5 comments about Seeing through Zen: Encounter, Transformation, and Genealogy in Chinese Chan Buddhism (Philip E. Lilienthal Book in Asian Studies).

1. Separating fact from fiction in history is problematic at best. Religious history is especially difficult as there are many stakeholders propogating certain lines of belief and practice. McRae's book strips away much of the mythology of the development of Chan/Zen from the time of Bodhidharma through to the Song Dynasty (ca. 950-1300) in China. This demythologizing is sure to upset some Zen practioners and teachers whose faith in Zen Buddhism is intimately tied to an idealised version of Zen's history.
   McRae not only presents a refreshing view of the Chan lineage charts and their role in the development of Zen's history, but also gives a detailed analysis of the Northern/Southern Schools split and the development of "encounter dialogues", which laid the foundation for koans. Along the way, he takes a swipe at Heinrich Dumoulin's interpretation of Zen history, the Platform Sutra as history (it never happened), and even the idea that Chan was a distinct and separate Buddhist school in ancient China. For those whose faith is based on these colourful but historically inaccurate myths, this book will be troubling and thought-provoking.
   McRae and other academics in the field are providing a valuable service to Buddhism's migration from the East to the West and books such as this one should be required reading in Zen centres around the world. McRae tackles the issues with a light touch and even non-experts in the field should have little difficulty in reading this. I highly recommend this book to all who are interested in Zen's true history.
   (...)



2. Studies of this type were perhaps inevitable. Following in the footsteps of Dr.Hu Shih, John McRae questions the 'orthodox' in-terpretation of Ch'an (Zen) history. Like many others, however, I feel that he has made too much of certain arguments. Some things may be less than clear, about the early Ch'an tradition and its geneologies etc. However, the primary sources which shaped the Ch'an tradition - the T'ang masters, were very real people - and, for the most part - what has come down to us today - in their records, is a faithful reflection of what they had to teach.
   
   John McRae makes much of 'sectarian' identities - but, did the T'ang masters encourage people to cling to such things? Masters like Ma-tsu and Shih-t'ou used to send their disciples back and forth, between each other's temples. Like Hu-shih, John McRae is keen to make it known that figures such as Hui-neng were made to bolster an 'ideological' position but, in actual fact, Hui-neng's Altar Sutra includes the story of his encounter with Yung-chia, a joint T'ien-tai/Ch'an master. Given John McRae's position, we should expect to find a 'triumphalist' account of Ch'an here - but, it actually acknowledges that Yung-chia was enlightened - and that he could hold his own - with Hui-neng. So - where's the obsession with 'sectarian' identities? The Ch'uan Teng Lu (Transmission of the Lamp) - technically a 'Ch'an-school' document, contains the records of several T'ien-tai masters.
   
   John McRae dismisses almost everything about Hui-neng as a fiction- but, if he cares to visit to Pao-lin temple one day, not far from Canton, he will find Hui-neng's body, seated in the meditation posture. It has been there since 713, interestingly enough - in proximity to the body of an Indian master, who had predicted Hui-neng's birth and future career. Are the Buddhists who venerate this place - misguided fools? When it comes to it, the Ch'an school has not occupied the narrow horizons suggested in John McRae's account. You will find people practicing 'Pure Land meditation in Ch'an temples - and Master Yung-Ming wrote his monumental 'Tsung Ching Lu' (Record of the Source-Mirror), helping to explicate how all Buddhist teachings - as 'upaya' can be harmonised in the 'One Mind.' This affords a perspective quite different to that presented in John McRae's account. By default, perhaps, people now discriminate - and cling to sectarian identities. But is there a single T'ang master - on record, telling us to 'cling' to anything?



3. McRae is truly an engaging scholar. Not only are his topics intriguing, but his writing style is smooth, accessible, and clear. Seeing Though Zen was a solid treatment of commonly misunderstood aspects of Chan (chinese zen). He fills the reader in on important aspects of the development of Chan without an over-burdening assessment the factors involved (that's what the bibliography is for), but he also treats the major 20th-century scholarship on Zen which accounts for these misunderstandings. I would have liked more of a "step into the beyond" in the conclusion, but I guess I'll have to wait for the Shen-hui work.



