Jesus Doesn't Read the Bible<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" We are instructed to follow Jesus. We are instructed to become more and more like Jesus. In the end, we will be made like Jesus. If Jesus is the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/jesus-doesnt-read-bible\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jesus Doesn't Read the Bible\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" We are instructed to follow Jesus. We are instructed to become more and more like Jesus. In the end, we will be made like Jesus. If Jesus is the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/jesus-doesnt-read-bible\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jeff Hood\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-20T22:08:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/751\/2017\/02\/toilet-1645092_960_720.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"504\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeff Hood\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeff Hood\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/jesus-doesnt-read-bible\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/jesus-doesnt-read-bible\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Doesn't Read the Bible\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-20T22:08:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-20T22:08:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/#\/schema\/person\/7520c1e5a6c2879d78536396c58007de\"},\"description\":\" We are instructed to follow Jesus. 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{"id":5157,"date":"2017-02-20T16:08:32","date_gmt":"2017-02-20T22:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/?p=5157"},"modified":"2017-02-20T16:08:32","modified_gmt":"2017-02-20T22:08:32","slug":"jesus-doesnt-read-bible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/jesus-doesnt-read-bible\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesus Doesn’t Read the Bible"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"toilet-1645092_960_720\" — Pixaby<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
\u00a0<\/p>\n
We are instructed to follow Jesus. We are instructed to become more and more like Jesus. In the end, we will be made like Jesus. If Jesus is the ultimate aspiration, how much time do you think he spends reading the Bible? Do you think that Jesus has to read his own story? I don\u2019t. I think Jesus is so far beyond the Bible that the Bible becomes insignificant and of little consequence. Jesus is God and God don\u2019t need no book to tell God how to be God. I would say that Jesus is the Bible incarnate\u2026but that\u2019s not even true. Jesus is the sounds way beyond the words. If God could be contained or described by words, then God would not be God. Words are fading as the message of Jesus is heard.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, what does this mean for us?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
You can\u2019t follow Jesus with your head stuck in the Bible. Reading an ancient book is not our chief aim\u2026becoming like Jesus is. While a few verses might be a good start, we ultimately must grow beyond the Bible. So, I encourage you to put down your Bible and be like Jesus. Remember, Jesus doesn\u2019t read the Bible.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Amen.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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Dr. Jeff Hood is a Catholic priest (Old Catholic), theologian, and nationally recognized activist based in North Little Rock, Arkansas. A spiritual advisor to death row inmates across the country, Dr. Hood has accompanied more people to their executions than any other advisor in the U.S., including the first-ever nitrogen hypoxia execution in 2024. His work sits at the intersection of justice, radical compassion, and public theology. Dr. Hood holds advanced degrees from Auburn, Emory, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, University of Alabama, Creighton, and Brite Divinity School, among others. He also earned a PhD in metaphysical theology and founded The New Theology School, where he serves as Dean and Professor of Prophetic Theology. Author of over 100 books\u2014including the award-winning The Courage to Be Queer\u2014Dr. Hood\u2019s writings and activism have been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, NPR, CNN, and more. A frequent collaborator with men on death row, he sees theology as a shared, liberative act. Dr. Hood has served on the leadership teams of organizations like the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and the Fellowship of Reconciliation. His activism has earned multiple awards, including recognition from PFLAG and the Next Generation Action Network. On July 7, 2016, Dr. Hood led the Dallas protest against police brutality that ended in tragedy. His actions that night saved lives, and his story is now archived in the Dallas Public Library. A father of five, husband to Emily, and friend to the incarcerated, Dr. Hood rejects institutionalism in favor of a theology rooted in people, presence, and prophetic witness.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/author\/jeff-hood\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2509"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}