Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His Stories and Prayers

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. // Peterson's 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. // Language - given to us to glorify God, to receive the revelation of God, to witness to the truth of God, to offer praise to God - is constantly at risk. Too often the living word is desiccated into propositional cadavers, then sorted into exegetical specimens in bottles of formaldehyde. We end up with godtalk. . . . My concern is that we use God's gift of language in consonance with the God who speaks. Jesus is the primary person with whom we have to do in this business. Jesus most of all. Jesus, the Word made flesh. . . . I want to nurture an awareness of the sanctity of words, the holy gift of language whether it is directed vertically or horizontally. Just as Jesus did.- from the Introduction.

About the Author :
Eugene H. Peterson, translator of The Message Bible, authored more than thirty books, including Every Step an Arrival, As Kingfishers Catch Fire, and the spiritual classics Run with the Horses and A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. He earned a degree in philosophy from Seattle Pacific University, a graduate degree in theology from New York Theological Seminary, and a master's degree in Semitic languages from John Hopkins University. He also received several honorary doctoral degrees. He was founding pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland, where he and his wife, Jan, served for twenty-nine years. Peterson held the title of professor emeritus of spiritual theology at Regent College, British Columbia, from 1998 until his death in 2018. Grover Gardner's narration career spans 25 years and over 550 audiobook titles. AudioFile magazine has called him one of the "Best Voices of the Century" and features him in their annual "Golden Voices" update. Publishers Weekly named him Audiobook Narrator of the Year for 2005. His recordings have garnered 18 Earphones Awards from AudioFile and an Audie Award from the Audio Publishers' Association.

Review :

"A thoughtful and engaging study of the ways Jesus, as speaker rather than writer, used the oblique language of parable to communicate his message."

"By interweaving relevant stories from his own life, Peterson helps readers recognize times when the Holy Spirit carries slanted sacred meanings into their own lives. Valuable to Christian readers striving to make faith more than a Sunday ritual."

"Peterson's greatest gift is his ability to write about such ideas as sin, repentance, grace, and glory in masterfully simple--and concrete--ways."