Book Review: Dark Passages of the Bible by Matthew J. Ramage

Dark Passages of the Bible: Engaging Scripture with Benedict XVI & Thomas Aquinas by Matthew J. Ramage

Plenty of passages in the Bible are hard to square up with Christian beliefs in the twenty-first century. The most famous is Abraham nearly sacrificing his only son on the command of God, a seemingly senseless and cruel request. Plenty of other verses command or condone lying, murder, and full-scale genocide. How can these texts be inspired? How can they be reconciled with teachings like "turn the other cheek" (Matthew 5:39) or "love your enemies"(Matthew 5:44)? These problems draw a lot of contemporary interest. It has been grappled with through the years by a variety of theologians. And by "years" I mean three millennia of Judeo-Christian thought.

The classical solution is to look at the whole of Scripture and the spiritual meaning of passages. The enemies of the chosen people are metaphors for sins that should be cast away or destroyed without mercy. Isaac's sacrifice is clearly meant to foreshadow Christ's sacrifice. Often the literal sense of passages are ignored or twisted to make a theological point. Some of these interpretations are sublime; others are not very convincing.

With the advent of the historical-critical method in the 1800s and 1900s, bible scholars started looking at the historical contexts of the human authors, exploring why they would write what they did and how it compares to other ancient texts. The method allows thinkers to stay on a strict literal interpretation with clever guesses or conjecture about what the human authors meant and how they could and did contradict one another and future Christian teaching. The method stays at the human level, resulting in a lot of debunking or disbelief.

Pope Benedict XVI (the retired pope) has spent a lot of time and ink on the problem of the relationship between classical interpretations (what he calls "Method A" exegesis or analysis of scripture) and the works of the historical-critical method (what he calls "Method B" exegesis). Benedict acknowledges that both methods have flaws and strengths. He proposes a "Method C" to use the best of both approaches. Ramage explains all of this in the context of the more difficult passages of scripture, including issues like the conflicting evidence in the synoptic gospels and John's gospel about the date of Jesus's crucifixion. Benedict acknowledges the problem in his Jesus of Nazareth book covering Holy Week and offers suggestions to help resolve the difficulties. 

Ramage does a great job laying out the problems and the potential solutions. He also draws out how this idea of combining methods goes back at least as far as Saint Thomas Aquinas (who lived in the 1200s). Even though Aquinas didn't have historical-critical exegetes to deal with, he did see the tension between the literal and the spiritual understandings of scripture and made a lot of effort (similar to Benedict's) to reconcile the two. Ramage acknowledges that there are too many passages to deal with in just one book but his method, inspired by Benedict and Aquinas, is a great tool to have in developing a deeper understanding of the Bible as God's inspired word.

Highly recommended.

Book Review: Thomas Aquinas: Selected Commentaries on the New Testament ed. Jason C. Paone

Thomas Aquinas: Selected Commentaries on the New Testament edited with an introduction and notes by Jason C. Paone

Saint Thomas Aquinas's most famous work is his Summa Theologiae, though perhaps his most popular is either Adoro te devote or Tantum ergo, though who in the pew really knows who writes hymns? His primary job as an academic in the 1200s was teaching and commenting on Scriptures. He wrote several commentaries which have been translated into English but are not readily available. To make an introduction to the texts for the academic crowd and others interested in his work, Jason Paone has brought together excerpts from various commentaries, interspersed with some of Aquinas's devotional poems.

Thomas's commentaries are highly organized and precise. When commenting on a set of Bible verses, he will break down in outline the points that the author is making. So he will say something like, "First, the author says this, second this, third this. About the first he makes two points. First he explains this, second he shows its relation to God's grace. In the first, he say..." The style makes the reader have to be very focused and retentive while reading. Such reading is well worth the effort as Thomas shows various ways that Church Fathers have taken a verse or various details that can be seen in the verse. He is very precise and has plenty of good insights. His style is a little dry compared to modern commentaries. This book is much better as devotional reading than as bedtime reading.

Recommended, highly if you want to dip your toe into Thomas's Biblical commentaries.