4. As a Zen priest who is also an academic, I am frequently frustrated both by scholarly books on religion that dismiss practitioners' perspectives, and by religiously oriented books that accept religious claims uncritically. In Seeing Through Zen, John McRae synthesizes a great deal of recent scholarship on Ch'an (Zen) and shows that many of its central claims -- an unbroken lineage of patriarchs, the biographies of key figures such as Bodhidharma and the Sixth Patriarch Huineng, a "golden age" of iconoclastic masters during the Tang Dynasty -- are not "true" in the modern historical sense. At the same time, McRae's first rule of Zen studies is: "It's not true, therefore it's more important." His careful scholarship is balanced by sensitivity to the religious meanings and the institutional value of these myths for Ch'an/Zen practitioners. I highly recommend this book to academic students and religious practitioners of Zen.
   The book opens with four axioms for Zen studies that can be applied usefully to almost any historical study. The subsequent analysis focuses on the Ch'an lineage and the literature of "encounter dialogue" (koans). McRae helps readers to understand the content of Ch'an myth and doctrine, the process by which it developed, and the ways it shaped the religious identities of institutions and individual practitioners.
   He cautions readers not to accept portrayals of heroes or villains at face value, but to look beneath the rhetoric to what's at stake in their portrayals: whose interests are being served, and how? He also cautions against assuming that the more precise a Zen story is, in details of place and time, the earlier it is likely be. In fact, the opposite is more likely. The details of Bodhidharma's life, for example, accumulated gradually over a thousand years. His identity was continually reinvented by successive generations of practitioners, according to their religious identities and ideals. Likewise, the teachings of many great Tang Dynasty masters were attributed to them retrospectively by later generations of students. This does not mean, however, that the mytho-poetic accounts are worthless. They tell us about the concerns and aspirations of the people who developed them, and help us to think more carefully about the religious claims of our own era and institutions.
   Western Zen is often built on misunderstandings of the tradition, in part because of the vast divide between our culture and that of Song Dynasty China, when many elements of Zen tradition took shape. For modern practitioners, it is not possible to do a careful and thoughtful job of interpreting Zen tradition for our own circumstances if we accept traditional stories unquestioningly in a literal, fundamentalist way. McRae offers helpful resources for re-thinking the tradition.
   The book does have some limitations: it pays almost no attention to gender; and it focuses almost entirely on texts, rather than on, say, archaeology, religious objects, or art, all of which tell us something about how religious traditions were actually lived. The focus on texts is a bias of western Buddhist studies that has been critiqued in recent decades, because religious literature may tell us more about what elites thought practitioners should do and believe, than about what practitioners actually did. McRae also might have drawn more connections between Indian and Chinese traditions: the question-and-answer format of koan literature, for example, seems reminiscent of The Questions of King Milinda.
   Despite these constraints, Seeing Through Zen is an engaging, accessible, highly informative book that demonstrates both rigorous scholarship and sympathy for the people he studies. This is a difficult balance, and McRae accomplishes it with flair.



5. In this book John McRae intends to write a history of Chan Buddhism in a manner different from his predecessors. He begins with a short list of rules he has come up with for studying Zen. These rules involve reading stories for content instead of truth, being untrusting of lineage assertions, taking facts and details as tell-tale signs of inaccuracy, and reading stories through realism. These rules create the basis for how he will write the rest of the book, and help lead him to his conclusion and main point at the end of the work. He takes the entire book to lead up to his main point, which is finally stated in full in the last chapter, "Climax Paradigm". In this chapter he pieces together all of the history and stories he has told throughout the book to claim that it was in fact the Song-dynasty instead of the Tang (which most writers assert) that was the climax and ultimate stability of Chan.
   
   Not being a scholar on Chan or really any other Asian history, I cannot evaluate McRae's conclusions and assertions based on historical accuracy. I wish to merely look at whether he follows his own rules which he laid out before the book began. For this we will need a good break-down of what he does in his first five chapters, the ones leading up to his argument and conclusion. In chapter one he discusses Chan lineage and how to properly use it to view Chan history. One of his biggest claims in this section is that we must avoid the "string of pearls fallacy" (McRae 9), which means not telling simply in terms of a list of important people and what they did. He says we need to look at the bigger picture of ideas and overall changes.
   
   In the second and third chapters he talks about Chan in different historical time periods and the developments and changes made during those times. He discusses which people were important to that time and what they did. The fourth chapter diverges from this slightly, in that it follows one type of structure in Chan, which is encounter dialogue. He follows this type of practice through the people who developed it, and the ways it was used with each person and time period. In the fifth chapter he discusses "Zen and the Art of Fund-Raising", which really turns out to be a discussion of the political connections that allowed Chan to flourish above other forms of Buddhism in the Song-dynasty.
   
   I think McRae's final chapter did a great job of showing Chan Buddhism and a different light than previous writers (at least based on what he says other writers did). He shows reasons why the Song-dynasty was the peak of Chan's influence, power, and stability with specific reason as well as larger concepts. His argument is well-formed and coherent. My problem, however, is with the first five chapters of the work. For the most part, he does not even follow his own rules when writing. He repeatedly gives specific details in his stories, which he originally claims implies inaccuracy. In addition, he takes the time to explain the "string of pearls fallacy" and then commits this very crime throughout the book. The simple fact is that there is no way to tell a history without talking about the individual important people involved. It seems that he was simply trying to make his book appear different from others at the beginning in order to make his argument at the end stronger. This is unnecessary; his argument is already strong, and he does not to prove himself to anyone by trying to make the rest of his book appear new and innovative as well.

5 comments about The Genesis Genealogies: God's Administration in the History of Redemption.

1. As a born Christian who have learned about God and His salvation from a kid, reading the book of Genesis was still something I would like to skip or move on as soon as possible since I do not see the link betweeen God's salvation and lengthy genealogies of the book of Genesis before I read this book.
   
   It will be an eye opener of the book of genesis for all of you and you will start to understand how God wants you to live rest of your lives. God bless you all.



2. it's amazing... very simple and easy to read, but it was beyond my imagination. overwhelmed by author's insight for bible. I absolutely recommend it.



3. After reading this book I've gained a deeper understanding of God's plan of redemption through the Genesis genealogies. A part of the bible that I usually quickly skimmed over because it seemed redundant to mention all the names over and over. This book showed how all the listings aren't the same and why that is. I'm looking forward to reading this again because I'm sure there's more to discover.



