"This book weaves church history and biblical hermeneutics together to suggest that Christians throughout time (including today) embody or "enscripturate" the identities of characters in the Bible. Enscripturation is the process of "finding" yourself, your community, and your world in the Scriptures. Through a robust examination of proper names in the Scriptures (Elijah, Moses, Mary, Paul, and Cain and Abel), Ney uncovers various figures in church history who have found themselves there. These people of God apply the words of Scripture to themselves and to others, which says something about their standing before God and in Christ. As a result, the practice of enscripturation is participatory, extending beyond the one who is given a scriptural name, enveloping those who gather around. Thus this is not only a book about history but also about Scripture's ability to speak into history and to draw history into itself. Scripture's ability to absorb the world is as wide as the world itself"-- Provided by publisher.