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Review: The City and Its Uncertain Walls

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Cover image of "The City and Its Uncertain Walls" by Haruki Murakami

The City and Its Uncertain Walls, Haruki Murakami (Translated by Philip Gabriel). Alfred A. Knopf (ISBN: 9780593801970) 2024.

Summary: A young couple falls in love until she disappears to a mysterious city of people without shadows.

A teenage boy meets a girl at a writing competition. They write and are drawn to each other, visiting and cuddling and longing for more. He loses his heart to her but she asks him to be patient, saying she wants to give herself wholly to him. And then she just disappears. But before this happened, she told him that her real self lived in a city with walls, unicorns, a clock tower without hands, and that in that city, she was the librarian. The girl he knew was a mere shadow of that girl.

Understandably, he longs to follow her to that city, but does not know how. He never marries and works in publishing. Then, one day when he is forty-five, he falls into a hole and finds himself outside the city with a wall. To enter, the Gatekeeper must remove his shadow, which will live separately. Then he must go through a painful eye treatment to fit him for his job. He will work with the girl at the library reading everything in its collection. Not books, but the dreams of past inhabitants of the city.

So, each day, he arrives, the girl makes a tea to help his eyes, and gives him egg-shaped dreams to hold and “read.” Then he walks her home along the river to the housing where she lives. But she doesn’t recognize him from their relationship outside the wall. However, his shadow interrupts this companionable routine. The shadow is dying and must return to the outside world. Finally, he is convinced, but turns back at the last minute while the shadow departs.

Yet we meet him next, not in the city but back at home. He has a shadow again. But he is dissatisfied with his life. He asks a friend to help him find a different job in a small town. He applies for a job as a director of a small library. After an interview with the founder and retiring director, Mr. Koyasu, he is hired despite his scant qualifications. Mr. Koyasu is unusual. He wears a distinctive beret and a skirt. But he drops by and mentors the man, including taking him to a secret room that is warmer in winter. Only later do we learn that Mr. Koyasu is dead. A shade if not a shadow!

He finds Koyasu’s grave and talks to him on his days off. And he meets a woman who owns a nearby coffee shop. It appears that, if not first love, then some kind of love might be possible. Except a boy turns up who reads at the library every day, and knowing your birthday, can tell you the day on which you were born. Apart from that, he doesn’t communicate. Yet he connects with the director. And one day he overhears him talking to Mr. Koyasu at the grave about the city…

Shadow and substance. What is real? Murakami gives us his own version of Socrates’ Cave. And do we not sometimes feel alien to our own world, and think there might be another where we are more at home? And yet the nameless narrator doesn’t find his real love in the city without shadows–nor in this one. We wonder if he will accept the possibility of love in front of him from the coffee shop owner. Apart from that relationship, one feels he is living a shadow existence, unconnected with others in the town.

This is the second Murakami novel I’ve read, and I find myself drawn to his narrative voice. It is both quiet and evocative without becoming overpowering. He draws the reader into the mental and emotional landscape of his main character. Then he throws enough surprises and twist in to keep it interesting and make you wonder where this is going.

Murakami adds a fascinating postscript. He first wrote this story as a novella forty years ago but never was satisfied with the ending. This work is a re-working as he finally found a way to complete the story. We learn he added parts two and three. I’ve not read the earlier work. I’d like to hear from Murakami fans who have read both this and the earlier novella. Do you think he succeeded?

Review: Opening the Parables

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Cover image of "opening the Parables" by M.D. Hayden

Opening the Parables, M. D. Hayden. Wipf & Stock (ISBN: 9798385200306) 2024.

Summary: A study of the parables asserting that the message of all the parables is that compassionate love is all that matters.

