The Weekly Wrap: March 1-7

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The Weekly Wrap: March 1-7

Reading as Work

I saw a comment on the “Book Threads” part of Threads in which someone was lamenting reading having become work. On reflection, it seemed that this was being said as a bad thing. Now, for many, reading is a leisure activity and if one is working at their leisure, that could be bad. I think this can particularly become the case if one is preoccupied with reading goals and metrics.

However, I’m one who does not think of work as inherently bad. And reading often is a part of many forms of work. Scholars read for research. Many leaders consider reading critical to their effectiveness. And for book reviewers, reading is essential to the work of writing a review. If reading is part of purposeful activity that is meaningful, then often the work and pleasure of reading go together.

There are also also books that are worth reading that involve something approaching work to read. They demand our full attention. We may even need to read them more than once, look at footnotes, or even check other references.

But I can see how reading like many other things can get out of hand. Two of this week’s articles concern our penchants for optimization and gamification. My sense is that these are destructive to flourishing as a reader. And flourishing is what I think matters.

Five Articles Worth Reading

Nicholas Clairmont explores our societal obsession with optimization in “The Enemy of the Good.”

On a related note, gamification may be a form of efforts to optimize our lives. We have apps to monitor and optimize our finances, to track our steps, and our exercise and our weight loss. We even have apps to track our reading. Many of us started gamifying reading in those library summer reading programs we did as kids. Marissa Levien explores “What We Lose When We Gamify Reading.”

Remember in The Graduate when Mr. McGuire advised Benjamin Braddock that the key to success could be summarized in one word: “Plastic”? As it turns out, plastics have turned out hugely successful for the petrochemical industry. But now, plastic is so ubiquitous that we average seven grams (the weight of a plastic spoon) of plastic in our brains. “Life in Plastic: It’s Not Fantastic” is a review of a new book by Beth Gardiner.

More fathers are staying at home to raise families. Eric Magnuson, a stay-at-home dad, surveyed the portrayal of stay-at-home dads in recent literature and contends “Literature Has a Stay-at-Home-Dad Problem.”

Finally, in “The Chronicler of Decline,” Ed Simon both profiles Edward Gibbon and explores the relevance of his signature work on the decline of the Roman empire to the United States on its 250th birthday.

Quote of the Week

Novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez was born on March 6, 1927. He observed:


“The heart’s memory eliminates the bad and magnifies the good.”

Miscellaneous Musings

At least some of my love of history, especially in my seventies, is recalling the events that occurred during my life. Gemini by Jeffrey Kluger recounts the history of the transition between the Mercury and Apollo programs. I was an avid follower of the space program and I even built a model of the Gemini capsule. I’m enjoying revisiting this history.

I’ve noticed that many great writers keep writing, even when their best work is in the past. I wonder if there is a time when writers, like aging baseball players, need to retire. Yet I also think of the unique perspective that may come with age. Though the writing wasn’t perhaps his best, I think of Wendell Berry’s Marce Catlett, which strikes me as an eloquent valedictory work, written when he was past 90.

I just began a wonderful new book on the Ascension of Christ. I found that I was delighting in the first forty pages with the sheer wonder of what Ross Hastings was setting forth as the significance of this often overlooked Christian belief. This is one I look forward to reviewing!

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: Jane Austen, Mansfield Park

Tuesday: Gregory R. Lanier and William A. Ross, The Authority of the Septuagint

Wednesday: Jeff Vandermeer, Annihilation

Thursday: Mark Goodacre, The Fourth Synoptic

Friday: N. T. Wright, The Vision of Ephesians

So, that’s The Weekly Wrap  for March 1-7.

Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page.

Review: Rereading Revelation

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Cover image of "Rereading Revelation" by Greg Carey

Rereading Revelation

Rereading Revelation, Greg Carey. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802878120) 2025.

Summary: A thematic exploration of Revelation’s dangerous call and encouragement to resist idolatrous imperial Rome.

We usually consider Revelation as the perplexing book with which we are both fascinated and yet unable to understand. In this work, Greg Carey, a scholar of the New Testament and of eschatological literature, makes a different assertion. He argues that Revelation was, and is, a dangerous book. In its setting, it was a call to the seven churches to resist the idolatrous power of imperial Rome. As he will elaborate, this had to do not merely with worship, but had social, economic, and political implications. He also finds it can be a dangerous book in its use of authoritarian and misogynistic language, as well as in the violence it portrays. While Revelation’s readers are never called to violence, its violent imagery may be used to legitimate violence.

Carey’s approach is not to offer a commentary on the book, nor propose a “system.” Rather, he thematically addresses a number of questions related to Revelation and its call for this dangerous resistance. The first chapter begins with what kind of book this is, apocalyptic, prophetic, or a letter. He contends that it is all three, basically a letter that unveils (apocalypse) the warfare between the Lamb and the beastly power of empire, calling believers to unequivocal loyalty to the Lamb.

