mouth of God, or is it solely the product of human imagination responding to specific political and social circumstances?
Today, people are reading the headlines in light of the Bible. Millions consider the Bible as predicting the end of the world. So, they scan the news looking for their hope to come true. They actively hope, pray, and work for the end of the space-time universe.
Whatever you think about the Bible, one thing is certain: The Bible is an integral part of our human heritage. It isn’t going away.
In our age of global interconnection, we’re ready for a fresh way of reading the Bible. This Book Will Change Your World provides a positive alternative to traditional understandings of the Biblical story. It takes the Bible seriously without reducing it to a flat document relevant only to those interested in fundamentalist religion or esoteric spirituality.
This retelling of the Biblical narrative is called Transmillennial because it transcends thousands of years of the bickering over the Bible and opens the way for creative personal transformation and societal engagement.
Here is what you can expect inThis Book Will Change Your World.
Introduction: The Beginning of the End. By reframing the classic movie The Wizard of Oz, you will see that you have the power to tell and retell any story. When we realize that there can be a creative option to the old, worn out ways of reading the Bible, we can experience a new appreciation of the story and our place in the world.
Chapter 1: Crystal Ball Theology. I’m tired of the Bible being used as a crystal ball that supposedly predicts the future. Appreciating the Biblical narratives in their original settings changes the way we see what’s happening in the Bible. When we change the way we read the story, everything changes.
Chapter 2: Colorful Language. The Bible is filled with symbolic speech, metaphors, and parables like: the sun will be darkened, the moon turned to blood, and the stars falling from the sky. To reduce these rich symbols to literal predictions saps all meaning from them. A Transmillennial reading of the texts adds more cowbell to the Bible and to our lives.
Chapter 3: Time After Time. For over a century, scholars have recognized that Jesus and his earliest followers were expecting a major transformation in their lifetime. This chapter explores several time indicators in key Biblical texts.
Chapter 4: The End of The World As We Know It. The Bible talks about the end of the world. Most folks have taken this to mean the end of the planet. But what if the original writers were looking for the end of another world—not the end of the planet, but the end of one world-order and the beginning of a new one?
Chapter 5: What About…? If the end of the world is behind us and not in front of us, then how does that affect our understanding of the Millennium, the Second Coming of Christ, the Resurrection, the Last Judgment, and the Church?
Chapter 6: So What? A fresh reading of the Biblical story has the potential to move us from fear to confidence. We can see God in a new light, discover the peace of Comprehensive Grace, experience creative Societal Engagement, and see the God who is love. I call this Agapetheism.-
-Kevin A. Beck

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