Accommodating a Discordant Bible

It remains a popular notion that Protestant Reformers espoused "Scripture alone" as the sole authority for doctrine and practice, and that they rejected allegory in favor of expounding the Bible's simple meaning through literal exegesis. But the reality is not so simple. The essays collected in this volume explore what happens when the pastors and teachers of the Reformation era encountered biblical commandments, narratives, and examples that have traditionally provoked dismay, confusion, offense, and discord. Topics explored here include passages that raise awkward questions--about the treatment of women, about supposedly virtuous Old Testament heroes who nonetheless violated the Ten Commandments, and about the role that conscience should or shouldn't play in how we read the Bible, confess our faith, and live as Christian disciples. The struggles of these earlier interpreters to be faithful to God and God's Word, and the strategies they employed to apply difficult texts to their own often difficult contexts, offer readers an excellent opportunity to reconnect with the legacy and complexity of the Christian past as it resonates in the study of the Bible today--and to learn from it.