Hebrews, by D. Stephen Long

We used to joke in seminary that we should read the Bible every now and then so we can see what the commentaries are talking about.  For Hebrews, I took the opposite approach.  I was reading Hebrews in my devotional time, reflected on some of the difficult passages, and picked up D. Stephen Long's Hebrews, from Westminster John Knox Press's Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible.  Long, a Methodist theologian, is Professor of Ethics at Southern Methodist University.

The first thing you'll notice in reading Long's commentary is that a theological commentary is very different from what I think of as a traditional commentary.  This is not a verse-by-verse commentary such as one might use in sermon preparation to glean grammatical insight, historical background, or structural help.  Long treats Hebrews as a unit, as single sermon, and examines theological themes with a broad view. 

The theological breadth is a strength and a weakness.  By bringing in resources and perspectives from far afield, Long helps the reader to see Hebrews in the wider picture of theology and philosophy.  But it can be distracting for a reader who is more interested in a historical, contextual treatment of the book.  Long appreciates that Hebrews can be one of the most difficult and frustrating books in the New Testament.  He writes, "I continually wonder why Hebrews continued to write after his first sentence.  He tells us God has definitively spoken in the Son such that no more needs to be said, and then goes on to say a great deal more for thirteen chapters." 

Just as the writer of Hebrews can expand our understanding of the work of Jesus, so can Long, in a different way, expand our understanding of the book of Hebrews.


Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

2016 Reading Challenge: A commentary on a book of the Bible
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Food: A Love Story, by Jim Gaffigan

Funny man Jim Gaffigan loves food.  And I love to hear him talk about food.  In Food: A Love Story, Gaffigan puts together some of his best stand-up routine jokes about food.  His hilarious stories and attitude kept me laughing out loud from start to finish.

He wants to be clear: he's not a foodie.  He writes, "I think of myself as an 'eatie.'" Unlike foodies, who are "on a never-ending search for new restaurants and interesting dishes," Gaffigan believes "there is plenty of regular food I still want to enjoy."  Gaffigan has one credential to present: his waistline.  You don't want to take food advice from a skinny person.  However, you don't want to take advice from someone who is too fat.  "If they are morbidly obese, then  you can conclude that they will probably eat everything and anything and do not have discerning taste."

Apply this logic to tacos.  "When a thin person announces, 'Here's a great taco place,' I kind of shut down a little.  How you they know it's so great?  From smelling the tacos?"  If they loved a taco but only ate one because of their diet, "A taco that won't force you to break your diet just can't be that great."  By the way, Gaffigan shares my love of Mexican food: "Anyone who doesn't like Mexican food is a psychopath. . . . Even bad Mexican food is better than 90 percent of all other foods."  Amen, brother.

Gaffigan is hilarious and fun to listen to.  And, as a bonus, I can actually listen to him with my kids!  That's a rarity among stand-up comics.  As a fellow eatie, Food: A Love Story cracked me up and would be worth listening to or reading again.



2016 Reading Challenge: A book about food
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A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare

Call me what you will, but I simply don't enjoy Shakespeare.  I have been to seen some plays at Shakespeare in the Park, watched a few with an English class in college, tried to read some, and have seen some modern film adaptations.  The other day I pulled out my DVD of A Midsummer Night's Dream and read along in my copy of the play.  (Years ago I bought a boxed set of all of Shakespeare's plays and poems.  Why?  I don't remember. . . . I must have had a reason. . . . )

First of all, the movie (this was the 1999 version with Kevin Kline, Stanley Tucci, et al.) sticks very close to Shakespeare's script, but not exactly.  Several long speeches are truncated, a few bits of dialogue are out of order, and I think the filmmaker actually added a few lines hear and there.  I wonder about the gall and hubris of editing the greatest playwright in history (supposedly).  For a dumb and silly story, spoken in archaic language the is difficult to follow, it's actually a decent movie.  It was almost enjoyable.

This reminds me of what my college English professor said: Shakespeare wrote plays.  Plays are meant to be performed and watched, not read from a book.  Amen to that.  Is A Midsummer Night's Dream great literature?  In my admittedly limited view, I don't think this is one of his better plays.  I'm probably in the minority, because it's quite popular.  If anyone has seen anything by Shakespeare, they probably remember Puck and the dude with the donkey head.




2016 Reading Challenge: A play by William Shakespeare
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Rendez-Vous in Phoenix, by Tony Sandoval

Tony Sandoval grew up in northwestern Mexico and dreamed of becoming a comic book illustrator.  When he fell in love with an American girl who was living in Mexico, his fate was sealed.  Now he had to figure out a way to move to Portland to be with her.  He had no luck getting a visa, so he resorted to an illegal crossing.  He tells the story of that adventure in Rendez-Vous in Phoenix.

I really loved the personal perspective Sandoval brings to the story.  It's not just his story, it's the story of the dad who's been crossing back and forth for years, and finally has brought his family.  It's the stories of the Central Americans who cross into Mexico and ride the train north so they can cross.  It's the story of the constant stream of immigrants looking for a better life in the U.S.

I didn't love the complete disrespect for the laws of the U.S. that Sandoval and his companions display.  I know the vast majority of border crossers are innocent people seeking a better life (or a reunion with a lover), but there are good reasons for a country to know who is taking up residence within its borders, and good reasons why we don't like people illegally crossing over.

