Author: rtrube54

Review: Northwest Angle

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Cover Image for "Northwest Angle" by William Kent Krueger

Northwest Angle (Cork O’Connor, 11), William Kent Krueger. Atria Books (ISBN: 9781439153963) 2012.

Summary: A family vacation is disrupted by a derecho, casting Jenny onto a remote island where she rescues an infant sought by killers.

Cork O’Connor comes home to an empty house every night. It’s summer, and he decides to bring the family together on a vacation to Lake of the Woods. They are in the Northwest Angle, a portion of Minnesota north of the 49th parallel and separate from the rest of Minnesota, but connected to Canada. He’s feeling distant from his children, especially Jenny.

A trip to a remote island that Cork thinks will bring them closer fails when he presses too hard. Then disaster strikes in the form of a derecho with winds up to 100 m.p.h. They make for the shelter of an island but the storm hits first. Cork falls overboard. Jenny somehow makes it to shore. Exploring, she comes upon a cabin and finds a girl–dead. But it wasn’t the storm that took her but a killer, who had first tortured her. Looking around outside, Jenny finds a child, hidden away. Fearful that a killer may still be about, she takes supplies and finds a place to hide. The next day,her father finds her, but they also discover the killer is in pursuit. Help in the form of a search party comes just in time.

Reunited with the rest of the family, they have to figure out how to protect the child. One thing has become clear, however. Jenny wants to keep him, even though he has a hare lip. But it won’t be easy. The killer continues to pursue. Cork tries to turn the tables, sending Jenny and her fiance to stay with Henry Meloux, while they search for the killer of the young woman who is seeking the child.

They believe the killer is her brother, who may have been involved in an incestuous relationship. Before she hid away on the island to have her child, she lived on inherited land on an island run by a religious group, the Church of the Seven Trumpets. When Cork and the local sheriff go to investigate to see if they know of the brother’s whereabouts, a heavily armed welcome party meets them, which sends up a red flag.

Cork makes another mistake. He thinks the child and Jenny safe with Henry. Not so, thanks to a GPS device hidden by a secret ally of the killer. All this sets up a climactic confrontation at Henry’s cabin.

A religious element runs through the story. Rose keeps believing for Cork who wants to but cannot. Stephen, mentored by Henry is on the path to become a mide while Anne pursues a religious vocation. But it is Jenny who hears a call, that Providence, or whatever has given her this child. But she finds she must choose between the child and her fiance, who also faces choices. One bright spot is that we get a hint that Cork, a widower for two years has met someone.

This one was filled with suspense that never let up. Even so, Krueger finds the space to explore the mystery of the ties that bind families, even amid the strains of change and divergent personalities. There is also a theme of sacrifice, beginning with a girl who dies to protect her child. It will mean more than one death, but each will save others. Most of all, we see characters who grow and blossom, including each of the O’Connor children. But I found myself left with wondering, will Cork grow, and will he find his lost faith?

Review: Until the Last One’s Found

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Cover image of "Until the Last One's Found" by Curt Parton

Until the Last One’s Found, Curt Parton. Wipf & Stock (ISBN: 9798385225439) 2024.

Summary: An evangelical pastor argues that God will ultimately reconcile and restore all to himself through Christ.

Curt Parton is an evangelical pastor who has come to believe that God will ultimately reconcile and restore all people to himself through Christ. For many years, he accepted the idea that a number of people would be consigned to a judgement of eternal conscious torment in hell. In Until the Last One’s Found, he outlines from scripture, church history, and theological argument, why he changed his mind.

He begins by outlining his approach, which is to go to scripture. He is modest, in affirming that scripture, but not necessarily his understanding, is inerrant. Parton then discusses the words in Hebrew and Greek translated as “hell.’ He argues that all both sheol and hades may be understood as the place of the dead Gehenna, most used by Jesus referred to the Valley of Hinnom where garbage was burned. The question is how much should the word be pressed to refer to a place of fiery judgement?

Parton turns from here to consider the view of hell through church history. Was a belief in eternal conscious torment the consistent view of the church through history. He argues that Clement, Origen, Dionysius Pamphilus, Eusebius, Athanasius, Gregory, and Jerome all affirmed universal reconciliation and restoration. Augustine did in his early, but not later writings. He also notes later Protestants who held this view as well including Hannah Whitall Smith and George MacDonald.. A belief in a judgement of eternal conscious torment was not the consensus in the early church. It was not part of any of the early creeds, except for the Athanasian Creed.