Movie Review: The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)

The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964) written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini

Director Pier Paolo Pasolini uses Italian Neo-Realism to present Matthew's Gospel in a faithful, if subdued, way. The actors are unknown. As Jesus, Enrique Irazoqui has a very placid face and a deliberate gaze. He's very meditative and sanguine for most of the film. The locations look rundown and oppressed. Pasolini depicts miracles without special effects or fancy visuals. The multiplication of loaves and fishes is not shown as five unending loaves but the sudden appearance of baskets and baskets of bread. At first, I thought the movie jumped to the end of the miracle, where the apostles gathered twelve baskets worth of leftovers, but the apostles started distributing from the new baskets. The crucifixion is fairly bloodless and less convincing than it could have been. A lot of the film involves close-ups of meaningful glances between people, so familiarity with the gospel is valuable to know what's going on in certain scenes.

The movie is interesting in its simplicity and straightforwardness. At times it feels a little slow and occasional shots seem like less than they should be, e.g. moments where Jesus only has four or six of His disciples with Him when you'd expect all twelve. Pasolini's socialism does not show through in the film. He makes no attempt to interpret the events of Jesus's life with any agenda. The focus is more on Jesus's preaching than his miracles, though the miracles are shown without embellishment or downplaying. I'm glad I watched it but probably won't watch it again.

Recommended.

Book Review: The Twelve by B. Avery et al.

The Twelve written by Ben Avery and illustrated by various artists

The lives of Jesus's twelve apostles are recounted in graphical format. Most of what we know about them is centered around the life of Jesus, drawing from the New Testament writings and other accounts from church history and tradition. Some of the apostles have more details and get longer passages in this book (like Peter and Matthew), some are only a few pages because they get little more than a name-check in the rosters of the twelve. The stories describe the deaths of the apostles (again, based on what we know from extra-biblical sources). All but one (John) died as martyrs to their faith in Jesus as Messiah and Son of God.

As with any compilation of biographies of a tight-knit group, some information overlaps and scenes gets repeated. Though there is one author for the graphic novel, a variety of artists worked on the individual stories. The styles are similar but sometimes the characters look different, which I found distracting. Otherwise, the book is a solid (but brief) overview of the apostles' lives and martyrdoms.

Recommended.

Book Review: Mother Angelica's Private and Pithy Lessons from the Scriptures ed. by Raymond Arroyo

Mother Angelica's Private and Pithy Lessons from the Scriptures introduced and edited by Raymond Arroyo

Mother Angelica, famous as the founder of EWTN, held many different Scripture studies throughout her life. Many were recorded (on tape, if you know what that is) and a selection has been made available by Raymond Arroyo, a friend and collaborator on the network. This book follows the Biblical structure, with lessons based on the Old Testament books coming first, followed by the Gospels and then the epistles.

This book is a mixed bag. She has a lot of interesting and entertaining insights. Her main idea is to see the Scriptures as a living story, as if you are actually there. Imagine you are in the Garden of Gethsemane--you can see torches in the distance and hear the low rumble of a crowd as it approaches your group on a moon-lit night. I liked that a lot. On the other hand, I did not agree with some of her characterizations and interpretations. Her earthy literalism is a two-edged sword. It can put you right there in the historic event; it can strike you as superficial or trivial or inaccurate. I found myself disagreeing with her, though my disagreements were far less than half the time. Your mileage will probably vary.

Mildly recommended. I'm glad I read it but probably won't re-read it.

Sample Quote: 

What is it that you do when you're proud or you lack humility? You kind of nourish yourself: "Mmm, I'm wonderful, I'm always right, I'm always good, I'm always persecuted, I'm always this, I'm always that." It's me, myself and I. You see, you're going to live with a trinity one way or another. The trinity is either me, myself, and I, or it's the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The choice is yours. But if you're not with God, you're with yourself. [p.156]

Book Review: A Joyful Noise by Mike Aquilina

A Joyful Noise: Praying the Psalms with the Early Church by Mike Aquilina

Aquilina changes up his usual devotional format in this book that explores the Psalms through the eyes of the Church Fathers. Each Psalm has a brief introductory comment, the Psalms itself, followed by a callout of a few lines from the Psalm that show a key insight. Then he has a commentary from one or two of the Church Fathers. The end has another callout with questions to reflect on, looking at ways to apply the messages in your own life. The book only covers thirty-five Psalms, to keep it a manageable length (just over 200 pages). The book ends with a bunch of biographies of the cited Church Fathers which have their own charm, life stories ever ancient and ever new.

I like the format Aquilina uses which is more robust than other devotionals. The presentation is a nice way to get more insight into some of the PsalmsIt also inspires the reader to explore the rest of the Psalter and of the Church Fathers too.

Highly recommended.