That call to loyalty is one of authority, and in Chapter 2, Carey explores how a message that “carries absolute authority and brooks no dissent” cannot help but be seen as authoritarian. On one hand, he notes how John balances authoritarian and egalitarian statement, speaking as a brother. On the other hand, Carey also calls us to recognize those times where moral clarity and humble but unequivocal calling things for what they are is necessary.

Then Chapter 3 takes a step back and explores the Christology and Trinitarian relationships in Revelation. Remember that this preceded the conciliar statements on these matters. Regarding the Trinity, Carey explores references to the three persons yet notes a certain “blurring” in John’s references. However, with regard to Christ, he notes the focus on the Lion Lamb in the text and argues that the bloodied Lamb reflects not his enemies blood but conquest through his own death. Then Carey asks whether Revelation has an eschatology. He contends that it does not in any systematic sense. However, that does not exclude the portrayal of God’s victorious intervention in history nor the realities or resurrection, judgement, and the New Jerusalem.

Chapter 5 returns to the challenging call to the churches to total allegiance. Carey studies John’s use of pathos, of an appeal to emotion to move believers to resolved resistance. He uses direct address, anticipation and surprise, crisis rhetoric, aversion, and emulation in his appeal. In the midst of authoritarianism in our culture and the church, he weighs the ethics of the use of such rhetoric. Then in Chapter 6, he wrestles with the implications of that call given the extremes of wealth and poverty in the Roman empire. Faithfulness could be costly, certainly for the poor, and perhaps even more for the affluent enmeshed in economic relationships. Who had more to lose when absenting oneself from honoring idols of the emperor?

Chapter 7 explores gender and sexuality. One aspect of this chapter was to explore portrayals of women: Jezebel, the Woman clothed with the Sun, the prostitute, and the Bride. He wrestles with readings that find these idealized extremes misogynistic when real women are viewed in light of these. He also dips his toe into “queer” readings, noting some figures be interpreted beyond gender binaries. I found this aspect the least supported by the text.

Chapter 8 goes more deeply into the theme of violence. Again, without sanctioning violence on the part of readers, Carey acknowledges the violent language that many may shy away from and others use to justify violence. He observes the setting of the book amid a violent empire. And he would have us be aware of our longings for vindication against evil. Who of us is free of violence? Finally, Chapter 9 explores what resistance looks like. Beyond eschewing idolatry and violence, resistance on an everyday basis may likely have been faithful endurance and overcoming through faithful testimony, even in death.

Throughout, Carey is cognizant of both the horizon of the text and of contemporary readers, particularly in the United States and the West. He recognizes the misinterpretation of Revelation that endorses authoritarianism, violence, misogyny, and even idolatrous nationalism. He doesn’t dodge or gloss over the elements in John’s text that contribute to such misinterpretation.

At the same time, he draws out the unequivocal call of Revelation to total allegiance to Jesus and that believers overcome through faithful testimony and endurance, even martyrdom. They never overcome through violence. Nor do they overcome through political alliances with imperial power. In all this, Carey helps us wrestle deeply with the text and its implications for our own time.

_______________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking, Second Edition

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Cover image of "The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking, Second Edition" by Brooke Borel

The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking, Second Edition

The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking, Second Edition, Brooke Borel. The University of Chicago Press (ISBN: 9780226817897) 2023.

Summary: The why, what, and how of fact-checking, with guidance on sourcing and record-keeping.

Any non-fiction work builds a story out of facts, whether a news piece, an opinion piece, a magazine article or blog post, a podcast, or a biography, or work of history. While a story reflects the narrative art of the writer, the integrity or truthfulness of the story depends on how solid is the foundation of facts. Fact-checking is essential, whether done by a writer, editor, or professional fact-checker, if indeed the integrity of the piece matters. Our “post truth” era makes this work all the more vital.

The Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing are key reference works for the publishing industry. In this work, Brooke Borel breaks down the why, what, and how of fact-checking. Borel’s experience is in the area of fact-checking for scientific publishing but she also is an award winning journalist and has been articles editor at Undark. The first edition of this work was released in 2016. Since then, the media landscape has drastically changed with new audio and video media, social media and the rise of AI. All these pose new challenges for identifying false information.

She begins with the question of why it matters. In addition to the importance of accurate information to our society, the reputations of writers and publishers depend on good fact-checking. In addition, when stories negatively affect the reputation of a person or organization, there are significant legal liabilities. Accurate facts backed by good sources and documentation mean the difference between huge damage settlements and vindication.

So, what facts ought one check? The short answer is everything. This includes the spelling of names and places, numbers and statistics, quotes, and even what one thinks one knows is true. The author includes a lengthy list. In other words, everything. Later, the author provides a sample story to fact check. The exercise is to identify everything to be fact-checked in a roughly 400 word article. Her answer key included 129 items!

