Yes, I am giving away the two volume, paperback, edition of the Haydock Bible. (Please note that this is not the one-volume, but rather two volume paperback edition.). This over 150 year old commentary is full of quotes from the Fathers and includes the Douay-Rheims translation. Winner will receive this classic free of charge, including shipping.
So here are the contest rules:
1) If you have a blog, please advertise this contest on your site. (If you don't, you can still enter the contest.)
2) This contest is only for people who are in the United States or Canada. (Again, overseas shipping costs are a bit too high for me right now. Sorry. Plus this prize would cost even more due to it's size!)
3) The question you need to answer in the comment box:
If you could only have one book of the Bible what would it be? Why?
4) Responses should be limited to no more than five sentences.
5) The contest ends on Saturday July 30 11:59PM EST.
6) One entry per person. You must leave a name at the end of your comment.
7) I will announce the winner on Sunday July 31. The winner can then email me their address.
19 comments:
Hi Timothy,
Great offer. Thank you. Which book of the Bible? Wow, hard to say. I guess I would go with one of the Gospels, say, Matthew.
Louis,
Make sure to answer the second part which asks why you picked that book.
BTW: thanks for the Volf book, it's been a good read so far.
Tim,
Oops, sorry. I was tempted to say something like Romans but I opted for a Gospel since that would include the life of Jesus. Matthew because it has a good balance of teaching and deeds.
Glad your enjoying Volf.
Oops - Did my posting make it? I think I might have neglected to leave my name. My single book of the Bible would be Isaiah, which contains prophecies written 600-700 years before Jesus. The poetry in the original Hebrew is soaring; the KJV comes close. Was it not St. Thomas Aquinas who referred to Isaiah as the Gospel of Isaiah?
Philip Miller
Certainly this is a challenging question! I would probably pick the book of John since it seems to resonate with my soul the most clearly. It also contains one of my favorite verses - John 14:6.
Bradford Taliaferro
Oh, an entry in my blog biblereadersmuseum.blogspot.com was made pointing back here too.
The most essential book of the Holy Bible for me is definitely the Gospel According to St. Luke. Herein contains the wonderful canticles in the infancy narrative of our Lord Jesus, which celebrate the most profound and beautifully moving moments in the history of mankind. Herein is the story of the redemption of mankind, encapsulating the gospel of salvation; and expressed in the very words of our Lord as he walked and taught in human flesh. We see his temptation in the desert, his sermons, his ministry, his passion and resurrection, and his great commission. No other book of the Bible presents the story of God's love for us in Jesus Christ and our Mother Mary as completely and as beautifully as the Gospel according to St. Luke.
I will go in a different direction and say Genesis. In Genesis I find God's love expressed for sinners when he dealt mercifully with Adam and Eve. I find God preserving humanity through the flood. I find God making and keeping covenants with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I find God at work creating salvation history from the very beginning. I find Father, Son and Holy Spirit giving Life to the World.
Epistle of James in the New Testament. Christianity is a message that has to be lived.
I would choose the Epistle to the Hebrews. Its Christology is so rich, reminiscent of John's prologue. It is the only book to speak of Christ's priesthood. It contains the "hall of fame" of OT saints. This epistle is the perfect bridge between the Old and the New and can be ruminated over for a lifetime.
I would probably choose Romans, because Paul articulates the gospel so vividly.
To have only one book of the Bible would necessitate choosing one that is unrelated to all the others, one that can stand alone requiring no intertextual interpretation, one full of wisdom and truth about the nature of reality and God, and one which would guide us towards the truth of life even if all else fails. This is why I choose the book of Ecclesiastes. It's a clear-eyed book about reasonable and modest hope in the face of the indisputable fact that the world and everything in it is always passing away. It is a book that belongs to the whole of humanity, not just some faction, segment, or compartment, since it's not any more Jewish, Greek or Persian than it is anything else. It is a hopeful book from which all humanity can learn to live well by eating simply, drinking moderately, finding work that gives a sense of meaning and purpose, and cultivating a few loving friendship before we die.
[If you could only have one book of the Bible what would it be? Why?]
The one book I would choose would be Acts of the Apostles. It is the greatest witness to the mystical body of Jesus Christ. It gives Luke's account of the early Church, and its martyrs who bled for Christ because many believed, many saw, many heard, and many touched our Risen Lord before His Ascension. It has the first Apostolic Council, the first successors to the apostles, and all seven gifts of the Holy Spirit made manifest. It teaches salvation for the Gentiles and Jews, and all seven sacraments are in its pages.
Canticum Canticorum, for reasons that ought not to be profaned by speaking only briefly of them. -John
The above post by Chrysostom, add the name "Christopher" to the end, if you can.
Hebrews, because it's the "theological" book. It is the seed of Christology, and of much of New Covenant theology. It details the nature of the New Covenant with Christ, and how it is a fulfillment of the Sinaitic Covenant, and it is the best at bringing out the typology, drawn as lines traversing the entire Bible, Old Covenant to New: "[Our Lord Jesus] is a priest forever of the order of Melchizedek."
Christopher
(Deleted and re-posted to add my name as mentioned in the post - apologies!)
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Separate points not for consideration in the contest:
If I didn't know it by heart it would have to be one of the Gospels, which tell of the life of Our Lord Jesus Christ: the Gospel of John, because it's the "theological" gospel, which proclaims His divine sonship. And the bread of life discourse. Or Luke, because it tells the story of the Holy Mother of God and the most detailed account of the infancy of Our Lord. Or Matthew, for Chapter XXV: "What you have done to the least of my brethren, you have done to me."
Hello, my choice for just one Bible book is the Gospel according to Matthew. I say that because it is certainly one of the most loved and quoted books, easy for the beginner to read and so very deep for biblical scholars to sink their teeth into.
It tells the complete story of Christ, from the beginning through His passion, death and resurrection. It portrays the divine and human side of Jesus. We see the establishment of the Church, the Mass, and the very important things such as the forgiveness of sins. And lastly, in addition to so many great parables, it has the sermon on the mount, with the eight beatitudes, which always moves me to tears to read.
Thank you so much,
Mark Krajewksi
If I could only have one book of the Bible, I would choose Paul’s letter to the Philippians. For me, it has the essentials to get through whatever kind of day (good or bad) I am having. It emphasizes how important it is to struggle together for the faith of the gospel (perseverance) for the times that we are personally struggling, helping us to unite our struggle with others’ struggles. There is a wonderful hymn about how Jesus humbled himself for us so that we may better “connect” with him and/or see the lengths of God’s love for us as a people and individually. There are instructions about obedience and doing things “without grumbling or questioning” that have many applications in our daily lives. And, finally, there is a wonderful passage in chapter 4 calling us to rejoice, to have no anxiety, to pray, and to think of what is good. What a wonderful letter Paul has given us…
And a close second is first Corinthians…
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