One of the distinctives of the teaching of Jesus is his use of parables. One of my discoveries in seminary was the diverging conclusions different scholars reached in interpreting the parables. My own conclusion was that this may be a function of the idea that we not so much interpret the parables as that they interpret us as we give heed to them. M.D. Hayden, a teacher and minister out of the Quaker tradition reaches a simpler conclusion. Specifically, Jesus had one message running through all the parables. All that he taught “was about love in the infinite, here-and-now Kingdom of God.”

She argues that this idea is central in the teaching of the Old Testament as well as the good news of the kingdom preached by Jesus. She observes that the parables are truth taught obliquely. They avoid direct confrontation with the hostile powers as well as to avoid the allusion that we can pin down their meaning that results in failing to have “ears to hear.” From here, she explores what it means to hear and the use of love as a key to interpretation. In taking this approach she contrasts Quaker with traditional interpretation of the parables.

Then, she proceeds to discuss a number of parables, applying her hermeneutic of love. This works with many of the parables. For example consider the good Samaritan, the lost coins, sheep, and sons, the workers in the vineyard. However, this is difficult with other parables. For example, what do we make of the parable of the talents where God calls the one talent servant “wicked and lazy”? What about the judgment of the unmerciful servant? Or what about those who refuse the invitation to the banquet?

This brings me to several difficulties I had with the book despite my appreciation for some of her insights. First of all, her approach was one of eisegesis. She starts with an idea, the principle of love, and reads it into every parable. In some places, that fits, but not others.

Second, she adopts a Thomas Jefferson approach to scripture. She proposes that much of the New Testament is a later accretion, and where it focuses on something other than love, it may be discarded. Often, I find truth is held in tension. But there is no tension here. All is love.

Except that it isn’t. I found the author uncharitable in her regard of the rest of the church through history, except in the instances where individuals agreed with her. What I thought would be a study of the parables was a polemic against most Christians. And the book came across as advocating the superiority of Quakerism.

In sum, I cannot commend this book.

_____________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from the publisher through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer Program.

Review: Towards Zero

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Cover image of "Towards Zero" by Agatha Christie

Towards Zero, (Superintendent Battle Number 5), Agatha Christie. William Morrow (ISBN: 9780062073549) 2010 (first published in 1944).

Summary: A house party at Lady Tressilian’s is decidedly awkward when her ward invites both his former and current wives.

Agatha Christie only wrote five mysteries featuring Superintendent Battle, and this was the last. That’s regrettable for me, because this stood out among her best, even though Battle doesn’t really come into the plot until the latter half of the book.

Talk about awkward situations. Lady Tressilian’s ward, Neville Strange, a middling tennis pro, wants to come for a visit at a time when Audrey, his former wife had already planned a visit. Not only that, he wants to come with his new wife, Kay, a stunning beauty. Sensibly, Lady Tressilian is reluctant to accede, especially when it isn’t clear whose idea this was. Audrey says she doesn’t have a problem. No one seems to be thinking about Lady Tressilian, whose health confines her to her bed. In the end, she agrees.

A few other houseguests add to the awkwardness. Thomas Royde, a friend of (and quietly still enamored with) Audrey, has just returned from an overseas assignment. Ted Latimer, who had been interested in Kay, but was also a friend of Neville’s is staying at a resort across the bay as is Mr. Treves, a solicitor and friend of Lady Tressilian.

Awkward is an understatement. It feels like a powderkeg, and were it not for the offices of Mary Aldin, a spinster who runs the household, it might come completely unglued. And then there are two deaths.

The first comes after Treves tells a story of a child murderer with a distinctive physical mark. That night, when he returns to his hotel, the lift is out of service, and he must walk up several flights of steps. He is found dead the next morning. The ruling was that he died of natural causes, due to his weak heart. Except, the hotel confirms that the lift was in good working order. Someone seems to have put a sign up just for Treves.

Then Neville and Lady Tressilian have a row and he storms off to purportedly visit Latimer. Later on, Lady Tressilian is found dead, brutally battered about the head. The evidence points both toward Neville, who has a good alibi, and Audrey, who doesn’t. Battle, who has been on holiday, comes in at this point to solve the murder. Ultimately a man who had attempted suicide and prevents another offers a critical piece of help enabling Battle to confront the real murderer.

