Addendum

In the last episode of our podcast, we talked about the idea of an evolution in humanity's understanding of God being traceable in the texts of the Bible.

There are two really interesting books by Jack Miles that tackle this subject from a literary standpoint. God: A Biography and Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God treat God as a literary character (much like Tom Sawyer or Jack Ryan) and trace his evolution within the biblical text.

A word of caution about these books: Miles is making no attempt at any kind of theological statement. I kept having to push aside my own reactions to some of the things he says about the character named God, who often times seems at odds with the God of the universe that I worship. The assumption that the Bible is one single, coherent narrative is also problematic, but only from a theological standpoint. Setting those issues aside will enable you to really enjoy Miles literary analysis.

These aren't devotional books by any means, but they do give great insight into the many varying, and sometimes conflicting roles the Bible plays to different people.