Book Review # 11.1 - Eat This Book by Eugene Peterson

When reviewing books and choosing books to read within a week, one should conider the author and not the number of pages. While most books in the two to two hundred and fifty range are typically quick reads, not so with Eugene Peterson. This is not because Peterson is hard to read. It's because it's dense. Each page has a paragraph or phrase that stops me in my tracks that requires some thought. Granted, Peterson often answers my quandries later, but in the momement I can't help but sit and think about what I have just read, and the possible implications of it. Instead of reading, I find that I am in a dialogue with Peterson, something that he encourages in this book.

Peteson is encouraging the mastication of scripture . . . I like that phrase. It moves beyond the big-gulp approach to scripture, and brings to mind a bovine like chewing of the word, long periods of just chewing until it has become more easily digested.

The quote under FOR REFLECTION is one of my favorites this year. As I continue to read this book I will update you on my findings and reflections. Needless to say, this is book worth reading, and I believe I have found a new friend in Peterson.