Eat This Book challenges us to read the Scriptures on their own terms, as God's revelation, and to live them as we read them. With warmth and wisdom Peterson offers greatly needed, down-to-earth counsel on spiritual reading. In these pages he draws readers into a fascinating conversation on the nature of language, the ancient practice of lectio divina, and the role of Scripture translations; included here is the “inside story? behind Peterson's own popular Bible translation, The Message.

Eugene H. Peterson (1932–2018) was a longtime pastor and professor of spiritual theology at Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia. His many acclaimed books include Tell It Slant, The Jesus Way, Eat This Book, and the contemporary translation of the Bible titled The Message.

Eugene H. Peterson's profile page

Christianity Today, Award of Merit, Spirituality (2007)
Lauren F. Winner
— author of Girl Meets God and Real Sex
"Deep, stirring, luminous, even profound — if you are going to read one book about reading Scripture, it should be this one."
Gerald Sittser
— author of A Grace Disguised
"Eugene Peterson has written a magnificent book about how to read the Bible. As any editor would say, a book must 'show,' not just 'tell.' Peterson's book does exactly that. The book itself has a biblical quality to it. Peterson uses vivid language; he tells and then reflects on wonderful stories; he invites readers to read their own stories in light of the story. This book is the fruit of decades of reading, pondering, conversing about, praying over, and living this story. Peterson encourages us to read the Bible as if we were dogs gnawing on a bone. Eat This Book made me lick my chops."
Church & Synagogue Libraries
"Peterson explores the ancient discipline of lectio divina and how its elements of reading, meditating, praying, and living can help us receive Scripture as 'formative for the way we live our lives, not merely making an impression on our minds or feelings. ' . . . Recommended."
Publishers Weekly
"Peterson's exposition of lectio divina is one of the fullest to appear in recent years. . . A worthy sequel to his 2004 hit Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places."