The Bible can be hazardous to one"s health if read with faulty expectations. Writing with compassion and wit, Russell Pregeant shows that reading "without interpretation" is impossible. The right question is which assumptions are appropriate. He addresses the most common and most harmful assumptions about the Bible, beginning with the expectation that it will always "speak" as directly and immediately as a fortune cookie. He moves on to address biblical authority, the Bible and science, "last days" prophecies, and the Bible as rulebook and guide to beliefs. Pregeant insists that we take responsibility for what we do with this powerful book.