Reflections of the Kingdom

Bible and Reconciliation: Confession, Repentance, and Restoration by James B. Protho My rating: 4 of 5 stars It can be argued that the whole concept of sin and forgiveness is a founding principle to the Christian faith. In this installment of the “ Catholic Biblical Theology of the Sacraments” series, the primary focus here is where this pattern is found within the Christian Holy Scripture, with the principle target audience being Catholics of the Latin Rite where the Sacrament of Reconciliation is an important element. Beginning with the Old Testament, we examine how the concept of how the People of God (aka [Proto]-Israelites) turn away from God (aka sin), suffer consequences (sometimes seen as punishment), repent or turn back to God and finally reconcile with God’s forgiving mercy. The second half of the book looks at this pattern in the New Testament, were reconciliation is less communal and more personal or individual. It is repeated enough in b...

Integrating Psychology and Faith: Models for Christian Engagement by Paul Moes My rating: 5 of 5 stars The was very interesting exploration of what we believe about ourselves with respect to agency/freewill, morality and self. The book is divided into two (2) parts with the first part looking at prevailing concepts and ideas within psychology and the second part looking at the integration between secular and religious approaches to understanding the human person. Each chapter was well explained in accessible language for somebody new to the concepts (without going into too much detail) and summed up with reflections and conclusions as well as questions for discussion. Part one brings the reader up to speed on a large number of terms and concepts, such as cosmology, ontology, epistemology and teleology, that form the basis for knowing what we know about ourselves with respect to ideas and concepts such as is there free will (or are we completely contr...

I Am Asking in the Name of God: Ten Prayers for a Future of Hope by Pope Francis My rating: 3 of 5 stars There is no doubt that we are living in a time of increasing troubles and violence and that this should be a concern for all of us. This book attempts to identify the 10 moral issues/failures facing the world today with a call to action by the Pope. While I am actually a fan of Pope Francis, this really doesn’t introduce any new ground and doesn’t really cover any of these issues in depth (and does not provide much in the way of practical ways to address them).  There are a few surprises, such as the appeal to media to stop with he fake news and manipulation … which IMHO is more a pipe dream than anything else. Another was the unequivocal statement that just war was not possible (seems like a change in doctrine and problematic if understood as a complete prohibition to defense … not sure if that is what he meant to say). Then there was the cal...

Listening for God in Torah and Creation: A weekly encounter with conscience and soul by Jonathan Wittenberg My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a Jewish Commentary of the Torah (The first five books of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures), subdivided into the weekly readings. Being familiar with the text, but not raised in the tradition that provides the view point for this commentary, I was able to appreciate the wonderful insights that helped me better understand my own traditions (and in some cases even fill in the gaps). In fact, Rabbi Wittenberg provided a significant amount of context and explanations (such as how the Mishnah and Talmud are used to expand on the scriptural text) that even someone unfamiliar with his sources could understand how they contributed to his exegesis. In addition to his use of those more traditional commentary sources, Rabbi Wittenberg weaves in personal interpretations and contemporary opinions, along with various mystic...

Numbers: (An Exegetical & Theological Bible Commentary - BCOT) by Mark A Awabdy My rating: 4 of 5 stars Numbers can be a bit challenges to read on your own; at least for me the mind numbing census data makes it hard to focus on what is important. This commentary is part of the Baker series on the Old Testament and was a welcome addition to my study of the Pentateuch. After a lengthy Introduction where the author provided context on History, Translations, Genres, Structure and Composition, each chapter broke it down a section from Numbers (typically chapter by chapter) into an overview, translation, interpretation and implications. I got the most out of the interpretation section; however, the others still very helpful in providing context or better understanding. The fact that this was not verse by verse interpretation and was written in very accessible language (limited theological buzz words/phrases) makes this a welcome addition for any study ...