Better Ways to Read the Bible

Better Ways to Read the Bible

Transforming a Weapon of Harm into a Tool of Healing

Zach W. Lambert; foreword by Sarah Bessey
Brazos Press, 2025
ISBN 9781587436680

Softcover, 216 pp.
8.4 X 5.6 X 0.7 inches | 0.5 pounds

How can we read the Bible in ways that lead to healing and wholeness?

"A wide-ranging and cogent guide to seeing scripture in a new light. Disenchanted Christians will be energized."--Publishers Weekly

As a pastor for more than ten years, Zach Lambert has seen the Bible used countless times as something far from the "Good Book"--both in his own life and in the experiences of others. He has seen the Bible weaponized to subjugate women, justify racism, bash LGBTQ+ people, cover up abuse, and exclude people who speak out against these injustices.

If you've been hurt by harmful interpretations or feel disconnected from Scripture, this book offers a path forward to reclaim the Bible's life-giving message. This accessible resource will help you

- break free from harmful interpretations that distort Scripture's true message,
- develop Christ-centered reading practices,
- renew your relationship with Scripture,
- apply new frameworks to challenging Bible passages that have historically been misused to cause harm, and
- connect with Christians who embrace Scripture's call to abundant life for everyone

In this compassionate guide, Lambert dismantles four common lenses for reading the Bible that lead to harm, then offers four new lenses that promote healing and wholeness. This book welcomes all Christians--regardless of background, doubts, or wounds--to reengage Scripture in life-giving ways.

Zach W. Lambert is the lead pastor and founder of Restore, a church in Austin, Texas. Under his leadership, Restore has grown from a launch team of five people in 2015 to more than one thousand members today. He holds a master of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary and is pursuing his doctorate at Duke Divinity School.

Zach is the cofounder of the Post-Evangelical Collective and serves on the boards of the Austin Church Planting Network and the Multi-Faith Neighbors Network. Zach and his wife, Amy, met each other in the sixth grade, fell in love at seventeen, and got married at twenty-one. They love watching live music, discovering local Mexican food places, and playing with their two boys.