The ethics and politics of illegal immigration aside, Rendez-Vous in Phoenix is nicely illustrated and the story is well-told, making personal the realities of dealing with coyotes, border crossing, criminal gangs, and the heartbreaking separations that families and loved ones experience.  Sandoval's account makes me very happy for him that he was able to reunite with his girlfriend, but it does not convince me that a porous border is a good thing.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Kolbe, A Saint in Auschwitz, by Desmond Forristal

Perhaps you've heard the story of the Polish Catholic priest at Auschwitz who, when a fellow prisoner was selected to be executed, took the place of the prisoner and was killed.  That priest was Maximilian Kolbe.  While that sacrificial act is what Father Kolbe is primarily remembered for, there was much more to his life.  Desmond Forristal wrote a biographical account of Kolbe's life and martyrdom, Kolbe: A Saint in Auschwitz.

Kolbe's parents were devoted Catholics, so it was no surprise that he and his brother decided to pursue the vocation of priesthood.  They served together in the Franciscan Order.  Maximilian Kolbe became a leading figure, opening monasteries and creating periodicals to spread the message of the Church.  He particularly promoted devotion to Mary, the Immaculate.  I am not Catholic, but I think even Catholics might have a problem with Kolbe's take on Mary.  When she appeared at Lourdes, she is reported to have said: "'I am the Immaculate Concetion'" . . . by which Kolbe believes "she meant something more than that she had been conceived without sin: she meant that she was the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, so completely one with him and filled by him that she could take his title as her own."  Mary as the third person of the Trinity?  Or married to the third person of the Trinity?  Hmmm…..

But much more important than this theological quirk was Kolbe's selfless service to others, which he demonstrated throughout his life.  This became especially true during the occupation of Poland and during his internment at Auschwitz.  As an ethnic German he could have received special privileges, but "He refused the invitation, saying that he was a son of Poland and would always remain so."  In the camp, he constantly ministered to other prisoners, giving up his own rations and supplies to others.  Finally, in the ultimate act of selflessness, he submitted himself for death in the place of another prisoner.

I am humbled not only by Kolbe's sacrifice, but by his sacrificial lifestyle and the energy with which he served the church throughout his life.  He is one about whom we ask, "How did one man accomplish so much?" Forristal's account is quite sympathetic to Kolbe, inspiring the reader to study Kolbe's life and emulate his ministry.  Kolbe was justifiably recognized by the Church as a martyr and a saint.


2016 Reading Challenge: A book by or about a martyr
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Answering the Call, by Ken Gire

Few missionaries have typified a lifetime of laying down one's life for others more than Albert Schweitzer.  Texas writer Ken Gire tells Schweitzer's story in Answering the Call: The Doctor Who Made Africa His Life.  Gire's passion is story telling and he has an eye for film, so Answering the Call has a cinematic feel, as Gire moves from scene to scene in Schweitzer's life.  Gire clearly has a great admiration for him and wants to keep his name alive.

Schweitzer was born near the French-German border in 1875.  By the age of 30, he held doctorates in theology and philosophy, and was known as one of the world's leading experts on Bach's organ music.  But the theologian/philosopher/concert organist had made a commitment to spend his life in the service of humanity.  So he trained as a doctor, and at the age of 38 he and his new wife left Europe for Africa, where he would serve the rest of his life as a doctor.

He ended up in Gabon (equatorial Africa, on the west coast--I had to look it up).  No other doctor practiced within a thousand miles.  He started up a clinic from nothing and grew it into a hospital that is now one of the most highly regarded in all of Africa.  Schweitzer overcame obstacles such as sickness, lack of funding, lack of supplies, and being sent to a prisoner of war camp during World War 1. One can't help but admire Schweitzer's untiring labor on behalf of the people of Africa, and his unwavering faith in Jesus.

Gire's admiration for Schweitzer causes him to gloss over the theological controversies surrounding Schweitzer's work.  Gire did point out that the missions agency that sent Schweitzer was at first reluctant to send him, given his liberal theological views.  But once he arrived in Africa, that subject never came up.  When the needs are great, theological debates tend to seem less important.  Nevertheless I would have like to have read more about his theological views.  One of his themes was "respect for life." Obviously this is in keeping with a gospel perspective.  But it can also be derived from a strictly humanistic, naturalistic perspective as well.  We don't learn a lot about where Schweitzer falls in these distinctions from Answering the Call.  For someone who questioned the divinity of Jesus, Schweitzer was certainly devoted to service in His name.




2016 Reading Challenge: A book by or about a missionary
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Freedom, 250,000 B.C., by Bonnye Matthews

Bonnye Matthews writes imaginative stories about ancient peoples, based on archaeological discoveries around the world.  In Freedom, 250,000 B.C.: Out from the Shadow of Popocatepetl, Matthews tells the story of Wing, who lived in what is now Mexico more than 250,000 years ago.  That date is quite controversial.  Years ago some bones with carvings on them were uncovered in this area.  Carbon dating placed their age at 250,000 years, which is tens of thousands of years before other scientists believed humans had come to this hemisphere.  Needless to say, the finding was controversial, contested, and may have been a fraud.

Matthews believes the date is accurate, and has created Wing's story set in that era.  Wing and his people are primitive hunter-gatherers, but practice some medicine, have permanent homes, use weapons such as spears and knives, and build boats.  Sixteen year old Wing tires of his father's verbal and physical abuse and sets out on his own.  After a lengthy journey, he settles in with relatives who accept him as one of their own.  He marries, has children, and eventually returns for a visit to his home village.

Obviously the story is purely fictional, but it's fun to imagine these primitive people raising families, passing along parental wisdom, exploring their world, and even having self-reflective revelations.  They weren't that different from you and me.  Matthews even envisions different animal life.  Camels and lions live in Mexico at this time, and Wing and his family have close encounters with enormous alligators and terror birds (which thanks to Wikipedia I now know are a real thing.  They were called Phorusrhacidae and sound pretty terrifying).  I like the way Matthews weaves geological, paleontological, and anthropological history into a story with adventure, romance, and spiritual enlightenment.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

2016 Reading Challenge: A book about ancient history
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