Have you ever wished you could sit down in a casual coffee shop with one of our authors and speakers and chat? We are so thankful for the amazing women of God we have the privilege of working with regularly. And while we can’t all gather in our favorite downtown coffee shop, we want to give you the opportunity to know them a little more personally.
Every so often we’re sharing a fresh “coffee chat” with a member of the Lifeway Women family to give you the opportunity to get to know her a little better.
This month, get to know Rebecca McLaughlin!
- Tell us about your writing process. Any favorite pens, locales, teas to drink, and music to listen to? I don’t use any pens as I enjoy writing on the computer. I do love a skim milk latte and Earl Grey tea along with my favorite pastry, pain au chocolat. While I don’t really listen to music while I write, I do use earplugs.
- What is one of your favorite travel destinations? Is there somewhere you haven’t been that is on your wish list? I love going to London where my family lives!
- You have a new Bible study with Lifeway called Navigating Gospel Truth. Tell us a little about it. The study is designed to help people get a handle on the different kinds of writing in the Gospels—for example, parables, metaphors, narratives, and prophecy—so that they can read the Gospels with a better sense of how to understand the truth that is being taught. Each week explores one kind of writing with examples from the Gospel texts and provides pointers on how to navigate that genre.
- As you worked on Navigating Gospel Truth, what were some new things you learned along the way? Apocalyptic writing in the Gospels was the main learning edge for me. We have examples of apocalyptic in the Old Testament, for instance in the book of Daniel, and later in the New Testament, for instance in the book of Revelation. It can be tempting to zone out because we often can’t be sure of how exactly we should understand some elements of what we’re reading, and I think I’ve been guilty of that in the past. But we miss out on important truths if we neglect these passages. On the other hand, we need to guard ourselves against the tendency to place our time and situation at the center of these texts and read apocalyptic passages as if they’re speaking in specific terms to our political concerns.
Rebecca McLaughlin holds a Ph.D. in Renaissance Literature from Cambridge University and a theology degree from Oak Hill College in London. She is the author of Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion (2019), which was named book of the year by Christianity Today, and of 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity (2021), The Secular Creed: Engaging 5 Contemporary Claims (2021), Is Christmas Unbelievable? Four Questions Everyone Should Ask About the World’s Most Famous Story (2021), Confronting Jesus: 9 Encounters with the Hero of the Gospels (2022). She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband, Bryan, her two daughters, Miranda and Eliza, and her son, Luke.
