The Bible: From Late Antiquity to the Renaissance

I will probably have this on my Christmas list.  The Bible: From Late Antiquity to the Renaissance will be published by Liturgical Press in mid-November.  Sample page here.

The Bible: From Late Antiquity to the Renaissance

The Bible has inspired scholarly and artistic achievements all over the world since Late Antiquity. The largest and most diverse collection of Bibles, in both their calligraphic and illuminative expression, is archived at the Vatican Library. The scholars who contributed to this volume were given unprecedented access to the Vatican Library archive and, while focusing on the written and illustrative themes of the Bible, have created the most comprehensive chronology to date.

This volume is a journey led by major international scholars through the Bible's development from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance era, allowing all readers of the Bible to marvel at the wisdom of the writings and beauty of the illustrations, many available here for the first time.

Ambrogio M. Piazzoni (1951) is the vice prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Library, first layman to hold this position. A graduate of Sapienza-University of Rome, educated in medieval history and specialized in palaeography, he spent a number of years as a cataloguer of manuscripts in the Vatican Library before taking charge for the introduction of the computerized cataloguing of manuscripts. As vice prefect (1999), he is also the scientific director of cataloguing of the Vatican Library manuscripts and director of the Library's publishing department. He teaches Latin palaeography, which pertains to both writing and illuminations, at the Augustinianum University in Rome. He has published a number of books and more than a hundred articles in scholarly journals and collective works on subjects related to medieval cultural history, biblical exegesis in the Middle Ages, Church history, and history of the Vatican Library.

Francesca Manzari (1967), PhD, is researcher in history of medieval art at Sapienza-University of Rome, where she teaches history of illumination. She has taken part, as author and part of the editorial staff, in the Enciclopedia dell'arte Medievale and in the journal Arte Medievale. In 2015 she won the Houghton Mifflin Fellowship for research at Harvard University. She has published several volumes and extensively in international journals, also in various languages. She was on the advisory board for the exhibition Beyond Words: Illuminated Manuscripts from Boston Collections (Harvard University; Boston, September 2016-January 2017), ed. J. Hamburger, W. Stoneman, A. M. Eze, L. Fagin-Davis, N. Netzer. Her research has centered on liturgical and devotional books and manuscript illumination in Avignon and Italy. She is currently working on a book on illumination in Rome during the Great Western Schism.

Coming Soon: David's Successors Kingship in the Old Testament by Garrett Galvin, OFM

Looks interesting!  Due out in the Fall from Liturgical Press.

Description:

David's Successors: Kingship in the Old Testament argues for a new reading of kingship in the Old Testament. Rather than presenting the kings as monsters-with the occasional angelic ruler-this study seeks a more nuanced version of kingship. This book considers the original concept and context of kingship before concentrating on five kings in particular: Jeroboam, Ahab, Hezekiah, Manasseh, and Josiah. Much contemporary scholarship is concerned with the reconceptualization and recontextualization of kingship that hearkens from a negative perspective on kingship, but this book will fully consider the positive and original vision of kingship. This book is ultimately rooted in a hopeful and joyful view of humanity as found in the Psalms, Sirach, and the Chronicles.

Garrett Galvin, OFM, graduated from the University of California, Irvine and joined the Franciscan Friars in 1992. He began teaching full time at the Franciscan School of Theology in 2009, which moved to Oceanside and affiliated with the University of San Diego in 2013. He published his first book, Egypt as a Place of Refuge (Mohr Siebeck), in 2011. He regularly helps at a prison and gives retreats and days of recollection.

Wisdom Commentary Series from Liturgical Press

Coming Soon from the PBC

Liturgical Press will be publishing The Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture: TheWord That Comes from God and Speaks of God for the Salvation of the World in mid-November.  It will come with a foreword by Gerhard Ludwig Müller.   

In his 2009 post-synodal apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini, Pope Benedict XVI pointed out that “theological reflection has always considered inspiration and truth as two key concepts for an ecclesial hermeneutic of the sacred Scriptures” and that there is today the need “for a fuller and more adequate study of these realities, in order to better respond to the need of interpreting the sacred texts in accordance with their nature.”

The Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture: The Word That Comes from God and Speaks of God for the Salvation of the World is the contribution of the Pontifical Biblical Commission toward a more adequate understanding of the concepts of inspiration and truth that respects both the nature of the Bible and its significance for the life of the Church. Drawing on a close reading of the Scriptures themselves, the document focuses on three main aspects:

1.    The inspiration of Sacred Scripture and the exploration of its divine provenance

2.    The truth of the Word of God, emphasizing the message about God and his project of salvation

3.    Challenges that arise from the Bible itself, on account of certain aspects that seem inconsistent with its quality of being the Word of God

Reading this document, formally approved by Pope Francis, will strengthen the reader to receive the word of God—in the liturgical assembly and in every other place—in its theological, Christological, soteriological, and ecclesiological context in a way that corresponds ever more closely to this unique gift of God whereby God communicates his very self and invites us into communion with him.