He then discusses references to the “eternal fires” of hell and the translation of aion. He argues for this as referring to an age rather than an endless suffering. This is one place where I differ with the author because scripture (Matthew 25:46) parallels eternal life and eternal punishment. I felt here the author tried to argue that these needn’t mean the same thing. Yet the text offers no basis for that. However the author offers an extended argument otherwise that I will not try to summarize here.

His next chapter considers other passages teaching eternal conscious torment. I would agree that we may not infer eternal torment or a description of hell from Luke 16:19-31. But to dismiss the fact that the rich man is portrayed as suffering conscious torment from which there was no release, I think is unwarranted. On Hebrews 9:27, the verse speaks of death, then judgement. True, it doesn’t speak of what comes after apart from judgement. But neither does it give any warrant to believe in a later restoration.

The author then turns to theological argument. Here, the argument against eternal conscious torment is that it makes Gods salvation less than the penalty of sin, and far from glorifying God, diminishes his glory. Nor does he believe hell is necessary to motivate evangelism. In fact, he argues it undercuts the gospel.

Having discussed eternal conscious torment, Parton goes on to make the case for universal restoration spending a chapter each on Old and New Testament evidence, particularly citing the “all things” passages. He follows this by a theological case. He discusses the problematic syllogism of those believing in eternal judgement:

  1. God loves everyone and intends for each person to be saved.
  2. God will accomplish everything he intends.
  3. Some people will be eternally lost.

This is not a problem for the evangelical universalist who believes all will finally be saved. He then, in the following chapters, addresses objections to this view, the most notable, that of free will. He observes the reluctance of C.S. Lewis and the resistance of Saul as examples of God overcoming free will.

After closing thoughts and sharing further resources, he briefly discusses annihilationism, that the dead will cease to exist. He also offers a fascinating discussion of Calvinism, Arminianism, and Universalism, suggesting Universalism provides a point of connection between the two views.

I think this is the best argument for evangelical universalism I have read and it is presented pastorally. It convinced me of one thing. Belief in eternal condemnation should not be treated as a test of orthodoxy. That said, I was not convinced by the argument. Briefly, the discussion of aion was not persuasive to me, nor was evidence offered to provide a basis for post-mortem reconciliation and restoration. Finally, Christianity has never been logically consistent and this felt a bit too pat to me.

That said, I will be the last to say what God can or cannot do. I would be delighted to see Parton revealed to have been right. I do wonder about the opportunity of post-mortem salvation for some, including those who never heard, and perhaps others who were unrepentant in life, who may not have understood the grace of God in Christ. It’s harder for me to believe all hardness of heart will be overcome. I think there may be some for whom heaven would be a greater agony than hell. But for myself, I cannot go beyond what we know in scripture, and I find no assurance from the silence of scripture on our post-mortem existence to embrace the universalist view.

Finally, I will mention the author reached out to me to review his book and was glad to send it, even after I shared that I would likely disagree. I was grateful for the chance to read it, the author’s sincere passion for God’s glory, and that he gave me thought-provoking arguments!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Writing and Rewriting the Gospels

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Cover image of "Writing and Rewriting the Gospels" by James W. Barker

Writing and Rewriting the Gospels, James W. Barker, foreword by Mark Goodacre. Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802874528) 2025.

Summary; Drawing on ancient compositional practice, argues for for a “snowballing” process of gospel writing.

We have long noticed the similarities of the first three gospels. Hence the term “synoptic” (literally “seeing together”). Yet we also notice that Matthew and Luke share a body of material in common not in Mark as well as some material being unique to each. The scholarly consensus is that Mark wrote first. Matthew and Luke used Mark as well as a second source known as Q (short for Quelle). No actual Q manuscript has ever been found but its existence is posited on the basis of shared material. Finally, John wrote much later and independently.

James W. Barker challenges this consensus, defending a hypothesis by Farrer that argues for a “snowballing” of composition. The argument is that Mark indeed wrote first, Matthew followed, drawing upon Mark. In turn Luke wrote using both Mark and Matthew. Finally, John used all three Synoptic gospels in a creative formulation. And there was no such thing as Q. The shared material of Matthew and Luke was added by Matthew and used by Luke.

