New Testament Basics for Catholics by John Bergsma
Ave Maria Press, £11.99
“Wow!”; “Not bad!”; “Ready to begin? Good!” These are just a few of the exclamations that punctuate John Bergsma’s energetic guide to the New Testament. Many will find the chatty tone rather irritating, but the book has an admirable purpose: to explain crucial texts in simple but not overly simplistic terms.
As for the accompanying cartoons, well, this is perhaps a step too far. Are we really helped by pictures of Luke with “one of those classic head mirrors that doctors wear, plus a stethoscope”? And then there is “baby Jesus with a rattle and a halo. (The Lord will forgive our simple art.
He knows we mean well!)” All of this is doubtless intended to make theology a little less daunting but I fear it serves as a mighty distraction. That is a shame because the book provides a reliable analysis and, while there are few exegetical surprises, Bergsma’s enthusiasm is compelling.
He is particularly interesting on Paul and finds it “hard not to be excited” by Luke, but the Gospel of John wins his prize as the “high point of the New Testament”. It is, we are told, “the greatest piece of world literature, period” and “the most historically significant book in human history”.
It is probably not necessary, then, to remark that “Harry Potter was a one-hit wonder by comparison”, but then Bergsma loves his pop culture references – another way to draw in a crowd. Such tactics can work very well when used with restraint, but they come unusually thick and fast in these pages. Reading the New Testament without reading the Old Testament is apparently “a little like … watching Return of the Jedi” but not bothering with Star Wars episodes one to five.
Acts, meanwhile, is explained in televisual terms: “Acts 1-12 is the ‘Peter Channel’ (All Peter, all the time), and Acts 13-28 is the ‘Paul Channel’ (All Paul, all the time).” Perhaps this goes down well in the undergraduate classroom but on the page it quickly wears thin. Please persevere, however. Behind the hoopla, a serious mind is at work.
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