In the beginning of the eloquent, emotional, and thoughtful book written by Aviya Kushner, the reader is introduced to a quote by Derek Walcott that says, "Grammar is a form of history." There is no better sentiment than that which she chose to begin her book with that could have been used to express the essence that is The Grammar of God. Kushner's book and writing seems to bridge the gap between scholarly work and personal journaling which although creates a beautiful, personal, reflective piece, also allows greater accessibility to the average person in a beginning understanding of the Hebrew language. What Kushner does is to allow the reader into an intimate viewing of how grammar, personal and broader history, and Hebrew are beautifully…show more content… The frame of reference I had while reading this book is that of growing up non-denominational, then evangelical, then a short stint as the worship leader/director (when only 16) at an AG church, then a movement back to evangelical and now to a position of not having gone to church in over a year-I've moved around a lot in this arena. To say that Kushner and I have had different life circumstances would be quite the understatement. But that is exactly the point. Kushner's book invites those with a radically different experience and relationship with the Bible to read and understand, that is part of why she wrote it. There is an almost unending stream of information that can be gleaned from this book, even though it not necessarily a scholarly work. In fact, it may be that her book elicits the power it does because it is not meant to be scholarly, but rather, this book is intended for intimacy-an intimacy that brings forth learning. I could not help but to shake my head (during the two separate times that I read this book) at my own complete misunderstandings about the Bible, a response I imagine Kushner hoped for when publishing this