Then, how does one go about this? She goes into the greatest depth with magazine articles, where dedicated fact-checkers are most often employed. The process includes reading, identifying sources, marking facts, triaging facts, tracking and documenting, reporting, and checking each version. She discusses how this varies with different media and how one works with books, where fact-checking is usually the author’s responsibility. She offers helpful ideas for navigating relationships with writers and publishers. While she doesn’t endorse being one’s own fact-checker, she recognizes that on many budgets, this is necessary and gives tips for doing it well.

Chapter four is a deep dive into the kinds of facts one may check and how one goes about it. She includes information on polling data, product claims, images, and sensitive subjects like trauma and abuse. She also offers counsel on litigious material and handling plagiarism. Chapter five builds on this, discussing primary and secondary sourcing, and evaluating the quality of sources. Finally, Borel discusses record-keeping, vitally important if someone subsequently challenges a fact.

Two other features add to the usefulness of this book. One is the “pro tips” interspersed through the text. The other is the “Think like a fact-checker” exercises throughout the text. This culminates with two exercises: identifying all the facts in a story (mentioned earlier) and going through a list of sources to classify them as primary or secondary and high or low quality.

I am one who both recognizes that discerning the truth in a set of facts is not always easy and that truth-seeking takes us on a asymptotic curve toward the truth. But this is only as good as the facts, the data we are working with. More than that, if being a truthful person, who lives with integrity matters, then facts matter.

What is humbling about this book is its honesty. What counts as a fact? Just about everything. Anything I assert or re-post on social media, anything I write on this blog, anything I teach in my church or advocate in the public square. And what about the things I read and watch? Will I always get it right? Probably not. But if I care about that, this book shows me the disciplined, rigorous work of learning to think like a fact-checker. It all comes down to neither believing nor being a party to promoting lies. It all comes down to wanting to live truthfully.

Review: Book and Dagger

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Cover image of "Book and Dagger" by Elyse Graham

Book and Dagger

Book and Dagger, Elyse Graham. Ecco Books (ISBN: 9780063280847) 2025.

Summary: The contribution of scholars and librarians to undercover and intelligence operations during World War II.

James Bond they were not. They were Ivy League academics. Among them were literature professors, historians, librarians, and archivists. But they played a critical role for a nation desperately in need of an intelligence service.

When Pearl Harbor was attacked and the United States found itself in a global conflict, government leaders recognized our profound lack of good intelligence. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was formed, the predecessor to today’s CIA. One of the decisions they made was that academics were people good at ferreting out information. They knew how to spend time in archives and make sense out of disparate and sometimes apparently insignificant sources like a phone book or a newspaper ad or even trash. As researchers, their vocation also allowed them to go undercover to find that information.

Elyse Graham focuses her story around three of these academics. Joseph Curtiss was a literature professor who was able to recruit a network of German double agents in Turkey. Adele Kibre was a single archivist who went to Stockholm to acquire critical information about German plans, using charm when needed to dupe those who didn’t think a woman librarian could be a spy. Meanwhile, Sherman Kent, a historian, pioneered and led research and analysis efforts, sifting through mountains of information to create actionable intelligence.

Graham describes the training agents underwent. The goal was to survive capture for 48 hours. However, this wasn’t the time until rescue, but rather the time for other agents to evacuate to safety. Of course, there was the cyanide capsule. Along the way, Graham describes a number of operations, including a raid on a Norwegian heavy water plant. She also describes all the intelligence disinformation efforts surrounding D-Day. Consequently, a number of German resources were elsewhere.

Here is an example of what academics could accomplish. A group from Yale went to the library and from publicly available information reconstructed over 90 percent of the U.S. military’s order of battle and strategic plans. All of this was supposed to be classified. Other analysts studied returning bombers to recommend where to put extra shielding from anti-aircraft fire. They noticed that engines didn’t suffer a lot of hits. Counter-intuitively, that’s where they recommended shielding. Bombers with engine hits didn’t return.

My one criticism of the book is that the author included so many stories that didn’t involve Curtiss, Kibre, and Kent, that one lost the thread of the narrative of their experiences. Not that the stories weren’t interesting. It’s just that after a while, it felt like one story after another that proved the author’s thesis rather than developing the narrative.

However, the thesis itself is worth noting. The scholars turned spies were so successful because of the disciplines they developed as scholars. Graham lists these:

“How to sift through paper evidence like newspapers, leaflets, and novels. How to gather clues from unlikely sources like advertisements and society columns. How to read a lot in just a little time. How to look at a pile of cracked and curling pages and see a treasure hunt. How to evaluate claims. How to tell stories. How to come up with audacious methods of solving problems using unlikely data: figuring out military secrets, say, by tracking ball bearings, or railroad rates, or the serial numbers of tank components. How to make arguments that aren’t merely summaries of what has been said, but that say something new. How to understand another country–because the past, too, is another country–on its own terms” (p. 297).

Graham doesn’t pass up the current relevance of this lesson from history. Scholars, especially from the humanities, are routinely disparaged. Yet doesn’t this story demonstrate that there is a kind of intelligence that we ignore at our peril? Thankfully, there were leaders during World War II who recognized the importance of such intelligence and people who had cultivated the intellectual discipline it required.