Book Review: To Know Christ Jesus by Frank Sheed

To Know Christ Jesus by Frank Sheed

Modern Christians have a challenge when it comes to learning about Jesus Christ. The primary texts about Him and His life were written almost two thousand years ago in a style that is not familiar to today's readers. Even a contemporary translation that eschews "thees" and "thous" has an uphill battle with what seems to be choppy texts that do not share the sort of chronological through-line that we expect from history or biography. Literature has changed a lot; so has politics and technology. A quick glance would easily separate contemporary cities from classical cities, if one could see them side by side. The twenty-first century Christian has little context with which to imagine or identify with the first century world. Sheed puts his finger on the problem:

"Too many of us tend to think of our Lord as moving, and acting, and speaking in a sort of luminous vacuum called Palestine, with towns in it which are names but hardly places, of which no more need be known than that they were filled with Jews and ruled by Romans. For many Christians a kind of unreality attaches to our Lord, a though he were a figure in one of his own parables. It makes his words and deed more real to us if we see them in the place of their happening." [pp. 153-154]

Sheed bridges the gap for his readers with a highly readable text. He takes the story of Jesus from the four gospels and orders it out a bit more. He also provides the larger context of life way back then, filling in the details that the authors naturally assumed their contemporary audiences already knew. He explains the geographical connections of places. He gives some detail to what the Pharisees, Sadducees, Jews, Samaritans, Romans, royalty, peasants, lepers, tax collectors, and everyone else thought of themselves and of other groups. Sheed is also delightfully down to earth: "What of Peter? We cannot, for instance, imagine that born activist doing nothing at all when twice our Lord's enemies were on the point of stoning him. Surely, we feel, he must have punched somebody." [P. 302]

Sheed is also very cognizant of not going beyond the texts and re-weaving the story according to his own pattern. He admits candidly when he speculates or makes educated guesses and cautions the reader to use their own judgement. He refers back to the gospels often, sometimes even asking the reader to read a chapter or two before Sheed gives his own analysis and commentary. His honesty and faithfulness to the evangelists' words is refreshing and inspiring.

Of course, if you want to know Christ Jesus, you should read the gospels (and the rest of the New Testament too). Sheed would say the same thing. This book is a great supplement and well worth reading after (or along with) the gospels.

Highly recommended.

Book Review: Thus Sayeth the Lord by Julie Davis

Thus Sayeth the Lord: A Fresh Take on the Prophets by Julie Davis

Biblical prophets are often thought of as a bunch of shabbily dressed grumpy guys giving bad news to the people of God. "You've been disobedient and God is going to smite you good!" is the expected message. While that is often the case, many times prophets look to a brighter Messianic future, set people back on the path of righteousness, or call down smiting on Israel's enemies. The devil, as they say, is in the details. Unfortunately, just jumping into the prophets is a daunting task, with source material amounting to hundreds of pages in any bible.

In this delightfully accessible book, Julie Davis reviews almost two dozen prophets in easily consumed doses. She gives brief biographies, what the individual prophets are famous for, and how they are applicable to contemporary life. She starts each chapter with passages to read from the Bible, kind of a "highlights reel," which is especially handy for those prophets who don't get their own named books (like Samuel or Miriam). Davis also points out that the best place to hear the messages of the prophets is the Catholic liturgy, where the readings are often paired up with their fulfillment in the Gospels. Best of all, she connects the prophets' messages and life examples to contemporary problems. Everyone has dealt with issues like when to speak up or how to be patient in adverse circumstances. She's honest and heartfelt, even using examples from her own life.

The book reads quickly and makes a handy reference to delve deeper into any particular prophet. Davis recommends other other scriptural overviews and commentaries for further reading.

Highly recommended.

Book Review: Saint John the Baptist by Ezekiel Saucedo

Saint John the Baptist: A Voice Crying Out in the Desert written and illustrated by Ezekiel Saucedo

The life of John the Baptist is recreated in graphic-novel form. The book covers all the bits from the gospels and adds a little bit of supplementary story taken from traditional apocryphal sources. The biblical story is familiar and well rendered in an attractive style. The extra bit comes after the birth of John. When King Herod sends his soldiers to wipe out the new-born messiah, Zechariah and Elizabeth flee with their son John (who is in the age group of Jesus) to the wilderness. They die when he is a youth and leave him with a lot of spiritual equipment that forms him spiritually. John evangelizes at the Jordan River, baptizes Jesus, and is captured by Herod's son against whom John had preached. The ultimate beheading of John is dealt with discreetly not gorily. The story ends with Jesus praising John as one who fulfilled his role in salvation history.