Barker develops his argument in part upon recent research into ancient compositional practice. Some of this includes his own work in copying the gospels onto codices and bookrolls. He also develops evidence of that the practice of rewriting an earlier writer’s work was common practice. Moreover, it was not overly cumbersome to work with multiple sources in rewriting. He then turns to the synoptics and offers evidence for Matthews rewriting of Mark and Luke’s use of both. For example, in Mark 12:38b-39, Jesus warns about scribes, their finery, the greetings and the seats they expected. Matthew 23:2b, 5b-8a elaborates this. Luke 20:46 virtually copies Mark verbatim, but Luke 11:43 adds some of Matthew’s material.

Then Barker turns to John. Only about a quarter of the material in John is shared. He notes that the differences reflect a storytelling device known as oppositio in imitando, the imitating of a story while turning many elements inside out. Barker compares, for example, the synoptics treatment of Samaritans with Jesus encounter with the Samaritan woman. He looks at the paralysis healings, the feeding of the five thousand and taking Luke’s Lazarus character and literally raising him to life. He develops from this a case that John also “rewrote,” interacting with the prior material.

Finally, he traces Christology in Paul’s work, the synoptics, and John, as well as later works. He contends Mark and some of Paul left room for adoptionist Christologies. Matthew and Luke, with the birth accounts laid groundwork for a higher Christology. He argues that John’s high Christology anticipates the councils and contributed substantively to them.

The most attractive aspect to me of Barker’s proposal was his argument against Q. I always wondered about this shadowy source no one has ever found. He offers a plausible account to me for both the distinctive composition of each gospel and how they “snowballed” on earlier accounts. In so doing, he advances Farrer’s hypothesis of the literary relationships between the gospels. I think he makes a good case for this being at least a viable alternative to the two source explanation. And he even incorporates John in the process, although I suspect there is much more to be done to make his case fully persuasive. All told, this is an important contribution to our understanding of the relationship of the four gospels.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: The Lawless Roads

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Cover image of "The Lawless Roads" by Graham Greene

The Lawless Roads, Graham Greene. Open Road Media (ISBN: 9781504054263) 2018 (first published in 1939).

Summary: Greene’s journey through Mexico to the states of Chiapas and Tabasco where Catholicism was most severely repressed.

Graham Greene is one of my favorite novelists. However, I would not pick him as a travel writer. I have to admit to not looking closely when I purchased The Lawless Roads, only discovering after beginning to read the book, that it was a non-fiction account of Greene’s journey from north to south in Mexico during 1938. His publisher asked him to investigate the anti-Catholic purges in the states of Chiapas and Tabasco.

These began in the 1920’s under Plutarco Elías Calles, President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928 and de facto leader of the country from 1929-1934. Being a Catholic, the publisher thought Greene would have a special connection to the people. As a travel account, it is a dreary read, reflecting the dysfunctional and dangerous character of Mexico in this period. However, the account served as backgroud of perhaps his most acclaimed novel, The Power and the Glory.

He begins at Laredo, then crosses over into northern Mexico, where he succeeds in interviewing General Cedillo, leader of a rebel state. As it turns out, Cedillo is aging and President Cardenas will soon replace him. He then makes his way to Mexico City, describing the life of the city, attending Mass, and meeting the exiled Bishop of Chiapas, “considered “one of the most dangerous and astute of the Mexican bishops.” That visit hardened his determination to reach Las Casas. Then, he travels to Veracruz, on the coast.

From here the journey grows more perilous. He books passage on the Ruiz Cano, little more than a barge, in unbearable heat, with constant rolling motion, and cramped quarters with no sex divisions. Then, he takes another barge from Frontera to Villahermosa, capitol of Tabasco, meets up with a Scottish adventurer, and spends a Sunday with no Mass, comforting himself in a godless state by reading Trollope. Then on to Salto in a small plane, from which he hoped to get a flight to Las Casas. Instead, he settles for a mule trip to Yajalon, with a sketchy guide, from which he hopes to catch a plane. Before departing, he learns of covert mass baptisms by itinerant priests in Yajalon

Finally, when no plane turns up, he embarks on another mule trip across the mountains to Las Casas, braving Arctic chills, changes in elevation, and passing cemeteries of slain Catholics, before finally reaching his destination in time for Holy Week. Masses occur in private homes, hidden services on Good Friday, a visit to the site of miraculous healings on Easter. All the while evidence of the suppression of faith is all about.

By this time, Greene himself is deathly sick with dysentery and we wonder if he will make it back. He does and in an epilogue recounts the journey home. Mass in Chelsea is “curiously fictitious.” He writes:

“[N]o peon knelt with his arms out in the attitude of the cross, no woman dragged herself up the aisle on her knees. It would have seemed shocking, like the Agony itself. We do not mortify ourselves. Perhaps we are in need of violence.”