4. I don't know where to begin, there are no words to describe how much grace I received while reading this book. Rev. Abraham Park wrote this book easy to read so that everyone can read it. Every bit of information is also proven with bible verses, and mathematical equations for dates and years.
   If you want to receive the blessing that both I and my family did while reading the Genesis Genealogy, then I would suggest for you to pick up this book and start reading it.



5. The Genesis Genealogies: God's Administration in the History of Redemption provides a spiritual survey of the genealogies of Genesis, which consists of ten such genealogies. Libraries strong in scholarly religious survey will appreciate the in-depth study of these genealogies, a central part of Genesis and the history of redemption, and key to understanding Biblical history as a whole.

5 comments about The Isle of Avalon Sacred Mysteries of Arthur and Glastonbury.

1. Nicholas Mann captures the spirit of Avalon through the combined lenses of history, archeology, mythology and comparative spirituality rarely found in comparable texts. A must-own for anyone interested in Glastonbury, the Arthurian Mythos, spiritual history in sacred Britain, sacred geomety and geomancy. Mann brings a critical yet intuitively insightful perspective to all of the above. Well worth reading more than once!!



2. I have not yet finished this book, as it does take awhile to read. It is very informative and has a lot of intersting facts about this Avalon and Glastonbury; however, it can be difficult to read.



3. Avalon is probably the most thorough study of Glastonbury, from the very beginning of its history to modern times. Mann covers a bit of everything, from the strange theories to geology and everything in between. An easy and interesting read. He does go off his path a bit in the appendix where he tries to get philosophical. His understanding of Christian history & theology seems a bit limited, which is surprising considering the rest of the book. He claims that the "duality of good and evil" did not arise in Western thought until later times. Perhaps he should read Genesis.
   
   Christianity has a very spiritual side that rivals the mystics of the pagans. Often the pagan mysticism is presented as being simple and can include anything. It has become almost the new New Ageism. I tend to think some turn to paganism because they don't know of the spiritual side of Christianity and don't like that Christianity doesn't promise to be an easy, blissful religion in the sense that most people understand. But if a religion makes you feel happy all the time and hides the realities of the world, is the religion real? Or is just ultimately smoke and mirrors? As Christians reclaim their spiritual legacy, pagans need to actually learn what their and our religions are, before pretending they know based on what other people tell them.



4. I read this book in preparation for a trip to England and a visit to Glastonbury. This is a well written and thoughtful book that gives the reader a very comprehensive history of the Glastonbury area. It's a nice balance of traditional science and alternative archaeology, and I felt that my experience when I visited was enhanced from having read this book first. I highly recommend that anyone planning a visit here read this book! Or, if you are interested in ancient British cultures and/or the Arthur legends or the book The Mists of Avalon, this will certainly interest you.



5. I found this book a delight to read! The way it brings the landscape of Glastonbury to life is amazing. A must have for anyone studying the Glastonbury sites or who has an interest in Avalon

3 comments about Name Book, The: Over 10,000 Names--Their Meanings, Origins, and Spiritual Significance.

1. This is a good naming book. It skips past the fluff about how to choose a name and dives right into a well organized list and corresponding index. Some unusual names are included, but most are simple and traditional. The origin, meaning, and spiritual connotation is given for each name and a Bible verse is included as a part of each entry. A book icon is used to indicate any name that actually appears in the Bible.
   
   The problem with this book is that it isn't special at all and it doesn't offer anything above and beyond other naming books. The book attempts to provide insight into the spiritual significance of a given name, but fails completely. The spiritual significance, in this case, is derived from the connotation of the name's literal meaning. That means that there is not a concrete reason why a particular name comes to have a spiritual significance. It is simply how the author felt about the name. The Bible verses are always positive and sometimes beautiful, but they seem to have been chosen randomly. You can take any name in this book and replace its corresponding Bible verse with a verse found elsewhere in the book.
   
   I would recommend this book if you are looking for a more traditional name and would like to know what it means and where it originated. Just don't expect any insight deeper than that.



2. I bought this for my Dad. He's 91 and wants to know the origins of names. He's having lots of fun looking up names and the book in informative in this way.



3. Awesome reference book to use when researching names, their origin and meaning. This book has been very helpful in my process of selecting character names for my book.

2 comments about Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam.

1. A fascinating book, in which the author argues that "religion" as a historical and political category was created in Europe, an interesting book.



2. Talal Asad is one of the remarkable minds of our times. This work is one of the most insightful works on how to understand religion in the modern world...

3 comments about A Brief History of Vatican II.

1. Having just finished a course on Vatican II, I found this short history of Vatican II to be very helpful in detailing some of the mystery and intrigue that went on behind the scenes. A must read for anyone who wants to know the "whole story".



2. Giuseppe Alberigo is probably the greatest living expert on Vatican II, having worked in its preparation and been closely involved, as a layman, with many of the clerical leaders of the Council. These days there are all kinds of ideologically-motivated efforts afoot to downplay the significance of the Council and to criticize "liberals" for distorting its message. Alberigo shows clearly the drama of the struggle on the part of the bishops, liberal and conservative alike, for freedom from the stifling hand of the Roman Curia (the church's central bureaucracy), and tells a truly exciting story about the successes and even the failures of the Council fathers. Incidentally, anyone who reads this can only look at many of the struggles in today's church and see them as but the latest chapter in an ongoing struggle between a controlling central bureaucracy and a world-wide church concerned above all with pastoral care of the church.



