Author Interview: How (Not) to Read the Bible – Dan Kimball

Recently we sat down with author and proud Corban dad, Dan Kimball. The following are a few excerpts of his interview discussing his new book, How (Not) to Read the Bible. In this book, filled with stories, visuals, and memes reflecting popular cultural objections, Kimball provides a practical guide to making sense of some of the Bible’s more culturally difficult and disturbing passages. 

What was the motivation for writing this book? 

“I wrote this out of urgency, seeing what is going in young people’s lives who are Christians even, and how they’re understanding the Bible, getting confused, and even rejecting Scripture and faith. To me it’s one of the most urgent things that we can be speaking about right now.”

What is the key concept behind your book?

“The main thing is understanding the Bible storyline. So much of the misunderstandings and critiques of the Bible come from not understanding the Bible storyline. As John Waltzen, a professor from Wheaton, says, ‘The Bible was written for us, not to us,’ and that makes all the difference in how we understand it.”

What are the four major themes of your book? 

“The Bible was not written to us, but for us, is one. Another is never read a Bible verse—meaning always look at the context of it. The Bible is a library, not a book. We have to remember when we open the Bible we are opening up to different genres and different time periods in history. Depending on what book on the shelf you are pulling out, you’ll read it differently. The last one is, all of the Bible points to Jesus. We have the fortunate position in our world today of seeing where it all points to, and that is the Savior, atonement, and salvation of all the world that was promised to Abraham.” 

Watch the full interview below.