In the Beginning There Was Darkness: A Blind Person's Conversations with the Bible

Many books have been written about the Bible from black, feminist, and other points of view. In the Beginning There Was Darkness is the first work to interpret the Bible from the perspective of blindness.When teacher and scholar John Hull went blind, it struck him for the first time that the Bible had been written by sighted people. Being unable to rely on the printed text, Hull listened to the Bible on tape. The result is a unique interpretation that brings new insights into the Bible for both the sighted and the blind.Hull brings anecdotes from his own life to bear on instances of blindness in the biblical stories. The image of God, he finds, is stamped upon blindness. He writes that, like God, only blind people can say they are beyond light and darkness.In the Beginning There Was Darkness offers new perspectives to all who are unaware that they are reading the Bible from a sighted point of view. It draws the different worlds of sight and blindness into a deeper mutual understanding. And Hull's testament to courage and faith contributes powerfully to the growing interest in theologies of disability.John M. Hull is Professor of Religious Education in the University of Birmingham and President of the National Christian Education Council and is the author of On Sight and Insight.