EDITOR’S CHOICE
TRIBUTE TO AN EXCEPTIONAL AUTHOR
Tell
It Slant
G
reat scholar of God’s Word and author of The Message, Eugene Peterson
seeks the profound wisdom inherent to several aspects of the language
employed by Jesus, and makes it known to us in this excellent book,
“Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His Stories and Prayers”.
With so much teaching He transmit-
ted, Jesus did not leave any writings of his
– he only spoke. The author begins with that
in mind, bringing us to another dimension of
communication, be it spoken or written.
Later on, Peterson describes the different
types of communication employed by God
for our understanding, with preaching being
the language that personally links us with
the action of God in the present. Teaching
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through metaphors was also extensively used
by Jesus to make us internally aware of His
living, multidimensional truth.
It is also vital that we practice the conver-
sational exchange due to its informality – at
home, at the table, among family and/or
friends. Peterson dedicates another significant
part of his book to the journey’s narrative, as
it appears in the Gospel of Luke, providing
insightful examples such as the Samaritan
W .
Eugene H. Peterson