Deserted
Retelling Bible Stories Without an Angry God
- Fiction
- Publisher: Resource Publications (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2019
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Publisher's Description
What would the earliest stories of the Bible be like without an angry God smiting humans with floods, fire, frogs, and brimstone? They might become the story of a mother surviving a snake bite and a dangerous pregnancy. Architects and dreamers building towers and boats to save themselves from the harsh desert. A doctor who obsessively cleans. Young gay lovers seeking refuge in the sanctuary cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Estranged brothers planning ten terrorist attacks to free their people from slavery. Without an angry God, the Bible might become a fictional collection of stories about deeply human men, women, and children from a small nomadic tribe deserted in an ancient Hebrew desert.
Endorsements (6)
“Roberts’ reimagining of these well-known biblical stories is nothing short of masterful. The stories are as bright and fantastical as they are dark and powerful. There is a profound humanness in these stories that invite you to reconsider your own place in a world fraught by groans of anguish and songs of hope.”
“Nathan Roberts is a gifted storyteller, a writer of great imagination, and a brilliant biblical interpreter! These stories will provoke you to think deeply and consider the connections to twenty-first century life that he weaves through them.”
“Deserted’s reimagining of classic Bible stories without God as the centerpiece offers us a glimpse of the truest essence of the human condition when we only have to be accountable to ourselves and each other and not an almighty, judgmental God.”
“Ingeniously reworking some of the most familiar biblical tales. These men and women face recognizable moral dilemmas both large and small, striving to do what’s right, and in the process, the Bible once more emerges as a living text that offers guidance in moments of doubt.”
“If you have never met the characters in the Bible or if you have read about them a thousand times, I promise you will be drawn into Roberts’ vivid, engaging, and artfully troubling retellings with deft insight and good humor. Read this book to ignite your imagination.”
“Reading these short stories sent me back to my Bible (and my farm roots) with fresh eyes on ancient stories of faith. While God is not an ‘out loud’ actor in these stories, they expand my imagination of God at work in the world.”
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