Greene’s narrative has little plot, only a destination. Apart from the gritty faith of the people, led by courageous priests, there is little to inspire. Crass tourism, corrupt government, risky transport, and endless heat and mosquitoes are recurring themes. Perhaps the most suspenseful part of the account is our uncertainty that Greene will survive. At best, it is an unvarnished account of the aftermath of totalitarian rule.

So this is a tough read. It offers good background for The Power and the Glory. It describes the venality that descends on a nation under totalitarian rule. And it recounts the instances of courage of faith-led resistance. If you are a Greene fan and these reasons are important to you, it is a worthwhile read. Otherwise, you may just find it a slog.

The Weekly Wrap: May 4-10

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woman in white crew neck t shirt in a bookstore wrapping books
Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

The Weekly Wrap: May 4-10

Thanks, Mom!

My mother passed away nearly fifteen years ago. But I can never forget her or all the ways she shaped my life. She was intelligent and loved learning. If I remember rightly, she won a statewide chemistry contest in high school. But she also had so much practical sense, managing our house when dad was away, and coaching me how to handle bullies at school. And I spent a lot of time sick in my first years of school and she nursed me through repeated bouts of the croup and other childhood illnesses.

I mentioned my mom was intelligent. She was a reader and because of that, we had a house full of books, mostly hers. Some were stored in the back of my bedroom closet and it was an adventure to crawl in there and explore! I don’t recall any books being off limit.

My mom liked to read over lunch. And so did I. Then we would talk about what we were reading. It didn’t matter that hers was historical fiction and mine was a baseball biography. Maybe that is where this love of talking about books came from.

I don’t recall my mom either reading to me or teaching me to read. She just loved reading and left her books all over the house. And I think that is why I became a reader, which has immeasurably enriched my life. And so, on this Mother’s Day weekend, I say once again, “Thanks, Mom!”

Five Articles Worth Reading

So many of us who read love words. We look up unfamiliar ones. We relish the sound and rhythms of well-crafted poetry or sentences. Bennett Kleinman compiled “The Most Beautiful Words in the English Language, According to Linguists.” Fittingly “mother” was one of these. But my favorite, “evanescent,” was not included.

While we are thinking of mothers, no two mother-child relationships are the same. To understand our mothers is one aspect of understanding ourselves. In “What to Read to Understand Your Mom,” Sophia Stewart recommends seven books on different kinds of moms.

But for some of us, the need is more immediate, and our thought is what to buy mom for Mother’s Day. And of course, as readers, our thoughts turn to books. Well, I’ve got you covered! “Our Favorite Books for Every Type of Mom” is a great list of book recommendations. Whether she loves thrillers, historical fiction, is a foodie, or even a baseball fan, you’ll find something on this list!

If it weren’t for Johannes Gutenberg, books would hardly be so commonplace. I wonder if we would even have bookstores. But what do we know of the man? In “Start the Presses!,” Joseph Hone reviews a new biography by Eric Marshall White, Johannes Gutenberg: A Biography in Books.

Finally, in the latest salvo of our current U.S. president’s culture war, we learned yesterday of the firing of Dr. Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress since 2016, the first woman and first Black to hold this post. No reason for the firing was given. The Library of Congress not only serves as a library and research service for Congress. It is also our national library, the People’s Library. It administers copyright in the U.S. and provides services to other libraries and to researchers. I have used its digital resources. Publishers Weekly discusses Dr. Hayden, and the reactions to and implications of her firing in “Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden Fired by White House.”

Quote of the Week

Philosopher Søren Kierkegaard was born May 5, 1813. He observed:

“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.”

I am a staunch defender of free speech but would also be the first to admit that it is often exercised without forethought, in ways that exacerbate conflict rather than contributing to more harmonious relations and the pursuit of the common good.

Miscellaneous Musings

Reading Jakob Hutter: His Life and Letters, I was sobered by how this Anabaptist forebear, and many who were with him, suffered with courage for their faith. In this country, we tend to wear crosses rather than bear them. The latter is actually truer to the faith, that either suffers or deeply identifies with the suffering.

Incidentally, that’s a theme of A Prophet in the Darkness on the art of Georges Rouault. Rouault often juxtaposed, especially in his Miserere series, images of the poor, the marginalized, and the suffering Christ.

