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 PrintableVersion Telling the BibleOver 100 stories to read out loudBend it like Hartman?TELLING THE BIBLE This is a book about storytelling from the author of the Lion Storyteller Bible. However, the 104 stories in this book are for adults. Each story includes an introduction, ‘telling tips’, and discussion questions. The book is easy to use, clearly printed (useful when reading aloud from a dark dais!) and arranged by Bible passage. The book is summed up by a quote from Pete Meadows: ‘Bob Hartman is to storytelling what David Beckham is to football. An absolute master. Give him a story and no one will bend it like him.’ Yes, Bob Hartman is a master storyteller. The ‘telling tips’ before each story reflect his wide experience and creativity. He will encourage you to have a go at using story as a teaching tool with adults as well as children. Stories grab our attention, engage our emotions, illustrate teaching points, get under our skin, and stay memorable. To relegate storytelling to under-11s is a loss for the rest of us. But — Bob Hartman will ‘bend’ the stories he creates. In the introduction, he accepts that ‘some people might not appreciate the kind of playing around with the texts that I have done here’. This is the weakness of the book. Most of the stories have been changed: details are left out or added; words are put into Jesus’s mouth; storytelling techniques distract from the main point. The stories God has included in the Bible show us how he has acted in history, and will act today — but the retold stories in Bob Hartman’s book rarely focus on God’s character or purposes. Some of the discussion questions are helpful, but many jump to ‘real-life’ applications with tenuous links to the big idea behind the story. If you like to sift books for creative ideas, this one may be of help. It will stimulate your creativity, flood you with ideas, and encourage you to use story with all ages. But study the Bible passage yourself first, asking the Spirit to help you understand God’s living Word. Then let some of Bob Hartman’s passion and enthusiasm rub off on you, so that you teach that story creatively, effectively — but also faithfully. Alison Mitchell, © Evangelicals Now - August 2007 |
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