In the Beginning There Was Darkness: A Blind Person's Conversations with the Bible - Softcover

Hull, John M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0334028213 ISBN 13: 9780334028215

Publisher: SCM Press, 2001

Synopsis

When John Hull went blind he realised that the Bible was written by sighted people. Even Jesus shared in the attitudes of his day towards blindness. In writing this exceptional book, Hull ignored the printed text and listened to the Bible on tape. The result is an entirely novel interpretation, which challenges the sighted monopology yet brings fresh insights into the Bible for both sighted and blind. This book makes a powerful contribution to the burgeoning interest in theologies of disability. 'A masterpiece ...' Oliver Sacks on Teaching the Rock in the New York Review of Books

About this title

Review:

This is a book to get you started on the road to growth. You may not like it all. You may not agree with it all. Your experience might be different. But this is a book you can't ignore. If you've ever been stuck on the hard shoulder, and sighed with relief to see the breakdown van arriving, then you'll have an idea of how helpful this book might be. - Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Reading "If you want your church to grow there are few better places to start than this. It's based on thorough research, it's very readable, and it's well applied. Moreover, it's not prescriptive; rather it helps church members to tap their existing experience, while learning from other churches and, with God's help, discover their own church's road to growth". - John Coles, Director, New Wine

Synopsis:

Many people have written books about the Bible from feminist and black points of view, but prior to this exceptional book no one has interpreted the Bible from the perspective of blindness. When John Hull went blind he realised that the Bible was written by sighted people. Even Jesus shared in the attitudes of his day towards blindness. In writing the book, Hull ignored the printed text and listened to the Bible on tape. The result is a unique interpretation, which challenges the sighted monopoly yet brings new insights into the Bible for both sighted and blind. Examining some of the best known instances of blindness in the biblical stories, the author brings anecdotes from his own life and experience to bear on thesa. What emerges is that the image of God is stamped upon blindness since only blind people can say that they, like God, are beyond light and darkness. In the Beginning There was Darkness affords new perspectives to all who are unaware that they read the Bible from a sighted point of view and will draw the different worlds of sight and blindness into a deeper mutual understanding.

A gripping testament to courage and faith, it makes a powerful contribution to burgeoning interest in theologies of disability and offers one of the most sinking fusions of the biblical and the personal yet to have appeared in print.

About this edition

• Publisher: SCM Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0334028213
• ISBN 13: 9780334028215
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 188