Review: Reading the Bible with Ten Church Fathers

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Cover image of "Reading the Bible with Ten Church Father" by Gerald Bray

Reading the Bible with Ten Church Father

Reading the Bible with Ten Church Father, Gerald Bray. Baker Books (ISBN: 9781540905147) 2026.

Summary: How the generations after the apostles interpreted and preached the Bible.

One of the things any growing Christian aspires to is to better read and understand the Bible. Gerald Bray believes that is one of the reasons why we should learn how the early church fathers read, understood and preached the Bible. We follow in the footsteps of two millenia of Christians and the ten church fathers profiled here were among the first. Not only that, what they understood and taught played a crucial role in the formation of the church’s understanding of key doctrines. They contributed, even in their disagreements, to clarifying what we believe about the Trinity and the person of Christ. And, yes, they differed. But even their differences helped shape the church’s interpretive practices.

In this readable account, theologian Gerald Bray offers a concise biography of each of the ten fathers, highlighting their works and how they read scripture, and what this means for us. For example:

Justin Martyr was an apologist to the Jews. He argued for the idea that all scripture pointed to Christ but that the Jews had failed to see this. His Dialogue with Trypho and how the two men concluded is a model of respectful dialogue.

Origen was the first to write commentaries and practice careful textual criticism. He set forth principles of interpretation and guarded against excessive spiritualization of the biblical text, yet used the literal sense as a basis for allegorizing scripture.

Gregory of Nyssa came from a family of theologians with older brother Basil and sister Macrina. He stressed God’s initiative through the Incarnate Word, Jesus, and the written word of scripture. He not only contributed to the formulation of God as one in nature and three hypostases. Gregory sets forth Abraham as the archetype of faith.

Ambrosiaster is a kind of “mystery man” among the church fathers. However, he left us with commentaries on Paul’s letters and a discussion of questions of interpretation of the whole Bible.

John Chrysostom was known for his preaching, eventually being elevated to patriarch of Constantinople before become embroiled in controversy and exiled. He sees scripture as God’s accommodation to the limits of human understanding. John described Old Testament prophets as sowers and the New Testament apostles as reapers. He believed salvation to be for all people and modeled diligent exposition of the whole of scripture.

Theodore of Mopsuestia was a friend of John Chrysostom. He was a monastic and scholar, writing commentaries on most of the Bible and rejecting fanciful allegorization for literal reading of the text. He got in trouble after his death for his views of the two hypostases of Christ.

Jerome is best known for his Latin translation of the Bible, known as the Vulgate, based on the Hebrew Masoretic text rather than the Septuagint. He was a model of careful translation that returned to the sources as well as an author of several commentaries.

Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo in north Africa models the work of a theologian grounded in the biblical text, confronting both the Donatist schism and Pelagianism.

Cyril of Alexandria met the challenge of Nestorianism over Christology. He read the Old Testament as history that pointed to Christ, a pioneer of typological reading. Cyril also modeled the theological interpretation of the New Testament, particularly the gospel of John. He was clear in proclaiming Jesus as God incarnate who, divine and human in one person, died for our salvation.

Theoderet of Cyrrhus was a disciple of Theodore of Mopsuestia, but models for us the willingness to be convinced by scripture that the ideas of Christology he received from Theodore were inadequate and that the Chalcedonian account was truer to the text of scripture.

This is a wonderfully concise introduction to the fathers, suitable for a class or personal study. Reflection questions help the reader discern the relevance of each father for today. They also recognize the timeless questions with which both they and we must wrestle. Each chapter also includes texts for further reading on each father.

Bray helps us realize the crucial role these fathers played in clarifying orthodox belief. Not only that, he helps us see how they grounded the defense of the faith in scripture carefully interpreted. Bray encourages us to give thanks for their lives, anticipating the day we will be in eternal communion with them at the table of the Lamb.

_______________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

The Month in Reviews: February 2026

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Cover image of "Christ in Our Midst"

The Month in Reviews: February 2026

Introduction

What a great month of reading! There were a number of stellar reads in this group. For example, a book on prayer by Eugene Peterson and three Lenten devotionals. Then there was a wonderful and short children’s book on God’s love for us and an incredibly long but rich study on how early Christians used the Old Testament. I also gained new perspectives from studies of motherhood in the New Testament and of women in Ezra-Nehemiah, as well as from a study of five ordinary heroes who pursued racial justice. Among the outstanding books of the month was a pastoral theology for those working with those bereaved by the suicide of loved ones.

In addition, I delighted in a novel centered in the life of trees and a non-fiction narrative of the life of rivers. I enjoyed another installment of Terry Pratchett, the first volume of Murderbot, and a Michael Innes mystery.

I cannot conclude without mentioning First Nations Version Psalms and Proverbs. The translations of familiar passages into the idioms of the First nations peoples continues to open these scriptures to me in fresh ways.