7 Questions: Mary Stommes, editor of Give Us This Day

     Mary Stommes joined Liturgical Press as managing editor in 2006 and became editor of Give Us This Day in 2010.  You can obtain a free sample copy by visiting their website.

1)      First off, thank you for taking the time to answer these questions.  How did you come to work for Liturgical Press, in particular your work on the personal prayer periodical Give Us this Day?

You are welcome. Thank you for asking.  The short answer to both questions: God’s providence. While working in a parish religious education setting, I took a Scripture course taught by Father Daniel Durken, a monk of Saint John’s Abbey (Liturgical Press is an apostolate of this Benedictine abbey). Father Daniel encouraged me to get my degree in theology, which I did. Realizing early on that I loved both writing and theology/Scripture, I added English as a second major.

Father Daniel had been former director of Liturgical Press and was a senior editor here at the time. Neither he nor I would have guessed that I would land here after completing my undergraduate work. I began in 2006 as managing editor in our book publishing division. In that capacity I was part of the research and development team for Give Us This Day. “If we launch this, I want you to be editor,” Peter Dwyer (publisher and director of Liturgical Press) said. Here I am.

                                                               

2)      Could you give a little of the history of GUTD?  

In a very real sense, Give Us This Day has its roots in the liturgical pioneer Father Virgil Michel, OSB, who founded Liturgical Press in 1926. Father Virgil insisted that liturgy was not just for priests and religious, and not just for academics. His vision was to provide resources that would help all Catholics—clergy and religious, as well as laypeople--discover the riches of the Church’s liturgical life. Liturgical Press’s current mission statement is, in part, to “proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to a richly diverse Church.” People long for that, long to be drawn in, to enter more deeply into Liturgy, Scripture, and the sacramental life. It is a hunger and longing for communion with God and with others.

Not long after I came to Liturgical Press, and drawing on years of earlier research and planning, we began more intense research and development on what would become Give Us This Day. “Listen,” begins the Rule of St. Benedict. We listened to thousands of people across the country—from bishops and priests to religious and, of course, laypeople—to develop the resource you hold in your hands today. We launched in August 2011 and are celebrating our third anniversary of publication. I think Fr. Virgil must surely be pleased.

3) For my readers who are not familiar with GUTD, what would someone expect to find in each monthly edition?

            Daily content includes short prayer for morning, followed by a short profile of a saintly witness (Robert Ellsberg writes these pieces), the complete Mass texts, a short reflection (many are newly commissioned pieces, and about 1/3 are previously published texts, both ancient and contemporary), and then prayer for evening. Additionally, there is a popular weekly feature, “Within the Word,” that takes us more deeply into a person or theme in the week’s Lectionary. Each issue opens with a feature essay, followed by Father James Martin’s “Teach Us to Pray” column, and a section of prayers and blessings. The Order of Mass is included each month, as well as a section of hymns.

4)      The unique Morning and Evening Prayers for each day are modeled after the Liturgy of the Hours, but not as long.  How are these organized, particularly in the choosing of a Psalm and Scripture passage for each Morning and Evening prayer?

Sr. Irene Nowell, a Benedictine from Atchison, Kansas, selects the Psalm and Scripture passages. Psalms are cyclical, giving readers a broader selection than they are accustomed to hearing in the Lectionary. The Scripture texts are selected with an eye and ear on the Lectionary texts, allowing readers to pray thematically from morning to night.

5)      Could you talk a little bit about the impressive list of advisors and contributors to the periodical, most notably Fr. Jim Martin, Sr. Irene Nowell, and Fr. Ronald Rolheiser?

Our editorial advisors and contributors are a blessing, not just to us but to the entire Church. To a person, they love the Church, they love Scripture, they love Jesus!

Our contributors are passionate about the mission and vision of Give Us This Day. They are excited to be part of something they see to be so important: leading others more deeply into communion with God and each other through the practice of daily prayer, to help people realize the need to “come away and rest awhile.” None of our writers would want to be put on a pedestal. They, like John the Baptist, simply want to point the way to Christ.

6) Those who use the other popular prayer devotional Magnificat will notice some similarities between the two publications.  What would you say makes GUTD unique in comparison between the two?  

There are a number of other popular prayer devotionals, each with distinctive features. What readers tell us they most appreciate about Give Us This Day is the wide range of voices each month. Additionally, Give Us This Day is very much influenced by Benedictine spirituality, encouraging readers to establish the practice of lectio divina. There is no end to the ways in which God speaks to us if we sit with Scripture and let it speak the words we most need to hear.

7) How has been being a part of this publication, and I assume using it yourself each day, helped you in your own personal daily prayer?