The title reflects a conviction of Battle’s. Murder is the “zero hour.” Battle observes that often plots begin with a murder when, in fact, they come at the end of events counting down “towards zero.” As he investigates, he wants to get inside that process. And Christie offers just the right amount of red herrings to make you suspect most of the surviving characters at some point. A well-plotted and conceived mystery, indeed!

Review: The Challenge of Acts

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Image of "The Challenge of Acts" by N.T. Wright

The Challenge of Acts, N.T, Wright. Zondervan Academic (ISBN: 9780310167990) 2024.

Summary: An overview of the book of Acts in four chapter sections, developing the major themes of the book.

The book of Acts is a long book. A commentary on such a book is no mean undertaking as Craig Keener’s four-volume work on Acts shows. Now N.T. Wright has shown himself capable of massive projects but takes a different approach in this study of Acts. Instead of verse-by-verse commentary, he offers an overview of the narrative that develops what he sees as major themes of the book. The plan of the book is to take the book in four chapter blocks, apart from a chapter on the opening of Acts, and a chapter devoted to Paul’s Mars Hill address.

The sections develop themes that will run through Acts. Beginning with chapter 1 on Acts 1, we see the command to take the gospel of the kingdom from Jerusalem and Judea to Samaria and to the ends of the earth, forming the plan of Acts. And then the resurrected King and Lord ascends into heaven, to rule at God’s right hand, present in his full authority as the church advances and faces adversity in its witness. Chapters 2-4 build on this news that in the risen Lord, God has raised up a new temple, a message the authorities immediately oppose. The Spirit empowered apostles persist in witness, determining to obey God when his command overrides that of human authorities. In chapters 5-8, believers are imprisoned, experiencing both deliverance and martyrdom. And the gospel spreads to Samaria (and Ethiopia).

Then chapters 9-12 serve as a bridge to the rest of Acts. On the Damascus road Saul encounters Jesus and finds his zeal redirected. Subsequently, with the church at peace, Peter accepts an invitation from a Roman centurion. And lo and behold, the Spirit of God falls upon the household, and the Jews conclude that god has granted the Gentiles ‘repentance that leads to life.’ Finally, after other persecution refugees testify in Antioch, with many Gentiles believing, brother Barnabas goes, affirms the grace of God and fetches Saul to help him.

The stage set, Antioch sends Barnabas and Saul out. And quickly, two things happen. People believe. And opposition arises. It becomes a pattern throughout Paul’s ministry. However, we also see authorities repeatedly acquit Paul. In Philippi, they receive a public apology for the beating off Paul, the Roman citizen. Then in Corinth the proconsul dismisses charges as a dispute about words, names, and laws, giving Paul legal cover for ministry. In Athens, the religious council at the Areopagus laugh at his ideas but do not charge him. And in Ephesus, the town clerk dismisses a rioting crowd. This will be important for what follows.

Chapters 21-24 cover Paul’s troubles in Jerusalem. Wright’s account struck me with the odd response to the offering and reports of the kingdom’s advance among Gentiles. Instead of jubilation, Paul is asked to pay for a cleansing rite to verify he is a true blue Jew. Then despite his diligence, a mob falsely accuses him. His defense is a proclamation of the risen Jesus. Then, in 25-28, we see his speech in Caesarea before Agrippa, once again speaking of the resurrection, that Festus and Agrippa can find nothing with which to charge him. But off to Caesar he will go, and after shipwreck will proclaim Jesus as Lord in Rome.