The author does a great job depicting John's life in an engaging and kid-friendly way. The dialog sounds natural and the art works very well. As an adult, I enjoyed this a lot and will get my kids to read it too.

Highly recommended.

Book Review: Joseph the Silent by Michel Gasnier

Joseph the Silent by Michel Gasnier, O.P.

Joseph, the husband of Mary and foster-father of Jesus, is only seen in the first few chapters of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Even in those small sections, he has no words attributed to him. He does many things and has an active role in Jesus's childhood. The early Church probably downplayed the role of Joseph since he was overshadowed (quite rightly) by the true Father of Jesus. A tradition of devotion to Joseph eventually grew up. This book is a more recent contribution (first published in French in 1960).

The book is divided into thirty chapters that are typically five pages long. The format makes it an ideal monthly devotional. The reflections start with the prefigurements of Joseph in the Old Testament and work their way through the life of Joseph. Gasnier does a bit of extra-biblical research to expand on what it was like to be a carpenter and what the marriage traditions were like back then. He paints a convincing and detailed portrait of Joseph's life and his virtues--humility, obedience, and courage. Joseph was the fittest spouse for Mary since he shared her trust in God's will. Even with their hardships, they must have had an idyllic life. Living with grace-filled companions encourages and strengthens a virtuous character. In every way, Joseph is a fine role-model for us as we strive to live our lives with Christ.

I found this book a very valuable way to get to know Joseph better and to imitate his trust in God's will.

Highly recommended.

Quote on how the mix-up happened when Jesus got left behind in Jerusalem as a child:

Perhaps Jesus told his mother before the caravan started that he would stay with his "Father," and Mary had not realized which 'father' he was speaking of. [p. 100]

Movie Review: The King of Kings (1927)

The King of Kings (1927) directed by Cecil B. DeMille

Cecil B. DeMille is the king of classic epics. His color, talkie version of The Ten Commandments (yeah, he also made a black and white, silent version thirty-three years earlier) was a staple of Easter viewing when I was a kid. He also made a biopic of Jesus Christ called The King of Kings thirty-four years before the color, talkie version by some other director. How was DeMille's take on the gospel narratives?

The production values are classic DeMille. In addition to the lavish sets and costumes, two sequences are shot in color--the opening sequence showing the opulent lifestyle of Mary Magdalene and the resurrection sequence near the end of the film. Jesus is often depicted as shining or glowing, which is a bit cheesy to me. Other special effects are amazing, like the casting out of the seven demons from Mary Magdalene and the earthquake at the end of the crucifixion scene. The acting is typical of the silent era with the occasional affected melodramatic pose. H. B. Warner's performance as Jesus is a bit too detached and otherworldly for my tastes but is a choice I understand even if I don't find it inspiring.

The story is mostly faithful to the Scriptures, even using quotes for the dialogue/title cards with chapter and verse cited. The movie is intentionally reverent and an early title card notes Jesus's call to His disciples to spread the news of His life, a mission which this film also wants to serve. The movie's focus is solely on Jesus's public life (so no nativity sequence, alas). Some artistic and narrative liberties are taken. Events are put together in logical rather than chronological sets--when Jesus has to pay the tax (and he has Peter go fishing for a fish that just happens to have a coin in its mouth!) is joined with a pharisee questioning whether it is proper to pay the taxes. The scene concludes with Jesus calling Matthew the tax collector to be an apostle. The biggest creative licenses are Mary Magdalene as a wealthy and independent courtesan who becomes a follower of Jesus and the evangelist Mark being a child whom Christ cures and who follows the Savior throughout the movie. High Priest Caiaphas prays in the temple after the crucifixion that the crime of killing Jesus only be blamed on him and not the Jewish people, mollifying his villainous behavior earlier. These choices are interesting and certainly inoffensive to Christian sensibilities.

The pace of the movie is slow but not boring. I watched the premiere cut that played at Grumman's Chinese theater in 1927 which is 155 minutes long. The Criterion Collection DVD includes that version and the 112 minute general release version of the film.

Recommended.

Book Review: Megillat Esther by JT Waldman

Megillat Esther by JT Waldman

Esther's story is set during the Babylonian Exile, when the nation of Israel was overrun, Jerusalem sacked, and the people taken into slavery. The Jews were scattered over the Babylonian empire and some of the king's men schemed to wipe them out. The king had his own scheme--get rid of his unsatisfactory queen Vashti by, in essence, holding a beauty contest. Esther, a humble Jewish woman, was one of the many brought to Shushan (the capital city) to be judged if she was beautiful enough to be queen. The king fell for her without knowing her nationality. When his adviser Haman leads the attempt to wipe out the Jews, Esther intervenes and turns the tables on him and his conspirators. The story has drama, comedy, and pathos in a fine mixture.

