Bible Review, April 2002
Features
In the Book of Genesis, Abraham leads his beloved son Isaac up Mt. Moriah and prepares to sacrifice him at God’s command. In Muslim tradition, Ishmael is the near-victim. Jews, Christians and Muslims all trace their roots back to Abraham—but not through the same son: Ishmael is the traditional ancestor of the Arabs, especially […]
What does it mean when God calls Jesus “my Son”? Many modern readers interpret the phrase as a literal reference to Jesus’ virgin birth: Jesus was conceived by God’s divine seed. Others understand it as a metaphor for Jesus’ intimate relationship with God. But how did the earliest Christians understand the phrase? In the […]
Jesus drank wine (Mark 14:23–25; Matthew 26:27–29; Luke 22:17–18). He even produced wine: When the alcohol supply dwindled at the wedding in Cana, a youthful Jesus turned six jars of water—holding 20 to 30 gallons each—into wine (John 2:1–11). Pretty impressive for a guy’s first miracle. For centuries, Christians have commemorated Jesus’ imbibition at […]
30 The Hebrew prophet scholars call Second Isaiah loved to make fun of idols. He scathingly mocks them in as powerful a parody as anything in the Bible. But does he really understand the idols he condemns? I grant the literary artistry and effective polemic of this prophet, who is believed to have written […]
Leonardo: The Last Supper Pinin Brambilla Barcilon and Pietro C. Marani Trans. by Harlow Tighe (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2001) 458 pp., 382 color illus., 64 b&w, $95.00 (clothbound) It took Leonardo about four years to paint his famous Last Supper. It took Pinin Brambilla Barcilon 20 to restore it. Leonardo’s work (1493/4–1497) […]