Two major themes come through. One is the proclamation of Christ as risen Messiah and King, the new temple and fulfillment of of the broadest hopes of Israel, that the nations would come to Yahweh. The other is the vindication of those who witness to the risen Christ, from Gamaliel in the Sanhedrin to Festus and Agrippa. Wright proposes that Acts may even have been a kind of “legal brief” for Paul’s defense before Caesar. In one respect, at least, the challenge of Acts is whether this movement is overturning the established order. Wright makes the case in his treatment of the defense on the Areopagus, that it was rather a setting of things to rights.

Wright offers a number of interesting insights. Sometimes, I wished for more evidence for some of his assertions. That is also the challenge of an overview of Acts. But Wright offers a resource for both personal study and for pastors and others who will teach this. He makes it clear that those engaged in gospel witness will face opposition from both human and spiritual powers. But in life and death, the risen Christ is with his people.

_____________

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

Review: Hebrews

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Cover image of "Hebrews" by Amy Peeler.

Hebrews (Commentaries for Christian Formation), Amy Peeler. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802877383) 2024.

Summary: A commentary for Christian formation focused on the greatness of Christ, Christian faithfulness, and Christian community.

The Epistle to the Hebrews alternately inspires, puzzles, and sometimes alarms. It’s portrayal of Christ’s greatness ands great saving work leaves us in awe and wonder. Yet we don’t know who wrote it and the discussions of sacrifices and covenant takes some background understanding. Meanwhile, the warnings for those who drift away are alarming, especially to those of tender conscience. Amy Peeler, in this contribution to the Commentaries for Christian Formation, addresses all these aspects and more.

The series focuses on Christian formation, the fostering of growth in faith, holiness, and Christian discipleship that ought to be the aspiration of every believer. Peeler does this, albeit at a level of scholarship that is accessible, but will probably stretch many lay readers. The commentary takes sections of the text and first gives a brief overview and then walks through the text verse by verse, using Peeler’s translation. What is striking is her readable prose, which is not simply notes elaborating the biblical text. In addition, she offers an introduction to the book, thoroughly covering the ground, but not excessively. Finally, there is a concluding section, framed in the form of ten questions that both offer a thematic summary of the commentary and address pastoral concerns in Christian formation. The final question focuses on how one might prepare to teach Hebrews.

There were three great themes I noted running through her commentary. First, was her development of the superior character of the person and work of Christ, greater than angels, greater than the levitical priesthood, ushering in a new and greater covenant through the greater sacrifice of himself as high priest of the order of Melchizedek. Yet his greatness embraced humility and learning obedience.

Second is the theme of Christian faithfulness and the warnings to “sluggish” Christians not to drift, not to harden their hearts, and especially not to apostatize. In this regard, Peeler addresses both the tender conscience wrestling with sin, and the complacent, who need to be concerned lest they presume upon God. Rather, Hebrews offers this vision of the race of faith, inspired by the cloud of witnesses who have run ahead of us, foremost being the Lord Jesus himself.

Finally, Peeler emphasizes that this is a sermon to a community. Already we have our solidarity with those who ran before us. But in addition, there are those who run with us and the call to instruct and encourage one another. We are to continue in love, and to imitate the way of life of our leaders.

Peeler, in her concluding summary, addresses the “liminality” of Hebrews. She notes the parallel between the audience of Hebrews and being a Christian in the present time. What does it mean to live faithfully in this “in between” space? How do we neither retreat from nor accommodate the culture? What does it mean to keep confessing Jesus and our great salvation in him alone? These are questions that arise because of the portrait of the person and work of Christ in Hebrews, and its call to Christian faithfulness. These are questions I will continue to ponder….

_____________

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

Review: Family Unfriendly

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Cover image of "Family Unfriendly" by Timothy P. Carney

Family Unfriendly, Timothy P. Carney. Harper Collins (ISBN: 9780063236462) 2024.

Summary: We have a culture that devalues children and makes raising them more difficult, contributing to declining birthrates.