The Reviews

Answering God, Eugene H. Peterson. Harper One (ISBN: 9780060665128) 1991. Contends that the Psalms, explored here, are necessary instruction in prayer, understood as answering the God who addresses us. Review

You Can Trust a God with Scars, Jared Ayers. NavPress (ISBN: 978164158-9963) 2025. For those wondering if God can be trusted, a study of the story of God’s intimate understanding of suffering. Review

Under Her Wings, Jennifer Houston McNeel. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802885081) 2025. A comprehensive study of the mothers mentioned in the New Testament as well as references to motherhood. Review

Mort (Discworld, Number 4, Death, Number 1), Terry Pratchett. Harper Paperbacks (ISBN: 9780063393233) 2025 (first published in 1987). Mort is apprenticed to Death, who collects dying souls. However, Mort messes up the timeline when he saves a princess, killing her assassin. Review

The Murderbot Diaries Vol. 1 (Diaries Number 1 and 2), Martha Wells. Tordotcom (ISBN: 9781250389824) 2025 (contains works published in 2017 and 2018). The first two novellas in the Murderbot series, All Systems Red and Artificial Condition. Review

God Chose Me!, Lexa Hale, illustrated by Dana Regan. Paraclete Press (ISBN: 9781640609778) 2026. For children 0-3, affirming that they are God’s loving, good creation just the way they are and that their worth is in God. Review

First Nations Version Psalms and Proverbs, Terry M. Wildman, lead translator with First Nations Version Translation Council. InterVarsity Press (ISBN: 9781514007273) 2025. A true translation using idioms of the indigenous peoples of North America. Review

There Came Both Snow and Mist (Sir John Appleby Number 6), Michael Innes. Open Road Integrated Media (ISBN: 9781504092074) 2024 (first published in 1940). A gathering of Sir Basil Roper’s extended family and friends is marred when his nephew is shot in his study. Review

God, Where Are You?, Dominique Young. NavPress (ISBN: 9798898020217) 2026. In the midst of pain, God may seem distant. Healing begins when we drop our masks, discovering God’s love and presence. Review

Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter (Second Edition), editors at Plough Publishing. Plough Publishing (ISBN: 9780874869262) 2026. A collection of 96 readings from writers throughout church history spanning the season from Ash Wednesday to Pentecost. Review

Meeting God in John: Inspiration and Encouragement from the Fourth Gospel, David F. Ford. Brazos Press (ISBN: 9781587437069) 2026. A Lenten devotional, offering reflections from John’s gospel on meeting God as he is revealed in Jesus. Review

Christ in Our Midst, Editors at Paraclete Press with chant by The Gloriae Dei Cantores Schola. Paraclete Press (ISBN: 9798893480283) 2025. An artfully designed Lenten daily devotional incorporating chant, scripture, reflections, and journaling questions. Review

Is a River Alive?, Robert McFarlane. W.W. Norton & Co. (ISBN: 9781324130734) 2025. A nature writer weighs the question of rivers as living entities with rights as he explores three river systems. Review

In the Stillness, Waiting, Nicholas Worssam, SFF. Liturgical Press (ISBN: 9798400802317) 2025. The wisdom of Eastern Orthodox saints on contemplative discipleship reflected in the Jesus Prayer. Review

Israel’s Scriptures in Early Christian Writings, edited by Matthias Henze and David Lincicum. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802874443) 2023. How Jewish scriptures were used in the New Testament and in other early Christian writings. Review

Suicide and the Communion of Saints, Rhonda Mawhood Lee. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802884718) 2025. A healing approach for those affected by suicide, addressing traditional Christian teaching. Review

Ezra-Nehemiah (Wisdom Commentary, 14) Deborah Ann Appler and Terry Ann Smith. Liturgical Press (ISBN: 9780814681138) 2025. A feminist commentary with background and intersectional analysis of power, ethnicity, race, class, and gender in the text. Review

The Overstory, Richard Powers. W. W. Norton & Co. (ISBN: 9780393356687) 2018. Eight stories of nine people who lives intersect with trees and forests, whose lives, deaths, and survival are the real story. Review

Ordinary Heroes of Racial Justice, Karen J. Johnson. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514009987) 2025. Histories of five individuals and the communities they formed to pursue racial justice and reconciliation. Review

Best Book of the Month

Christ in our Midst is an outstanding Lenten devotional. It integrates scripture readings, thoughtful reflections, journaling prompts and Gregorian chant (via QR code) into a rich devotional experience. In addition. the book includes tasteful line drawings, is printed on quality paper, with a ribbon marker. A feast for the eyes, ears, and heart.

Quote of the Month

Earlier, I mentioned the First Nations Version Psalms and Proverbs. In order to give you just a taste, here is Psalm 1:1-2:

Harmony and well-being rest on those who do not walk the path of the bad-hearted, the ones who do notstand with those who stir up disharmony, those who will not sit in a circle where others are spoken of with scorn and disrespect.

Instead, they take joy in Grandfather’s clear instructions. As the sun and the moon circle the sky, they think deeply about his ways.

