Getting Involved with God: Rediscovering the Old Testament

By Ellen F. Davis

Book Overview

"This is a book about getting, and staying, involved with God-what it takes, what it costs, what it looks and feels like, why anyone would want to do it anyway. It is at the same time a book about reading the Old Testament as a source of Good News and guidance for our life with God. The key piece of Good News that the Old Testament communicates over and over again is that God is involved with us, deeply and irrevocably so."
-from the Introduction

With sound scholarship and her own vivid translations from the Hebrew, Old Testament professor Ellen Davis teaches us a spiritually engaged method of reading scripture. Beginning with the psalms, whose frank prayers can be a model for our own, Davis reflects on the stories of the patriarchs and the pastoral wisdom of the book of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs in helping us cultivate those habits of the heart that lead to a rich relationship with God.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1561011975
• ISBN13: 9781561011971
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Cowley Publications
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Getting Involved with God

Davis does an outstanding job shedding light on tough passages from the Old Testament such as the Binding of Isaac and the cursing psalms. Through impressive scholarship (she does all of her own Biblical translations), she reveals a story of God's quest to have a relationship with humankind - as captured by the Old Testament. Well worth reading.

Engaging writing that connects the reader to the OT

In a very personal and engaging way, Ellen Davis challenges misconceptions about the Old Testament and successfully prods the reader to participate in a spiritually engaged reading of the Old Testament.

Fresh insight into the OT

Dr. Davis' book is not an exhaustive commentary, but a series of reflections on selected texts of the Hebrew Scriptures. It is an excellent source for delving into the wisdom of the Old Testament for both novices and the learned. While written from the perspective of a believing Christian, her commentary is heavily influenced by her extensive experience in dialog with Rabbinic Judaism and its texts. Especially intriguing is her commentary on the Ecological Crisis and the imperatives found in the Scriptures to act as good stewards of the land.