Reading Audaciously
For our annual Read-a-thon, CLBSJ will continue our tradition of intentionally reading sacred scripture in solidarity and conversation with marginalized perspectives — including those in banned and controversial books, in current events, and in testimonies of resistance, including those present in our own lives. Check out reader reviews below, and click here to sign up to read!
Giving Ourselves Over
Reading AudaciouslyAmy L. Dalton
The Call on Giving Tuesday and every day Most of us will be flooded today with challenges to give funds...
Read MoreA review of "Martyrs to the Unspeakable" by James W. Douglass
Reading AudaciouslyReviewed by Wes Howard-Brook
I first met Jim Douglass at Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, in the woods of western Washington adjacent to...
Read MoreRead-a-thon 2025: Reading for Resistance!
Reading AudaciouslyThis fall, CLBSJ invites one and all to join in a practice of audacious, intersectional, intertextual readings. CLBSJ will continue...
Read MoreThe Call of Equinox
Reading AudaciouslyAmy L. Dalton
As the Southward Equinox, Peace Day and Sun Day align, we can experience a uniquely powerful call to align our...
Read MoreAudacious Readers Roundtable Reportback and Read-a-thon Update
Reading AudaciouslyOn December 19, a small group of Audacious Readers gathered to share some closing reflections on our experiences reflecting on...
Read MoreReading the Bible with Pharrell Williams
Reading AudaciouslyAmy L. Dalton
Over the last few months, its been challenging to say the least to make sense of the divisive and distraction-filled...
Read MoreReading Scripture and Strengthening Resolve with Wendell Berry
Reading AudaciouslyBetsy Simpson
In the October 2024 issue of Christian Century I was struck by Wendell Berry’s article entitled “Against Killing Children,” and...
Read MoreReading Deuteronomy with Critics
Reading AudaciouslyJane Dawson
I am reading Deuteronomy alongside the following interpretive texts: Opening Israel’s Scriptures by Ellen Davis The Bible in History by...
Read MoreReading Genesis 1 with the enslaved
Reading AudaciouslyLudwig Noya
At this year’s meeting of the Society for Biblical Literature, Ludwig Noya presented a critique of the way Genesis 1...
Read MoreA call to read scripture with Refaat Alareer today
Reading AudaciouslyAmy L. Dalton
Today, on Human Rights Day, Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer’s poems, prose and interviews are being published posthumously in a book...
Read MoreReading the Prophets with Leonard Cohen
Reading AudaciouslyBrian J. Walsh
The following selection, used by permission of Wipf and Stock Publishers (www.wipfandstock.com), is from Rags of Light: Leonard Cohen and...
Read MoreThe Gospel According to Casey Plett
Reading AudaciouslyLaurel Dykstra
Content Warning: addiction, sexual violence, murder, dismemberment For CLBSJ’s 2024 Read-a-thon: Reading Audaciously, supporters are reading the Bible in solidarity...
Read MoreReading Job with Sherman Alexie
Reading AudaciouslyRev. Betsy Simpson
Intrigued by Sherman Alexie’s book title, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, I added it to my reading...
Read MoreArmistice Day, 1 Samuel 8, and the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval
Reading AudaciouslyAmy L. Dalton
On Armistice Day, Take Action for CEASEFIRE Today, November 11, is now known in the United States as “Veteran’s Day.”...
Read MoreA reflection on Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish’s I Shall Not Hate
Reading AudaciouslyRev. Betsy Simpson
As President Jimmy Carter puts it, “In this book, Dr. Abuelaish has expressed a remarkable commitment to forgiveness and reconciliation...
Read MoreSome thoughts on Playground by Richard Powers
Reading AudaciouslyWes Howard-Brook
Richard Powers is one of my favorite authors, and his most recent, Playground, is one of his best. My wife,...
Read MoreParables for Urgent Times
Reading AudaciouslyAmy L. Dalton
As yet another epic US election approaches, its appropriate to lift up the legacy of Octavia Butler’s work Parable of...
Read MoreA reflection on Ai Wei Wei's "Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn"
Reading AudaciouslyDong Hyeon Jeong
This 3-part visual montage from 1995 interrogates how we form values and authority. A certain entity/object at one point in...
Read MoreA Review of Rashid Khalidi’s The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine
Reading AudaciouslyDr. Gale A. Yee, Nancy W. King Professor of Biblical Studies emerita, Episcopal Divinity School
For the CLBSJ Read-A-Thon, I chose to read Rashid Khalidi’s The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler...
Read MoreA Review of Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes
Reading AudaciouslyRev. Betsy Simpson
Jodi Picoult’s book, Nineteen Minutes, is a fictional story about a mass shooting at a high school in a relatively...
Read MoreA reflection on Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer
Reading AudaciouslyAmy L. Dalton
On top of the list of the ten most banned books for the last three years has been Maia Kobabe’s...
Read MoreCLBSJ Read-a-Thon 2024: Reading Audaciously!
Reading AudaciouslyThis fall, CLBSJ is reading the Bible in solidarity with banned and controversial texts. Please join in and support our...
Read MoreRising Up: An Ascension Reflection
Reading AudaciouslyAmy L. Dalton
The account of Jesus’ Ascension in Acts 1:6-11 (1) could be seen as among the most “pie in the sky”...
Read MoreLet’s Read for Justice! Read-a-Thon 2023
Reading AudaciouslyPlease join with CLBSJ to celebrate and extend critical engagement with the Bible! As students of all ages are resuming...
Read MoreThanks to You: READ-A-THON SUCCESS!!
Reading AudaciouslyThe CLBSJ Board is thrilled to report that we have reached our end-of-the-year fundraising goal of $25,000 through our “Will...
Read MoreFall Read-a-Thon: Will Read for Justice!
Reading AudaciouslyCalling all Friends of CLBSJ! We have amazingly been challenged by a donor to raise $25,000 before the end of...
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