The Consuming Fire: A book review for Tiber River

At first glance Consuming Fire is a big book, but of course the Old Testament is a rather large compilation of books, 46 depending on which bible you have. Dr. Duggan has updated and revised this book from its original twenty years ago to include a total reworking of the Pentateuch, the Deuteronimistic history, Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles for the history of the texts and further examination as more research and understanding evolved during these twenty years.

What the book lacks in brevity, it is rich in content and details worthy of a class to accompany the reader.  I wouldn't recommend this as an individual study unless the individual is a self-starter.  I found myself taking notes, rereading chapters and certainly gleaning much from Dr. Duggan's opinions and facts. 

 

This is not a Catholic book, it is what it is, a Christian guide, Duggan pays respect to the Jewish heritage by referring to the  B.C.and A.D.  periods with the recent adaptation of B.C.E. (before common era) and C.E. (common era) of which I was not fond of and if its called a Christian guide, it should recognize Christ in the time eras.  Another revision Dr. Duggan is YHWH the tetragrammation for God or Lord in the Hebrew bible, however the Vatican in 2008 denounced this use in all liturgy and liturgial music citing that:  "such pronounciation violates long-standing Jewish tradition."  So the Jewish community doesn't use this term or title.  Again, this is not a Catholic editon, but if Dr. Duggan is using this terminology in respect to the Jewish, it seems a bit outdated.

 

Irregardless to the above thoughts, the text is full of historic details and maps for each book that will prove to be a great resource in bible reading.  I do recommend this as a textbook for a class.

 

I wrote this review of The Consuming Fire for the free Catholic book review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods, your source for Baptism Gifts and First Communion Gifts.
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