(First Nations Version, copyright ©2021, 2025 by Rain Ministries Inc. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL. All rights reserved.)

What I’m Reading

I have a couple books, I’m just beginning: The Fourth Synoptic Gospel: John’s Knowledge of Matthew, Mark, and Luke by Mark Goodacre and a classic sci-fi by Fritz Leiber, Gather, Darkness. The Goodacre book is one of several recently published positing a greater dependence upon the Synoptics by John than previously thought. The Culture of Interpretation: Christian Faith and the Postmodern World by Roger Lundin is now something of a classic, published in 1993. In lucid prose, he offers a thoughtful Christian critique not only of post-modernism but its reflection in contemporary culture. Also in the sci-fi genre is Jeff Vandermeer’s Annihilation, an account of four women investigating “Area X.” Things ended badly for previous teams, including the one the narrator’s husband was on. Finally, I’m reading Jazz Trash, a fiction work by Michael S. Moore, an Ohio author whose previous work, Crumpled Paper, I loved.

By the way, I just finished Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen, part of my Jane Austen reading goal. Look for a review soon to see what I thought.

The Month in Reviews is my monthly review summary going back to 2014! It’s a great way to browse what I’ve reviewed. The search box on this blog also works well if you are looking for a review of a particular book. Thanks for stopping by. and feel free to share this with others!

The Weekly Wrap: February 22-28

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The Weekly Wrap: February 22-28

Intelligence

I look for juxtapositions in my life. This week I’ve been reading of Anthropic’s unwillingness to give the Pentagon unfettered use of its Artificial Intelligence tools. That seems a scary proposition to me and I’m glad that Anthropic, so far, has resisted.

I also just finished reading Elyse Graham’s Book and Dagger. It’s the story of how our government recruited nerdy academics to play a key role in the nascent OSS, the predecessor to the CIA, during World War 2. Someone figured out two things about these people. One was that they weren’t bored by spending long hours searching for information in dusty archives. The other was that they had an uncanny ability to recognize the important information to be gleaned from mundane things like phone books, railway schedules, flyers and ticket stubs.

They also had the ability to look at problems from different angles, and sometimes arrive at counter-intuitive solutions. For example, they were given the task of figuring which parts of bombers should be reinforced against anti-aircraft fire. They studied bombers returning from runs and noticed lots of holes in fuselages, wings, and tails. Did they recommend reinforcing those areas? No. Instead, they recommended reinforcing the engines, even though they found few bullet holes in them. Why? Planes survived the other damage. There weren’t any with lots of bullet holes to engines. Those didn’t return.

This is an age that seems to devalue academics, and exalt computers. While I believe computers have their place, I wonder if the different kind of intelligence of humans will continue to be vital, in war or peace. Who knows what dogged researchers and analysts might uncover? Who knows what that booknerd might find? I just hope someone is intelligent enough to notice.

Five Articles Worth Reading

A number of years ago, I was in the audience for a fascinating debate between a theist and an atheist. One of the most interesting admissions for the atheist was that the problem of explaining the origins of consciousness was the most difficult problem for his beliefs. David Eagleman states in “Michael Pollan Wants to Know Where Consciousness Comes From” that “A coherent explanation of consciousness eludes modern science.” Pollan’s book is A World Appears and this review makes me want to check it out.

This week, Antonio Melechi explores the other side of our mental life in “Daydreamers and Sleepwalkers: Crossing the Borderlands of the Unconscious.” Fascinatingly, this also continues to be a mystery to the greatest minds.

Ann Godoff died this week. I didn’t recognize the name, but she was the long-time editor and founder at Penguin Press. Among the authors whose work she edited were Ron Chernow, Zadie Smith, Salman Rushdie, and Thomas Pynchon. In “The Ruthless Benevolence of a Great Editor,” Franklin Foer profiles her and describes his own experience of her as his editor.

Then I also learned that Michael Greenblatt died last week. Michael Who? Jynne Dilling asserts in “You’ve Done It Again, Michael” that Michael Greenblatt was the greatest reader of our generation. He recorded 48,000+ minutes of interviews with a Who’s Who of authors, and when he did this, he read everything each author wrote.

Finally, Thomas Pynchon’s name has already been mentioned here in connection with Ann Godoff. Whatever one’s experience of reading him, he’s one of the major authors of my generation. This is the year I’ve decided to try to read him. This profile, “It’s Thomas Pynchon’s America,” sets the corpus of his work in helpful perspective for me.

Quote of the Week

A Clockwork Orange author Anthony Burgess was born February 25, 1917. I got a laugh out of this quote:

“Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone.”

Miscellaneous Musings

I inherited from my mother what is now an over century old set of the works of Balzac that she loved as a young girl. While I’m not planning a trip to Paris, Michael Robbins “City of Blights” describes his Balzac pilgrimage through Paris. Is this a cue that it’s time to read Balzac?

