I just compared two commentaries on Leviticus on my Participatory Bible Study blog. In addition, I’d like to link to my older review of Jacob Milgrom’s three volume commentary on the same book. From that review:

The only possible adjective for this commentary is “incredible.” It is not just long (2,468 pages of text), but it is packed with useful information, well organized, with the details of the process used in coming to understand the text laid out for examination. A book can be long but not informative. This one uses its space effectively to contain useful information.

All three of these commentaries have been useful to me. Check them out!

In this mystery, Nero Wolfe finds himself under attack through one of his dearest things–his orchids. He also finds himself working outside his home, another unusual situation for him. Since much of the action takes place outside of New York City, we don’t have staples such as Detective Cramer, but we do hear about him and some of his police colleagues in the city.

My wife’s comment on reading this book was simply that this was “a good one.” Since we both like Nero Wolfe, that elevates it about the average of really good books to a place that’s much more fun. Archie Goodwin gets into quite a bit of (potential) trouble. When doesn’t he? But the ending remained somewhat of a surprise, even though in retrospect I thought I should have suspected much, much sooner than I did.

This is another good book in the Nero Wolfe series of stories.

Storm from the Shadows is a sequel to The Shadow of Saganami, and as such advances the general history in the Honorverse only a little bit beyond the end of At All Costs.

I had read some reviews that said that this book ended on a cliffhanger, but I had generally dismissed those. David Weber always leaves lots of interesting things to wonder about, which makes one wait eagerly for the next book. But I was wrong. This is, even compared to a normal Weber ending, a cliffhanger.

Many times as I read a series I get less and less enchanted with the books as I go along. It seems that authors are so anxious to keep things exciting that later books often look like science fiction as it might have been written in their science fiction universe.

In the David Weber’s case, and particularly in the Honorverse, while I think the situation has been escalating, it is not out of hand. I like the characterization, but even more importantly the development of cultures and backgrounds. If I were to have my choice in details, I probably would have had less conversations amongst the Manpower folks (or their even more secret higher-ups), but even that is well done provided one wants to really get involved in the universe as opposed to simply following a few characters for a story.

This book remains five out of five starts for me. There were a couple of earlier books in the series that weren’t quite fives in my book, but they were still very good books, and there is no doubt that I will read every book in this series, some more than once.

Storm from the Shadows follows Michelle Henke for the most part, and she is an interesting character herself. We do see some additional pieces of Aivars Terekhov, who is definitely a character worth watching, and Admiral Khumalo has a substantial role to play. We get passing glances at Abigail Hearns and several other interesting folks we have met in previous books.

There is somewhat less fleet action and a bit more politics, but in my view, that balance can shift quite a bit through the series and I’ll still be happy. I disagree with reviewers I have read who don’t like the way Weber does politics. I do think he follows some improbable tracks, given his characters and background, but he doesn’t go out of the realm of possibility and do things that look ridiculous within the universe he has created.

All in all, I think this is an exceptionally good continuation of an exceptionally good series.

The World of Jeeves is an omnibus collection of stories about Jeeves and Wooster.  If you’re a fan, this is a great collection.  I have to admit that I had only read a little bit before I picked up this volume, but I am a fan of almost any British humor and Jeeves and Wooster never fail to please.

The Laughter of Dead Kings by Elizabeth Peters has a couple strikes against it.  (Note some minor spoilers ahead.)

The first of these is that it is not consistent with other books in the series.  Peters admits this and says she doesn’t care, which is obviously her right.  I find inconsistencies in the background of stories fairly annoying.  I like all the stories with the same character(s) to hang together.

The second is that it attempts to tie two series together, and I don’t think the series were intended to match.  For some reasons those tie-ins don’t seem to work all that well.  In this particular case, I caught on to it fairly early, and the connections are pretty obvious, but to me they don’t add anything to the story.

On the other hand, it’s written by Elizabeth Peters, after all, so it has to have something going for it.  Even though I have never liked the Vicky Bliss stories as well as the Amelia Peabody mysteries, I have always found them entertaining and fun light reading, which is obviously what they were written for.  It’s quite unfair to criticize an author for accomplishing precisely what she set out to do.

