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Mar 31, 2009

Jon rated it:

Blue Parakeets are those texts in the Bible that don't "fit" within the categories and presuppositions we bring to the Bible. McKnight claims that we all have filters we use to "pick and choose" which parts of the Bible we will choose to listen to, and which ones we will mostly choose to ignore or explain away using the parts we are more comfortable with. McKnight calls this, "taming the blue parakeet". Thankfully he encourages us to let the blue parakeets fly. He e More...

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Feb 18, 2009

Tim rated it:

Scot McKnight is my homeboy. I am really thankful that the emerging/missional/whatever-name-we'll-have-next-week movement has him as a friendly yet challenging theological voice. True to form, this book is full of both encouragements for the church to move forward, as well as cautions to the places where we might go off the rails. It’s provocative and very helpful, and I recommend it.

Here is a quick summary of the book:

“Blue parakeets” are oddities we come across in t More...

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Jan 19, 2009

Brett rated it:

“How, then, are we to live the Bible today?” With this question McKnight asks his readers to re-think how they understand and apply the Bible. In the ever-turning waters of theology, philosophy, and popular trends, the Bible as story (a single unified narrative expressed through the “wiki-stories” of each individual author) has often been forgotten or ignored. While McKnight intentionally does not provide a systematic hermeneutic, he does offer three steps towards living the Bible today: ident More...

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Mar 23, 2009

Eric rated it:

This is an excellent book because it pushes readers of the bible to examine why we read the good book in the way that we do. Specifically, why do we treat different passages of the bible in different way, or more pragmatically, why do we obey different parts of the bible in different ways? Scot McKnight, acknowledges that this reality is actually a good thing but then commends a reading strategy that can help us deal with the passages that are often ignored and especially with the ones that More...

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Aug 03, 2011

James rated it:

McKnight, well known blogger and author, challenges readers to think about how they read the Bible in this great little book. The challenge McKnight lays down to readers is to think about what it means to be "biblical" in our thinking, speaking, and acting. Though we may think we mean simply "doing what the Bible says," he shows us that for almost all of us, that is clearly not the case. Through some simple examples he shows that we all pick and choose what we apply and how. More...

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Jul 23, 2011

Paul rated it:

Scot McKnight argues that we should read the Bible neither as a cookbook, nor as a rule book, but as a story. He uses the metaphor of Wikipedia, with each of the Biblical authors as a contributor, but all consistent in a 6-point meta-narrative. He then tests his approach to reading the Bible by tackling a number of tough issues, most notably (but not exclusively) the role of women in Church leadership. In the end, he argues for a much broader and prominent role for women than seen in many eva More...

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Nov 19, 2009

David rated it:

This is a very helpful book on how to read the Bible. Directed to a wide audience, rather than just to pastors and theologians, this book could be read by any Christian interested in understanding how the Bible should be read. McKnight argues that we must view the Bible as a whole story. When it comes to "blue parakeet" passages, that is parts of scripture that do not seem to easily fit into our beliefs, we must interpret them in light of the whole story. More often than not though More...

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Mar 04, 2010

A. T. rated it:

It would have gotten two stars, except for the last five chapters, which were a defense of women's ordination.

Generally the book was okay (hence two stars). It has all of the same flaws that I find in other run-of-the-mill evangelical books; poor-to-terrible analogies and metaphors, pedestrian prose, shallow thought, etc. It did have some good things to say, mostly in part two (chapters 6-8). Chapter 8 was especially good, in which he points out that St. Augustine said that any inte More...

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Dec 26, 2008

Pat rated it:

Excellent, excellent book. The author articulates what I have longed believed -- Christians need to be more honest about their beliefs and admit those things that are traditions versus those things that are biblical. Or as the author says, we "adopt and adapt" (a nice way of saying we pick and choose what part of Scripture we will obey).

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Apr 02, 2009

Bobby rated it:

Excellent book! If you have to read or study the Bible, if you own one, I highly recommend it. A Blue Parakeet is "those passages that are oddities in the Bible that we prefer to cage and silence rather than permit into our sacred mental gardens" (pg 208). McKnight's book is basically an introduction on how to read the Bible as story and why one should. He speaks of how people need to read the Bible with tradition rather than through tradition or even in just a read-to-retrieve men More...