Spring training for Major League Baseball began in mid-February and the season opens in just under a month, on March 26. That means it is time to find my baseball book of the year. Any suggestions?

As I go on with Mansfield Park, I find myself not rooting so much for Fanny as wondering when she and Edmund will wake up to their love for each other and why no one else sees this (at least as far as I’ve gotten). Yes, they were first cousins, but first cousins are not banned from marrying in Georgian England.

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: The Month in Reviews: February 2026

Tuesday: Gerald L. Bray, Reading the Bible with Ten Church Fathers

Wednesday: Elyse Graham, Book and Dagger

Thursday: Brooke Borel, The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking

Friday: Greg Carey, Rereading Revelation

So, that’s The Weekly Wrap  for February 22-28.

Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page.

Review: Ordinary Heroes of Racial Justice

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Cover image of "Ordinary Heroes of Racial Justice" by Karen J. Johnson

Ordinary Heroes of Racial Justice

Ordinary Heroes of Racial Justice, Karen J. Johnson. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514009987) 2025.

Summary: Histories of five individuals and the communities they formed to pursue racial justice and reconciliation.

Heroes who do that to which we aspire are important as models. It’s even better when they are “ordinary,” because they offer hope that we can also be the change we want to see. Part of “ordinary” is understanding our heroes, both in their virtues and with all their warts. There is a difference between hagiography and good history.

Karen J. Johnson has written a history of four communities in the United States that pursued racial justice and reconciliation. She profiles the individual (in the first three) or pair of individuals (In the last instance) who formed these communities. Those profiled are Catherine de Hueck and the Friendship Houses of New York and Chicago, John Perkins and Mendenhall Ministries/Voice of Calvary in Mississippi, Clarence Jordan and Koinonia Farm in Americus, Georgia, and Raleigh Washington and Glen Kehrein at Rock of our Salvation/Circle Urban Ministries in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago.

Johnson is a historian of race and urban history and chair of the history department at Wheaton College. In addition, she and her husband lived for six years in the last of the four communities she profiles, albeit after the departure of its founders. She writes the book with three aims in mind. First, she writes about the recent racial past of the United States, identifying in these local histories larger, systemic patterns of racial dynamics, and how the church has been a part of these. Through the eyes of Catherine de Heuck, a Catholic refugee from Russia and naturalized citizen, we glimpse her vision of how Blacks were treated as second class citizens. John Perkins flees the racist South after his brother’s murder, then returns, having come to faith, to join the civil rights movement. He suffers and also models relocation, something he will preach.

Clarence Jordan challenges racial norms in establishing an interracial farm community at Koinonia Farm. As a Bible scholar, his Cotton Patch New Testament shows in the vernacular how the gospel goes against the grain of racism. Finally, when Raleigh and Paulette Washington joined Glen and Lonni Kehrein to build a multiracial congregation, they modeled how Black and White might live together in a recently integrated part of Chicago.

Second, Johnson models the work of doing history as a Christian with love, humility, and awe. She sees the hard work of piecing together a narrative from primary source material, on site visits, and interviews as a work of love, including love for the people whose lives you are narrating. This also means being honest. For example, former President Jimmy Carter claimed a long-standing relationship with Clarence Jordan. However, her search of various sources failed to confirm this relationship.

Third, Johnson believes the study of history with love, humility and awe leads to wisdom. In particular, it makes us aware that we live in a context. That context has been shaped by the past. And it shapes our default approaches to the present. She believes reading history in this way is worship and mind renewing (Romans 12:1-2).

As a good professor, she includes a “Questions and Implications” section at the conclusion of each chapter. These are not the vague, reflection questions you will find in some book. Rather, they reminded me of the essay questions I had to answer on college and seminary history exams. They forced me to formulate my own responses to the historical narrative. Your interaction with this text will be enhanced by taking some time to journal with these.

I appreciated this work for the quality of research Johnson invested. Her personal model of love, humility, and awe in writing about each of these ordinary heroes is evident throughout. She helped me appreciate the different forms of courage each exercised as well as the “long obedience” involved, punctuated with dry seasons and reverses. And I loved the carefully chosen images she included. For example, she includes an image of Clarence Jordan’s “shack” where he wrote his Cotton Patch translations and where he died. This work is a valuable resource for anyone committed to the long work of seeking racial justice.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: The Overstory

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Cover image of "The Overstory" by Richard Powers

The Overstory

The Overstory, Richard Powers. W. W. Norton & Co. (ISBN: 9780393356687) 2018.

Summary: Eight stories of nine people who lives intersect with trees and forests, whose lives, deaths, and survival are the real story.

I missed this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel when it was first published. But it kept surfacing in friends’ recommendations until I finally picked up a copy. While the story revolves around nine people, it is really the story of trees in North America, the wonder of their existence, and their plight. The novel’s organization into four parts reflects this focus: Roots, Trunk, Crown, Seeds.

