Encouraging Faith Manifestoes for People with Open Ears: Biblical Artful Writings of Wisdom: 3

While Book 1 of Tough Stuff focused on biblical passages dealing with narrative history, and Book 2 selected revelations especially by the prophets, Book 3 explores the more "artful" writings of the Bible, like the Psalms, Proverbs, the beatitudes and parables of Jesus, and the rhetorically crafted letters of the apostle Paul to early church congregations. These often complex portions of the Bible are sometimes referred to as "wisdom literature," "gnomic writings." It best takes a devout rabbi schooled in story-telling, poetic irony, and whimsical subtleties to parse out the multiple meanings of such passages. But Holy Scripture always encourages reflection as well as action.