What is the Bible for?

To help humans understand how literature works

What’s the Bible for? We asked dozens of writers to respond to this question in seven words or less, as well as to expand on their response in a few sentences. To see all of the responses together as they are posted, bookmark this page.

To help humans understand how literature works

A fascinating book inspired by a loving God to make sure humans understand how literature works: that it can be full of contradictions, jokes, parables, horrors, catalogues, poems, and other devices to get us thinking creatively, humanely, and powerfully. To be taken seriously, but not too seriously—and certainly not literally.

Bill McKibben

Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and many other books on the environment, is a founder of the grassroots climate campaign 350.org.

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