- New book from renowned Anglican storyteller and preacher
- Puts reader into the heart of the biblical world
- Chapters can be used for personal devotion or as discussion-starters for groups
How do the scriptures speak to us today? Where do our stories mirror biblical stories? Herbert O’Driscoll, beloved Anglican preacher, storyteller, author, and hymn writer, invites us to imagine what the “back story” of our favorite scriptures might have been.
By doing Christian midrash—telling the stories within the Story—Dr. O’Driscoll has filled in the gaps by creating new homilies and parables based on the text. Some are narratives, such as Jesus wondering about his cousin John as a twenty-something activist, and Mary’s thoughts as she knelt at the foot of the cross. Others ask you to imagine a bundle of letters from early Christians that “might have been written if we could only find them,” like Philemon’s response to Paul’s request on behalf of a runaway slave, or a letter from a student-aged Judas Iscariot written to his parents expressing his excitement about a rabbi whose teaching he finds fascinating.
Each of the twenty-eight short chapters offers a glimpse of the thoughts and emotions of individuals found in the Christian Testament, bringing alive the sights, sounds, and smells of the Holy Land.
Read an excerpt
Audience: O’Driscoll fans, bible study groups, preachers/homilists
"A stirring, evocative read in which Herb O'Driscoll peers into the white spaces between the lines of scripture offering humanizing dimensions of depth and refreshing insight that enlivens the sacred account of divine action in the lives of ordinary men and women."
––The Rev. Canon Dr. Richard LeSueur, former Acting Dean, St. George's College, Jerusalem
"Through a series of meditations on unexpected perspectives and deeply human responses to the events of Jesus' life and times, the reader is invited into a renewed and challenging encounter with Jesus and the early community we now call Christian."
––The Rev. Canon Dr. Harold Munn, Diocese of New Westminster, Anglican Church of Canada
"The comforts and challenges of the Bible are old friends to Herbert O'Driscoll. When he invites these friends into his study they come down from their stained-glass posts ready to tell their stories."
––˙Helen Barron, Christian educator and founder of Candle Press
"A must-read for anyone who wishes to better understand the mysteries of Holy Scripture."
––The Rev. Dr. Deborah M. Jackson, The School of Theology at the University of the South