This is a very good question. One of my hesitations in accepting the editor’s position was that it would “interfere” with my established practice of daily prayer. That is, I wondered if having seen all these texts in various stages of editing and proofreading, if working simultaneously in many seasons—if all of that would be a deafening cyclone of words. But God is good! I have for years prayed with the daily Lectionary texts. That hasn’t changed.  In praying with Give Us This Day, I discovered that morning prayer is a helpful addition, particularly since it serves as another entry point to the daily Mass texts. Moreover, morning and evening prayer have made me appreciate even more how the psalms “say it all.” What else? The daily “Blessed Among Us,” together with the wide range of reflection writers, makes me keenly aware of how we are all in this Body of Christ together. Each day brings something new and helpful and hopeful. Each day there is a word of challenge and comfort, a call to conversion and the assurance of God’s unfailing love in Christ.

Extra question: GUTD is current available in both regular and large print paper editions, as well as being accessible to subscribers on the website.  Is there any thought to creating a mobile App which would make accessing GUTD even easier?

More than a thought, our mobile App is in development and coming along nicely! We hope to launch it later this year. (I think Father Virgil Michel would be pleased about that too. Our publisher thinks Father Virgil would have had the app out sooner!)

Review: The Word of God at Vatican II by Fr. Ronald Witherup

Dei Verbum is the most important Church document concerning Scripture.  One of the important objectives of the council fathers who composed this document was the encouraging of all Catholics to make reading and studying the bible a normative part of daily life (DV 22,26).  Now this is not to say that prior to this that the Church official discouraged her people from reading the Bible.   (This is quite evident in the often found indulgence notice in the back front cover of many Douay-Rheims Bibles.)  Yet, it must be recognized that there were places where Catholics were discouraged, instead to take up books like the Baltimore Catechism.  While I was born more than a decade after the council, and so don't know this by personal experience, I have heard from numerous people, while leading Bible studies and teaching classes, that this did indeed happen in some places.  With that being said, there is no excuse now.  The Church has made it abundantly clear that she wants her sons and daughters taking up the Scriptures everyday for spiritual nourishment.  All of out previous Popes, most notably Pope Benedict and Francis, have regularly reminded us to do this.  What greater example could we have then the great scriptural writings of Benedict!

Now, while there have certainly been scholarly volumes devoted to Dei Verbum, very little has been published for the average Catholic. Yet, with the 50th anniversary of its publication coming in 2015, we are beginning to see some fine resources being published.  I am very happy to report that Little Rock Scripture Study's The Word of God at Vatican II: Exploring Dei Verbum is extremely helpful and easily applicable to either personal or group study.

Written by noted Catholic biblical scholar Fr. Ronald D. Witherup, who was one of the main editors on the lovely Little Rock Catholic Study Bible, this 85 page volume provides a short overview of all the main points concerning the council document. It is broken into three sections: 1) A Brief History of Dei Verbum; 2) A Brief Commentary on Dei Verbum; 3) Ongoing Interpretation and the Fruits of Dei Verbum.   Scattered throughout are various charts that cover a wide range of topics, most notably the different theories on Inspiration, comparison of the two main drafts of the document, the major scripture documents that led up to Vatican II, and church documents after Vatican II.  Witherup does an admirable job in providing context and content to this document.  He reminds us that "virtually all church documents have been influenced in one way or another by previous church teachings.  Dei Verbum is no exception (7)."  His chart on the documents that led up to Vatican II begin with Trent and Sancta Mater Ecclesia of 1964.  In each case, he gives a brief summary of each document and indicates which paragraphs of Dei Verbum were influenced by them.

In addition, he also recognizes many of the important figures who contributed to this document.  A certain Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict) is mentioned more than once.  He notes that Pope Benedict's poetic Verbum Domini is the most "comprehensive and important" document since the council (68).  Other works of scholars like Brown, Murphy, and Fitzmyer are rightly noted as being some of the great fruits of Vatican II.  (Little Rock Scripture Study is of course mentioned as well.)  I would have perhaps liked to see others mentioned as well, for example some of those scholars associated with the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture.  

I will conclude with what I think is the real heart of Witherup's work, that being his paragraph by paragraph commentary of Dei Verbum found in chapter 2.  The commentary is aided by the fact that Witherup included the actual document.  So, you don't need to flip between this book and the council document.  It is right there for you.  (And yes, the footnotes from Dei Verbum are included as well.)Encompassing over 40 pages, Witherup takes you through each section of the document providing helpful commentary on the main issues.  These range from one to five or more paragraphs each depending on the issue.   As you can guess, there is more of an extensive commentary on the interpretation of paragraph 11.  As Witherup notes, the issue of inerrancy is an issue still being debated and discussed today.  Pope Benedict asked for the issue to be studied by the Pontifical Biblical Commission, and its finding are due to be released quite soon.

The Word of God at Vatican II is a great resource.  It comes with a study guide for individual or group study.  An answer book can be purchased as well.  I plan to use this throughout the year and next.  If I had my wish, I would love to see a collection of essays published by contemporary Catholic scripture scholars, from a wide variety of schools, looking back at the importance of Dei Verbum.

Thank you to the fine folks at Liturgical Press for providing me a review copy.