3. Guiseppe Alberigo was a young professional when the council began. He was involved with Cardinal Lercaro's group from Bologna. His doctoral dissertation had been on the Council of Trent written under Hubert Jedin, the best in the field. Alberigo was with Cardinal Lercaro's group at the four sessions of the Council. Afterwards he edited the multivolume history of the Second Vatican Council, presented in English by Dr. Joseph Komonchak of the Catholic University of America.
   
   This is worth reading, even if the style is not the most limpid. You will meet someone who was part of the Council. Cardinals Ruini and Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI) prefer to see the Council more as a continuity than does Alberigo and the Bologna school. He sees the council as an overcoming of the Constantinian and Post-Tridentine traditions.
   
   Stephen Palmer

5 comments about The Name Book: Over 10,000 Names, Their Meanings, Origins, and Spritual Significance.

1. I liked the structure of the name information as well as the accompanying scripture for each name. I just wish more names were included and I hope they expand the list!



2. Lots of names, yet I was hoping for a little more information on each name.



3. Fantastic book! Anything you're looking for can be found in it: both the straight meaning, a spiritual meaning, and a bible quote to go along with it. Also tells you the origin of the name, and much more! Great for brainstorming names for babies, etc... Perfect as a bathroom reader, a gift for a student or parent-to-be or scholar, or just for one's own pleasure. I am very particular about the name books i get, because i want them to be full of information and have a wide array of names. i am very very pleased with this one, and selected it out of many many options.



4. Another coffee table book!! Put-it-down and watch your guests pick-it-up!! Nothing gets conversation started faster and with more fun!!!



5. This book is just another baby name book, does not really give too much information on each name, it didn't even have my daughter's name in it (Scarlett) but seemed to have every other name.

5 comments about Christmas Memories: Gifts, Activities, Fads, and Fancies, 1920s-1960s.

1. I thought this was probably the best of Susan Waggoner's festive season books. It's a Wonderful Christmas: The Best of the Holidays 1940-1965 looked back to the 1940s to 1960s and Under the Tree: The Toys and Treats that Made Christmas Special, 1930-1970 focused on toys from 1930 to 1970. All three books follow the same format with the words backed up plenty of Christmas photos, illustrations and graphics.
   
   I was rather disappointed with the feel of the two previous books because I thought they looked rather scrappy and didn't display the pictures and page graphics to the best advantage but I'm happy to say that this latest edition really captures the feel of the season from page one. It starts with the 1920s and runs up to the 1960s with a mixture of reminiscences from personalities and unknown folk, details of everyday life at Christmas time over the decades, quotes from books and period magazines but I think it's the illustrations that come across best. These are taken from period ads (lots of them) catalogs, Christmas cards, photos and more (perhaps the catalog pages could have been bigger to see the prices, though). Fortunately the design of the pages pulls all this material together to make the book a pleasure to browse through.
   
   Well worth getting if you want to relive those nostalgic Yuletide memories or maybe, if you are young enough, you just want to find out why your parents are always raving about Christmas in those simpler times.
   
   ***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.



2. Lovely book to read as we approach Christmas. A time so near and yet so far. Share with your children and grand children and live again the thrill of those childhood Christmas times. Love it.



3. This is a beautiful book. I bought it as a gift for my mother, and wanted to keep it for myself. The jacket is beautiful, the inside pages are wonderful, and overall it is full of Christmas memories from the past, many of which you will want to bring back. There is even a page comparing prices Christmas items past and what those items would cost now adjusted for inflation. I ordered more after seeing it, as I would be proud to give this as a gift, and grateful to receive it.



4. This is a delightful book. I have packed it away with our Christmas things and will enjoy it year after year during the holidays. It brought back many wonderful memories.



5. I have 2 books by this ame author & I thoroughly enjoy the both of them very much. I recommend this book to anyone who grew up anywhere between the 1920's & 1960's or for anyone who wants to find out about Christmas during these times.

5 comments about Breaking Generational Curses.

1. It is amazing to me how many Christians are leaving the teaching of the Bible and embracing a practice found in every pagan society of breaking curses. Don't you know that we are in Christ and that His Spirit lives in us? How can we be under curse? As it says in Galatians 3:13
   Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us--for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"--
   Question: Where in the New Testament does it mention breaking generational curses?



2. An excellent study that gives insight into many problems of unknown origin that you may be experiencing in your life. You begin to realize that some problems are handed down through the generations but you can break the cycle by utilizing God's grace.



3. Received item as described, fast delivery, will purchase from vendor again
   Thank you
   M Haynes



4. There were a few markings on the book but on the whole the product was in excellent condition. I am enjoying the contents of the books



5. Weird things going on in your family? Maybe it's a curse. Very helpful book. Good delivery as promised. No complaints. A+.
   Thanks, Amazon.

5 comments about Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament.

1. In his preface, Christopher Wright reveals that his conviction that "the deeper you go into understanding the Old Testament, the closer you come to the heart of Jesus" underlies the theme of Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament. He states that he writes this book for people wishing to "deepen their knowledge of Jesus and the scriptures that meant so much to him." Wright uses the Old Testament to shine a light on the life and identity of Jesus. He uncovers how Jesus' knowledge of the Old Testament would have influenced him. Similarly, he looks at how the Old Testament scriptures influenced the Jews of Jesus' day and their reactions to Jesus' ministry. Through this, readers can develop a keener insight into who Jesus is and what Jesus accomplished on the cross when he said, "It is finished." (Jn 19:30 ESV)
   
   Wright begins his book with the beginning of the gospel story about Jesus. He uncovers what is behind the genealogy of Jesus that begins Matthew's and Luke's gospel.
   
