First Sunday of Advent (A)

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The Unknown Day and Hour   Lectionary: 1 Reading 1 -  Isaiah 2:1-5 Responsorial Psalm -  Psalm 122: 1-9 Reading 2 -  Romans 13:11-14 Alleluia -  Cf. Psalm 85:8 Gospel -  Matthew 24:37-44 '... Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.' Introduction  As we gather on this First Sunday of Advent , we also mark the beginning of the Church’s new liturgical calendar and a four-week preparation period leading up to Christmas. The word Advent comes from either of two Latin words, which simply mean “to come” (Ad-venire) or “to arrive” (Ad-ventus), and as early as the fourth (4th) century, Christians have had this special time of preparation towards Christmas. Of course, Advent is not merely a countdown to Christmas; Even as we begin the material preparations for the social celebration of Christmas, the liturgical celebrations of these weeks invite us to prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus. But what does the co...
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Review: The Transforming Word Series, Volume 3: The Prophets: From Isaiah to Malachi

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The Transforming Word Series, Volume 3: The Prophets: From Isaiah to Malachi The Transforming Word Series, Volume 3: The Prophets: From Isaiah to Malachi by Mark W. Hamilton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Book 3 of a five (5) volume set that tries to provide some context and commentary to the Bible (OT) with this book focused on the Prophets; a collection of writings with a penchant for highly symbolic language that can be tricky for the modern audience to interpret. The series is well organized, with each book starting with an overview of the topic and what to expect. I highly recommend the entire series, although the work has a bias toward the Christian Restoration tradition (where I am very comfortable).

This book includes an introduction of who and what were the Prophets along with a brief summary of how they were redacted and used. Each chapter is written by a different author and point of view that covers a specific prophet and includes Contexts, Commentary, Superscription, Theological Reflections, For Further Study and Works Cited. In the middle each author breaks down the writing into topical blocks for exegesis with a generous number of call outs for better understanding of concepts that might not be familiar today. Isaiah and Jeremiah are by far the bulk of the book, taking up almost half. Once you get into the minor prophets, the context and commentary (or generally summary) is probably as important as the detailed interpretation of the actual text, which is very short.

1. Reading the Prophets
2. Old Testament Prophecy
3. The Bible & Literature
4. Isaiah
5. Jeremiah
6. Lamentations
7. Ezekiel
8. Daniel
9. Hosea
10. Joel
11. Amos
12. Obadiah
13. Jonah
14. Micah
15. Nahum
16. Habakkuk
17. Zephaniah
18. Haggai
19. Zechariah
20. Malachi

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

#TheProphets #TheTransformingWordSeries #NetGalley.

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