Artist and author JT Waldman makes a fine blend of the story's classical and timeless elements in this graphic novel. Shushan looks like an ancient capital city and the clothing has an ancient opulence evoking the BC era. Some scenes are practically straight out of a reality TV show and Waldman evokes those with a modern sensibility, giving the story a lightness and sense of fun that may not immediately come out when reading an unadorned translation. The Hebrew text is interwoven through the panels lending the work another touch of authenticity. The back of the book has a bibliography, explanatory notes (like "Megillat Esther" means "Scroll of Esther" in English), and some Rabbinic citations.

This book is an interesting, creative take on the text of Esther.

SAMPLE TEXT:

Verse 2:18 (click to enlarge)

Book Review: The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb

The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb

Genesis is the source for many illustrated books. Noah's Ark is probably the most popular story in toddler books. Other stories are less kid friendly (like Noah's drunken nakedness) and even less graphic friendly (like the genealogies). This book depicts the entire fifty chapters and aims at a mature audience. It's a big ambition with mixed results.

Crumb does a great job communicating the emotional impact in the stories through the expressions on people's faces. The settings have a fine Middle Eastern appearance that adds to the stories. Even so, I find his style not to my taste. The women have unattractive faces, even though Sarah and Rachel are supposed to be quite beautiful. Also, a lot of women are topless or unclothed (much of it gratuitous) with only occasional male nudity. His commentary at the end of the book makes him sound sympathetic to feminism but his art does not look sympathetic. The combination is odd. He does give rich detail to many of his panels and it's amazing to see dozens of different faces in the genealogies.

This book is worth reading once but I'm sure I'll not come back to it.

Book Review: Messiah: Origin Adapted by Matt Dorff

Messiah: Origin adapted and edited by Matt Dorff, translations by Mark Arey, art by Kai Carpenter

A lot of superhero franchise reboots suffer from the same problem. The adapters don't appreciate the source material from which they craft a "new take on" or a "more relevant version of" someone like Superman, who has been ill-served recently in both comic books and on the big screen.

Messiah: Origin takes on a person much more significant than Superman. It retells the story of Jesus Christ's origin as described in the four Gospels. The text in the book is a new translation from the Greek without any new words or ideas added. The translation is happily faithful--the text is at once familiar and fresh. The words harmonize well with the new and striking imagery. Reading the book feels like plunging into history and art. It pulls out wonder and surprise from stories that may have become too familiar to pay close attention to. The reader feels the weight of the prophets pointing to the Messiah and the majesty of the angels who visit Zacharias, Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds. Facial expressions communicate a lot and draw out the emotion of the events. The art is wonderfully evocative.

The authors of this book have done a brilliant job of weaving the source material into a seamless whole and presenting it in a visually affecting manner. The first page simple says "Messiah - Volume 1," and I can only hope that there are more volumes to come of this fresh and invigorating presentation of the gospel story.

SAMPLE IMAGE--The birth of the Lord

Movie Review: Noah (2014)

Noah (2014) co-written and directed by Darren Aronofsky

The tale of Noah's ark in the Book of Genesis is a mere four chapters, so any film-length version of the story needs to put more details in the story just to fill a feature length run time. In Darren Aronofsky's Noah, inspiration is drawn from many sources--other parts of the Bible, other ancient texts and teachings including the Book of Enoch, and Aronofsky's own imagination. His version of the story has Noah (Russell Crowe) fleeing with his family from the world of men because men are truly, despicably evil. He is haunted by dreams of an apocalyptic event and decides to visit his grandfather for guidance. Grandpa isn't particularly helpful and Noah decides the visions are telling him to build an ark to save the innocent beings from the coming disaster. Those innocent beings are (he assumes) the animals. Mankind is to be wiped from the lands and brute animals will inherit the earth. The local human tyrant, Tubal-cain (who also killed Noah's father when Noah was a child), wants the ark since he is the lord of men. He doesn't have so much a sense of impending disaster as he has a sense of entitlement. Conflict arises.

