Review of "Bible Stories That Scared the Hell Out of Me" by Jay Foreman

Score: 95(+)/100 (9.5(+) out of 10)

Remember the time in The Bible in which a bunch of kids got torn to pieces by bears after being cursed for bullying someone? Or when a guy’s donkey started talking back—and he didn’t even question it?

Remember that time a guy wrestled with God all night and walked away with a limp and a new name? Remember that time when Noah got blackout drunk and passed out naked—and then his sons held a whole awkward family meeting about it?

What about the prophecies about giant monsters and dragons coming out of the earth, the sea, and the abyss?

This is Bible Stories That Scared the Hell Out of Me by Jay Foreman!

This book is a devotional memoir and spiritual reflection rolled into one. Foreman revisits the “scary,” bizarre, or confusing stories from The Bible that troubled him as a child and explores them through the lens of an adult believer who’s grown in faith and perspective. Each chapter is framed around one story and ends with three discussion questions, encouraging introspection and application.

Bible Stories That Scared the Hell Out of Me is a hilarious, heartfelt, and surprisingly therapeutic deep-dive into the parts of scripture we all pretended not to be traumatized by as kids.

And let's face it, The Bible can also be a bit confusing. That's why people go to college and dedicate large portions of their lives to studying it. This book acknowledges the fact that the holy book—as beautiful and amazing as it is—can be a bit much for some people. There are even passages in the good book that can make people uncomfortable. Well, Foreman does a really good job at trying to confront, discuss, and explain each of these bizarre Bible stories in the best possible ways he can.

For the sake of this review, let's talk about a few of them: the sacrifice of Isaac, the turning of Lot's wife into a pillar of salt, and Jonah being eaten by the big fish.

Each of these stories has haunted or puzzled readers for generations—but Foreman doesn’t just retell them. He unpacks them. He asks the same questions we’ve all had—then wrestles with them (sometimes literally, in Jacob’s case) until something meaningful emerges. And while he’s laugh-out-loud funny, he never mocks scripture or reduces it to a punchline. Instead, he respectfully digs into the tough stuff with a mixture of personal reflection, biblical context, and everyday relatability.

Take the near-sacrifice of Isaac. As a child, Foreman admits this story terrified him. What kind of God would ask a father to do such a thing? But his explanation reframes the whole ordeal as a test not just of obedience—but of trust. God never intended for Abraham to go through with it, but He used the moment to foreshadow the ultimate sacrifice He would later make Himself. Foreman points out how easy it is to miss the ending of the story when we’re stuck obsessing over the horror of the beginning.

Then there’s Lot’s wife. Foreman doesn’t just focus on the salty punishment—he explores the symbolism of someone so rooted in the past that she can’t step into the future God has for her. Her namelessness becomes part of the point: she could have become someone important in the story of redemption, but she froze—literally and spiritually—right where she looked back.

And Jonah? This one’s often played for laughs in Sunday School, but Foreman doesn’t skip over the absurdity. He leans into it—then gently flips it into something more profound. Jonah wasn’t just avoiding Nineveh—he was avoiding obedience, avoiding responsibility, avoiding grace for people he didn’t think deserved it. The fish wasn’t punishment; it was a timeout. A reset. A wake-up call from a God who chases after even the most stubborn prophets.

These explanations don’t come from a scholar in an ivory tower—they come from a guy who clearly wrestled with these stories just like the rest of us. Foreman brings them down to earth, asks the questions we’re afraid to say out loud, and still manages to walk us toward meaning, hope, and faith—with a laugh (or twelve) along the way.

These aren’t dry theological breakdowns—they’re deeply human explanations. Foreman blends humor with heartfelt storytelling, always circling back to grace, growth, and how God works through our doubts, fears, and questions. He doesn’t claim to have every answer, but he does an incredible job showing us how to live with the tension, how to learn from it, and how to keep moving forward in faith anyway.

The voice is what sets this book apart—witty, self-deprecating, and casual, as if you’re chatting with a good friend over coffee or wings. Jay doesn’t preach; he shares. His humor is often laugh-out-loud funny, even when tackling weighty theological topics. This conversational tone makes complex stories approachable for all levels of Bible readers!

Check it out on Amazon!