Just as God used words both to create the world and to give us commandments, we too use words for many different purposes. In fact, we use the same language to talk to each other and to talk to God. Can our everyday speech, then, be just as important as the words and prayers we hear from the pulpit? Eugene Peterson unequivocally says Yes! Tell It Slant explores how Jesus used language he was earthy, not abstract; metaphorical, not dogmatic. His was not a direct language of information or instruction but an indirect, oblique language requiring a participating imagination slant language. In order to witness and teach accurately in Jesus name, then, it is important for us to use language the way he did. Part 1 focuses on Jesus words in everyday contexts his teachings to the crowds, the stories he told, his conversations with his disciples. Part 2 shifts the focus to Jesus prayers the words he spoke to God the Father.

Petersons Tell It Slant promises to deepen our understanding of Jesus words, strengthen our awareness of language as a gift of God, and nurture our efforts to make all of our speech convey a blessing to others.

Summary: Read this book!

Rating: 5

What a great book! Eugene Peterson is full of so much insight and cultural background. This is not a book for just serious academics, just the opposite, it's for everyone. As someone who has been involved in Christian education and formation I'd recommend this book for everyone.

Summary: TELL IT SLANT is about more than Jesus' use of language

Rating: 5

TELL IT SLANT. Huh? The phrase is a not-quite-grammatical derivative of the clichéd "tell it straight." It isn't original to author Peterson; it's from a line of poetry by Emily Dickinson: "Tell all the Truth but tell it slant." Peterson sees the idiom as descriptive of Jesus' mode of communication, especially as portrayed in 10 parables that are unique to the Gospel of Luke --- found between Luke 9 and 19, sometimes known as Luke's "Travel Narrative."

Peterson notes that Luke doesn't emphasize Jesus the teacher or the preacher; rather, "Luke has a particular interest in immersing us in the conversational aspects of Jesus' language." He's engaging the imagination and telling stories. These parables are told when Jesus is "on the road"; he has left his home territory in Galilee and is traveling with disciples, through Samaria, toward Jerusalem and his final days. "A kind of intimacy develops naturally when men and women walk and talk together, with no immediate agenda or assigned task except eventually getting to their destination." Here's where Jesus tells the story called the "prodigal son" and a story about an unfruitful fig tree that is given fertilizer and another year to prove itself.

The second part of the book moves from Luke's parables to six prayers of Jesus, as recorded primarily in Matthew and John. We've seen how Jesus talks with his friends and followers. How does he talk with God, whom he calls Father?

Peterson's "language" schema is most evident in the book's opening and closing chapters. In the scriptural discussion, it's easy to get delightfully lost in the textual insights --- which must be chewed and savored. As he acknowledges up front, the content was developed in college "courses on language, Scripture, and prayer" at Regent College, in Vancouver. This shouldn't scare off armchair readers with a modest interest in Christian spirituality. At the beginning of most chapters he deftly summarizes content previously covered, hooking it to the passage at hand, providing clear guideposts for readers.

Ultimately Peterson challenges us to emulate Jesus in his use of language, engaging people where they are and talking with God personally, not in stuffily pious phrases.

I particularly liked Peterson's take on Jesus' "Seven Last Words," which he categorizes as one prayer. He discusses the phrases in the order they are presented in the Gospels, so "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit" is in the middle of the lineup. After three pages of reflection, Peterson draws a personal application: "This is not a prayer we hold in reserve for our deathbed... We pray it when we get out of bed each morning, alive yet another day, ready to go to work...: `Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.'"

You see, TELL IT SLANT is about more than Jesus' use of language. It's also about our relationships and how we communicate in them --- whether with neighbors, co-workers or God.

--- Reviewed by Evelyn Bence

Summary: Fantastic book!

Rating: 5

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! Eugene Peterson is one of my favorite writers and this book caused me to stop often and commune with the Holy Spirit over a point that I had just read. Thank you Eugene! You have once again added depth to my spiritual life.

Summary: Another Home Run!

Rating: 5

Eugene Peterson has hit a homerun again. I have read the 3 books preceding this one in the series and it seems they just get better and better. The author is showing us how Jesus leads our spiritual development as he ministered on the earth. New insights on the life and purpose of ministry of Christ are included in each volume as they are presented. A must read but recommend reading the first three to see the accumulating development.

Summary: Another "must read" for the aggressive God-seeker

Rating: 5

This is the 4th book in Peterson's conversation series. "Tell It Slant" is focused on the "conversational Jesus". The conversational Jesus is revealed in two parts ... along a long walk ... and through Jesus in prayers. Peterson tasks the reader to go beyond the words and engage the mind in the Jesus discussion.

Part one follows Christ through Luke's travel narrative of the final walk from Galilee, through troubled Samaria, to arrive in Jerusalem for His final days. Peterson reanimates and brings life to the words of the traveling Messiah as he teaches, considers, and observes along this final journey. The Jesus dialogue is intensely considered through 11 distinct, but interlaced conversations along the road. Part one alone is worth the price of the book. As I write 2 weeks after completing the book, I'm thinking that part one is a standalone masterpiece. Each conversation, as Peterson guides our minds, is a timeless, living metaphor that immerses the modern reader in the calm thoughts and considerations of the Master on the road to crucifixion. I found that I had to limit my reading to only one of 11 conversations per day ... so compelling is the Peterson contribution.

Part two shifts away from the "casual" travel narrative to the praying Jesus through 6 prayers ... 6 praying conversations, between Christ and God, about us, in increasing situational intensity. We have rote memory of these prayers. Therein lies a problem as Peterson considers them. Peterson does a superlative job in pointing the reader to the conclusion that there is much more to these well known prayers than our memories can evoke. The patterns of a life with Christ through, prayer dialogue, is compelling.

In Peterson's surely tireless career as translator, as an academic, and with long term roots as a pastor shepherding a real live congregation of sinners toward the Word, Peterson provides readers with his fascinating vantage and insight from his maturing walk in the Jesus way.

The 4 book series, and assuredly those to come, are a must read for the aggressive God seeker.