Timothy Carney and his wife are anomalies. They are the parents of six children, and part of a community of people with large families. No, I’m not writing about families from the 1950’s. Carney is aware of how he stands out in a society with a birthrate significantly below the replacement rate of 2.1 children per couple. In Family Unfriendly he argues that the big reason is that we have made raising kids much harder than it once was, and consequently are having fewer of them. Paradoxically, mothers and parents are spending more time than ever on parenting activities, even with fewer children. How can this be?

Carney explores a variety of habits of modern helicopter parenting that contribute to this. One is the high ambitions we have for our children in sports and other activities, typified by the travel team. Instead of time to just play, everything is structured. And both parents and kids burn out. We also have created a culture of fear around our children never being out of sight. Remember when kids were told to be home when the streetlights came on? Now such a practice could result in Child Protective Services at your door. Of course, part of the trouble is that many of our neighborhoods are no longer walkable. We have to drive our children everywhere. And our neighborhoods are no longer a village, where all the adults looked out for each others’ kids, and kept them in line if need be. Parents have had to take this on themselves.

Around the time of the Recession of 2008, our birthrates tanked and really haven’t recovered. Personal autonomy as a value contributes as well as the perception that having children is anti-environment. The actual reality is that we can’t afford a baby bust. We have too few people of working age. and our Social Security system faces a crisis of sustainability. Meanwhile, we are in the midst of a sex recession driven by online porn and appified dating. These fail to produce the durable relationships of good marriages.

Carney considers ways government can most profitably help but concludes that culture, more than government programs, is critical. Based on demographics, he took a close look at Israel, where the birthrate hovers around 3 children per couple. The ultra-orthodox have as many as 6 per couple and his conclusion from interviews is, whether religious or secular, child-bearing was mitzvah, a righteous or good thing. He found this equally in the Jewish community in Kemp Mill and a Mormon community in Idaho. It seems that part of it comes down to the idea that you have kids when it is a community norm to have kids, and more kids in communities valuing large families.

Carney faces the reality that any parenting is hard and brings challenges that beginning with cleaning up lots of pee and poop and spit up, and progresses from there. Communities that support parenting without imposing the unreal expectations of helicopter parenting and safetyism makes a difference. Then, parents are not alone. Without proselytizing for a particular faith (he invokes examples of Muslim, Jewish, Mormon, and Catholic communities) he quietly points to the value of children and families and the community forming power religious communities at their best are good at.

While the book is a bit of a ramble at times and Carney loops back to topics he raised earlier, he raises important questions. I think he correctly diagnoses the malady that we are family unfriendly and some of the reasons for that. I think he is also spot on that while government can support a family and child friendly culture, it cannot create one. There are dangers of the Handmaids Tale type in that direction. What I think he offers instead is a kind of “mustard seed conspiracy,” something that starts small but spreads because of its vibrant life. And he makes a quiet and compelling case that this is something healthy religious communities are good at.

Review: Lieberman’s Choice

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Cover image of "Lieberman's Choice" by Stuart M. Kaminsky

Lieberman’s Choice (Abe Lieberman Number 2), Stuart M. Kaminsky. Open Road Media (ASIN: B00AYRI5HY) 2013 (first published 1993).

Summary: A cop kills his wife and the cop who is sleeping with her, and threatens to blow up a city block unless one demand is met.

Abe Lieberman can’t get to sleep. And then the phone rings. A fellow policeman walked into his apartment with a loaded shotgun and blew away his wife and the cop she was sleeping with. When his partner, recently “on the wagon” arrives, the scene is so awful he needs a drink. The officer, Bernie Shepard, has barricaded himself on the roof with his dog. He’s armed to the teeth. And he’s rigged up enough explosives to blow away not only the building but a city block.

Abe is the first one who talks to him and size up the situation. Shepard wants a TV reporter to interview him. Eventually, he gets his wish. He has one demand. Specifically, he wants to talk to Captain Alan Kearney at midnight, after a day-long siege. In his mind, Kearney is the one who had corrupted his wife.

