Read the Bible Like a Mystic: Contemplative Wisdom and the Word

There is a better way to read the Bible: with the eyes of a mystic and the heart of contemplation.

Can the Bible be saved? More and more Christians are troubled by how difficult passages in the Bible can be used to promote sexism, homophobia, hostility to other faiths, and other problems—but a sterile, "academic" reading of the sacred text seems spiritually unfulfilling. Carl McColman, author of The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism, reminds us that there is an ancient "third way" of approaching the Bible: reading the scripture like a mystic. This contemplative approach to the Bible understands that much of the sacred text was never meant to be taken literally, yet this approach maintains that spiritual wisdom, guidance in prayer, and encouragement for meditation are encoded throughout the sacred text.

Read the Bible like a Mystic will help Christians find an expanded relationship with their sacred textbook, and it will also invite all people—Christian and non-Christian alike—to bring together the wisdom of the written word with the wisdom of the contemplative life and the call to foster peace, justice, and equality in our world. Whether you come to the Bible from a preexisting interest in Christianity or mysticism, this book shows how contemplative wisdom unlocks the liberating power of the Word for our time.

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Release date

Audiobook: 22 April 2025