Normally, Noah would have no way to fight off an army by himself with only three sons. The movie posits another intelligent, physical set of beings who lived at that time--The Watchers. They are angelic spirits who defied the Creator and were imprisoned in rocks as a punishment. Initially, they helped the sons of Adam develop rudimentary technology after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, but men turned against the Watchers and began to hunt them. One Watcher befriends Noah as he travels to visit his grandfather and that Watcher convinces the other Watchers that they can redeem themselves by helping Noah fulfill his Creator-given task of surviving the flood.

The movie is incredibly uneven. Some of the special effects are breath-takingly beautiful (time passing, the account of creation). Others are head-scratchingly horrible (base camp at Mount Methuselah green screen effects, CG animals coming into the ark). The movie evokes the remoteness of the antediluvian world with images like the strange-looking sky, but breaks that evocation with the modern cut of some of their clothes (the cloth looked antediluvian at least but their hoodies and jackets did not). The movie gives some interesting elaborations on the biblical story but also goes so far in imaginative directions that it is very hard to take seriously (the rock monsters didn't bother me but genocidal Noah did). From what I've read, Aronofsky had this project in the back of his mind since he did a presentation as a student. The result is surprisingly unrefined.

Another difficulty for me is the recurring theme of the Creator's silence. Most characters (both good and bad) question the Creator and ask for direction only to be left to their own devices (and interpretations of cherry-picked bible quotes). The most detail anyone gets is Noah who has dream visions. He sees vivid flashes of the impending disaster. Noah has to deduce what he must do from these very scant revelations. He gets a key element wrong and even though he questions that element several times he does not get a correction from on high. Consequently, Noah as a character is very unlikeable and makes some very heinous decisions. The whole sequence on the ark felt contrived by the lack of communication between Noah and the Creator. Noah is ultimately redeemed in the film but for me it was too little too late.

Even though I found parts of the film artistic and interesting and I'm glad I saw the film, overall I found it an unsatisfying adaptation of the flood story.

The good folks at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast discuss the movie here. They liked it more than I did and do a wonderful job pulling out more from the movie.

Book Review: Exploring the New Testament World by Albert A. Bell, Jr.

Exploring the New Testament World by Albert A. Bell, Jr.

Inspired by Happy Catholic's upcoming trip to the Holy Land (there's probably still time to get in, find out here), I read this.

Albert Bell provides a comprehensive overview of the Roman world just before, during, and after the time that Jesus Christ lived on the earth. He covers the big picture elements, like the Roman government and how they exercised control (or mostly didn't) over provinces in their vast empire. He looks at the legal, moral, religious, and philosophical ideas (from the Greeks and Jews as well as the Romans) that dominated the overall culture of the time and how those ideas affected the lives of everyone in the empire. Some things are quite familiar to us living 2000 years later, such as people in big cities like Rome not going out at night for fear of robbers. Other things are completely unfamiliar, such as people being executed in barbaric ways during the games held at places like Rome's Colosseum. Bell also discusses minor, everyday things, like meals, social outings, dress, and the mingling of various classes together.

The point of this review is to give readers of the New Testament a better understanding of the context in which the gospels and epistles were written. Little details become more significant (like Paul's use of terminology from Greek philosophy and religious cults in order to speak more clearly to his listeners). Things which are not described because any first century AD reader would automatically understand are explained. For example, dates are not mentioned in the writings because many towns and kingdoms had their own numbering system based on when local rulers reigned. I found this book very helpful in laying out what the world was like back then.

The author is especially sensitive to the difficulty of his task, i.e. presenting the world as it was two thousand years ago. He gives fine overviews but also advises readers to use his bibliographies to find out more, especially in areas readers find interesting or  are uncertain about. He challenges us to learn more about the foundations of Christian faith so we can believe and understand more fully.

Sample quote on women's hair, which is too fun to pass up:

Jewish women wore such elaborate hairstyles, involving braids and hairpieces, that "it was forbidden to undo a woman's hairdo on the Sabbath because it involved transgressing the prohibitions of 'building' and 'demolishing'" (Encylcopedia Judaica 5:981). [p.246]

Book Review: The Book of Revelation Adapted by Matt Dorff

The Book of Revelation translated by Fr. Mark Arey and Fr. Philemon Sevastiades, adapted by Matt Dorff, illustrated by Chris Koelle

I'm fasting from fiction for Lent, so the graphic novels won't be back till after Easter, but this is graphic non-fiction...