   A major component of the identity of Israel that Wright discusses is its mission and ministry to be a blessing to all nations.
   
   As Wright shares the story of Israel that is behind the genealogy, he emphasizes the promises of God to Abraham and to David. Seeing in his genealogy Abraham and David, Jewish readers of Matthew's and Luke's gospels would immediately associate Jesus with the promises made to these significant men in Israel's history.
   
   Wright indicates that two characteristics of the Jews during Jesus' time were an increased devotion to the torah and an "upsurge in apocalyptic, messianic hope." (Wright 26) Jesus' hearers would have had significant knowledge of Old Testament scripture and would have been applying it to their times in hope of seeing signs of God's messiah.
   
   In Wright's book, we see that the cross and resurrection are the answers to the problems of obedience to the law and to the prophesied deliverance and restoration of Israel. He writes, "The New Testament affirms that the Gospel of the cross and resurrection of Christ is God's complete answer to the totality of evil and all its effects within his creation." (Wright 30) Wright shows that the work of Christ is a universal work that offers deliverance and redemption to not just Jews but to Gentiles also.
   
   Wright sums up the theme of the Old Testament and New Testament culminating in Christ, "Taken together both testaments record the work of God's saving work for humanity." (Wright 34) Wright asserts that God's redemptive history includes the following four principles: election, redemption, covenant and inheritance. Wright concludes that God, not man, fulfills this saving work in Jesus, Israel's Messiah and the world's Savior.
   
   In addition to looking at the Old Testament in relation to Jesus' death and resurrection, Wright also examines in depth how it shapes his identity, mission and values. He asserts through his book that it is impossible to fully know Jesus apart from knowing the essential parts of the Old Testament. He writes that Jesus completes the story that the Old Testament begins, "It declares the promise which he fulfilled...provides the pictures and models which shaped his identity...programs a mission which he accepted and passed on...teaches a moral orientation to God and the world which he endorsed, sharpened and laid the foundation for obedient discipleship." (Wright 252)
   
   Wright contends that Israel, as the recipient of God's promise, was to be a conduit of that promise to all nations. He calls Israel the intended priesthood of God in the midst of the nations bringing them to the saving knowledge of God.
   
   Although Israel was a recipient of God's promise and election, the people could only walk in the promise and election by grace and faith. Wright writes, "The promise comes as the initiative of God's grace and always depends on God's grace. But that grace has to be accepted and responded to by faith and obedience." (Wright 68)
   
   In his discussion of the necessity of faithful obedience, Wright continues, "No doctrine of election, no covenant theology, no personal testimony of redemption, can relieve us of the imperative necessity of faith proving itself in active obedience." (Wright 70) He elaborates that the initiative of God's grace or promise demands a response of obedient faith now from Jews as much as Gentiles. Wright continues to emphasize God's requirement of faithful obedience in regard to his covenant promises to Israel. Despite Israel's disobedience, the covenant continued, because it was grounded in God's grace and purpose for humanity. According to Wright, God's covenant promises reveal his intense desire to bless people.
   
   I think Wright lacks clarity in his discussion of obedience in the context of the new covenant in Jesus. Israel's repeated failures are indicative of Christians' similar inability to live up to the standards of the law. Obedience for the Christian, Jew or Gentile, is to a new call, as Christians are the recipients of a new covenant that comes through faith by grace. The difference that Wright does not explicitly note is that Jesus has fulfilled not only Israel's role as servant but has fulfilled the requirement for obedience for the recipients of the promise. Jesus answered, `The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." (John 6:28-29 NIV)
   
   It seems that Wright does not distinguish between the requirements of faithful obedience to the law under the prior covenants to Israel and faithfulness under the new covenant. What Jesus requires is not works or behavior but belief and faith for salvation. Although Wright points to the prophets' promises of a new heart and the law written on hearts, he seems to be advocating the idea that the new covenant through Jesus merely makes it easier for followers to obey the law rather than rest in Christ's work on the cross finally acknowledging that all of our righteous works are but "filthy rags." (Is 64:6 NIV)
   
   Wright looks at how the Old Testament would have revealed to Jesus his role as savior of the world. Wright points out three roles that Jesus would have seen, "sovereignty, servant hood and sacrifice. All three are built into the calling of Jesus. All three are given depth and meaning by the Old Testament characters whose identities are merged in Jesus." (Wright 110)
   
   Wright profoundly relates the conflict between man's earthly vision and God's eternal, spiritual vision. He writes,"We have imagined that the best way to save the world was to run the world. With the tragically ironic result that Christian mission in the name of the Servant has been indelibly associated in the minds of many with power--military, cultural economic and political. It is an image that is hard to live down. "(Wright 178)
   
   He contrasts this with God's prescribed mission of service and sacrifice for the world. The way of Jesus, the way of sacrifice and service, is what we can learn from the Old Testament. Wright concludes that Jesus' message is the message at the heart of the Old Testament. It is the message of the Jubilee year of the Lord and of restored relationships to God, the sovereign king over all--what Wright calls an "Old Testament concept" now at hand. (Wright 243)
   
