Under the Gaze of the Bible [Hardcover]

Chretiens essays on reading sacred scripture are enriched by his immersion in the classics of ancient philosophy and theology, as well as his poetic sensibility. He is as likely to quote Claudel as Aquinas or Origen. His intimate acquaintance with Patristic writings combines with a sympathetic understanding of such Protestant sources as Luther, Calvin, and Barth to yield an admirably ecumenical perspective.

The books title refers to James 1:2324, which portrays the Word of God as a mirror into which one gazes. The concomitant notion of not only examining the text but also being examined by the Word is a fruitful one for learning how to be more fully nourished by ones study of the Bible.

Chr?tiens meditations, especially the more popular essays, such as those on joy and hope, can thus be read with profit by readers unschooled in or uninterested in academic philosophy.How does one most profitably read the Bible? The answer, according to Chr?tien, must include allowing the Bible to read us. With the help of the great patristic writings as well as Protestant theologians and using his own poets sensibility, he creatively explores such scriptural doctrines as joy, hope, and witness/testimony.In Under the Gaze of the Bible, Chr?tien opens up the depth and warming brilliance of the Word by finding how to appropriately address oneself to the Bible as a listener and doer of the Word, such as he has learned from Origen, Augustine, Aquinas, Pascal, Kierkegaard Barth, von Balthsar, and others. He shows us how to engage the Divine Word, mind and heart, so as to understand and live Christian wisdom, joy, hope, and witness as have the great Christian masters. In the span of eight well-crafted chapters, Chr?tien takes the reader on a journey through some key texts and themes of the Bible and draws upon some of the great thinkers of the Christian tradition. I enthusiastically recommend this book for its illuminating reading of the Word, for the wisdom it proffers, lÄ