In “Roots” we meet nine people in eight stories (one is a couple). In each story, their lives intersect in some ways. They range from a hearing-impaired botanist ahead of her time in discovering how trees communicate, dismissed for many years by the scientific community to a Vietnam vet whose life is saved in a plane crash by a tree. We meet a couple planted a tree in their backyard each anniversary until they began to drift apart. They are on the point of a divorce when he has a stroke. She stays and they bond over studying the forest in their backyard, including the scientist’s book. Another is an Indian boy, paralyzed when he fell from a tree, who invents a hugely successful online game while another engineer is radicalized when the tree outside her office is cut down.

In “Trunk” their stories begin to connect, like the roots of trees in a forest. Five become environmental activists, part of a movement engaged in increasingly risky actions to stop logging companies, including a couple living an amazing existence on a high platform in an old redwood marked for harvesting. Meanwhile, other researchers vindicate the botanist’s research. As an expert, she testifies in attempts to block logging. In the end, money wins over truth.

“Crown” follows a climactic event that resulted in the death of one of the activists and the dispersal of the others, and the subsequent lives of others, and in some cases, their deaths. “Seeds” describes the ways the survivors find meaning as the destruction of forests and our eco-system continues.

Woven through the account are trees. There is the chestnut on an Iowa farm that survived the blight killing all the trees in the east. A farm family chronicles in images its growth over several generations. The scientist travels the world, harvesting seeds, to create a kind of “ark”. A psych researcher is transformed into a radical after a night high up in a redwood. Especially through the scientist, we learn of the wondrous life of trees and the community they form in a forest.

It is this aspect that makes the book so compelling. The novel makes me look at the trees in my own yard differently, including the roots I encounter when I dig in most parts of the yard. It also raises an existential question. How does one live, when we seem hell-bent on destroying the very things on which our lives depend?

Review: Ezra-Nehemiah

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Cover image of "Ezra-Nehemiah" by Deborah Ann Appler and Terry Ann Smith

Ezra-Nehemiah

Ezra-Nehemiah (Wisdom Commentary, 14) Deborah Ann Appler and Terry Ann Smith. Liturgical Press (ISBN: 9780814681138) 2025.

Summary: A feminist commentary with background and intersectional analysis of power, ethnicity, race, class, and gender in the text.

The Wisdom Commentary series from Liturgical Press is dedicated to feminist interpretation of biblical texts. This includes foregrounding texts involving women but also brings feminist analysis in a broader sense to the whole of a text. And this means noting the hidden presence of women in places where the text is silent and the cultural situation of women. In addition, feminist interpretation includes an intersectional analysis of not only gender dynamics but also the intersection of power and authority, race and ethnicity, and class in a given text. This is important in the study of Ezra-Nehemiah. While women are mostly absent in the text, power, class, and ethnicity play an important part. Often, other commentaries overlook this.

I will note a few other general features. One is the inclusion of the NRSVue text in the commentary. The second is the treatment of the text in blocks rather than verse by verse. Finally, there is a commitment to interpretive and religious pluralism in the text. Additional contributors offer their own perspectives at various points. For example, in the Nehemiah commentary on sabbath, Rabbi Sonja K. Pilz offers her interpretation and reading of Kabbalat Shabbat (Welcoming Sabbath)

In my review, I will highlight several of the illuminating discussions in the commentary. The first concerned the gender identity of Nehemiah. The commentators raise the question of whether Nehemiah, as a court official, was a eunuch. This may provide one explanation for his expressed unworthiness to enter the temple. We can’t know for sure, but it is plausible.

A larger issue is the power dynamics between Persia and the repatriates. Likewise, consider the relationship of repatriates, empowered by Persia, to the indigenous people, both Jewish and non-Jewish. The commentators read the conflicts in Ezra and Nehemiah not merely as an effort to maintain identity and purity. They also explore the assertion of power by the arriving repatriates that upsets working relationships among the indigenous inhabitants of the land. They raise questions about the exclusory use of power of the repatriates.

These factors also come into play in the texts in both Ezra and Nehemiah involving separating and sending away the foreign wives and their children of Jewish men. The commentators read this “against the grain” of typical assertions of religious and ethnic identity. It is an early form of family separation in which the women had no voice. The commentators raise the question of other exceptions made for foreign women, including Ruth the Moabitess.

Ruth strike me as an interesting case. Ruth clearly renounces her Moabite identity and religion to embrace that of Naomi. We do not know whether this was the case with any of the foreign wives or whether this was an option. Could there have been a “path to citizenship” that allowed for these thing? Instead, there was a categorical and draconian exclusion on several occasions.

While I could not accept every interpretation of the authors, I found this commentary opening new dimensions of what I thought was a well-known text. I appreciated the readability of the text, and setting the biblical text alongside the commentary. At the same time, scholarship was not sacrificed for readability, particularly as it concerned cultural backgrounds. I’m grateful for the growing number of commentaries by women, people of color, and from those representing different parts of the church. Too late, I have realized the cultural blinders I’ve lived with. It’s time to prepare to join that great community of every people of every identity who will be praising and proclaiming the Lamb.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.