One of the most difficult books to understand in the Bible is the very last one, the Book of Revelation, also known as the Apocalypse. The disciple John on the island of Patmos has a vision of a time of great tribulation ending in a new Heaven and a new Earth. The imagery is rich and cryptic, full of numeric and pop culture references that are alien to readers two millennia later. The book makes fascinating but not necessarily satisfying reading.

This new translation of the book comes from two Greek Orthodox clergy who provide a precise, timeless English text. The drawings are very evocative. The visual tone is like a horror comic, with lots of black, grey, gold, and red dominating most of the pages. The illustrations are just that, illustrations of the text and not interpretations. When warriors are depicted, they look like Roman soldiers as befits a text written in the first century AD. The one bit the illustrator has taken from contemporary art is the use of reaction shots from cinema and television. As John is shown fantastical things, occasionally his reaction can be seen in a frame--sometimes wonder, sometimes horror. It works well in the text.

I found this graphic version of Revelation hard to put down. The images are well paired with the text, neither overwhelming the other. The book gives the reader a more visceral experience of the text, which may be a better way to understand it rather than trying to intellectually decode it.

SAMPLE IMAGE: Sadly for you readers, I've chosen the bit that made me say, "Hey, zombies!" Other illustrations are better representations but I've got to be me.

Click to enlarge

The Wisdom Books: A Translation and Commentary by Robert Alter

The Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, A Translation and Commentary by Robert Alter

This book is another volume in Robert Alter's ongoing series of bible translations and commentaries. Here he focuses on the Wisdom literature, books that grapple with larger issues or present practical maxims for life. Alter presents Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, though typically Sirach, the Book of Wisdom, The Song of Songs, and the Psalms are included in lists of biblical Wisdom literature. Alter has written a translation and commentary of Psalms (see my review here) and does acknowledge some psalms fall into the "Wisdom literature" category. Sirach and the Book of Wisdom are deuterocanonical texts which is perhaps why Alter doesn't include them. The Song of Songs is attributed to Solomon (the wisest king of Israel) though it has more the character of the Psalms and is a bit of a biblical odd ball (it's a love poem that can be interpreted theologically). I suppose Alter has material for a sequel if he wants.

What of the books he does cover? Job is the classic biblical text that grapples with why good people suffer. Job is an upright and pure servant of God. In the framing story, the Adversary (hasatan in Hebrew, where we get the name Satan from) comes to God's court and challenges Job's uprightness. Take away all the good things you have given him and surely Job will curse you, the Adversary argues. God lets the Adversary take almost everything away, leaving Job covered in sores sitting on a ash pit. With him are three friends who argue the standard pietistic conclusion that Job must have sinned or else why is he punished so grievously? Job continually claims his innocence. The translation is smooth and Alter's notes are very interesting. He considers this some of the finest poetry in the Bible and does his best (which is quite good) to render it into English.

Proverbs is an anthology of some longer and shorter wisdom works. Famous parts where Lady Wisdom invites all to take her gifts or the acrostic poem praising a "worthy woman" at the end are stronger poetry than the massive collection of one- and two-line bits of practical advice or moral observation about the world and people. Being shown the discreet units within the book helps to understand them individually and to highlight their differences and similarities. Alter's notes and comments are helpful in comprehending a varied text.

Ecclesiastes (which Alter refers to as its Hebrew title Qohelet) includes both a challenge to received wisdom like Job and strings of aphorisms like Proverbs. It is not however a synthesis of the two books, but a search for meaning in life while constanty aware of the brevity and transience of the things and people in this world. Riches and intelligence don't guarantee happiness; folly could be just as valuable as wisdom in bringing relief to life's miseries. Alter re-translates the King James "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity," with "Merest breath, all is mere breath." He explains this is technically more accurate (the concrete image of an exhalation or sigh as opposed to the abstract image of emptiness). The switch is jarring in the good way of making the reader think more about the meaning and intent of the words. The only problem I had was that his phrase lost its evocativeness very quickly (since the phrase is repeated constantly in the text). It comes off more like a refrain than reassertion of the fleeting nature of everything described by Qohelet. I think Alter misses the mark here, but even his mistakes are interesting and thought provoking.

Overall, Alter's translation and commentary are fascinating to read and helpful to understand the texts in a literary light.


SAMPLE QUOTE:
Fear the sword,
  for wrath is a sword-worthy crime,
    so you may know there is judgment. [Job 19:29]

Book Review: The Book of Psalms A Translation with Commentary by Robert Alter

The Book of Psalms A Translation with Commentary by Robert Alter

Having listened to Alter's translation and commentary on the Book of Genesis on the Forgotten Classics podcast, I was looking forward to reading this book and finding out more about the Psalms.