   Shakespeare On Spirituality: Life-Changing Wisdom from Shakespeare's Plays



2. An intriguing passage in the New Testament (NT) states, "Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted for them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures." (Luke 24:27). Christopher Wright's book titled `Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament' gives a reasonable answer to what Jesus may have told these disciples from Emmaus. Many NT Christians believe they can fully know Jesus without knowing the Old Testament (OT). On page two, Wright states "The Old Testament tells the story which Jesus completes." Even the NT needs to be read in light of the OT. Wright draws out the identity, mission and values of Jesus. Jesus completes the OT promises in surprising ways. Wright deals with the popular idea that Christians can know Jesus without knowing the OT.
   This book sheds light on how Jesus used and completed the OT message in relation to His identity, mission and values. The author fleshes out 5 comprehensive themes each close to 50 pages in length. The NT book of Matthew chapters one to four are the primary text Wright uses to expound his five main points. The reader will gain a clear understanding of Jesus' life mission and destiny as the book is read through. The comprehensive vision of God's redemptive plan and purpose is the main theme throughout the book.
   I highly recommend this book as a strong introduction to understanding Jesus in light of the OT. It goes well beyond the typical work that merely shows the OT types and how Christ was hidden all along waiting to be discovered in the OT. The hermeneutical principles used by the author focus on the biblical text in its original context and then the theological principles are extracted from the text. The author avoids a textual criticism approach. One will not see a discussion on looking for source material nor speculation on JEDP theory. He also goes beyond messianic proof texting and leaves out typology about the Temple and Tabernacle. The author's primary purpose in writing this text is for everyday Christians and he avoids an overly scholarly approach to the material. Wright's text serves as a contrast to R.T Frances' book on Jesus and the Old Testament which covers more criticism and has a lot of footnotes. Despite Wright's lack of explicit scholarly focus, the book still remains a scholarly and thought-provoking work. A strong explanation of typology is made in the chapter on Jesus' identity. A weakness of typology is when the reader of the OT fails to find much reality in the events and persons of the OT in themselves. This jump start to Christ away from the historical context is a Platonic view of the OT. The OT becomes a collection of shadows. Typology is defined by Wright as a way to understand Christ and events surrounding him in the NT by analogy and correspondence. Historic realities are seen as patterns or models. Typology should not be the sole way of understanding the OT.
   A weakness of the book is that it meanders and the author many times seems to cover too much material in each chapter. This leaves the reader without clear handles on main points and it confuses essential material from peripheral material. One constructive criticism is for the author to edit out some of the redundancy in the book. A few more graphs and summary indicators would help as well. It is easy to get lost in the amazing breath of the material. Some chapters can be shortened. Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament is an excellent perspective on Jesus and how His life reflected theological concepts of the OT. The book is covenantal in nature and is mission orientated. The author achieved his goal to get me to see Jesus in the Old Testament and the NT. I will definitely be able to answer ways in which Jesus may have instructed the Emmaus disciples. When others make statements such as, "The Old Testament is not relevant for Christians today" or "We need to just read the gospels and the NT letters to learn all there is to know about Jesus.", I can now quickly add more perspective to these statements. I will also read the OT and ask the question, "How may this passage have been used by Jesus and how was it lived out in His life?" His redemptive purpose is our mission and it started in the Old Testament.
   
   Mark J. Armstrong



3. Dr. Wright has gleaned a large amount of material from the Gospel of Matthew. In fact, Wright has identified the first seventeen versus as the key to understanding the authentic Jesus Christ. Even though using the book of Matthew as the framework for the study of Jesus is not uncommon, Wright may have done so with a more thorough and interconnected analysis. It is remarkable that Wright presents as much theology and salvation-history as he does with a two hundred and fifty-two page book!
   
   Christopher J.H. Wright's, Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament is the vehicle that transports the reader to a deeper understanding of God's ultimate plan for the redemption of mankind. The final destination is the understanding that:
   
   1. Without considering the Old Testament we cannot fully comprehend the historical Jesus.
   2. The Promises of the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants are fulfilled with Jesus Christ.
   3. Salvation-history is completed through Jesus.
   4. The Old and New Testament is bound together through Jesus Christ.
   
   The author claims that if God's final work of redemption is accomplished through Jesus Christ's Crucifixion then the Gospel must include the exodus model of liberation, the sacrificial model for atonement, and the restoration model brought about because of God's grace. Christopher Wright notes that the New Testament does indeed include these elements. Throughout the book Wright does a competent job of unpacking each of these models, he explains how each model has implications that are related to the events presented in the New Testament which are associated with Jesus Christ. Wright points out how influential the Book of Leviticus was to Jesus. In many ways, the nineteenth chapter of Leviticus can be viewed as the ethical standard for the New Testament.
   
   An interesting theme that is brought out in this book is how Israel was chosen and ordained by God to be a missionary nation for all other nations of the world.God purposely placed Israel in the center of the Ancient Near East surrounded by multiple ancient Near Eastern world powers. By doing so, Israel was forced to depend on and trust the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to survive. Israel's missionary purpose seems to be an area that is less well known to the "average" Christian.
   
   A book such as Wrights' has considerable utility in bringing a greater knowledge of Old Testament theology, and the interconnectedness that Jesus has with the salvation-history of Israel to the reader. Wright points out several lesser known facts about Jesus, for example, Wright addresses that Jesus had Gentile ancestors and explains why this is significant. Many Christians may not know this about Jesus' genealogy.
   
