If You Find Jesus, Bury Him!: Reforming Biblical Spirituality

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“If You Find Jesus Bury Him!” portrays a different kind of biblical spirituality than what one normally finds in print. It is written for Christians who doubt the supernatural claims about Jesus and literal interpretations of the Bible that fly in the face of solid scientific and historical research. These Christian doubters often feel like inferior Christians or outsiders. Many have decided to exit the church and try to construct their own personal spirituality. Griffin counters that doubt is not bad and that reading the Bible literally is not necessary for taking it seriously. He shows why literal readings of the Bible are not only unnecessary, but often misleading. He then demonstrates how what he calls a “Discipline of Doubt” can be a gateway to faith. It infuses the scientific method, which has worked amazingly well for understanding the natural world. The discipline of doubt works equally well in infusing methods for understanding the biblical world. In the end those who doubt the supernatural face of Jesus can actually discover biblical traces of Jesus that will reform Christian spirituality. It is a spirituality in which Christians don’t have to check their brains at the church door on Sunday morning and their faith at the office or laboratory door on Monday morning..
The message of “If You Find Jesus Bury Him!” is colorfully illustrated with original artwork created by Gentleman’s Game . In the first seven chapters the artists deconstruct a popular image of Jesus in stages finally exposing a colorful tapestry. What at first appears to be destructive ends up revealing an image that suggests multiple ways to understand Jesus and Christian faith..
PRAISE FOR “If You Find Jesus Bury Him!”
“an extremely courageous and necessary testament to catalyze a new spiritual growth… chips away at some of the burden, fear, and distrust that so many millennials feel in relationship to the church.” – J. Reynolds, award-winning author
“Griffin does an excellent job of showing why a literal interpretation of the Bible is not only misleading but that the Bible was never written to be interpreted in such a manner.” – M. Fox, Colorado State University
“a marvelous work. It explains difficult and complex concepts in understandable terms.” – L Barrett, Lancaster Theological Seminary
“hits on the nature of science very effectively and discusses the nature of falsifiability and doubt in a way that should make good sense to his readers.” – M Zimmerman, Evergreen State College
“takes material that is hard for people to understand and demystifies biblical texts and theology.” – B.B. Zikmund, retired church historian and theological educator