It is common to complain about the postal service. But I think I owe our mail carrier big time! On one day this week, we received five different book packages, including one from overseas. Even our oversize mailbox couldn’t contain everything and so she placed them neatly on our stoop. Note to self: I need to figure out how to let our local postmaster know how much we appreciate her service.

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: Graham Greene, The Lawless Roads

Tuesday: James W. Barker, Writing and Rewriting the Gospels

Wednesday: Curt Parton, Until the Last One’s Found

Thursday: William Kent Krueger, Northwest Angle

Friday: Emmy Barth Maendel and Jonathan Seiling, Jakob Hutter: His Life and Letters

So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for May 4-10, 2025!

Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page

Review: The Body Keeps the Score

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Cover image of "The Body Keeps the Score" by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.

The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel van der Kolk. Penguin Books (ISBN: 9780143127741) 2015.

Summary: An account of the growing understanding of the effects of trauma on the brain and the body and promising treatments.

Since its initial publication in 2014, The Body Keeps the Score has prompted a widespread conversation about the effects of trauma on the brain and body. Particularly, in recent years the focus on #MeToo and on race-based trauma have extended the conversation.

For Bessel van der Kolk, his awareness of trauma began with some of the Vietnam war veterans he was seeing. They suffered from nightmares, waking flashbacks, hair-trigger anger responses, alcoholism, depression and suicidal ideation. They also often felt detached from their lives. This book traces the growing understanding of the effects of trauma that didn’t fit existing clinical diagnoses or treatments. Often, efforts to treat symptoms brought little relief.

This book chronicles the learning journey of van der Kolk and other clinicians to understand trauma. A key to all of this was the growing field of neuroscience. They found that the brains of the traumatized were not like others. Either they were in an amygdala-triggered hyper-vigilant state that bypassed the pre-frontal cortex, or they were shut down. Not only this, effects of trauma were also evident in the body from auto-immune issues, headaches, and a number of other somatic complaints. They discovered genes that turned on under stress. Hence the book’s title: the body does keep score.

While his work began with soldiers, van der Kolk began to realize the ongoing marks on mind and body of childhood traumas. These include physical and sexual as well as emotionally abusive situations. They learned to take trauma histories. But they also learned that people were not always consciously aware, or could only remember bits and pieces. And these memories were not integrated parts of one’s life story.

The final part of the book describes a variety of therapeutic approaches. In one sense, trauma cannot be undone. But people can learn to manage the feelings, the triggers that bring up the past. They can learn to be present to others. And they can stop keeping secrets from the self. The author describes the use of neurofeedback, mindfulness, and cognitive behavioral therapy. He devotes a chapter to finding the language to name one’s experience. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is another approach he describes in processing trauma. Because mind and body often detach in trauma, he also addresses approaches like yoga, theater, choral singing and others that re-establish that connection, often in the context of community.

The book combines explanation of neuroscience and physiology with case studies. Another aspect of the book is how the author describes his own learning journey. He considers patients his first teachers. But he also learns from other clinical approaches and allows himself to be the subject of those approaches, sharing how he changes through them. While not ruling out using medications, he prefers other approaches. This makes sense if the goal is for a person to be able to integrate traumatic memories, self-manage, and be present.

Two things I wonder about. One is the “grabbag” of therapeutic approaches. It seems important over time to develop standards of care, identifying the most effective therapies where possible. It also seems like we are in a pendulum swing from not recognizing trauma to possibly applying the label overly freely. I hear people describing listening to the news as traumatizing. Distressing, yes. But traumatizing? It doesn’t seem to be the same thing as childhood sexual abuse or rape. I wonder if clinicians will develop greater precision in what is labelled as and treated as trauma.

Still, I found this a fascinating book and can understand its path-breaking nature. Van der Kolk describes his own journey to understanding trauma’s effects on brain and body when there wasn’t a category for this. And he offers hope that, while we can’t undo trauma, what we’ve learned about neuroscience and therapy can help people get their lives back and understand and not just react to trauma. There is hope.

Review: Judea under Greek and Roman Rule

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Cover image of Judea under Greek and Roman Rule" by David A. deSilva

Judea under Greek and Roman Rule, David A deSilva. Oxford University Press (ISBN: 9780190263256) 2024.

Summary: Covers the period from 334 BCE to 135 CE, Hellenizing reforms, revolts, Herods, and Roman domination.

