Part I: What Is “The Savage Text”?:.

1. The “Savage Text”?.

The Bible as an Idol?.

The Manifesto of “The Savage Text”.

The Argument of the Book.

2. “Vile Affections”: The Bible and Homosexuality.

Morality or Ideology?.

A Guidebook for Sexual Behavior?.

A Man Needs a Woman?.

When is Exegesis Homophobic?.

Part II: The Savage Text at Work:.

3. “Cursed by Canaan!”: The Bible, Racism, and Slavery.

The Bible and Racism.

The Bible and Slavery.

Reading the Bible after Slavery.

4. “The Great Day of Wrath”: The Bible and the End.

“Man of War” or “Prince of Peace”?.

“Rapture” or Rupture?.

Great Tribulation or American Tribalism?.

5. “Take Now Thy Son”: The Bible and Children.

Jesus and Children.

Putting Jesus First.

6. “Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Witch to Live”: The Bible, Jews, and Women.

The Bible and Anti-Semitism.

The Bible and Misogyny.

Learning from the Legacy?.

Part III: Beyond the Text: Faith in the Triune God:.

7. Faith in the Book or Faith in God?.

The Scripture Principle.

Hooker and the Middle Way.

“Lost Christianities” and New “Heresies”.

8. On Not Being a “People of the Book”.

The Personalization of the Book.

“Dis-solving” the Problem of Authority.

Some Principles for a Peaceful Reading of the Bible.

Conclusion.

Glossary.

Bibliography.

Index of Scriptural Citations.

General Index.