Interview with Author

1. How did you come to write Relevant Revelation?

My study of the Bible has had a primarily literary focus. I naturally see themes and recurring symbols in the text. That’s how I teach my classes and how my students best engage with the text. Certain themes jumped out to me over the years, and I wanted to share them with others.

2. How do you hope readers will benefit from reading your book?

I discovered multiple threads running through the story of Israel; and understanding those threads or themes and how they developed showed the brilliance of the Bible. I wondered how I had been in church for decades and even completed a masters of divinity program without being exposed to them. It’s a fascinating way to understand how the parts fit in the whole of the Bible. So it’s a learning tool and organizational schema upon which to place all the details and understand why they fit together.

3. How can churches or Christian schools learn more about your book?

I am happy to visit and discuss the themes present in the book. I am excited to share these insights because I believe we must take seriously our task to teach disciples how to read the Bible for themselves and not to be intimidated by it. Students need to understand how the Bible is relevant in this modern world and what the Bible has to offer them today.

4. What would you like to add about your personal style or philosophy of Bible teaching?

We read entire books from beginning to end in my class. I have my students four days a week for three or four years. Clearly, after that time, they should know generally what the Bible says and what it does not say. Occasionally my students will ask me my personal opinion about something (evolution, for example), and I give them several sides of the debate within Christian circles as well as outside, but I also tell them that my opinion dies with me. My personal opinion is not important. I am not making disciples of Dana Bennett. My call is to point my students to the Bible and help them understand its message and relevance. I want them to go to the Bible when they are hurting, healing, or helping. I want them to know it is readable, relatable, and relevant. When they leave my class, I want them to remember how brilliantly the Bible was written and why it is the greatest story ever told. Relevant Revelation helps to encapsulate my courses for my students as well as show the rest of the world our techniques for Bible study.

5. Can you share a summary of your goal for writing this book?

I will share a paragraph from near the end of the last chapter:

“My hope for you as a reader of this book is for you to appreciate the Bible in a new and meaningful way. The Bible is a collection of stories that form illustrations of how to navigate this one life we have been given on Earth. The men and women in the Bible are fallible and yet God uses them to tell His story. Their weaknesses and sin make them humble and relatable. We read their stories and we know they are true because they reflect human experience still common today. God uses weakness and humility to change hearts and raise the low to new heights. Biblical truths are not only found in memory verses or succinct pithy sayings for bumper stickers and wall decor. The truths of the Bible span verses, pages, chapters, books, and generations. Becoming biblically literate involves understanding what God is saying not only through statements but through relationships, life stories, and recurrent themes in his word. My hope for you as a reader is for you to discover your own relevant revelations when you need them most.”