There are lots of people who want to make this go away as quickly as possible, from a mayor facing re-election to the chief of police. And there are the civilians. First, a couple of hard-up bounty seekers living in the building attempt an assault on the rooftop nest only to end up splattered on the street below. Then a gang leader who Shepard had arrested wants to take a crack. Incredibly, they let him and he manages to wound Shepard. But Shepard has positioned himself so well that no chopper, no sniper, can take him out.

If Lieberman had his choice, he’d just hang out with the Alter Cockers at his brother Maish’s deli. Or he would be home with his family. Instead, he is on point negotiating with a man who has already killed four–one who has nothing left to lose. And if that is not enough, he has to deal with a religious crazy, Frankie Kraylaw. who is abusing his wife.

As the hours tick down and the pressure increases, will they find a way to avoid a confrontation with Kearney or a catastrophic explosion? Amid it all, Lieberman, the veteran of Chicago’s streets seems the wisest and sanest. But will it be enough?

Review: To Gaze Upon God

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Cover image of "To Gaze Upon God" by Samuel G. Parkison

To Gaze Upon God, Samuel G. Parkison. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514007662) 2024.

Summary: An exploration of the importance of the beatific vision in scripture and church history and its contemporary significance.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure” (I John 3:1-3, New International Version).

As a young Christian reading through scripture, this passage stopped me in my tracks. It told me that a day was coming where I would see Christ as he is, in all his glory. What’s more, it assured me I would be like him and that this was a great motive for cleaning up my act in this life. What I caught a glimpse of in that day is the beatific vision that is the telos or end toward which our lives as followers of Jesus is directed. As a result, it gave me an intense motivation to grow in Christ-likeness. I’ve likened it to preparations for my wedding day. I wanted to look my best and be my best for the woman I was marrying! And so it is with Jesus.

In To Gaze Upon God, Samuel G. Parkison retrieves for the contemporary church a doctrine that has given comfort and joy to Christians through the ages. He begins by asking what is the beatific vision. Parkison observes that as creatures in the image of God, we exist from, through, and to him. He is our source, our life, and our end. And this end is nothing less than to “dwell in the house of the Lord” and to “gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. It is this one thing for which the Psalmist asks in Psalm 27:4.

Parkison then devotes a chapter to elaborating that vision. First he considers the Old Testament theophanies and promises of the beatific vision. Then he considers a number of New Testament passages including the Transfiguration and the passage cited above. In conclusion, he argues that the desire for the beatific vision is good and godly. Not only this, it is seeing “the invisible,” connects with our faith in this life, and walks hand in hand with our transformation. Finally, we fully realize the beatific vision in the resurrection.

Then Parkison turns in two chapters to consider the “cloud of witnesses: through church history, dividing between those pre-Reformation, and those who were Reformation or post-Reformation. Gregory of Nyssa wrestles with the incomprehensibility of God and for him we ever thirst, find satiation that only feeds our thirst. Many wrestle with in what sense we “see” God, culminating in the ideas of Aquinas of not merely physical, but spiritual sight. Among the reformers, he considers Calvin, the Lutheran Gerhard, Turretin, Owen, and Edwards. While each of those considered offer rich nuances and some critical differences on the doctrine of the beatific vision, Parkison traces a continuity throughout church history in this doctrine.

Some contemporary commentators note a fault line between Aquinas and Owen. Aquinas focuses on knowing the essence of God, Owen on the vision of God in Christ. However, Parkison seeks to reconcile the two through the doctrine of inseparable operations. He writes,

“Therefore, it seems best to conceptualize the beatific vision as a vision of the divine essence in the person and work of Christ, the incarnate Son, by the illuminating and gracious operating principle of the Spirit as the eternal divine subsistence of the Father and Son’s love. The beatific vision, in other words, is made possible by the inseparable operations of the Trinity, and is therefore a truly trinitarian vision. We shall behold the glory of God in his essence, and we shall behold this glory in the face of Jesus Christ by the unveiling and illumining ministry of the Holy Spirit” (p. 156)

Parkison also offers his own take on a number of the questions explored in his historical survey.

