A Journey with Jonah I remember the fight. It was my first semester in College. I had just been chosen to be the freshman class chaplain.  A few days later a fellow student approached, saying she had a question she wanted to ask me.  I was interested so stopped.  Her question was “Do you think Jonah is fact or fiction?” I did not know this was a litmus test. If I was to be the  chaplain of her class she wanted to find out if I was kosher. I did not pass the test. I responded, as only an English Lit major would, with an answer that sounded something like this: “I think it is a wonderfully told story, but I do not know whether it is fact or fiction.”   She knew I had waffled on the question, and so began to educate me on the principle that if Jonah was not historically accurate, that put the whole Bible in jeopardy. And so began my interest in this short story.  50 years since  that chat I have thought much about this controversial book.   Here is the table of contents of my journey with Jonah: A Journey with Jonah The text of The Book of Jonah (NRSV)

1.  The Fish is a Red Herring

2.  The Renegade Prophet

3.  Righteous Sinners & Wicked Saints

4.  Jonah’s Pitiful Prayer

5.  The Failure of Prophecy

6.  The Repentance of God

7.  Jonah & the Animals

David N. Ashton
Prodigalprof.com