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12 September 2011

Press release

Baffled by the Bible? Get A Grip!

Sexism, sadism and slavery: just some of the difficult topics found in Scripture which prove a struggle for many Christians.   

Now help is at hand for the bewildered in the form of a series of events designed to help people get to grips with some of the Bible's most baffling topics.  

The Get A Grip tour will see a host of academics and teachers tackling some of the most perplexing subjects including Sex, Racism and Violence in the Old Testament; and God & Genocide. 

The tour is being run by Biblefresh and sponsored by CPAS in response to research which showed that many Christians are in need of guidance when steering through the Bible's difficult passages. 

According to Biblefresh, 65 per cent of Christians said they wanted help in understanding the 'hot potato' texts in the Bible. 

Meanwhile, a Bible Society survey in 2009 found that 28 per cent of church leaders said both aggressive secularists such as Richard Dawkins made them less confident about scripture. It also found that one in five leaders' biblical confidence was undermined by the 'blood and killing in the Old Testament'.  

Alongside the events, Get A Grip booklets have also been produced containing short essays on difficult Bible texts by contributors including Rob Parsons, Joel Edwards and Michele Guinness; as well as essays from writers including Andrew Wilson and Paula Gooder shedding light on violent, troubling, complex or confusing texts.  

Krish Kandiah, executive director: churches in mission at the Evangelical Alliance, said: "I meet many Christians who are confused about the God they meet in the Old Testament. They don't know what to do with parts of the Bible that appear to support sexism, slavery and slaughter, which can discourage them from reading it.  

"Get A Grip is an initiative to help the Church recover confidence in the whole of the Bible. Through events around the country, and a beautifully produced booklet packed full of bite-sized pieces, we aim to equip Christians to get a grip on God's Word." 

Ann Holt, director of programme at the Bible Society, added: "Our recent experiences at Bible Society have confirmed how hungry people are to learn how to handle the whole Bible. The Get a Grip events with reputable Bible scholars will be of inestimable value to those who want to help the Church do Bible better."  

The events take place in Glasgow, Cardiff, London and Durham this autumn and include a lecture, a Question Time-style panel and reflections on recapturing a love for the Bible. Tickets cost £10.  

Get A Grip tour

28 October - International Christian College, Glasgow

3 November - Cardiff Institute for Contemporary Christianity

7 November - Kings College Chapel, London

8 November - St John's College, Durham

For more information, and to register, visit: www.biblefresh.com/get-a-grip

Get A Grip booklet

Delegates receive a free copy of the booklet. Additional copies are available (from www.biblefresh.com/get-a-grip) for £2, with £1 of this going to Bible translation in Burkina Faso.

Each Bible passage has a price tag against it, showing how much it would cost to translate that particular passage. To donate, visit www.biblefresh.com/translation



Media Enquiries

Danny Webster
Tel: 07766 444 650
Email: info@eauk.org

Notes to Editors

The Evangelical Alliance
We are the largest and oldest body representing the UK’s two million evangelical Christians. For more than 165 years, we have been bringing Christians together and helping them listen to, and be heard by, the government, media and society. We’re here to connect people for a shared mission, whether it’s celebrating the Bible, making a difference in our communities or lobbying the government for a better society. From Skye to Southampton, from Coleraine to Cardiff, we work across 79 denominations, 3,500 churches, 750 organisations and thousands of individual members. And we're not just uniting Christians within the UK – we are a founding member of the World Evangelical Alliance, a global network of more than 600 million evangelical Christians. For more information, go to www.eauk.org.