All of this is toward an evangelical retrieval of the doctrine of the beatific vision. In a concluding chapter, Parkison considers the implication of the beatific vision for prayer, worship, missions, sin and sanctification, suffering, and our communion with one another. He longs to enliven Christians in all of life by this vision. In a postscript, he argues that the beatific vision tells a better story in the context of global Christianity.

I found this work both devotionally and theologically rich. For evangelicalism that is so earthly minded that it is no heavenly (or earthly) good, it offers a vital corrective. I do believe our fascination with political power reflects the paucity of our vision of Jesus. Likewise for our fascination with health and prosperity gospels. We exist to gaze upon God, and to reflect what we see in the world. Now we do so but dimly, but one day, face to face, in the new creation. We all live toward some vision. Is it toward the beatific vision? This book lifts our eyes toward our beautiful Lord.

_____________

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

Review: A Rare Benedictine

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Cover image of "A Rare Benedictine" by Ellis Peters

A Rare Benedictine, Ellis Peters. Open Road Media (ISBN: 9781497671676), 2014 (first published in 1988).

Summary: Three short stories set prior to the Chronicles, explaining how Cadfael became a monk and his early adventures.

At the beginning of the Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, he is already a Benedictine monk of some years. We learn of his crusading and sea-faring past. But we are without a clue as to how he became a monk. In the Introduction to A Rare Benedictine, Ellis Peters explains that she decided not to write a novel going back to his crusading days, as it would interrupt the chronological flow of The Chronicles. But she eventually did write a short story recounting the story of Cadfael’s entry into the monastic life. That story, and two others that precede in time the first of The Chronicles, make up A Rare Benedictine.

A Light on the Road to Woodstock

Cadfael, one of the fighting men of Roger Maduit, has returned to England with the triumphant King Henry after years abroad, and most recently in securing Normandy for the King. He’s completed his service to Roger, but has no plan for what comes next. When Roger asks him to escort him to Woodstock for a trial over claims made by the Abbey at Shrewsbury to land Roger holds, Cadfael agrees. As it turns out, the case is shaky at best for Roger. In a plot of which Cadfael has no part, Roger sends men to waylay the Abbey’s representative until the trial is over. If he doesn’t appear before the king, the land by default goes to Roger.

The plot succeeds, but there is also an attempt on Roger’s life. Cadfael saves him. When the king does not show up, Rogers plans unravel. The ship sinks that is carrying all the king’s heirs. The delay affords Cadfael the chance to retrace the steps of the assassins. Not only will he find Brother Heribert in the process, but a plot that goes to the heart of Roger’s house. Having heard earlier of the Benedictines from Roger’s clerk, and that they do not bear arms, Cadfael, both weary of arms and disgusted by intrigue, leaves his sword at the altar….

The Price of Light

Hamo FitzHamon has reached the age where his loose life is catching up with him and he realizes the day he will face his maker is approaching. To improve his chances and secure some effectual Benedictine prayers, he donates an ornate pair of candlesticks for the church altar, along with funds to keep them lit. But two things happen when FitzHamon and his household come to deliver the gift.

First, his wife asks for a sleeping draft from Cadfael. But it is not for herself but her husband, so she can slip away for a tryst with one of her husband’s servants, which Cadfael overhears. Then, the candlesticks disappear from the altar. Cadfael finds them in a sack of lavender in his workshop. And he identifies the thief as one of the maids, Elfgiva. She has good reason. Her fiance, Alard, had agreed to make the candlesticks in exchange for his freedom. Hamo FitzHamon reneged, and Alard escaped. As we have often seen in other stories, Cadfael quietly works to set things to rights, helping reunite the separated lovers in the process.