Vicky Bliss is still in love with John, and when a major artifact goes missing, he’s obviously going to be blamed somehow, especially if the crime seems particularly brilliant.  Who else could have done it?

We meet many of the old characters again and I must say I especially enjoy reading about Schmidt and his various antics.  Everything comes out OK, of course, but only at the very last minute.

So despite the two strikes, I call the book a hit, just not a home run–for me.  Others, who don’t have pet peeves about such little things, may find it a home run in entertainment.

OK, enough with the baseball metaphors already!

Cat in a Topaz Tango is the latest in the wonderful Midnight Louie series.  If you don’t like thinking and talking animals, then this book probably isn’t for you, but if you like light-hearted fun and a bit of mystery, it’s great.  If you like cats, so much the better!

This is one of those rare series that manages to keep my attention through multiple books.  Douglas shows no inclination to “jump the shark.”  Her characters remain who they are.  Of course, they were always getting into some pretty strange messes, so perhaps that makes it easier!

In this volume, Midnight Louie is using his feline agility and general sneakiness to keep up with his human, Temple Barr, through an an unusually complex set of moves, as a murderer stalks a dance competition, and Lieutenant Molina’s young teen daughter is, well, a teenager.  (Surprise!)

We hear a bit more from Max, and we learn a bit more about Rafi Nadir.  It’s all good fun!

Note: I am participating in a blog tour for the release of this Bible on my Participatory Bible Study blog. Please go there for more information on the Mosaic Bible giveaway.  There are more details on the tour at the HolyBibleMosaic.com site.

I was very excited to receive a copy of The Mosaic Bible from the folks at Tyndale House, because I had great hopes for this devotional and study Bible.

It’s very hard to get me excited about study Bibles, because I see so much abuse. I can cover most of that abuse under two headings:

1. Readers who treat study notes as equal to or sometimes superior to the text itself. Nobody actually says this, but they often act as though they believe it.

2. Study Bibles with notes that are so narrowly based as to slant one’s Bible reading in favor of a particular tradition. Now I don’t expect Bible editors to cover all perspectives, but when the view of a particular tradition or even of an individual theologian is stated authoritatively in the notes as the one interpretation, it’s possible for the inexperienced reader to become confused.

With that, enter The Mosaic Bible. I must admit to starting with a bit of bias. I have a strong appreciation for the NLT, and that is the chosen Biblical text. That text is particularly appropriate to a Bible that aims primarily at devotional or liturgical study and reading. The clarity of the translation text is too often neglected in liturgical use. Yes, we want accuracy. Yes, we want a decent literary sound for the scripture reading. But in addition, clarity is particularly important in public reading. The NLT is quite good in that area.

But from that good foundation, it is possible still to construct a Bible edition that detracts from the excellent text. That is not the case here.

Most importantly, in my view, the study and devotional notes are separated from the Biblical text. Instead of breaking up the flow of the Biblical text, thus suggesting that they are almost part of it, the notes and meditations are placed in the front of the Bible and then crossreferenced from the text.

Of almost equal importance is the variety of materials included. The claim of the preface is that this Bible is intended “… to provide a way to encounter Christ on every continent and in every cenury of Christian history.” And it does precisely that. We have readings ranging from the 1 Clement and the Didache to writers of today, and they come from different tradition streams as well as different geographical locations.

In teaching on how to study the Bible for laypeople, I emphasize sharing. By sharing I mean not just telling others what you have learned, but also listening to the broader community, in time, in space, and in tradition, so as to hear possible corrections of your own eccentricities. Often people come and ask me where they can find such things. Of course there are numerous reference sources one can use, but many are not easily accessible outside of an academic environment.

I can now recommend using this Bible for a year as a way to introduce yourself to the variety of resources and authors that are available. It will provide you with places to start in many areas.

I attend a more liturgical church, and hear preaching from the lectionary. But I didn’t grow up with that. The church year was pretty much a mystery to me. The Mosaic Bible divides its notes into 53 weekly readings (the extra week helps deal with different dates for certain church days), each of which includes four scriptures patterned after the lectionary (Old Testament, Psalm, Epistle, Gospel), and at least one additional suggested reading. In addition, there is an introductory note on the topic, readings, a medition, a prayer, and some white space to use in taking notes.

