Day 36 The oldest and shortest Gospel, Mark is a great read. Gone are lengthy explanations and, instead, there’s a pithy Jesus on a mission. That’s what stands out to me most here. Jesus is very frank, often withdraws, quickly moves on to other locations, and loses his patience. A lot of religious art has […]
Day 35 I love the Gospels. I’ve read them countless times, so, these reflections will be a little different. In undergrad, my focus was in Patristics (early church history) and the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke). I had a rather ruthless professor, whom I adored, that threw us into graduate level studies of the Gospels. […]
Day 33 Another batch of “minor” prophets. Short little books tacked on to the end of the Hebrew Scriptures. For the most part, they all have a similar tone. Destruction is coming! Don’t bother repenting now, it’s here! And forgiveness will come once judgement is exacted. These feel like short letters circulated to make sense […]
Day 32 The Maccabean books end with two bizarre installments. Third Maccabees has nothing to do with Judas Maccabeus or his relatives and Fourth Maccabees is a ponderous philosophical treatise on the merits of martyrdom. Third Maccabees deals with the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt, specifically the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator. Now, before reading this […]
Day 31 If First Maccabees was Braveheart…then Second Maccabees is Braveheart + Monty Python + Gladiator. This book pulls out all the stops. It basically tells the same story as 1 Maccabees with a few additions and embellishments. Some of the characters change, but the basic structure remains: action packed warfare. The interesting thing here, […]
Day 30 I present to you, the Braveheart of the Apocrypha. That’s really what this book felt like. The main character, at least for the first 3/4 of it, is Judas Maccabeus — a warrior who, with his brothers, helps lead a revolt against the foreign powers occupying Israel and defiling their temple. The story […]
Day 29 Or Tobias. Another apocryphal book that is a short story. This time it involves blindness, demons, angels, giant fish (not as giant as in Jonah), a dog-masquerading-as-the-Lord, and avoiding the destruction of Nineveh. I really enjoy these Hebrew Bible short stories, including the apocryphal texts. Esther, Job, Judith…I would even argue Daniel counts. […]
Day 28 So begins the minor prophets and the final stretch of the Hebrew Bible. I have a handful of apocryphal books to finish up and then I’ll get to end with the remaining nine minor prophets. Hosea, Joel, and Amos provide different perspectives and different time periods for their prophesying. They’re also deeply personal. […]
Day 27 This was a fantastic read. I felt like it prophetic book I’d been waiting for. Again, Isaiah and Jeremiah were just fine, Ezekiel was a wild fever dream of a ride…but with Daniel, it was a delight to turn each page — including the three extra chapters in the apocrypha: The Prayer of […]
Day 26 Whaaaaaaaat is happening here?! This has got to be the weirdest book of the Bible (and I say that knowing there’s many more to go!) This book doesn’t mess around. It begins with an absolutely otherworldly vision of God (see image below) with spinning circles, domes, winged beasts, a sapphire throne, rainbows, fire, […]