Accessorized Bible

David Dault teaches in the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago. He is the host of Things Not Seen: Conversations about Culture and Faith, an award-winning radio show and podcast. He lives in Chicago, IL.

“Drawing from studies of material scriptures, Dault effectively challenges us to take a position of moral seriousness by misreading bibles for the sake of a life-giving, catastrophic love.”—James W. Watts, Syracuse University“The Accessorized Bible does not invite us to think outside the box. Instead, provocatively, powerfully, and persuasively, it asks us to consider boxes we have never imagined and then to think outside them. It is not about The Bible but about bibles and their accessories—especially us. All that seems quite serene until, late in the book, we feel this scorpion-sting: ‘Pilate was an accessory.’ Do all bibles have Pilates?”—John Dominic Crossan, author of Paul the Pharisee: A Vision Beyond the Violence of Civilization“In a manner both brilliant and engaging, David Dault deconstructs our preconceived notions of what a ‘bible’ is in order to shed light on the manifold ways bibles function in religious and literary contexts. This book is both an intellectual gem and a captivating read, which will delight and challenge readers.”—Daniel P. Horan, professor of philosophy, religious studies, and theology, Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana“I read Dault’s book not as exegesis of text but as window onto the texture of conscientization of a type of Americanized, Christianized white male critic who, as he writes, comes to know himself. The book is for all explorers who need destabilization and refreshment for the ongoing excavation.”—Vincent L. Wimbush, Institute for Signifying Scriptures