The Upside-Down Kingdom Bible is edited by Preston Sprinkle, a vocal supporter of Revoice conferences, which pushes for LGBT acceptance in the church.
According to Zondervan, this study Bible "addresses some of the most divisive issues facing Christians today head on, with notes throughout the text that are biblically-based, honest, nuanced, and filled with grace."
Its interpretations of the role of women in the church, gender and sexuality, and God's relationship with His creation are meant to provide readers "a practical resource to live faithfully in the modern world," but Dr. Alex McFarland of Truth for a New Generation says those have never gone over well.
"Many of the study notes by Preston Sprinkle merely repeat some worn-out arguments that go back to the '80s," the Christian apologist notes.
He points out that eisegesis, or imposing one's agenda over the truth contained in Bible passages, is an error that so-called progressive Christians have to use to make the Bible reconcile with their woke worldviews.
"These are some old, well-worn, worn-out tropes to try to make the Bible say what the Bible doesn't say," McFarland summarizes.
Sprinkle says he is trying to tap into a subversive, countercultural Christianity with this study edition that seeks to unleash the countercultural, upside-down nature of the Christian faith.
McFarland thinks the Bible is already revolutionary and countercultural.
"I would argue the Bible that is woke is as conformist as it gets," he says of this new publication. "If they really wanted to be countercultural, they would present the Word of God as written, which calls people to Christ alone, marriage between a man and a woman, [and] sexual purity."
