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The Jesus Story in 4D: Combining the Accounts

Nov 23, 2020 | 2020 - Autumn, Book Reviews, Free Autumn 2020

The Jesus Story in 4D:
Combining the Accounts

Author Nigel Andrews
Publisher Loxwood Press £14.95
Format pbk
ISBN 9781908113340  2020

What a delicious irony for a retired anaesthetist to review the cutting and stitching of a retired surgeon! Andrews has compiled a chronological account of the life and work of Christ from the Gospels and the first two chapters of Acts, using 76.5% of the verses available. What was his motivation – and is he successful? He feels the gospel may be better understood within the framework of a continuous timeline so that ‘…the closer will be our encounter with Jesus… the good news of God’. Each excerpt is colour-coded for source. After an explanatory introduction, 14 chapters follow, from ‘Preparation for the Messiah’ to ‘The Church is Born’. The text flows easily, even if a single interpolation from another source brings a slightly intrusive colour change. The author’s use of his personal version of the text is sometimes striking: John 8:9, (the accusers) “began to go away one at a time” becomes ‘they begin to slip away, one by one’. Other occasions are less helpful: Mark 5:19, ‘how he has had mercy on you’ becomes ‘how kind he has been to you’. If it does indeed increase accessibility and understanding for a casual gospel reader then it is a benefit worthy of the obvious effort.

ROGER THORNINGTON

New Testament Analysis

 

The Meeting That Changed the World

Nov 23, 2020 | 2020 - Spring, Book Reviews, Free Spring 2020

The Meeting That Changed the World

Author Michael Knowles
Publisher Sacristy  £17.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781789590265

The argument of this book is that the Council of Jerusalem in AD49 as outlined in Acts has been underestimated. Whatever detailed negotiations led up to its conclusions, it liberated pagan Christian converts from needing to follow the full rigours of the Torah. This traumatic but necessary step changed Christianity from being a local sect into a world-transforming faith. The author, a Roman Catholic, uses this model to challenge his own Church: if it is not prepared to ordain women and accept other similar reforms, its numbers will continue to decline. He is thus revealed as the kind of Vatican II-affirming Catholic who would be sympathetic to the present Pope. He would, of course, be strongly opposed by the neo-traditionalists in his church, some of whom are showing an odd disloyalty to that very Pope whose office they claim to venerate. Although the book is perhaps too long as it trawls through the New Testament, it offers a challenge particularly relevant in this year of Cardinal Newman’s canonisation: in the light of his Essay on the Development of Doctrine, how far can you embrace radical change while staying true to the deposit of faith?

ADRIAN ROBERTS

New Testament Analysis

 

Everyday conversations with Matthew

Nov 23, 2020 | 2019 - Winter, Book Reviews, Free Winter 2019

Everyday conversations with Matthew

Author John Holdsworth
Publisher SCM £12.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9780334057468

This small paperback is attractively presented and contains a wealth of background information as well as an impressive depth of theological understanding. The author puts the case for Matthew despite the fact that his appeal to the modern reader is perhaps less than that of the other gospels. To advance his cause he draws on a number of real conversations: each chapter is preceded by a pen portrait of a typical 21st century enquirer and the author angles his approach to address their concerns. The reader, who could be an individual or a group member, is made to think with ‘To Do’ suggestions at regular intervals. I found this the least appealing aspect of the book as the questions often failed to resonate. And can a ‘Twitter follower’ really be compared to a disciple of Jesus? However, for an easy to read and scholarly reflection on the contents of Matthew’s gospel this book is to be recommended.

LAURA HILLMAN

New Testament Analysis

 

Reading John for Dear Life

Nov 22, 2020 | 2017 - Autumn, Book Reviews, Free Autumn 2017

Reading John
for Dear Life

Author Jaime Clark-Soles
Publisher WJK £7.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9780664238476  2016

This book presents a fresh and invigorating exploration of John’s Gospel and the approach taken is indicated by the sub-title: A Spiritual Walk with the Fourth Gospel. The book has clear origins in the USA, but it nevertheless crosses the Atlantic well. It manages to combine being scholarly with also being approachable and it engages us with the characters found in this gospel. Disability studies are put to good use and the author counters the erroneous assumption that suffering is related to sin. Meaningful distinctions are made between impairment and disability, and also between curing and healing. The use of footnotes, poetry, questions for reflection and prayers all add to the enjoyment of this book, which I highly recommend as a breath of fresh air in relating scriptural text to contemporary life. Reading it could well prove to be a fruitful journey.

MICHAEL FOSTER

New Testament Analysis

 

Matthew

Nov 22, 2020 | 2017 - Autumn, Book Reviews, Free Autumn 2017

Matthew

Author Elaine Wainwright
Publisher T&T Clark £14.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781350008793

Scholarship does not stand still. If you thought that redaction and form criticism were transformative, here is more to challenge you. We already know that Matthew wrote firmly from within the Jewish tradition and showed God at work in the community with its emperors and in cosmic phenomena like earthquakes and comets. This dense book seeks to update us on recent scholarship from the mid-1990s to the present, including feminist, masculinity readings, wisdom studies, reader-response theory, post-colonial studies and queer theory. If your shelves are out of date, this will guide you to recent publications. It ends with an (unconvincing) ecological reading of the Beatitudes. This is only an introductory survey and, since the academics quoted write papers in learned journals rather than commentaries, Readers are better off reading them on the internet.

DEREK JAY

New Testament Analysis

 

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