It’s a great book, but I have to point out a couple negatives. The print is small, and the same artwork is repeated throughout. I’m guessing there are maybe a dozen unique frames throughout the book, which differ only in the words printed underneath the character drawings.  Whenever Joe, the Pastor, turns to look to the right, the part in his hair magically shifts to his left side … the wonders of mirror imaging. Obviously, you’re not buying the book for physical humor or captivating artwork. This format works well for a daily publication; not so much for a book, where the repetitiveness may begin to wear on you.

Artwork aside, though, you’ll fall in love with the personalities and their many character flaws. How like you and me they are, and how patient Jesus is with each of them! Definitely a feel-good book, whether or not Wilkie meant it to be!

Ezekiel’s promise of a life-giving spirit became an expectation of a gift from God in the messianic age. In that day, God would rule justly, and the world would be set right. We see this hope not only in Christian writings, but other Jewish writings as well, such as in the Dead Sea Scrolls. In Jubilees 1:23, God promises “I shall create for them a holy spirit, and I shall purify them so that they will not turn away from following me from that day and forever.” Today, Christians call this gift the Holy Spirit (the third part of the Trinity) and believe the delivery of the Spirit happened 40 days after Jesus resurrected, on Pentecost.

This is a little confusing to many, because if the Spirit’s arrival is meant to signal the beginning of the age of God’s rule, wouldn’t that mean the millennium has begun? Are we, or are we not, living in the messianic age?  Where are all the resurrected people?

Paul seemed confused as well. In too many verses for me to quote, Paul indicates that we are a new creation, infused with the promised Spirit, and thus the age has begun. Paul seemed to live his life in fervent desperation, carrying the message of Jesus to the ends of the earth, knowing that any minute, the resurrection would occur. How could it not, if the Spirit has arrived? Read again today’s verse in Ezekiel.

So where did Paul err? Was Paul wrong that there would be a resurrection, or was he wrong when he claimed the Spirit had arrived, or was he wrong to tie the two events together?

//This verse appears at the very end of our Bible, warning us not to tinker with any of the words in the book of Revelation. This threat surely doesn’t refer to the Bible as a whole, but to the covenant of Revelation … a covenant of a new heaven and new earth to come.

Yes, I said “covenant.” Revelation is more than a book of promises. It purposefully closes in covenantal language. Whether or not you believe everything in Revelation will come to pass in a literal manner, its author (somebody named John) claims a direct message from Jesus and frames this message as a covenant.

Compare the language of today’s verse, for example, with the covenant in Deuteronomy 4:2:

It is now firmly established by scholars that the structure of the Mosaic covenant–particularly as written in Deuteronomy and the Decalogue–reflects a common structure of established covenants of that day. Here’s another example, from the Hittite treaty of Tudhaliyas IV and Ulmi-Teshub:

Whoever … changes but one word of this tablet … may the thousand gods of this tablet root that man’s descendants out of the land of Hatti –Kline, Structure of Biblical Authority, p. 29

The logical conclusion is that Revelation was intended as divine scripture, a covenant between Jesus and his followers.

//In the Gospel of John, there is no trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin (the ruling council of the Jews). But the other three gospels tell of this trial, a sort of kangaroo court, in which Jesus is condemned by the Jews prior to turning him over to the Romans.

★★★★

What really happened during Jesus’ “lost years” between his appearance at the Temple at age 12 and his ministry at about age 30? Did he grow up in Egypt? India? Or working with his father as a carpenter in Tiberias?

Bear’s story builds upon a medieval legend of Jesus visiting Britain, perhaps under the care of Joseph of Arimathea, who was in some versions of the legend Jesus’ great uncle and a tin merchant. Maybe you’ve read Gordon Strachan’s Jesus the Master Builder: Druid Mysteries and the Dawn of Christianity. Strachan takes these legends seriously, painting Jesus as a Druid.

Bear’s rendition doesn’t go that far. It is presented as fiction based on legend, but Bear’s research is exhaustive. Bear spins a tale of Jesus’ coming-of-age years based on the legend that encourages the reader to come to his or her own conclusions on how the cornerstone ideas of the Christian faith originated in the One we’ve accepted as Lord. The book is lightly tinged with pluralism, yet in all ways respectful of Christian beliefs; I’ve no reason to believe Bear isn’t a practicing Christian. His book brings myth and legend alive with meaning, speculating about how Jesus slowly began to piece together his mission in life. It’s also a well-researched glimpse into Roman oppression throughout the land, setting the scene for Jesus’ pacifistic opposition to the Empire.

In the story, Jesus develops a special relationship with the Father from a young age, but the Father’s ways are mysterious. Jesus contemplates his role as savior of the world and how the Father’s vision of the Messiah differs from the warrior figure Jesus envisioned; he learns what it means to be born again of the Spirit; he learns how to forgive and how to respect our differences. In short, readers of Bear’s novel witness the Making of the Lamb…the one who gave up his sword to die on the cross.

It’s a fascinating journey worth taking with the young Jesus. A book you won’t soon forget.

What did Job think of these adoring peons? Read on into the next chapter. They bray like disreputable animals. Their fathers Job disdained, for they did not deserve the company of dogs.

And now, after Job is brought low, the people mock Job instead of worship him. Poor Job.

Perhaps Job’s strongest quality was not his patience but his pride? Perhaps there was more reason than we think for this humbling act of God, bringing Job down to ashes?

★★★★

This is an introductory philosophy text, complete with worksheets, focusing primarily on the subject of the nature of truth and how we know something to be true. What makes this text unique is that it chooses Christianity for its playground.

Do not assume an argument will be presented justifying Christian belief. Apologetics is not the focus at all. The exercises and examples often relate to Christian thinking, but you’ll find little resolution. In fact, the discussion seems to meander around several philosophy topics without ever zeroing in on any solid answers. The point is to introduce the philosophy of examining truth.

Along the way, you’ll discuss what is means to believe, the nature of religious belief, how God is experienced, providence, cause and effect, dualism, even miracles and the afterlife. Finally, Vick touches on the friction between science and faith, and the role of both. It’s an appropriate finish, and the book closes with an enigmatic discovery: “One cannot reasonably claim that knowledge results only from one kind of experience, or only from one method of understanding the world.” In other words, science and faith should cooperate in the search for truth.

My favorite section was a discussion of self-deception. Is such a thing even possible? This topic borders on the psychological. Does anyone ever really hold contradictory beliefs, or does one simply refuse to acknowledge the contradiction?

I can’t say this book is what I expected, but I did enjoy the study!

//Yesterday, I discussed a vision Ezekiel had of the new City of God. In the center of the City was a temple, and flowing from the temple was a river that spread life to everything it touched. When these living waters reached the Dead Sea, even this salty sea was transformed into an abundance of living fish.

But what of Ezekiel’s promise of living water flowing from the temple … first a small stream, then rivers of life-giving water? Jesus explains this as well:

Thus this living water continues to flow out from the “temple” today, bringing life to everything it touches in the world. Ezekiel was right.