At the conclusion of the Old Testament, the Jews are under Persian rule, with a remnant having re-settled in and around Jerusalem. By the time of Jesus, Galilee, Samaria, and Judea are directly or indirectly under Roman rule. During his life, Jesus foretold the disastrous fall of Jerusalem and the temple, which came to pass in 70 CE. We won’t find what happened during these years in our Bibles, but momentous changes took place that shaped the life and ministry of Jesus, gave context to the concluding events of his life, and to the early church in Jerusalem and Judea.

David A. deSilva, a New Testament scholar has published a New Testament Introduction and numerous works on the intertestamental period and cultural context of the New Testament. In this work, deSilva chronicles the period from 334 BCE through 135 CE. He begins with the conquests of Alexander the Great and the division of his empire after his untimely death. The narrative concludes with the second Jewish revolt against Rome in 135 CE, and the subsequent transition to rabbinic Judaism.

Initially, Galilee, Judea, and Samaritis (deSilva’s preferred usage) fell under Ptolemaic control. While control of these lands shifted from the Ptolemies to the Seleucids, a constant was the Hellenizing influence and the tension between accommodating Hellenistic commerce, culture, and taxation, and maintaining religious purity. The author shows how the decision by Antiochus IV to enter the temple to seize funds was viewed as a desecration, leading to the Maccabean revolt at a time of relatively weak Seleucid control and a hundred year Hasmonean dynasty that enjoyed relative independence. We also understand how, at the end, Herod Antipater maneuvers shrewdly to gain power as a client king under Rome. Equally shrewdly, we see the influence he had with building projects that pleased his Roman overlords as well as Jews, in his renovation and expansion of the temple complex in Jerusalem.

As with the Hasmoneans, succession was the challenge facing this family. With Antipater’s death, Rome divided territory among three sons. Archelaus, in Judea was the least successful opening the way for direct Roman control. Antipas in Galilee and Peraea and Philip in the Gentile territories are abler. Galilee, which saw an influx of Jews under the Hellenizing reforms now became an object of development under Antipas, hardly the backwater it is sometimes portrayed as.

Meanwhile, Judea, from 6 CE on is under the control of Roman prefects. Until Pilate, they managed to collect tax for Rome without inciting the population. However Pilate minted coins with offensive Roman religious images and used military standards with images of the emperor. He was much less effective in keeping the peace, undermining his position with Rome and giving the Jews leverage.

The latter part of the book covers later Roman governors. This leads to the deterioration of conditions under Gessius Florus resulting in the first revolt in 67, the brief hopes crushed with the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE and the subsequent heroic but futile defense of Masada. I was struck that Rome was far stronger than the Seleucids. This led to an even more calamitous ending to the second revolt in 135 CE under Simon Bar Kochba. Rome had moved ahead with plans to restore Jerusalem as a Roman colony, the Colonia Aelia Capitolina. Judea was devastated, with many surviving Jews fleeing to Galilee.

The concluding pages cover the rise of rabbinic Judaism. The author describes the compiling of the Mishnah that served to constitute Rabbinic Judaism. They also initiated a new Greek translation of scripture. Losing Judea, they maintained their identity, forging structures that would shape Judaism to the present.

Jewish Christianity receives little attention and one gets a sense that this body led an increasingly marginal existence, especially after the death of James. The effort to remain observant Jews and followers of Jesus did not gain traction with other Jews and led to increasing separation from Gentile Christians.

The strength of this book is the historical narrative that incorporated and critiqued available sources, notably Josephus. The book also explicates well the opportunities and challenges of Hellenization, and later Roman rule. Timelines and maps would have been helpful in keeping track of successive rulers and geography. These resources are available elsewhere and the reader would do well to have these at hand. This book explicates the cultural and political milieu in Judea during the period of Christian origins. It fills in the unwritten history between the testaments. Thus, it serves as a crucial aid to biblical understanding.

Review: Markus Barth

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Cover image of "Markus Barth" by Mark R. Lindsey

Markus Barth, Mark R. Lindsay. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514001622) 2024.

Summary: The first biography of Markus Barth, drawn from access to his letters and papers, highlighting his theological legacy.

Karl Barth is one of the undisputed giants of theological studies in the twentieth century. Markus Barth, although a fine New Testament scholar, is far less known today. But Mark R. Lindsay may help change that with this biography of Markus Barth, the first to be published. Drawing on newly available archives of Markus Barth’s papers and private letters, he not only traces the life but also the theological legacy of this scholar.

