Read the Bible Like a Mystic

Description

Coming in April 2025! Pre-order your copy today, and a signed copy will be shipped to you as soon as it’s published.

Can the Bible be saved? More and more Christians are troubled by how difficult passages in the Bible can be used to promote sexism, homophobia, hostility to other faiths, and other problems–but a sterile, “academic” reading of the sacred text seems spiritually unfulfilling. Carl McColman, author of The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism, reminds us that there is an ancient “third way” of approaching the Bible: reading scripture like a mystic. This contemplative approach to the Bible understands that much of the sacred text was never meant to be taken literally, yet this approach maintains that spiritual wisdom, guidance in prayer, and encouragement for meditation are encoded throughout the sacred text.

Read the Bible Like a Mystic will help Christians find an expanded relationship with their sacred textbook, and it will also invite all people–Christian and non-Christian alike–to bring together the wisdom of the written word with the wisdom of the contemplative life and the call to foster peace, justice, and equality in our world. Whether you come to the Bible from a preexisting interest in Christianity or mysticism, this book shows how contemplative wisdom unlocks the liberating power of the Word for our time.

Now accepting pre-orders for this April 2025 hardcover release. Order today and a signed copy of this book will be reserved for you. Please note: your credit card will be charged now, and the book will be shipped upon publication date. 

About the author: Carl McColman is a contemplative writer, speaker, teacher, soul friend, and storyteller.

Carl is the author of numerous books, including The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism, Eternal Heart, Answering the Contemplative Call, An Invitation to Celtic Wisdom and Unteachable Lessons. Carl’s books cover a variety of spiritual perspectives, from Christian mysticism and contemplative living, to Celtic wisdom, earth-centered and pagan spirituality, and Wicca. Carl’s own contemplative practice is deeply interspiritual, and he is an active, practicing Christian and Buddhist.

Carl studied at James Madison University (BA, English) and George Mason University (MA, Professional Writing and Editing). His formation in the spiritual life includes training and formation with the Shalem Institute in Washington, DC and the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, GA; where Carl is a Life-Professed Lay Cistercian: a layperson under formal spiritual guidance with the Trappist monks. He is a commissioned Centering Prayer presenter with Contemplative Outreach of North Georgia, and a spiritual director serving individuals both in metro Atlanta and online.

Explore Mystical Spirituality with Carl McColman! Get access to guided meditations, mystical study guides, and monthly Zoom calls with Carl. Join Patreon Today