13 books. I have to do extensive reading for my business, but I was able to read these 13. The first one on the list did take me from January into the middle of March. An epic. Years ago I used to put reviews up on Amazon, but no more. I just don’t have the time.
A Marginal Jew, volume 2. The second of six volumes by the amazing Scripture scholar the late Fr. John Meier. Pope Benedict in his own three volume work Jesus of Nazareth mentioned Meier for his proper use of the historical critical method of biblical studies. Meier imagines taking a Catholic, a Protestant, a Jewish and an Agnostic scripture scholar, locking the four of them in the basement of the Harvard Divinity School and having them work out what they could agree on. This volume is by far the longest of the series – 1100 pages, 400 of which are footnotes (I probably read three dozen of the thousands of footnotes – which were basically for other biblical scholars). The subtitle of this volume is Mentor, Message and Miracles. I read the first volume subtitled The Roots of the Problem and the Person in 2022. The title of the Series, A Marginal Jew, does not refer to his impact on history (obviously) but rather to the fact that he was a Tradesman from a small podunk town, probably with a population of about 200. As Nathanael says in the first chapter of the Gospel of John, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” And as Philip replies, “Come and see.”
In April I re-read The Community of the Beloved Disciple by another fine scholar, Fr. Raymond Brown. An examination of the Johannine community, his general thesis is that the Beloved Disciple is the person behind the Fourth Gospel. In other words, an eyewitness (probably a very young man or teenager) and one of the greatest mystics in Catholic/Christian tradition. The book was published in 1978 and I first read it around 1990 and then again around 2000. The book stands against liberal protestant scripture scholars from yesteryear who did not give much credibility to the fourth Gospel as a true source of information about Jesus. Contemporary biblical scholars of all denominations now put much more stock in John’s Gospel as a source of information.
Next and keeping with the Raymond Brown / Fourth Gospel motif I read A Retreat with John the Evangelist, also by Raymond Brown. In fact the last book he wrote before his death in 1998. After reading the introduction there are seven days of readings, which make up the Retreat. The readings take 15-25 minutes max. The book is only 102 pages. Beautiful reflections. This was also a re-read. Finished it in June.
Further with the scripture gig I read Bart Ehrman’s Did Jesus Exist? Ehrman is an agnostic and good biblical scholar who wrote the book for other unbelievers. He feels doubting the obvious fact that Jesus existed lessens their credibility. Bart Ehrman was originally brought up an Episcopalian, and then became born again, before returning to his Episcopalian roots. His agnosticism is rooted in a problem we all have to confront – if God is all good and all loving, why is there evil and suffering? finished it in early July.
In August I read on the recommendation of one of my kids, The Thank You Economy. A self help book. Meh. If you need to be told that it’s good to treat your employees, your suppliers and your clients nicely, then this is the book for you. If you already know that, then go on to the book shown below, Atomic Habits. Evidently lots of people do need The Thank You Economy message since the book was a big seller.
I finished A Retreat with Edith Stein in early September. Same format as the Community of the Beloved Disciple above – an intro and then seven days of short readings. Again, 15-20 minutes. This was a wonderful experience – Edith Stein was a Jewish intellectual. She converted to Catholicism and entered the Carmelite order, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She died in Auschwitz, gassed with several hundred other Jewish people who had converted to Catholicism The author was a religious sister who worked in parish ministries in New Jersey. It is really a powerful short book – Edith Stein was canonized by Pope John Paul in 1998. I believe she will some day be named a Doctor of the Church.
At the end of September I finished a really excellent self help book entitled Atomic Habits. Basically how to break bad habits and cultivate good ones. the author is James Clear and he has a website and lots of material – a very well known and successful guy – if you click on his name or here you can get the first chapter of his book for free as a download. Highly recommended. Very highly.
In mid-October I finished Meeting St. Paul today: Understanding the Man, his Mission and His Message. by the late priest Danial Harrington. A good survey of the letters definitely written by St. Paul as well as the other ones attributed to him, but probably written by some of his followers in the couple of decades after he was killed by the Romans. It was very common to write in the name of someone who was a teacher or leader. All the letters are part of the inspired canon of the New Testament regardless of the authorship. It’s a relatively quick read.
By the end of October I’d finished Going Infinite by Michael Lewis (who is a great financial writer) on my kindle, about the crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried. Lewis had been following Bankman-Fried – interviewing him, meeting his associates, etc. – for almost a year before SBF was arrested in the Bahamas on December 12, 2022. Lewis had gotten interested in Bankman-Fried as he was all over the news as an eccentric crypto multi-billionaire who was interested in so called effective altruism. This is a must read book if you are interested in crypto, the gullibility of even very talented people, and fraud in business. Really well written – reminds me of the Bad Blood fraud. Bankman-Fried is currently in federal prison awaiting his final sentencing.
7 Days that Divide the World is a short book I finished in mid-November. The author, John Lennox, is a mathematician who spends much of his time writing books and giving talks on Christianity and the Bible. This is about Genesis 1 and the many interpretations you can have for the 7 day creation story. There are plenty of youtube videos of Lennox giving talks, answering questions, and debating. Besides being erudite, he is very, very, funny.
Leon Cooperman is a multi-billionaire and huge philanthropist (made his fortune at Goldman Sachs and his own hedge fund Omega Advisors) and I finished his autobiography From the Bronx to Wall Street at Thanksgiving. His parents were immigrants and he went to Hunter College and then Columbia Business School for his MBA. He admits that was his big break and got him his starting position at Goldman Sachs. He worked like a dog, was very successful and ultimately left to start his own operation. He is a HUGE proponent of capitalism – the best system for the most people. He’s occasionally interviewed on CNBC – a solid dude. Most of his fortune is being given away, as will his estate when he’s gone – with a bit for his two children and grandchildren.
This book Before and After Socrates, was another reread at the end of October.. I’ve probably read it four or five times, the first time in college. It’s very short (124 pages) and was a 1932 lecture series at Cambridge that classical scholar F.M. Cornford gave. A wonderful book that’s gone through over 30 printings. Ii still have my original copy (over 50 years old – YIKES!) but I read it on my kindle – my copy is is falling apart. Wonderful intro to the Pre-Socratics, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
At the Dawn of Humanity by the Catholic scholar Gerard Verschuuren critiques the Neo Darwinian idea that evolution was always gradual. The author is from the Netherlands and a prolific writer whose PhD is in human biology and genetics. I finished the book on Christmas Day. He questions how the faculties of language, rationality, morality, self-awareness, and religion could have arisen gradually. It is not an easy book and not a defense of intelligent design or creationism. It does offer quite a bit of contemporary Catholic philosophy. Not an easy book but worthwhile if you are interested in science and philosophy.
I can recommend 12 of the books (not The Thank You Economy) but for me the top four were a Marginal Jew (Epic!), Going Infinite, the Retreat with Edith Stein and Atomic Habits.
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