Blue Parakeet Discussion Questions and Review written by the Hobbit on 8/6/2020 This post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Know Before You Read ‘Blue Parakeet’
Book: The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible
Author: Scot McKnight
Genre: General Theology
Pages: 256 pages
Published: 2016 (1st Edition; there is a 2nd edition available)
Age Suggestion: 18+ (& teens if they’re interested in exegesis/theology)
Warnings: While generally a book on how to read the Bible, the major example used – women in ministry – can be controversial. If you are not comfortable with being challenged on this issue, skip this book. There is nothing inappropriate in this book, but the material gets dense sometimes and would be more difficult for younger readers.
Blue Parakeet Quick Summary:
Reading and comprehending the Bible can be a difficult thing. Knowing that it’s not spiritually mature to assume that we can just read the Bible ourselves and understand it entirely without any other insight- how DO we read the Bible? What tools do we use? What about those difficult passages that scholars all interpret differently and don’t make sense?
This book discusses reading the Bible as an overarching story. As well as learning how to cope with difficult verses in the context of that story. That’s where the blue parakeets come in. It’s an insightful, easy, and helpful read.
–Why Read It: Blue Parakeet Review
Reading the Bible is not always easy. If we are going to be faithful and really grow in our relationship with God, we need to explore and understand how to read the Bible. You will have a better grasp on understanding God’s story once you finish (and start applying) this book. This book is relatively easy to read and would be a great book to discuss in a group.
We aren’t always taught how to read the Bible and this book is a great intro and guide about how to read the Bible. It’s a compelling case for reading the Bible as a story. Cherrypicking verses or passages out of the Bible probably is not how it was meant to be read and using it to end arguments was not either. Stories inspire us to start conversations, not end them. Legality restricts, story emboldens. Reports bore, story inspires. If you’re feeling weighted down by your Bible reading practice, this book is a good one to inspire it again.
Favorite Quote:
“Somewhere we’ve gone astray and we’ve stopped reading the Bible as story. Our intent, and it is the right one, is to get something out of the Bible for our daily lives… But, because reading the Bible as story takes more time, thinking, and discerning, we’ve developed routines and techniques that get us to our goal sooner. We’ve learned the CliffsNotes version of the Bible, or we settle for a brief synopsis; we’ve developed shortcuts to grace.”
Scott McKnight- Blue Parakeet
Blue Parakeet Discussion Questions”
*If discussion with a book study or small group, we suggest breaking these up into different sessions*
1) What methods do you currently use to read the Bible?
2) Do you ever use different tools to study it and if so, what are they?
3) Do you like the concept of the Bible as an overarching story?
4) Do you believe that reading the Bible as one big story helps us to understand it better?
5) What do you do when a “blue parakeet” passage pops up in the Bible that doesn’t make sense to you or is confusing?
6) Share one passage that has frustrated or is currently confusing you.
7) Did this book impact how you want to read your Bible?
8) What is one step you can take towards shifting how we read and comprehend?
Blue Parakeet Full Summary:
As a birdwatcher, McKnight once found that a blue parakeet had joined the other birds in his backyard. Although the other birds were originally uncomfortable with this stranger, they soon adjusted. As McKnight says, “They let the blue parakeet be a blue parakeet.” He uses this as an analogy – the Bible has “Blue parakeet” passages that make us uncomfortable or leave us scratching our heads. How do we let these “be blue parakeets”? To explain this, McKnight (who is a professor of New Testament) explains that he believes we should read the Bible as story. When we read this way, we can see how the parts we don’t understand fir into the bigger picture.
If you enjoyed our Blue Parakeet Discussion Questions and review, check out some of other posts:
–In the Footsteps of Flour and Jesus
–The Chosen TV Series Review
–Overcomer and Breakthrough Small Group Discussion Questions
–I Still Believe Discussion Questions and Review
If you are looking for more Bible reading resources, there are SO many to choose from! But the 3 people who worked on this post are currently reading:
-Reading through the Bible in a year with the Bible Project on the Youversion app. The biography of Paul by NT Wright. Paul Among the People by Sarah Ruden which talks about cultural context. This book! (The Blue Parakeet by Scot McKnight) Becoming Brave by Dr McNeil on pursuing racial justice in the church and an Ephesians Commentary by Dr. Cohick
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