Julie and Scott were abiding in the fields in the night, minding their own business, when three guys showed up looking for directions. Julie started to draw a map by starlight while Scott haggled for some myrrh. Good Story 196: Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives by Pope Benedict XVI.
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I have re-read this every year since it came out. In conjunction I also re-read Scott Hahn’s “Joy to the World”. There is certainly overlap, but I really like them together.
ReplyDeleteI remember when this book came out and the headlines were all about the Pope destroying Christmas symbology. Simply for not following the ahistorical accretions of the Christmas story. I think it was Frank Sheed’s To Know Christ Jesus where I first learned about how this has all been compressed into one night when the events of the infancy narrative from the birth to the Magi were over a longer period of time.
Oh I also recommend Fr. Longernecker’s Myster of the Magi which came out last year. Really great insights as to identifying the Magi and where they came from. Quite different from what is generally taught. I really enjoyed it since it is written as an exploration and not a “this is the final answer to the question”. He really wants to advance the scholarship in this area.
Oh and since you were talking about how the Gospel writers compiled the Gospels. I would super-recommend “Jesus and the Eyewitnesses” by Protestant biblical scholar Richard Bauckham.
ReplyDeleteSimply amazing in how he relates how eyewitness testimony was passed on and how it was practiced and validated to retain accuracy. Covers quite a lot of information including some scientific research into memory. Jimmy Akin recommenced this to me and also recently told me that there is now an expanded 2nd edition. Really eye-openingΩ
Thank you for the great recommendations! These are going on my list. I recently reread the Sheed book and was struck again by his great common sense in teasing out Jesus's life for us.
DeleteI also have you to thank for the Bergsma-Pitre book I mentioned since your Facebook post about that made me realize it was more than a soft intro to the Bible. :-)
Wonderful! Thanks for this!
DeleteGreat podcast as usual! The "Aha, wasn't that obvious to begin with but I never saw it before" moment for me in the book was Jesus being laid in the manger. The manger is what the animals ate from, so his laying there prefigures the Eucharist. It seems so obvious once you know it but this book was the first time I experienced it!
ReplyDeleteI just added the Sheed book to my Amazon wish list!
p.s. I am looking forward to The World's End, which I see you have scheduled for January 29!
I also had that "Aha" moment over the manger! Also over the fact that he and King David both came from Bethlehem (I mean, who knew?!) ... and that the city's name means House of Bread. Wow. :-)
DeleteIt makes me so happy that you check the sidebar and keep up with future episodes. :-)
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