Eye Witness

It’s time to collect the Abbey’s annual rents. While a young apprentice clerk fills in for Brother Ambrose, William Rede collects the rents. Madog, the boatman is the next to see him as he pulls him out of the Severn. Someone knocked him unconscious and threw him into the river to drown. His assailant robbed him of the purse with the rents.

But Cadfael figures out that there was a vantage point from which the crime could have been witnessed. He discretely puts about this fact about with the hopes of springing a trap to catch the thief.

The stories all seem to turn on the human follies that trip up wrongdoers. And we see Cadfael’s shrewd use of folly against the perpetrators to bring about just ends. Strikingly, there are no murders, although two murders are attempted.

While we learn of how Cadfael becomes a monk, I still had one question. Where did he learn his herb lore? Wikipedia indicates that it was from the Middle East, and that is plausible, but I cannot remember it being mentioned, and Wikipedia cites no reference. What is clear is that this shrewd, yet holy, monk will be a force to be reckoned with in the Abbey at Shrewsbury.

Review: Jesus, Contradicted

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Cover image for "Jesus, Contradicted" by Michael R. Licona.

Jesus, Contradicted, Michael R. Licona. Zondervan Academic (ISBN: 9780310159599) 2024.

Summary: Addresses the discrepancies in gospel accounts drawing upon the conventions of ancient biography.

One of the challenges that comes with reading the gospels closely is that we notice discrepancies in the accounts. Not in the major facts but in the details. It is enough, though, that it raises questions about the reliability of the gospel accounts. And some of the efforts to “harmonize” the accounts just seem forced. In Jesus, Contradicted, Michael R. Licona, meets these objections head on without resorting to forced harmonization.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke raise a number of these questions. Most scholars believe Matthew and Luke used much of the material in Mark. Part of what is called “the Synoptic Problem” arises from the discrepancies between the very similar accounts. Some is grammatical, with Matthew and Luke improving on Mark’s rough grammar (does our doctrine of inspiration allow for that?). Licona goes into all of this, inviting us, first of all, to allow for the variations that often occur in eyewitness accounts.

More than this, Licona’s main argument is that we should not base our case for gospel reliability on modern historical accuracy. Rather, we should assess the gospels for what they are: first century biographies. Such biographies permitted the biographer greater freedom in reporting. While they did not invent events, they may not meet standards of exactitude required in a legal deposition. Wording may vary and minor details in an account may vary and yet the biography is accepted as true, especially if other accounts broadly confirm what is written.

Furthermore, biographers used various compositional devices that contribute to variation including paraphrasing and editing, compression displacement, transferal, conflation, simplification, and spotlighting. Licona discusses these various devices and where they may have been employed in gospel accounts.

But this may be troubling for some who hold to a commitment to the inerrancy of scripture. Licona observes that often, this view results in preconceptions of what scripture must be like that lead to the efforts in forced harmonization. Rather, he argues that “our view of scripture should be consistent with what we observe in scripture.” In other words, scripture rather than some standard external to it ought determine our understanding of its inspiration and trustworthiness. Licona takes several chapters ar the end of this work to elaborate this idea. He contrasts what he calls traditional inerrancy with flexible inerrancy. In his apologetic work, he reports that his approach has helped people return to faith who had turned away because traditional approaches to inerrancy had proven unsustainable.

I believe Licona makes an important contribution not only to our apologetic work around discrepancies in scripture. This will be helpful to many raising questions as they begin reading the gospels. And he offers a robust response to the “new atheist” who belittle the scriptures. But this is not all. He moves our discussion of inspiration and inerrancy beyond abstract terminology to the data of scripture itself. Instead of trying to conform scripture to the Procrustean bed of traditional inerrancy, he proposes a bed that follows the contours of the scriptures.

Furthermore, Licona presents this material in a highly readable form, reflecting experiences of presenting the material to the front office staff of a sports team and an adult Sunday School. This is a great text for teachers, apologists, and anyone who has not found satisfying responses to discrepancies in scripture.

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