The Bible is the heart of devotional practice, a source of guidance and inspiration rich with insightful life lessons. On the other side of the spectrum, academics have studied the Bible using scientific analysis to examine its historical significance and meaning. The gap between these readings has resulted in a schism with far-reaching implications: Without historical context, ordinary people are left to interpret the Bible literally, while academic readings overlook the deeply personal connections established in church pews, choir benches, and backyard study groups.
In How To Read the Bible, Cox explores three different lenses commonly used to bring the Bible into focus: literary-as narrative stories of family conflict, stirring heroism, and moral dilemmas; history-as classic texts with academic and theological applications; and
activism-as a source of dialogue and engagement to be shared and applied to our lives.
By bringing these together, Cox shows the Bible in all its rich diversity and meaning and offers us a contemporary activist version that wrestles with issues of feminism, war, homosexuality, and race. The result is a living resource that is perpetually evolving as our understanding changes and deepens from generation to generation.

“A beautiful book and a Cox classic….Readers will be grateful that they joined him on his journey.” –E.J. Dionne Jr., author of Souled Out

“Insightful, provocative, and inspiring–I even found myself uttering a hearty evangelical ‘Amen!'” –Richard Mouw, President, Fuller Theological Seminary, and author of Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport

The Future of Faith is Harvard religion scholar Harvey Cox’s landmark exploration of why Christian dogmatism is giving way to a grassroots Christianity rooted in social justice and spirituality. Cox laid the groundwork for modern religious writing with his 1965 classic, The Secular City, paving the way for writers like Diana Butler Bass, Karen Armstrong, Stephen Prothero, and Deepak Chopra, who calls The Future of Faith “a fresh vision for the resurrection of a new global Christianity.”