The Bible for Normal People - Amanda Mbuvi
Dear Research Network, Colleagues and Friends,
We love this podcast, "The Bible for Normal People." We hope you do as well. We've shared some of their episode here as a way to broaden theological conversations that many scholars have, to allow you to hear their voices and listen to the questions asked, and to see how this might inform your own conversations. How do you hear the points they have raised? Where do you (dis)agree? How would you add to this conversation? Today, we're sharing the conversation the hosts, Pete and Jared, are having with Dr. Amanda Mbuvi.
We'd love to hear your thoughts. If you heard something interesting, please write those thoughts in the comments. Let us know what you're thinking!
The Misogynoir to Mishpat (M2M) Research Network © 2025
https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/guest/amanda-mbuvi/
In this episode of The Bible for Normal People Podcast, Pete and Jared talk with Amanda Mbuvi about identity and the function of the Bible as they explore the following questions:
What is identity formation and how does it relate to the Bible?
What makes the Bible unique as a piece of literature?
How is the Abraham story an example of identity formation?
What is theological about all the genealogies in Genesis?
What are our intentions when we read the Bible?
Why are there multiple and different genealogies in Genesis?
How do we know that the purpose of Genesis is identity formation?
Why do we read Genesis like it has something to do with us?
What can we tell about the the culture that produced the Bible because of what they did not edit out?
What other biblical texts talk about identity?
What is significant about the designation “Hebrew” in Genesis?
Why do we need to retrain ourselves to see the Bible differently?
Tweetables
Pithy, shareable, less-than-280-character statements from Amanda Mbuvi you can share.
“When we’re reading the biblical text, it’s telling us something about who we are and that’s part of the design and the intention of those texts.” @amandambuvi
“I think what Genesis is doing is it’s really emphasizing that Abraham’s identity is going to come from his relationship with God. It’s not a free-standing thing, but it’s something that emerges, that it’s in process, that it’s dependent on God’s work in his life.” @amandambuvi
“That process of family story telling is actually where family comes from… family is something that the members of a family actively create in large part, by passing on these stories and bits of information.” @amandambuvi
“I think it’s unfortunate that our society is so obsessed with what I call security camera truth, as though that’s the only kind of meaningful, valid, or the most important truth all the time and I really don’t think it is.” @amandambuvi
I think a lot of times readers have this assumption about what the Bible is supposed to be doing and it’s actually not that interested in doing that. It’s not as interested in those things as we are.” @amandambuvi
“That process between living with the structures and expectations of our culture and the people around us while also trying to live into relationship with God and God’s emergent work is already there in the biblical text.” @amandambuvi