Reading Well
Teasing out the complexity, challenges, and nuances of the stories that shape our lives and world
FEATURED POST
Making Old Truths New: Jesus and the Transgressive New Story
Literate But Not Literary: Learning to Re-Read the Bible
Being literate but not literary is a problem that plagues readers of the Bible. Watch & Listen as I explain why using a re-reading of the Binding of Isaac in Genesis 22 as an example.
I need your help to get a new book published… #ChristianBookKickstarter
My new book: Fandoms & Faithful Reading, is coming-out via Substack! BUT, I need your help (with a few clicks) to get it published to a wider audience in a traditional book format.
Have Christians profoundly misunderstood the Pharisees?
Have Christians profoundly misunderstood the Pharisees? What if they were actually insightful and humane interpreters of scripture, breaking down barriers between the Temple and the populace because they believed holiness was for everyone, not just the elite?
![[NOW on Netflix] Exploring Nella Larsen’s “Passing”: A Conversation about Race in America with Bryce Coefield](https://i0.wp.com/jessicaannhughes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Netflix-Trailer-Passing-Rebecca-Hall-Directorial-Debut-Nella-Larsen-Novel.jpg?resize=336%2C188&ssl=1)
[NOW on Netflix] Exploring Nella Larsen’s “Passing”: A Conversation about Race in America with Bryce Coefield
Nella Larsen’s novel Passing is now in movie form on Netflix. Use these recorded conversations as a watching/reading companion to the movie and/or novel, as you think about race in America.
Is the Bible Safe for Sunday School?
Christianity…particularly Protestant Christianity…and particularly Evangelical Christianity claims to take the Bible “seriously.” Yet, we seldom trust the text, particularly the harder passages, and particularly when our children are involved.
Celebrating a Badass Princess: Esther & the Feast of Purim
[Guest Post] A 10 Year old girl inhabits Esther’s story as we celebrate a two-day holiday dedicated to a girl whose courage and determination saved herself and her people.
Teaching Challenge: Create Lectures that make Students want to Read the Book! Six (short) Video’s on Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
So, how does a teacher guide students through at book—through (hopefully) engaging and entertaining videos — in a way that encourages thinking, that is encourages students to read, reflect, and respond rigorously without the classroom?
Preaching the Household Codes in the #MeToo Era
Sometimes the Bible can be really difficult, especially when it talks about things like wives submitting to their husbands and slaves submitting to their masters. These “household codes” seem antiquated at best, and downright offensive at worst…
The Bible & The Novel: Netflix’s Messiah (& Mark’s Gospel)
Stories that reimagine Jesus, considering what his life would look like if lived in the modern world, have a long history in the Christian...
The Bible & the Novel: Ruth & Marilynne Robinson’s Lila
Too often texts fall silent because we think we know the story. Or because we find the barriers of time, place, and culture insurmountable. At...
The Professor and the Pastor — An Experiment in Conversational Preaching
What happens when two trained theologians—one a pastor and one a literary scholar—work together to preach a text? Calls for...
Making Old Truths New: Jesus and the Transgressive New Story
I recently got to be the keynote speaker for Saints and Scholars on the importance of literature for the church. As part of that, I found myself...
Deeper Magic: Death Starts Working Backwards on Good Friday
The dripping blood our only drink, The bloody flesh our only food: In spite of which we like to think That we are sound, substantial flesh and...
Workplace Dramas
One of my favorite pass-times is watching TV shows on DVD (or it once was, as now we binge-watch Netflix instead). The series can be so engaging...
Creation is Good (but my kid’s bible got it wrong!)
A few nights ago, I was reading a popular children’s Bible with my kids. We read through the creation story describing how God made the light,...
Long-Form Fiction : Teaching Multi-Plot Novels, Serial Television, and Writing Screenplays
Over the past ten years, I have really enjoyed watching movies and TV shows in my “down time.” But, increasingly, it is impossible to watch (or,...
VIDEO | How can Adam Bede be Jesus? He’s such a prig…
For some people, thinking of Adam Bede as Jesus presents problems because Adam isn't always nice. In this video I look at George Eliot's Adam Bede,...
The Importance of the Ending (or reflections on Raymond Reddington and God)
Last week, my husband and I started watching The Blacklist. For those of you who are not familiar with this highly addictive show, it is part...
God’s Actions amid God’s Absence
Readers of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited often remark on the novel’s many profound, evocative reflections on Christian faith. And, to be fair,...
The End of Narrative
I have often wanted to ask my theologian-friends if narratives can exist apart from sin. I use the word sin because of its suggestion of brokenness,...
Seeing Jesus through the Faith of Others
Recently, I’ve spent quite a bit of time with Charles Dickens’s least-read work: The Life of Our Lord. It is a slim volume that re-tells the story...
Jesus According to Charles Dickens
Between 1846 and 1849 Charles Dickens wrote The Life of Our Lord, a simplified version of Jesus’ life for his children, who ranged in age from...
Distance, Repentance and Embrace
Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations details the maturation of Pip, a young man specially selected by an unknown benefactor to become a “gentleman.” ...
When Confession Doesn’t Work
James Joyce’s only play The Exiles is little performed because, well, it isn’t really very good. If it hadn’t been written by Joyce (who begged Ezra...
Grammar Police & the Fear of Judgement
When people email me, they almost always include some line that goes “please don’t check my spelling” or “I know I’m terrible at grammar” or “I hate...
Giving and Hospitality: Making Space for Others
To receive and to return gifts is no easy matter. How often has the kindly birthday or Christmas gift from a boss or acquaintance led to panic the...