Two Books by Raymond Brown

December 17-January 12:
A Coming Christ in Advent and An Adult Christ at Christmas by Raymond E. Brown

We had not known that Fr. Raymond Brown was controversial in some quarters until recently. Before that, we thought that he was just the greatest modern American Bible scholar and prominent former member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission. We decided to take a chance on these two books, based on the recommendation of a Christian Brother. We thought it more monastic to get in the Christmas spirit by reading good Scriptural commentary, than, say, drinking hot chocolate.





Fr. Brown's scholarship is a remarkable gift, and he is also blessed with the ability to condense scholarly argument into real doctrinal teaching when the audience calls for it. Some of his suggestions about the meaning of the Infancy Narratives might not be to everyone's liking, but they are stimulating and doctrinally powerful (and orthodox!). Another merit of Fr. Brown's work is that he is careful to separate what the texts meant from how the Church has interpreted them traditionally, and while he has no objection to the latter development, he does a great service to all Christians by returning us to the Biblical roots of our faith.





The community felt that the Advent book was definitely the stronger, and that these were not the best table reading. However, we all enjoyed hearing good, close readings of familiar stories that brought them vigorously to life.





Brothers' Rating: 4 out of 5