Trinity Journals

Books for the Journey

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June 12, 2005

God in Scripture, In Nature and Invisible

Who's Bible is It? by Jaroslav Pelikan
A excellent question, but one that is best answered by first exploring another question; rather than "who's Bible?", we need to ask, "which Bible?" Pelikan knows this well and subtitles his book, "A History of the Scriptures Down Through the Ages." He tells the story of how this holy book, actually many books from many authors, managed to survive and become a 21st century bestseller, and the many roles and readings it has adopted over it's long life.

Pelikan remembers that the larger portion of the Bible not only came from Judaism but remains a sacred story to the jews. The Jews, who have "owned" and valued these stories the longest, sometimes read them differently that their more recent admirers, and Pelikan is careful to make this clear. I did not know, for example, that the Christian Old Testament was derived from a Greek translation of the Hebrew that the Jews themselves have never used, it being so fraught with errors.

The story of how the New Testament was assembled and its many translations and reinterpretations is also covered. If you don't know that history you should, it's important to a proper understanding of the scriptures. Similarly, one cannot ignore the Jewishness of the Bible and understand it properly, any more than one can ignore the Jewishness of Jesus and his followers. Pelikan's clear-eyed description of the book's Jewish roots is what I valued most in my reading of his book.

"Reaching For the Invisible God" by Phillip Yancey
Yancey is a very popular Christian writer. That popularity stands against him in some circles, but I gladly confess that I have read many of his earlier works and have liked them. This latest (at least "latest" for me, it was published in 2000) seems the "meatiest" of the Yancey books. I admit that this is a top-of-mind assessment, and I cannot defend it if challenged, but I found the book taking on challenging questions and avoiding quick and easy answers. For reasons I don't presume to understand, God chooses to remain invisible to our eyes and even our more subtle senses, excepting rare occasions with rare individuals. We are forced to search for the God we hope to worship, and often are unsure how to recognize what we're seeking.

I find Yancey's thinking in this book as in his others, clear, straighforward, and, importantly, well organized. (Plenty of authors have good advice and observations to offer, but are unable to organize them in a logical way. The ideas are scattered seemingly at random, and cannot be appreciated until one completes the book and sorts it all out in one's own mind.) Yancey feeds out his thoughts in a coherent stream that I find easy to absorb and more importantly, to remember.

"Climbing Brandon" by Chet Raymo
I'm going to return to this book for a longer essay soon, but wanted to at least give it a mention here. Raymo is a science and nature writer who finds spirituality in his experience and study of the natural world. This book uses Ireland's Mt. Brandon as a foundation for reflections on history, culture, nature and religion. I was personally thrilled with the book, as Raymo describes the world much as I experience it myself. Of course its a bit sad to realize that if I ever get to write the book I most want to write, it's likely that Raymo will have written it first.

The storyline is steeped in both Irish geography and history, and the spiritual reflections have a distinctly celtic influence. The ancient celtsm and the early Irish Christians, saw God throughout nature and the cosmos. As an astronomer and Earth Scientist Raymo appreciates the deep mystery within creation.In an era when the sciences and Christianity are usually portrayed as antagonistic and mutually exclusive, Raymo's lovely little work is a refreshing change. More than nything else I was struck by how naturally and effortlessly the threads of religion, history and scinece weave together in this stroll over the Irish countryside.

Jay Dean