Permission Granted--Take the Bible Into Your Own Hands - by Jennifer Bird (Paperback)

About the Book

Millions of people around the world look to the Bible as a source of encouragement and faith formation, a reminder that God is love and is in control, and a guide to living one's life the way God desires. But this treasured book has also been misused and manipulated by many, placed on a pedestal of untouchability, and protected from...

Book Synopsis

Millions of people around the world look to the Bible as a source of encouragement and faith formation, a reminder that God is love and is in control, and a guide to living one's life the way God desires. But this treasured book has also been misused and manipulated by many, placed on a pedestal of untouchability, and protected from questioning and honest engagement. In Permission Granted, Jennifer Grace Bird encourages people of faith to explore the texts on their own, freed from long-held myths and misconceptions; experience the Bible anew; and appreciate this holy book for what it isâ "not what we think it should be.

With the sensitivity of one who has discovered this freedom herself, Bird invites readers to engage what the Bible really says about twelve key issues, including sin, sex, and the role of women.

Review Quotes

"Permission Granted is an excellent reentry point for honest, adult engagement
with the Bible, whether you have been touched by it or burned by it (or both). This book is passionate without sacrificing compassion,
academically informed but accessible. Jennifer Bird's voice is a unique and important one: warm and witty, sage and occasionally snarky, but ultimately deeply reflective and profoundly serious about the troubles many people have with the Bible and how it is used by people today."

--Joseph A. Marchal, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Ball State University

"Curious about the Bible? Jennifer Bird's Permission Granted--Take the Bible into Your Own Hands gives you the tools to explore the Bible on your own. It provides clear questions and specific examples to help you reach your own conclusions about what the Bible means for you." --Nyasha Junior, Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Howard University School of Divinity

"In a distinctly personal style, Jennifer Bird invites us to honor our own questions about the Bible. Rather than submit to scripture because 'we're supposed to' or rejecting the Bible as irrelevant, Bird supplies readers with fresh information and new perspectives for making their own judgments on issues ranging from biblical sexualities and violence to what it means to believe in Jesus."

--Greg Carey, Professor of New Testament, Lancaster Theological Seminary

"Jennifer Bird has written an accessible, encouraging, and enlightening guide to understanding the Bible better. For those who love the Bible but have serious questions about it, Permission Grantedoffers information, fellowship, and ultimately the freedom learn and explore without fear. This is a winsome yet challenging read that made me love the Bible all the more."

--Rachel Held Evans, author of A Year of Biblical Womanhood and Searching for Sunday

"Jennifer Bird is a God-wrestler who is willing to talk back to the Bible when it doesn't make sense. Though some might be offended by her claims, I consider Bird's book to be an excellent model for authentic discipleship and adult faith, written in very accessible, easy-flowing language." --Morgan Guyton, Director, NOLA Wesley Campus Ministry and Blogger at Patheos.com

"Jennifer G. Bird is one of those professional readers of the Bible, and they are few and far between, who can both approach the texts as a sophisticated academic critic and translate such research and reading for everyday readers in lucid and effective fashion. Her goal throughout Permission Granted--Take the Bible into Your Own Hands is to get readers to read and to think on their own, drawing on their lives and experiences, as they go through difficult themes and texts. This she does with wisdom and power, with respect and kindness. I recommend the volume most heartily." --Fernando F. Segovia, Oberlin Graduate Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity, Vanderbilt University

"Jennifer's style is lively. She combines a "how to" approach with significant substance...from the experience of growing up with a more 'conservative' understanding of the Bible."--Marcus Borg, bestselling author of Reading the Bible Again for the First Time and The Heart of Christianity