The introduction covers the historical and literary background of the Psalms. The discussion gets a bit technical, especially reviewing the nuances of the Hebrew language and the various purposes, styles, and quirks of ancient poetry. The text is rather dense and requires a re-reading to get a better sense of it all. The effort is worth it.

The translation of the Psalms walks the hard line of conveying both the more literal sense of the words and the (to modern ears) foreign cadence and rhythm of Hebrew poetry from thousands of years ago. Often, ideas are repeated in the Psalms to give them more vividness or more concreteness, such as in Psalm 35: 5-6, where the psalmist prays for his enemies to undergo misfortune: "Let them be like chaff before the wind,/with the LORD's messenger driving. [6]May their way be darkness and slippery paths,/ with the LORD's messenger chasing them." (p. 122)

Alter's comments point out sections where the text is difficult to translate due to awkward constructions, which may be due as much to scribal error as to the poetic license of the author. He's honest enough to admit when he is making intelligent guesses and presents his decisions well enough to be persuasive.

Alter more or less rejects a theological interpretation of the texts and limits such comments mostly to possible liturgical uses by the ancient Hebrews or how they compare to other ancient texts and poems about the gods. On the other hand, he often compares the Psalms to other biblical literature, like Job, Ecclesiastes, and the Pentateuch (as well as other Psalms) to give a context for and a possible explanation of difficult passages or to highlight a contrast. For example, in Psalm 37:25, the psalmist says, "A lad I was, and now I am old,/ and I never have seen a just man forsaken." (p. 132) Alter points out this is the exact opposite of what Job argues in his book, that the suffering of a man is not necessarily because he has done something evil. Alter puts it this way: "The Job poet challenges this received wisdom and proposes a more complicated, indeed paradoxical, moral vision." (p. 132, footnote to verse 25)

The footnote ends there and left me wanting more. More than just saying, "they don't agree." It left me wanting a deeper exploration if not some final say on the matter. The book lays aside 2500 years of Jewish and Christian reflection on the Psalms in favor of the ancient context that is less relevant to our lives today, if not less interesting.  I did enjoy the book but it was not fully satisfying for me. It's a strange result since I liked his translation and commentary on Genesis so much. Perhaps the historical context is more relevant for that book of the Bible than it is for the Psalms.

Book Review: The Gospel of Mark by Mary Healy

The Gospel of Mark by Mary Healy

The gospel written by the evangelist Mark is probably the least regarded of all the gospels. The style is very straightforward. The text is very brief (it's the shortest of the gospels). the content is covered mostly in the other synoptic gospels. But Mark's Gospel became part of the canon of sacred scriptures for a reason. There's more depth, theology, and literary style than is immediately obvious. Mary Healy's commentary (part of the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture series) demonstrates this richness. The book has a brief introduction and then goes through the gospel in little chunks, providing commentary from a Catholic perspective.

Many of the details of events had new light shed on them for me. For example, I knew the feeding of 5000 (Mark, chapter 6) resulting in 12 baskets of leftovers was symbolic of the 12 tribes of Israel. But the second miraculous feeding (Mark, chapter 8) had only 7 baskets. It happened in gentile country, so did they just get a lesser miracle? The true significance is this: the number represents the 7 foreign nations, so the gentiles would also share in the eucharistic future of Christ's church. Lots of insights like this are sprinkled throughout the commentary.

Another interesting part of Mark's style is nesting stories within other stories. There's the cryptic incident of the fruitless fig tree in chapter 11. Jesus goes to get a snack from a roadside fig tree. It has no fruit and He curses it. Jesus continues on to Jerusalem where He cleanses the temple of money changers and dove merchants (doves were used in temple sacrifices). The next day they walk past the fig tree again and Peter remarks how it is withered. Jesus replies that God will listen to our prayers and even if we pray that a mountain be lifted into the sea, it will be done. The greater meaning is that the fig tree represents the temple worship, which has become corrupt and fruitless and is about to end. Jesus emphasizes the importance of faith in prayer and fostering a close relationship, a loving relationship, with God.

The book also has a few call outs of featuring historical, biblical, and Christian elements that are part of the story of the Gospel. For example, Pilate and Herod are both given short biographies. The author describes of the importance of the Temple to Jewish life. Church teachings on the sacraments and on the nature of Hell are also given.

This book is a great, readable commentary on Mark's gospel full of many wonderful insights. I highly recommend it.