   After reading Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament, the reader will not only gain an awareness of the salvation-history, which reaches fulfillment in the Crucifixion of Jesus, but also gain a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. Christopher J.H. Wright accomplishes his goal of explaining why we should "face "up to the distinctive claims of the Hebrew text to gain a valid understanding of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. This book is ideal for a wide spectrum of readers, from scholar to the person that seeks a deeper understanding of Jesus.
   
   Dr. Christopher J.H. Wright, in his book Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament, has produced an effective book that draws the Old and New Testament together. He has done an excellent job pointing out that Jesus is the lynch pin of this necessary merging. Further, this book is a rapid vehicle in presenting the story of salvation-history, and for reaching the final destination - Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament.



4. Christopher J. H. Wright, who is a prominent Old Testament scholar, has written a book entitled "Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament". He has also written extensively on other Old Testament topics with books such as "Old Testament Ethics and the People of God" and "Living as the People of God", among others. The basic theme of "Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament" is to show us how Jesus sheds light to the Old Testament or vice versa.
   
   This is out of his own conviction that a good understanding of the Old Testament "add new depths" in understanding Jesus. This new depth that Wright contends to us is uncovering Jesus in his "historical Jewish context of his day, and from his deep roots in the Hebrew scriptures."
   
   
   In the five chapters that Wright lays in the manner he constructs the idea for the book, from an observation, one can find three basic grinds that actually give structure to the book. The first part which is chapter one, deals with Jesus and the Old Testament story and looks at the grand overview of how Jesus fits in the Old Testament story of Israel. The second part deals with the foundational element that undergirds the Old Testament and Jesus which is the understanding of promise, or better known biblically as covenant theology. Chapters 3 to 5 which looks at how Jesus understood his call, being the third part, which Wright describes in three aspects as to how Jesus understood his identity, mission and values in the light of the Old Testament.
   
   Dr. Wright's overview of Israel's story based on the Old Testament which "Jesus completes" is encapsulated in Matthew's genealogy in 1:1-17. A genealogy which people normally skip reverberate tomes of meaning to Jews reading this gospel. Matthew's clever way of narrating Israel's history, one on which entails that "God is doing his `new thing'" which speaks of "Jesus being the heir of Abraham and his universal promise is underlined: Jesus the Jew, and the Jewish Messiah, had Gentile blood!"
   
   Israel's history, which Wright presents in scintillating detail, highlights just the right amount of information for the reader to follow in the story of Israel in chronological order. It is placed as the context of grasping Jesus' identity as a Jew as well as showing us that Israel's God has a wider dimension of influence in that he intends to have wider dominion instead of just localized in Israel. The nations are, in fact, very much in God's mind because they become God's spectators in what he is doing in Israel.
   
   Many forget this crucial element in understanding the Old Testament; "God's activity in the history of other nations also fits into" God's "...wider redemptive purpose." Wright explains that Israel's unique history coupled with their unique relationship with God is what Jesus actually experienced and embodied himself. Here Wright asserts that "Jesus embodied that uniqueness and achieved that universal goal", that being, him having a unique relationship with God mirroring Israel and fulfilling Israel's universal goal; to bless the nations.
   
   Chapter two looks into how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament promise. Before going into detail with this chapter Wright points out that if we are to have a firm grasps on understanding this, one has to understand the biblical concept of some words used to shed light how the scriptures understand them. In this chapter, two difficulties arise that Wright addresses, namely, how we understand biblically words like `fulfill' and `promise'. I found that Wright lays out his ideas emphatically because this is a crucial element in connecting the Old Testament message to Jesus. The term `Jesus fulfilling Scripture' is understood not in random proof-texting but in how the events of Jesus' life somehow corresponds to Israel's historical narrative, which really captures the understanding of what `fulfilling' scripture means.
   
   The understanding of `promise' according to Wright "is very much at the heart of the word covenant." A promise in this sense entails a relationship which is conveyed in what we see between Israel and God in which "at a particular time in history God entered into a commitment to a particular man and his decedents, a commitment to a relationship between himself and them which involved growth, blessing and protection." The promise is not static but engages ongoing levels of fulfillment in the veins of a committed relationship, involving acceptance and that a promise in the biblical sense.
   
   In linking this to Jesus, Wright notes that the promise that God made with Abraham had a wider scope of commitment, namely to humanity as a whole. So, the one in whom the New Testament writers saw as the fulfillment of the OT promise; Jesus, they see God is saving the world through him.
   
   Jesus' self identity is treated next in chapter three. According to Wright, Jesus' reading of the Old Testament is where he grew in conviction of his identity. But to get to this, an interpretive method must be explained. This is understood as typology, although, there are ambiguities connected to it. I commend Wright for taking some time to explain the importance of what typology is.
   
   Laying some foundation here clears the air to see how one should treat the Old Testament, not as `shadows' that find their proper fulfillment in the New, but understanding their relationship in the manner that the Old Testament are seen as "patterns or models" in which to convey the "consistency of God in salvation-history." Thus, the typological method best portrays Jesus' relationship with God which reflects a continuation of how Israel's relationship to God was in terms of father and son which was connected to the covenant.
   
   Some questions that I would have liked to be answered here was regarding Jesus' self-identity. When was Jesus convinced of his identity, during his childhood or when was this conviction finally gripped at this point his baptism as Wright mentions? If we follow Luke's narrative there are clear indications that Jesus knew who he was. Although I do not see this as much of an issue that would necessarily err some of the contents of this chapter, nonetheless I did wish Wright touch this issue at hand. But nevertheless, I found this chapter well written and most insightful in giving a more realistic picture of how Jesus understood his identity.
   