The obvious approach to this Bible is either liturgical or devotional. Follow the Christian year with this Bible, do the readings, and watch your devotional life grow, or alternatively, use them in church liturgy. I am a strong advocate of more scripture reading in our worship services. We have little tolerance for listening to substantial passages of scripture, but I would suggest we would do well to develop a spiritual discipline of just plain listening to scripture.

With the crossreferences, however, you can choose instead to follow your own plan of reading, and use this Bible as a supplement. Clearly marked references indicate what scriptures are used in the weekly studies, so you can use them in reverse as well. The Bible text portion of the book will serve quite well as a Bible you can carry to church with you, or use for other reading and study.

Having listed all these strengths, let me note a couple of weaknesses. The difficulty with the word “weakness” is that it needs to be interpreted with reference to a goal. I think this Bible accomplishes what the editors set out in the introduction or “Mosaic User’s Guide.” Nonetheless I think I need to point out what the Bible is not.

First, it is not a technical study Bible. The introductions to the Bible books are basic, not detailed. The notes are not about historical background or technicalities of language, but are instead devotional (this is, of course a strength as well). You will not find discussion of historical-critical questions. For example, the introduction to Genesis gives the date of writing as “Uncertain, perhaps 1450-1410 BC.” You could generate decades of arguments over that, but you won’t find any of them here.

Second, it is not a guide to any particular tradition. It is not surprising that often Catholics would like a Catholic study Bible, protestants a protestant Bible, evangelicals an evangelical Bible, Methodists a Methodist Bible (sort of!), and so forth. Those groups overlap, of course. This Bible isn’t designed to address the most controversial issues, at least as I read it. It is, instead, to take elements from all the traditions that point to Christ as the center.

Before I make a final point about the Bible I want to expand on that point. I don’t think we are used to christocentric study notes. Some evangelical study Bibles point to prophecy and fulfillment. Those interested in historical interpretation look more at an isolated meaning at a particular place and time. But as the scriptures of the Christian faith, the books of the Bible can and should be read as centering around the one greatest revelation, Jesus the incarnate Son of God.

I do not intend to deny historical-critical methodologies. I use them myself. But that is just one way of looking at the Bible—important, but not exclusive. It contributes to our other understandings. But if we see Jesus as the primary revelation of God, then I think we must look at the rest of God’s action in the world through that lens. This Bible will help you look at the whole in that fashion.

My final point has to do with book design. It’s easy to criticize book design formt he cheap seats. I handed this to my wife and she said it wouldn’t work for her, largely because of the print size. Be aware that the print is small. At the same time, I’m not sure how one would change the design to satisfy everyone. If the print were substantially larger, the whole volume would become too large to carry.

Book design is a collection of compromises. So a compromise must be struck, and I’m personally not unhappy with the result. For me, the text is large enough, though I need my reading glasses, while the book remains small enough for me to carry to church or a small group study.

Overall, I give this Bible five out of five stars, and thank Tyndale House for the opportunity to review it.

(Please see my previous post for an announcement of the Mosaic Bible giveaway. This review has also been crossposted to the Energion.com Book Blog.)

I review Scott McKain’s The Collapse of Distinction on my computer services blog.

In this continuation of the Quadrail series, Timothy Zahn is in his normal fun and action form as he keeps Frank Compton and Bayta in a great deal of trouble. We learn new things about the ongoing war against the group-mind Modhri, and also about the Chahwyn who are Compton’s employers.

Once one gets past the extreme difficulty of conceiving of the interstellar railroad, one can enjoy the background created by that odd system and just have fun with the stories and the characters. The background isn’t really all that deep, however. Largely this is action-adventure fun. I like to try to imagine ahead of time just how much twisted nastiness Zahn has planned for his characters. I never quite imagine it all.

It’s either “nonetheless” or “because of this” that I really enjoy these books. Those who have read my fiction reviews will know by now that while I like deep, serious fiction under certain circumstances, I’m a bit of an escapist at heart, and if you keep me entertained, I’ll go ahead and enjoy any number of things that one might criticize otherwise.

Zahn is a good provider for all of that.

This is a first look, before I have read or used the book extensively.  I have simply looked through it, read the preface and some introductions, and laid out a plan for reading and study using the volume.  I intend to “blog through” rather than simply read and review this volume.  See the end of the post for how I will proceed.