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Jul 04, 2010

Juliet rated it:

Any review I do isn't going to do this book justice. Just read it & then let me know if you'd like to discuss it.

Some highlights for me: rather than get bogged down in controversy (i.e. evolution vs. creation) focus on the story, a story of God's love; humans created, humans distanced themselves from God, God created a covenant community, Jesus came to restore what was lost in Eden, covenant community as church and a return to what was in Eden eventually.

Another hig More...

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Nov 24, 2008

Mark rated it:

A tremendously well-written book on Biblical interpretation - probably the best I've read. Even better - it's accessible to non-theologians.

Note: McKnight's honesty & willingness to follow the truth where it leads will make liberals & conservatives uncomfortable - that's a good thing!

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Sep 25, 2011

Matthew rated it:

This is a wonderful little book that engages Christians (primarily evangelicals) in how they read the bible. McKnight emphasizes the variety of ways that readers engage the scriptures, and then makes a convincing case for reading the bible as Story. The "blue parakeet" of the book's title is a reference to "problem" passages that are largely ignored by average evangelical readers in their attempts to read the Bible. McKnight demonstrates that as one engages scripture as story More...

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Mar 25, 2011

Jason rated it:

Overall a good book, but I really wish I'd read it about 15 years ago when I was young Bible school student trying to figure out what I believed about how to read the Bible and what I believed about the role of women in the church. This book is really written for those who either don't admit that they "pick and choose" which parts of the Bible to follow (and I doubt the book will convince many staunch traditionalists to change their views), or those who are questioning how to read the More...

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Dec 08, 2011

Samuel rated it:

At first I didn't really like this book, but grew to enjoy and respect it a bit more as I went through. McKnight accomplished in me what he sets out to do with this book; challenge my thinking on why I believe what I believe. Pushing me to look at what and why I pick and choose or discern from the bible. I will definitely be more accountable to making sure I know on what basis or foundation I believe what I believe, so in that sense, mission accomplished. I was, however, a little thrown off More...

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Feb 28, 2010

Matt rated it:

All I will say here is this is a MUST READ for anybody interested in how to actually read the bible and apply it's teachings in our lives today. For my full review, please click here.

Synopsis:
The Blue Parakeet is author Scot McKnight's deeply reasoned, compelling statement of how to read the Bible in a new evangelical generation. In re-examining the Bible, McKnight provides an exciting Third Way that appeals to the millions in today's church who long to be authentic Christians, but don't conside More...

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Sep 17, 2011

Callie rated it:

A bit too conversational at times and the section on wikistories confused me (certainly my mom reading this would be lost) But good things to think about; how do we read the Bible, through what lens are we reading? This book doesn't tell you what lens to choose, but asks you to acknowledge and be aware that you are using one. I enjoyed his take on women in ministry, well-reasoned. To remember: Which passages do we allow to trump? The what women did or the women keep silent ones? Are we op More...

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Aug 13, 2010

Snow rated it:

Peppered with thick and repetitive sections, I did a lot of fast flipping through several pages in this book mainly because I didn't want to get into anything too heavy. I wasn't looking for a textbook or required class reading, but rather something that might lay out a clearer approach to reading the Bible. And I think I did get out of it at least that mindset: to give the Bible another shot, keeping in mind to "read it as [God's:] Story" and that "God speaks to [so-and-so:] in More...

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Jan 30, 2012

Richard rated it:

The first few chapters chapters connected with me right away. The bible is all important and essential but can be easily mishandled and be befuddling.

This book provides a foundational perspective for any Bible readers or anyone wanting to live out the Bible. It should be read by any Bible reader/teacher. It poses questions that opened my eyes to assumptions I carried into my interpretation and living out of the Bible. We unconsciously apply principles of discernment all the time.
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Jan 29, 2010

Suzie rated it:

I really enjoyed this book. It affirmed how I view the Bible in terms of a story with a begining, a middle and end that includes all kinds of characters, plots and themes. He emphasizes the necessity of reading the Bible in context as we seek to apply it to our lives today, yet he does not take away from its inerrancy or place of priority in our lives. Dr. McKnight urges us to seek God first and know Him (through His word) which will thus give us insight into the story. Many people take the Bi More...

