First Sunday of Lent (Cycle A)

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The Temptation of Jesus Lectionary:  22 Reading 1 -  Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7 Responsorial Psalm -  Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17 Reading 2 -  Romans 5:12-19 Verse - Matthew 4:4b Gospel -  Matthew 4:1-11 One does not live on bread alone. Every year, we begin our Lenten journey in the same place: the desert.   The Gospel for this Sunday places Jesus in the wilderness, fasting and praying, confronted by temptation. In that stark setting we find the pattern of our own Lenten journey: a movement away from distraction toward the heart of God, a testing that reveals what truly sustains us, and a call to conversion that reshapes our lives.  Throughout our lives, we are frequently confronted with tests … and these tests generally reveal something about ourselves: In school, we demonstrate that we have mastered an academic subject with a test  in sports, we demonstrate our level of a particular skill with a contest  In life, we demonstrate the integri...
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Review: The Book of Enoch for Beginners: A Guide to Expand Your Understanding of the Biblical World

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The Book of Enoch for Beginners: A Guide to Expand Your Understanding of the Biblical World The Book of Enoch for Beginners: A Guide to Expand Your Understanding of the Biblical World by Phillip J. Long

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As mentioned in the Intro, this is not a full translation of 1 Enoch, but is a guided summary into the history, content and context of this very interesting pseudepigrapha that helps to also set the milieu of the second temple period of Jesus. The author starts with a summary of each book (includes a Facts at a Glance bulleted call out) before reviewing the specific book in sections. These sections are further broken down into an historical and contextual review, followed by a “Key Verse” and commentary and often an added boxes digging a little more deeply into terms and concepts … such as “Who ARE the Watchers?” or “Demons in Early Judaism.”

Over all, this was an accessible academic work that I found absolutely fascinating from an historical and theological context that definitely can contribute to canonical biblical exegesis … or simply as a history buff interested in that time period. The only downside I had was that it apparently doesn’t include the complete text, so this is really more of a companion piece .. albeit one that you should definitely use with a complete copy if you care to read it. As an added bonus, it is currently available on Kindle Unlimited making it super easy to take for a test drive.

Part One: An Introduction

Part Two: Uncovering the Five Books
- Book I: The Book of the Watchers
- Book II: The Book of Parables
- Book III: The Book of Astronomical Writings (aka The Book of Luminaries)
- Book IV: The Book of Dream Visions
- Book V: The Epistle of Enoch

I was given this free advance review copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#Enoch #NetGalley #KindleUnlimited

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