Read the Bible like a Mystic
Contemplative Wisdom and the Word
- Prayer & Spiritual Formation
- Publisher: Broadleaf Books (Augsburg Fortress)
- Published: 2025
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Publisher's Description
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 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.
Endorsements (6)
“Carl McColman writes from a heart transformed by mystical love and invites the reader onto a powerful journey of seeing Scripture in new ways. What a gift this book is, to help save the ancient texts sacred to Christian and Jewish traditions from fundamentalist agendas, and to invite us into ways of reading that are spacious, imaginative, full of mystery and wonder, and overflowing with deepened love and transformation. Carl gives his readers a generous map to the heart of wisdom through imaginative encounters with the sacred texts. Highly recommended reading for all contemplatives.”
“If you've been hankering for a deeper engagement with the Bible but find yourself put off by the heavy-handed ways in which its teaching is so often delivered these days, Carl McColman proposes a refreshing alternative: Why not learn to read the Bible like a mystic? In this delightful, non-technical book, he lets you in on an open secret known to Christian monks and mystics for nearly two thousand years: that reading the Bible is not about dogma and certainty; it's an open-ended engagement with the Infinite, which calls on the best of your own creativity and spiritual imagination and prizes the unique authority of your own experience. Drawing on the lives of mystics both ancient and contemporary, he shows you how this engagement works and the surprising places it can lead you if you're willing to take it seriously and work at it patiently.”
“Some read the Bible thinking it's a menu. Mystics read the Bible knowing it's the meal: internalizing its wisdom and making it a part of their being and becoming. Carl McColman's Read the Bible like a Mystic is a powerful invitation to pick up the Bible and "come and eat" (John 21:12). I hope you are brave enough to accept it.”
“Read the Bible like a Mystic is for anyone who has ever felt astonished, mystified, or frustrated by Christian Scripture. Particularly for those who've known the pain of Scripture weaponized against them, and for those who've attempted to make sense of its complexities, but experienced a mix of headache, disagreement, longing, and wonder, Carl McColman's wise book is an honest, helpful guide.”
“Carl McColman's Read the Bible like a Mystic is a vital guide for those seeking a deeper, more transformative relationship with Scripture. In a time when the Bible is often misused to divide, oppress, and harm, McColman invites us to rediscover its power as a source of justice and profound spiritual wisdom. This book is a must-read for anyone yearning to engage the sacred text with fresh eyes and a contemplative heart.”
“In these times of fear and exile, we are grasping for wisdom to survive. When our terror and alienation get projected onto the Bible, we sadly distort the wisdom we are desperately reaching for. Carl McColman, in this book, is offering us an invitation and instructions on how to pause and reorient our minds and hearts toward mystery and wholeness--mystic consciousness--so that we may truly discover the wisdom we seek in the Bible and experience the heaven on earth we can create.”
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