Re-Enchanting the Text - by Cheryl Bridges Johns (Paperback)

About the Book

In an age when the Bible has been stripped of its sacredness and mystery and functional biblical illiteracy reigns, this book makes the case that we must work to re-enchant the text in order to return the Bible to its rightful place in the lives of Christians.

Book Synopsis

In an age when the Bible has been stripped of its sacredness and functional biblical illiteracy reigns, this book makes the case that we must work to re-enchant the text in order to return the Bible to its rightful place in the lives of Christians.

Cheryl Bridges Johns explains how the Enlightenment's turn to the rational human subject made it possible to objectify the Bible and has distorted our interpretations of Scripture. This move generated a belief that studying the Bible was primarily a means of supporting facts and providing evidence of competing visions of reality. This "modern" version of the Bible does not trouble our nights with apocalyptic images. It has been stripped of its power. She also shows that both "liberal" and "fundamentalist" interpretation are failed forms of disenchanted readings.

Johns argues that we must rediscover the Bible as a sacred, dangerous, mysterious, and presence-filled wonderland to counteract biblical illiteracy in an increasingly post-Christian landscape.

From the Back Cover

"One can only voice a vigorous 'yes' to this wise and welcome book"

In an age when the Bible has been stripped of its sacredness and mystery, and functional biblical illiteracy reigns, this book makes the case that we must work to re-enchant the text in order to return the Bible to its rightful place in the lives of Christians.

"One can only voice a vigorous 'yes' to this wise and welcome book. Johns's work is at once breathtaking and breath-giving in its expansive hopefulness."
--Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary

"In this powerful and compelling analysis, Johns offers a way to 're-enchant' Scripture that refuses domestication; sees the text's power to disrupt, redescribe, and reorient; and embraces a pneumatic imagination. A must-read."
--Lisa Bowens, Princeton Theological Seminary

"This book amounts to a bold Pentecostal intervention in current discussions about the theological interpretation of Scripture. Johns's vision for a Pentecostal ontology of Scripture is not just for Pentecostals--it is a gift to the church catholic, born at Pentecost."
--James K. A. Smith, Calvin University; author of How (Not) to Be Secular, Thinking in Tongues, and You Are What You Love

"This book holds a timely invitation to come on a particular journey, one that asks how it is that sacred Scripture has become something less than a text through which the Spirit manifests and speaks. It also provides us a way forward from this predicament."
--Daniel Castelo, Duke Divinity School

"I have been waiting on this book from Johns since reading Pentecostal Formation. Feast on this volume and open yourself up to God's mystery being unveiled in our daily lives, even in a late modern world."
--Amos Yong, Fuller Theological Seminary

"Johns's vision of and for Scripture calls us into deeper, richer participation in God's revelation and presence. This vision is vital to engage the next generation, whose members long for true spirituality and value authenticity."
--Rev. Jacqueline Grey, Alphacrucis University College, Australia

"Johns has opened through this wide-ranging work an urgent, timely, and evocative discussion."
--Rickie Moore, Lee University

About the Author

Cheryl Bridges Johns (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is a pastor and theologian who has taught college and seminary students for over forty years. She is visiting professor and director of the Pentecostal House of Studies at United Theological Seminary and lives in Cleveland, Tennessee. Johns previously taught at Pentecostal Theological Seminary and is past president of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. She has researched the ways human development intersects with spiritual transformation for over three decades.