The narrative begins with tracing a childhood on the move, as his father took different positions. We’re introduced to the unusual relationship between Karl, Nellie, and Charlotte von Kirschbaum, a;lthough it doesn’t appear to have intruded on Markus’ childhood. And we see the first glimmerings of Markus’ theological insights and independence in his decision to refuse to be confirmed. Lindsay traces Markus’ education, his courtship of Rose Marie, and his opposition to Nazism, nearly leading to arrest, before he fled to Edinburgh to complete his theological studies.

Like his father, he began his career as a pastor in the village of Bubendorf in Switzerland, where he served from 1940 until 1953. It was here that his distinctive views of Communion began to form–neither sacrament nor memorial. He arrived at similar views with regard to baptism, rejecting infant baptism. Subsequent chapters cover his teaching career at three very different U.S. institutions: Dubuque, the University of Chicago, and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. While none of these quite fit, he was deeply appreciated by students. Dubuque was too confessionally constricting. While Chicago afforded scholarly opportunities, the pluralism of the theological faculty led to questions of why he had been appointed. Pittsburgh was a better fit but he clashed with seminary leadership and some of the conservatism of Pittsburgh’s Presbyterian community.

In 1973, he returned to Basel, where he had completed his doctorate under somewhat controversial circumstances. These years marked the zenith of his scholarship with the publication of his two-volume Anchor Commentary on Ephesians. He also was increasingly engaged in Jewish-Christian dialogue efforts, in which he played something of a path-breaking role. Anticipating the problems Christians would face in our own day, he later ran into grief when he challenged Israeli treatment of Palestinians, even while supporting the State of Israel generally as well as the importance of Jewish-Christian dialogue.

One of the challenges of his later years was that his teaching and lecture travel hampered his scholarship, notably the completion of his work on Philemon (posthumously) and Colossians (unfinished). This was further exacerbated by declining health and he followed Rose Marie in death in 1994.,

Lindsay highlights three areas in which Barth left a theological legacy. The first was in New Testament scholarship. In contrast to his father, he was a biblical theologian who worked from rigorous exegesis to biblical themes. Second, his distinctive views on baptism and the Lord’s Supper extended his father’s work. He saw these as a witness rather than memorials or means of grace, celebrations of the work of Christ. Finally, Barth was so involved in Jewish-Christian efforts that he was named by one Jewish commentator as “chaside omit ha-olam” or one of “the righteous ones of the nations of the world.” He saw the Jews as the people of God, an identity shared by but not superseded by Christians.

What I also appreciate about this account is how Barth gave himself for his students and the lifelong friendships with many. He loved open evenings in his home where any question was fair game. He also made room for Rose Marie to shine in these conversation. I found myself wishing I’d known of him while he was in Pittsburgh. I heard other Pittsburgh Seminary professors speak, notably John Gerstner. How I wish I could have seen the two of them in conversation!

Mark Lindsay’s biography not only gave me an appreciation of Barth’s life. It reminded me of works by Barth sitting on my shelves, and others that might be worth exploring, particularly the Ephesian commentaries. The book includes a number of photographs as well as extensive lists of publications and bibliography, a gift for any interested in the work of this “son of Barth.”

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Imitating Christ

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Cover image of "Imitating Christ" by Luke Timothy Johnson

Imitating Christ: The Disputed Character of Christian Discipleship, Luke Timothy Johnson. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802883100) 2024.

Summary: Contends our understanding of Christian discipleship has shifted in recent centuries from personal sanctification to social justice.

C.S. Lewis made the case for reading old books as offering us a different (not better or worse) perspective on our world by which we may better evaluate our own. New Testament and Christian origins scholar Luke Timothy Johnson offers something of that kind of perspective taking on the matter of Christian discipleship. He argues that the prevailing understanding of the church for the first eighteen centuries was that discipleship was imitating Christ, growing in holiness through walking in the way of the crucified one, which included suffering and martyrdom as well as spiritual practices. Such discipleship resulted both in devotion to God and loving service of others. Johnson traces this shared understanding from earliest Christianity up to and through the reformation.

But everything changed with the advent of modernity. The church was weakened and changed by four factors in his reckoning:

  1. The ideology of enlightenment wedded to technology.
  2. The weak and fragmented state of Christianity.
  3. Dramatic social change in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
  4. The ideological attack on Christianity from science and philosophy in the nineteenth century.

The dramatic social change combined with the intellectual attack led to a shift from inner to activist expressions of Christianity and the rise of the Social Gospel and concerns for abolition, women’s suffrage, and other social needs in an industrializing society. The combination of scientific attacks and biblical criticism led to an increasingly ethical rather than theological focus. Instead of imitating Christ as growth in holiness, discipleship was framed by imitating the deeds of Jesus.

