This is another book that I read because it was cited in Ross Douthat’s recent and excellent Believe. After this book’s 15-page introduction, there follows the author’s new translation of Mark’s Gospel and his and verse-by-verse (more or less) commentary on it. Since there are sixteen chapters in Mark, the book is divided into sixteen … [Read more…]
There’s a new Blaise Pascal biography out, and I’m looking forward to reading it. You can listen to the author, Graham Tomlin, discuss it and, especially, its subject here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFeo0LTQONA . The full title of the new book, by the way, is Blaise Pascal: The Man Who Made the Modern World.
In all three synoptic Gospels, Jesus is asked by Pontius Pilate if He is king of the Jews, and He responds (KJV), “Thou sayest it” (though Matthew for some reason does not supply the word “it” the way that Mark and Luke do). See Matthew 27:11, Mark 15:2, and Luke 23:3. This is generally understood … [Read more…]