Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His Stories and Prayers | 
 enlarge | Author: Eugene H. Peterson
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Category: Book
List Price: $24.00
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Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 3203
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 264
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9 x 5.9 x 1.1
ISBN: 0802829546
Dewey Decimal Number: 226.06
EAN: 9780802829542
ASIN: 0802829546
Publication Date: October 16, 2008
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Product Description
Just as God used words both to create the world and to give us commandments, we too use words for many different purposes. In fact, we use the same language to talk to each other and to talk to God. Can our everyday speech, then, be just as important as the words and prayers we hear from the pulpit? Eugene Peterson unequivocally says Yes! Tell It Slant explores how Jesus used language he was earthy, not abstract; metaphorical, not dogmatic. His was not a direct language of information or instruction but an indirect, oblique language requiring a participating imagination slant language. In order to witness and teach accurately in Jesus name, then, it is important for us to use language the way he did. Part 1 focuses on Jesus words in everyday contexts his teachings to the crowds, the stories he told, his conversations with his disciples. Part 2 shifts the focus to Jesus prayers the words he spoke to God the Father.
Petersons Tell It Slant promises to deepen our understanding of Jesus words, strengthen our awareness of language as a gift of God, and nurture our efforts to make all of our speech convey a blessing to others.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Another "must read" for the aggressive God-seeker November 20, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is the 4th book in Peterson's conversation series. "Tell It Slant" is focused on the "conversational Jesus". The conversational Jesus is revealed in two parts ... along a long walk ... and through Jesus in prayers. Peterson tasks the reader to go beyond the words and engage the mind in the Jesus discussion.
Part one follows Christ through Luke's travel narrative of the final walk from Galilee, through troubled Samaria, to arrive in Jerusalem for His final days. Peterson reanimates and brings life to the words of the traveling Messiah as he teaches, considers, and observes along this final journey. The Jesus dialogue is intensely considered through 11 distinct, but interlaced conversations along the road. Part one alone is worth the price of the book. As I write 2 weeks after completing the book, I'm thinking that part one is a standalone masterpiece. Each conversation, as Peterson guides our minds, is a timeless, living metaphor that immerses the modern reader in the calm thoughts and considerations of the Master on the road to crucifixion. I found that I had to limit my reading to only one of 11 conversations per day ... so compelling is the Peterson contribution.
Part two shifts away from the "casual" travel narrative to the praying Jesus through 6 prayers ... 6 praying conversations, between Christ and God, about us, in increasing situational intensity. We have rote memory of these prayers. Therein lies a problem as Peterson considers them. Peterson does a superlative job in pointing the reader to the conclusion that there is much more to these well known prayers than our memories can evoke. The patterns of a life with Christ through, prayer dialogue, is compelling.
In Peterson's surely tireless career as translator, as an academic, and with long term roots as a pastor shepherding a real live congregation of sinners toward the Word, Peterson provides readers with his fascinating vantage and insight from his maturing walk in the Jesus way.
The 4 book series, and assuredly those to come, are a must read for the aggressive God seeker.
Another gem from Eugene Peterson November 14, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a book to be savored and chewed slowly. Peterson gives us new lenses and helps us use them well. I've been a fan of his for over 20 years, and he never disappoints.
 Tell it Slant: comments November 11, 2008
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
While Christian writers like Eugene Peterson, and Dallas Willard, and Richard Foster, and others are teaching us compehensively about what Jesus taught, along with how he lived, died, rose, and ascended, there are still many Christians who think the only important thing is to know what He did on the Cross, which gets us to heaven. I think all Christians will appreciate Peterson's book, Tell It Slant. The question is whether the reader has ears to hear. Jesus' purpose was not to get people into heaven. It was to get them into the Kingdom of God. And the difference between those two ideas is huge. The first is non-transformative and ego-serving. The second is radically life-altering, unto eternity. Eugene Peterson is an author who reliably guides us into understanding what it means to Repent -- change how you think -- and live in the present and eternal Kingdom. His use of Jesus' own words in stories and prayer guide us to an accurate understanding of the Kingdom and what it means to be a citizen of that Kingdom. In other words, what it means to be a disciple of Jesus (not just a convert who has the password to heaven's gates). If you're familiar with Willard, Foster, et al., why read this book? Preconceptions affect perceptions. The clearer your preconceptions are about the Kingdom of God, the more easily you will recognize it when you run into it. The less you know about the Kingdom, the less you will live according to its order and reality, and the less your life will truly work. Read Peterson to prepare yourself for the daily, moment to moment encounter with God and His Kingdom.
As an aside, I would disagree very slightly with Peterson's portrayal of these words of Jesus as just common talk. His words should certainly form the way we must commonly think about the Kingdom and life. But, as Kenneth Bailey points out in his books, Jesus words reflect intentional poetic genius when understood in His cultural context. So, I would highly recommend Bailey as a supplement to Peterson.
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