Customer Reviews

Of Men and Muses

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

On an already stuffed shelf of stuffed shirted would be explicators of our common literary and religious myths, Mr. Verenna makes ample room for himself, with his clear headed, concise and at times, witty debut. Though I am a stranger to the scholary approach he applies to the subjects written about in OF MEN AND MUSES, I found it easily accessible to a layman such as myself, and at all times extremely well written,engaging and rare for a book of this type, tremendously entertaining.

With so much already written on the Historical Jesus question, it is easy to declare a never-ending stale mate and ignore the enterprise altogether. However, Mr. Verenna has taken the challenge a step further by requiring the reader to question the reasons for many of the assumptions made by a large body of scholarship. Too many scholars approach this issue with pre-conceived subjective conclusions and find and report "evidence" to support their predetermined hypothesis. Undoubtedly, this book will receive attacks from detractors - I ask that you consider the arguments laid out by Mr. Verenna and not be swayed by the inevitable ad hominem attacks that have plagued and clouded the world from inquiry, reason and the ability to think a new. Bravo! To Mr. Verenna, I am proud to have this book on my shelf next to the great light of textual criticism. ~ Rich Rodriguez

They say you can learn something new everyday, and it's true as long as you're reading Tom Verenna every day! His grasp of both the issues and what has been said about them is amazing. A prodigy, he brings to mind the young Jesus reasoning with the elders in the temple. This collection of essays reports on a number of raging biblical-historical debates in a manner that is objective and yet avoids the trap of politely making every view sound equally convincing. Bravo!

This book was a pleasure for me to read. It's clear and concise definitions of minimalism, it's challenging and yet insightful criticism of bias in some academic circles, and it's occasional flourish of wit and humor made this book a very fine and enjoyable read.

Thomas S. Verenna's insight into the role of the history writer of antiquity is a lesson even for us today. Much like the spin of today's media, the writing of ancient people whether in creating history, religion, literature, were creating a narrative; a story. Why a person writes a gospel, an epistle, or any other story is not always answered best by saying that they wanted to record what happened. We human beings are more complicated than to merely be record-keepers, and our creations seek more than the where, when, and how. We seek meaning in that we create it first.

Verenna's collection of essays deals with various facets of ancient literature, history and religion in ways that challenge not only many common misconceptions but also much of academic bias that has been left unchallenged for far too long. From what we know about Paul and his influences, the ancient Israel and its identity, and to whether or not reading the Torah to the communities in the first century was common, it is a collection of thoughts worthy of the attention of both the laymen and the professional.

Whether evaluating the many attempts to academically investigate the authenticity and import of Jesus' life and sayings (including the Jesus Seminar), an overview of historical minimalism as well as a defense of it in response to the so-called `maximalism' (which is reminiscent of methodologies used by creationists in the field of biology), or a comparison of various tropes such as the dead that cannot rest from Homer to the Bible, Verenna takes us on a tour of ancient literature in a way that seeks to re-connect religion and myth, sacred and story, canon and canard.

Thomas Verenna not only challenges long-held presuppositions about the historical existence of biblical figures, the historical reliability of the Bible, and how similar sacred texts are to fictional literature of the day. He is also able to relate those ideas in a manner that is understood by scholar and layman alike. Thomas presents the data in an objective manner that any independently-minded reader will appreciate. Outstanding job!

The author does a wonderful job at criticizing the usual merry-go-round that is found in academics who study religion, and instead shows us that if we ask the right questions when studying biblical history, we can start to build a different foundation; one that is based on the intentions, biases and the contemporary cultural influences of the authors of those works. With concise an poignant examples, the author shifts the reader to a different paradigm in regards to religious history. As we see today in literature and media, the author shows us that even ancient authors of so called history, had biases and prejudices that absolutely have to be taken into account when trying to interpret religious works. From the historicity of Jesus, the intentions of Paul, and to stories of haunted houses, the author takes you on an educational trip well worth the time. His knowledge of historical works will surprise you, coming from an "amateur" historian and it may leave you wondering if what you thought you knew about Christianity or Judaism has been marred through the accidental or in cases purposeful misinterpretations of biblical works. The only criticism I have regarding the book is that it is a much easier read if you are a scholar or an academic. I am very new to many of the ancient works and authors, even biblical and had to take some time to understand some of the cross-references. Luckily for me, however, the author has left a very lengthy list of references and sources, enough to fill your year with plenty of reading!!!!

Quite enjoyable.

Verenna covers alot of material in this book, but all revolving around his area of expertise: ancient history, especially of a biblical nature. The multiple subjects made the book seem a little disparate in it's scope, but the author clearly portrays the book as a series of essays, so that worked.

The author's minimalist position is expounded upon and defended before launching in on a few chapters concerning the reliability of the biblical records, primarily on the historical Jesus. He also covers some views on spirits in the ancient world, and the apostle Paul. There were a number of clever points made, my favorite being on a comparison between the historical evidence for Jesus and Alexander, and the circles that biased historians work themselves into while discussing it.

All-in-all, worth the read. I've already recommended it to a few friends.

I would love to see Verenna tackle the genre of the NT writings. He touched on it a bit, and I want to see him argue for his position there.

This is a collection of "essays" that Thomas Verenna aka Rook Hawkins published on his various blogs affiliated with the Rational Response Squad. Don't let the polite reviews from his friends fool, this book is garbage.