The heart of this book, for me, was chapter 6, “A Critical Analysis of the Two Visions.” Johnson contrasts the use of scripture and the theology of the two visions. For example, he contrasts the two visions understanding of the world, God, Christ, Salvation, Anthropology, and Eschatology. Johnson recognizes that the shift in focus reflects an attempt to engage with modernity. However, he holds that apart from the classical understanding of discipleship, a focus on social activism is rootless, as valid as the concerns to which it responds are. Thus in the latter two chapters he explores resources that integrate the two approaches ranging from Mother Theresa in Calcutta to Tim Keller in New York City.

He concludes with considering Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Thomas Merton as models. He offers three reasons for this. First, they are radicals rather than progressives, going to the roots rather than aligning with a party. Second, while intellectually engaged with culture, they did not submit to modernist epistemology but to scripture. Finally, they read all of scripture as both for them and the world.

The choice of these two as models, as fascinating as their lives and works were, was questionable to me. Both were arguably moving away from orthodox belief later in life. Stronger examples for me might be Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin, and the Catholic Worker Movement, and John Perkins, at Voice of Calvary Ministries, a pioneering movement in Christian Community Development.

However, this should not distract from the clarion call to re-examine our lives and thinking around Christian discipleship. I think Johnson spots the danger in our social activism that it can lose its rootedness in Christ, ceasing to be Christian in any recognizable sense. Meanwhile, he affirms the need in the context of modernity for discipleship that imitates Christ in the world. A thought-provoking book to be sure!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: An Incremental Life

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Cover image of "An Incremental Life" by Luci Shaw

An Incremental Life, Luci Shaw. Paraclete Press (ISBN: 9781640609792) 2025.

Summary: Poems celebrating the daily moments offering glimpses of joy, growth, insight, and the quiet presence of God.

There are an abundance of ordinary moments between the “life events” we post on social media profiles, and celebrate with family colleagues, and friends. Much of the substance of our lives is found in the ordinary. Noticed and meditated upon, these become a rich tapestry that we call a life. But it is also in these moments that growth in character, and increasing “God-likeness” occurs.

Luci Shaw’s latest collection of poetry, An Incremental Life invites the reader into Shaw’s own practice of noticing and meditating upon the “moments” or “increments in her life. Reading a poem aloud with one’s eggs at breakfast is “Nutriment” for the ears, the voice, and the mind. Polishing a napkin ring with the initials of her father recalls his embrace, smell, and love for God. A return visit to the Grand Canyon reminds her of the Colorado River’s once raging torrent, now reduced to a trickle by “our consumer generation.” In “Estuary,” Shaw and her husband visit a newly formed tidal estuary. Then she reflects on the tides that have poured in and out of their shared lives. She describes “our old eyes viewing a celestial transaction as if for the first time.”

Many of her poems are filled with observations from the natural world. In “Garden Work” she considers how garden work continues when her work for the day is done. Thus, it is a blessing which may fill our lives if we recognize and receive it. “Ambush of the Heart” captures how both simply beauties and unearthed memories may ambush our hearts with wonder. In “Refresh,” a barefoot walk in the grass becomes an immersive experience of the blessing of God.

Other poems mark passages of seasons and the advance of years. “Coda or End-of-Summer Blues” reflects on hoped-for summer plans unfulfilled, regrets failure in the vegetable garden and the life of prayer, rejoices in the flourishing of love and family, and God who ever waits for our attention. She likens herself in one poem to an old cardigan, somewhat threadbare. She acknowledges her want of vigor, sapped of energy by pain and her fights against it. Finally, she fastens it to the shoulder of God. Despite her vibrant faith, in “Mortality” she asks (as have many of us), “Tell me, how may I delay my dying?”

As in other collections, some of her poetry is on the making of poetry, including “How It Happens.” She writes of her aspiration to pen “Edible Words” “rinsing away/falsehood and injury.” She describes how “The New Poem” takes shape through writing and revision as she will “smooth stuttering rhythms.” And then comes time to “blow it a fond, farewell kiss.”

Shaw captures how, as we age, we may both live in the present moment, and re-live the events of our lives, bringing those increments together into a richer synthesis. Our failings and frailties, increasing with the years, may also bring increasing awareness of the presence of the One on whom we depend. And somehow, in all of this, there is the hope of incrementally growing into God’s purposes, even in the face of our own mortality.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.