Sofa Spotlight - As Kingfishers Catch Fire, Eugene Peterson

Eugene Peterson is probably best known for his translation of The Message Bible. Which I know is inaccurate because it’s not a translation. Anyway because I was never a fan of The Message I didn’t really consider reading any of his other work. Until a few years ago, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Last year when he passed away I was a good way through As Kingfishers Catch Fire. So when I heard that he had died I sat down and made sure I finished reading it. It seemed fitting.

For me As Kingfishers Catch Fire is the best example of his work, because it does brilliantly what his other books did. Which is made me fall in love with reading the Bible again, and seeing the beauty and the challenge in its pages. It’s true I don’t agree with everything that Peterson says, but he inspires me enough to go to the pages of God’s Word and explore why I think differently.

Anyway back to this book.

The premise behind it, and what makes it different to his other books, is that it is taken from his sermons that he preached over a twenty-nine year period. The time frame is from the 1960s to the early 90s and the context is reflected in the illustrations and application of the sermons. Which is a point of interest in itself and a reminder that God’s Word is always relevant, no matter the time or culture.

Peterson splits the sermons into different sections that focus on a different Biblical person. Starting with Moses, before going onto David, Isaiah, Solomon, Peter, Paul and finally John. The journey looks at each ones role and purpose in God’s plan and their writings that became a part of the Bible. It’s not meant to be an in depth study of each of those but there is plenty to inspire for further study.

And although it is a long book (heavy enough to be a good door stop or defensive weapon) each chapter is a manageable size. They could be comfortably read in 15 minutes, although you would want to give yourself much more thinking time to process what you’ve read.

Like I say, the quality of this book is Peterson’s love of God, His Word and His people. It comes across in each chapter and he really has found the beauty of the Word of God and is very skilled at conveying that. If nothing else it is good for inspiring an exploration of God’s Word, making you realise that it is a living book and full of good things.