Those who know me will be completely unsurprised that, when I was given the opportunity to review a volume in this commentary series, I chose this one.  There are two interlocking reasons:  1)  I love studying the Torah from every perspective I can manage, and 2) I believe Christians who neglect this part of the Bible also miss some of the depth of their own theology and tradition.

Yet few Christians are really interested in Torah, and it is difficult to get them to study it.  So while I have studied from much more complex commentaries on the topic, such as Jacob Milgrom’s three volume commentary on Leviticus (here is my review), I can’t pass those on to Sunday School classes or to pastors I’m encouraging to get started in preaching or teaching from these books.

Thus I am very much attracted to the basic idea of this commentary series, starting with its use of the NLT second edition text, which is an excellent foundation on which to build a commentary for everyone.  Too frequently commentary translations are done in a technical fashion, designed to illustrate the commentator’s points.  This is not a bad thing for a scholarly audience, or even for those past the first stages of study.  Indeed it is necessary.  But it doesn’t help much with that first study.

I’m encouraged by the ambitious goal set forth in the General Editor’s preface:  “… the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary aims at helping teachers, pastors, students, and laypeople understand every thought contained in the Bible.”  Yes, it’s ambitious, but it is aimed at the right group of people.  If one doesn’t keep one’s eye on the goal, then one will never get anywhere.

So how is this volume laid out?

First, it includes the full scriptural text from the NLT second edition.  That’s a highlight.  I’ve already read that part, though not from this volume.  It is a good translation to use in accomplishing the goals of the commentary.

Second, it includes notes on textual, translational, and interpretational details.  For example, looking at notes from Leviticus 4:1-5:13, I see explanations of the Hebrew word behind the English translation “commands” along with references.  We’re provided with word numbers in both the Tyndale and the Zondervan numbering system (Kudos to Tyndale for including the latter), along with references to selected works.  There’s a discussion of the phrase “ceremonially clean” and “an offering for their sin” amongst many others.  In scanning through the volume I also saw notes on various textual issues, but written in minimally technical language.

Finally, there is commentary on the passage as a whole, dealing more with themes, theology, and application.  In the case of Leviticus 4:1-5:13, there is about a page of notes followed by nearly five pages of commentary.  The scriptural text itself occupies very nearly two pages.  This will give you an idea of how space is proportioned.  (The introduction and outline of the book is 10 pages.)

Overall, the book is 679 pages + 14 pages of front matter.  The main section uses 214 pages for Leviticus, 229 for Numbers, and 236 for Deuteronomy.

So let’s compare bulk as a sort of “intimidation factor.”  The NLT Study Bible uses 65 pages for the book of Numbers.  The New International Commentary on the Old Testament volume on Numbers uses 667.  I don’t have a good intermediate number on Leviticus, but I would note that Migrom’s commentary is over 2700 pages.  I would say this commentary is well-placed then to draw people beyond the study Bible stage and on to the more serious study.

As for perspective, the authors (David W. Baker, Dale A. Brueggemann, and Eugene H. Merrill) and editors are all unsurprisingly evangelical, and fairly conservative at that.  I don’t intend to criticize the commentary for its stated perspective.  I will note just how much each author interacts with opposing viewpoints.  In a commentary such as this, there is a balance.  Too much discussion of every idea out there means that one can’t get to the basic work necessary; too little tends to limit the usefulness of the work to broader audiences.

As I mentioned in the initial note, it is not my intent to read through this book and then publish a review.  Rather, after publishing these initial notes, I am going to use it as my secondary devotional study, after my time spent on the week’s lectionary passages, and then blog about the experience, finally wrapping everything up when I have read the entire volume.  While I will, as always, be studying and comparing with many sources, my primary question in this case will be just how valuable and accessible the material is to someone preparing a Sunday School lesson or a sermon for their congregation that would draw from this material.

In terms of overall theme, I’ll be asking myself how well the volume will link the theological themes to Christian theology and tradition, and of course ultimately to Christian living.  Then I will rate the book as to how well it accomplished the stated goal I quoted above, with due consideration for how ambitious a goal it is.

You will be able to follow my study on my Participatory Bible Study blog.  There will be a final wrap-up post here.