   Chapter four moves on to how Jesus understood his mission according to the Hebrew Scriptures that he read and reflected on. It is stated by Wright that Jews in the time of Jesus had preconceived expectations namely concerning Israel's restoration and the ingathering of nations following that which have their roots in during the intertastement periods and the Hebrew Scriptures. The movement then focuses on how Jesus fits in as well as deconstructing the Jewish form of expectation at that time.
   
   Wright does this by using designations that were ascribed of Jesus and thus reconstructing some false notion of expectation that the Jewish nation had. For example, Jesus constantly evaded the designation Son of David because of its political overtones but mostly stressed the sevanthood dimension of the understanding of his call and mission. Jesus sought to, according to Wright, show a fuller picture of what the messiah was supposed to be, the servant of Israel and the embodiment of the nation.
   
   This idea expanded from Isaiah 41:8-10, which Wright uses as the text that supports this explanation. It is only in this chapter that Wright offers a reflection on how the church should apply their mission in the manner of Jesus' very own. Emphasizing Jesus' embodiment of servanthood as the thrust in propelling Jesus' understanding of his mission, it should be "characteristic of relationships within the church." This is true because if one wants to be an effective witness, it starts within the church to show how their conviction in Jesus shapes how they live together as a community. A divided group, no matter how compelling their message, makes no impact if they cannot work with each other.
   
   The last chapter views Jesus and his values which were shaped by the Old Testament. The surrounding text that Wright uses to evoke echoes of the Old Testament is Jesus' wilderness experience where he was tempted by the devil. According to Wright, Jesus, in all "three of his replies to the devil are drawn from two chapters in the first part of Deuteronomy (8:3, 6:16 and 6:13)." Wright further asserts that Jesus was "...meditating on the section of Deuteronomy which `preaches' the fundamental attitudes and commitments that God expects from his people as their side of the covenant relationship", and when this is connected to how Jesus saw the law, it is the "true perspective and the essential point of the law" that he sustains.
   
   Wright also highlights two other Old Testament perspectives that influenced Jesus, namely the Prophets of old and the influence of the Psalms on his understanding. Both hold important elements that influenced Jesus namely the ethical dimension of God's vision as well as the kingship and rule of God. With the constant emphasis on `justification by faith alone' without its proper context in the Old Testament, Christians often neglect the ethical dimension of what is required of their faith. Ethical values are important for Jesus as what Wright presents in this chapter, not in its legalistic understanding but in how its depths were probed by Jesus in his life. After all, if Jesus was to represent Israel, he was to take upon himself their covenantal obligation, to live in the manner of life in "total orientation of life before God."
   
   One of the things that I greatly appreciated in the book was that Wright constantly stated that what God was doing in Israel historically is rather a continuation and not utterly something completely new. This actually dispels the contention that some have in saying that the Old Testament is of no use and the only Testament that we are supposed to focus on is only the New. Wright in his book constantly restates this statement all along the book as he goes about to argue the importance of understanding the Old Testament, in that it brings a clearer picture of how God is progressing in his work of salvation.
   
   Another important contribution that the book makes apart from its grasp on God's continuing work is its overall inarching grasp of what it means when we talk about gospel. The gospel in some understanding of Christians only effects our inner dimensions in that we are save by grace through faith in Jesus and that in turn gives us eternal life. That is true in a sense but if we add the Old Testament understanding of good news and as I have stated above on the continuation of God's work, the gospel is much more that just personal regeneration. There is actually a big overarching message that the gospel holds namely how we work out as people who take life seriously on a broader scale for example in areas of justice, caring for the poor and in our social works.
   
   I have much praise for the book, but there are just two minor elements that merits some form of mild critique. One of the frustrations I had with Wright's book is his lack of systematization of ideas. Themes were constantly linked interchangeably all but too often disrupt the progression of thought on a given topic. Another aspect is, although I whole heartedly agree with Wright that the New Testament story has elements of striking continuity with Old Testament patterns, especially when he notes this in Jesus, I think Wright should also make mention of the element of discontinuity of Old Testament as well. In a way this would give balance to readers with regards to distinct New Testament ways compared to the Old, which mirrors in a lot of the letters that Paul wrote to the Christian community.
   
   Overall, I have no problem with the book in its scope and what Wright sought to do, which is shed light on the Old Testament on how it relates with Jesus, in his ministry and life as a Jew, born to the people in who God had chosen to bless the nations. The book has a way of deconstructing preconceived thoughts about the Old Testament and laying down proper foundations for the reader in instilling excitement and giving a new appreciation to the very scriptures, which shaped much of Jesus' understanding and ways.



5. This book held my attention from the preface to the last page. It was my own personal journey through the Old Testament. It definitely added new depths to my understanding of and love for Jesus. It helped me to gain a greater appreciation for the Old Testament. Too often we shun the Old Testament and dive directly into the New Testament. But it was the only Bible that Jesus had. It was the Psalms that he sang and the stories that he read. As Jesus studied the Old Testament, it shaped his values and his culture. In reading the Old Testatment, he found his identity and mission. Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament promise of the Messiah and the New Testament's King of King for eternity. This book gave me a clearer understanding of the Jewish laws and the covenant of redemption that God made with Israel, which ultimately included all nations then and in the future, and that includes me.