The Book of God: The Bible as a Novel

by Walter Wangerin Jr.
Lent 2015


I have to admit that I've lapsed in my Catholicism of late. But I do try to remind myself of my faith every Lenten season. Small steps are better than no steps. So aside from giving up popcorn (which is a major sacrifice!), this year I promised to do some faith-based reading. 40 (long) days of The Bible as a Novel.

It would be ridiculous to try to critique the Bible. That's not the point of this post. What was nice was that Wangerin broke down many of the major stories from the Old and New Testaments and included them in a novel form; easier reading for modern western culture. I learned a lot while not feeling overwhelmed by information. But I admit, about halfway through, I was struggling with names and places. I skipped over many of the chapters about Kings when I knew I wasn't going to finish by Easter. Once I got to the life and time of Jesus, told from the apostle's points of view, my nightly page count increased. However, 40 days is a long time and I honestly started missing comfortable, familiar literature. Doesn't that make me sound awful?? There are definitely two types of people though: fiction and nonfiction readers. I simply prefer fiction. Escape from the daily grind. But I've had this book for years, maybe more than 10, and I'm glad I finally finished it. Happy Easter! My favorite holiday.

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