The Faith of the Outsider: Exclusion and Inclusion in the Biblical Story

This book offers a probing, insightful look at the "outsider" motif running through the Bible. The biblical story about God's covenant with "insiders" -- with Israel as the chosen people -- is scandalous in today's cultural climate of inclusivity. But, as Frank Anthony Spina shows, God's exclusive election actually has an inclusive purpose.

Looking carefully at the biblical narrative, Spina highlights in bold relief seven remarkable stories that treat nonelect people positively and, even more, as strategically important participants in God's plan of salvation. The stories of Esau, Tamar, Rahab, Naaman, Jonah, Ruth, and the woman at the well come alive in new ways as Spina discusses and examines them from an outsider-insider point of view.

Frank Anthony Spina is professor of Old Testament and biblical theology at Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, Washington, and an associate priest at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, Bellevue, Washington. He speaks extensively to church study groups; for more information visit his personal website www.faspina.com