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Mar 13, 2010

Aoife rated it:

It took me a while to finish this book because it is pretty densely written, reflecting McKnight's academic background. But it was definitely worth the effort to read all the way through. McKnight explains a way to read the Bible faithfully, but intelligently. He rejects both inflexible fundamentalist literalism and dismissive liberal antinomianism and relativism with equal fervor. In teaching the reader how to approach the Bible as a grand story, he helps us avoid several common traps he explai More...

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Jan 18, 2010

Mark rated it:

Recommended by my similarly-named friend Mark Jackson, I gave this book a bonus star for how it reinforced my own thinking, without actually giving me argument-winning reasons for doing so. I teetered back & forth between thinking this material was obvious, and being bothered that his theological/linguistic/anthropological reasoning for it wasn't airtight.

Maybe it's not a bonus star, but one the author actually earned, since it definitely made me think about my own beliefs. I didn't More...

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Apr 01, 2009

Sue is currently reading it

From front flap: "In 'The Blue Parakeet,' McKnight again touches the hearts and minds of today's Christians, this time challenging them to rethink how to read the Bible, not just to puzzle it together into some systematic theology but to see it as a Story that We're summoned to enter and to carry forward in our day."

I've only read 60/236 pages and this is definitely what he is trying to do. Whether you end up agreeing with him or not, it seems well worth reading.

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Aug 03, 2011

Grant added it

This book started with some very honest insight as to how people read their Bibles and was very interesting. However, once the author shifted gears to women in ministry (which I have no problem with) it seems asif the author got stuck in that rut. At least a third of this book is devoted to a rhetoricto which was not what appeared to be the purpose of this book. Perhaps the author should have considered calling this book "The Female Blue Parakeet".

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Sep 26, 2011

Colleenish rated it:

This book was a trip. The premise is that every denomination discerns which commands in the Bible are for today, and that we should just be honest about that and see the Bible through a cultural lens. Fair enough.

Some parts of this book seem very though provoking, but other ideas seemed like they lacked real support.

I wanted to love everything that this book had to say because it has some ideas that are potentially very freeing. I think that McKnight leaves room for God More...

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Sep 23, 2009

Matt rated it:

I don't necessarily agree with a lot, or even most of what McKnight writes. He does implore us to read the Bible as God's story, though, which we often forget as we seek to systemize theology, read through tradition instead of with tradition, and elevate certain writer's of Biblical books to the status of "Maestro." Ultimately, when reading the Bible, we should be seeking a deeper understanding of God's story and through that, draw closer to Him.

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Apr 08, 2009

Adam rated it:

I am about half way though this book. I have been reading in little chunks because I need to think about it as I am going. Scot is putting into word many things that I have thought about scripture and reading scripture. He is just explaining it much better and more thoroughly than I could.

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After having read it I think that this is a book that almost all Christians should read this book. No matter what you think of his examples of how he works out reading scripture More...

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Apr 22, 2011

Robert rated it:

This is a nicely written, useful, discussion of biblical interpretation from an evangelical position. I especially found it helpful that Scot noted that we all pick and choose to some extent in those texts we find valuable/authoritative -- question is how we decide!

Here's a fuller review: http://pastorbobcornwall.blogspot.com/20...

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Aug 03, 2011

Bruce added it

I really liked this book. There were a few parts that caused me discomfort, but that is partly why I liked it. McKnight was willing to write about the "hard things" that are rarely discussed when we attempt to understand what the writers of the bible intended. It caused me to examine and to reexamine how I am reading my bible.

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Jan 17, 2010

Ali rated it:

McKnight has some great points and a clear grasp of the Bible as Story, which I definitely think is the most central and valuable way to approach it. I applaud him for this: more people need to be consciously thinking about the role the Bible plays (or should play) in our faith – a role that is often misconstrued.

However, he does not express himself in a very economic manner. I try not to get hung up on writing unless the style handicaps clarity, but I thought that was the case a fe More...

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