Jots & Tittles

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Anthony J. Saldarini, 1941–2001

After a long struggle with lymphoma, Professor Anthony Saldarini of Boston College died on September 16, 2001, at his home in Newtonville, Massachusetts. Tony taught for 25 years (from 1976 on) in the theology department at Boston College, where he regularly offered courses on both the Old and New Testaments and on the Jewish world of the New Testament. Teaching at Boston College was not just a job for Tony. It was his intellectual and religious vocation. The Catholic and Jesuit atmosphere of Boston College was Tony’s intellectual and spiritual home, and he both incarnated and passed on that tradition.

My friendship with Tony goes back over 40 years and was founded to a very large extent on our common dedication to the study of Scripture and to the world in which Scripture was first written. We both attended Boston College High School and then Boston College, entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), and remained close friends after he left the order in 1977.

One of the readings that Tony asked to have read at his funeral Mass was Sirach 38:34b–39:11, which begins:

“How different the one who devotes himself to the study of the law of the Most High! He seeks out the wisdom of all the ancients, and is concerned with prophecies; he preserves the sayings of the famous and penetrates the subtleties of parables; he seeks out the hidden meanings of proverbs and is at home with the obscurities of parables…”

The author of Sirach (also called Ecclesiasticus) was named Jesus ben Sirach, or as he is often called, Ben Sira. Ben Sira ran a school in Jerusalem in the second century B.C., where he instructed young men in the traditional wisdom of the ancient Near East and in the Holy Scriptures of Israel. Ben Sira sought to pass down the tradition while at the same time adapting the tradition to new challenges and new circumstances. He helped his students to share in the wisdom of the past so that they could meet the challenges of the present and the future. That text is a perfect summary of Tony’s academic life.

He enjoyed the challenge of working with undergraduates—opening up to them the world of the Bible, showing them how to think and to express themselves in an orderly way, and demanding that they approach their material in a thoughtful and critical way. He enjoyed guiding graduate students in their research projects and pushing them to ask hard questions. Like Ben Sira before him, Tony sought to hand on the biblical tradition and to help students to see how they might bring that tradition to bear on their lives today and in the future.

In many ways Tony came to teaching quite naturally. His father was a teacher; his aunts were teachers; and his beloved wife, Maureen, is a teacher. Tony was very articulate and loved to talk. By nature he had a remarkable gift for rational analysis—the ability to look at all the dimensions of a problem, to break 013it down into its components, and to make a clear judgment or decision. And he could then explain the whole process in a clear and forceful way.

Tony’s great academic passion was the Jewish world of the New Testament. He studied rabbinic literature under Judah Goldin at Yale University, where he received his doctorate in 1971. A productive publishing scholar, he wrote a number of important scholarly books: The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan (Abot de Rabbi Nathan) Version B (Brill, 1975); Scholastic Rabbinism: A Literary Study of the Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan (Scholars, 1982); Jesus and Passover (Paulist, 1984); Targum Jonathan of the Former Prophets (Glazier, 1987); Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees in Palestinian Society: A Sociological Approach (Glazier, 1988; reprinted by Eerdmans, 2001); and Matthew’s Christian-Jewish Community (University of Chicago Press, 1994). He also wrote many technical articles and reviews, as well as popular pieces for the general public, and served as a columnist and book-review editor for Bible Review.

Tony approached the study of Judaism with both objectivity and passion. He came to know and appreciate Judaism on its own terms, not simply as “background” to the New Testament. Jewish scholars trusted Tony and admired his work. Likewise, Christian scholars sought out Tony’s opinions on Jewish texts, knowing that they would get an informed, fair and representative assessment. He was a bridge between Jewish and Christian scholars.

Like Ben Sira before him, Tony was conscious that good teachers leave a legacy. Closest to Tony is the legacy represented by his family, his two sons Daniel and Brian, and his dear wife Maureen. The love, generosity and care that Maureen showed to Tony over his long illness were magnificent and edified me greatly.

During the 25 years that Tony taught at Boston College, he was an important contributor to the university’s rise to ever greater academic excellence. His scholarly passion for the academic study of Judaism was surely a step toward the creation of the Center for Christian and Jewish Learning at Boston College directed by Professor Philip Cunningham and Rabbi Ruth Langer. And his publications will be read and studied for years to come.

In the final analysis, however, like Ben Sira before him, all of Tony’s accomplishments as a teacher and a scholar were in the service of the word of God and of his students and other seekers of wisdom. Behind all his study and teaching was the Jewish and Christian ideal of the love of learning and the desire for God. Like Ben Sira before him, Tony loved to study—to penetrate the subtleties of parables and to seek out the hidden meanings of proverbs. Like Ben Sira before him, Tony believed with all his heart that in the study of Scripture and other ancient texts the wisdom of God can be found.

Bible Inspires Church Name Change

The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has changed its name. This early offshoot of the Mormon church, founded in 1860 by Joseph Smith’s son, will now be known to its quarter-million members as the Community of Christ. Linda Booth, member of one of the church’s highest councils, cites biblical precedent for the change. Abram and Sarai, she points out, received new names after hearing God’s call. In Genesis 17, God establishes his covenant with Abram. “You shall be the father of a multitude of nations. And you shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I make you the father of a multitude of nations” (Genesis 17:4–5). Similarly God adds, “As for your wife Sarai, you shall not call her Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah” (Genesis 17:15).

Booth told the New York Times: “Any time people have a sense of being transformed, in the Old Testament and the New Testament, a new name is what God’s calling you to wear and become.”

Of course the new abbreviated appellation is also a lot easier to remember.

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Religion Reading List

The editors of Beliefnet, a Web site with comprehensive articles, opinion pages and discussion forums about multiple religions, have compiled a list of basic books that they recommend for learning about particular religions.

Visitors to the site are encouraged to add their own favorite books to the list. Under the Progressive Christian category (the Web site defines this as “Christians who base their faith on the Bible but do not necessarily take every word of it literally”), one reader adds: “Read Charles Dickens. His social gospel is almost unique in literature. He had no faith in churches, but his Christian decency is stamped into practically every word.” Strangely, the editors have failed to include a single book about the Bible on their list.

For the complete list, visit Beliefnet at www.beliefnet.com/story/85/story_8507_1.html.

Judaism

The Jewish Catalog, Michael Strassfeld

Teshuva, Adin Steinsaltz

To Be a Jew, Hayim Donin

Living a Jewish Life, Anita Diamant

Evangelical Christianity

A Short Systematic Theology, Paul F.M. Zahl

Christianity 101, Gilbert Bilezikian

Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, Randall Balmer

Just as I Am, Billy Graham

Progressive Christianity

Christianity and the Social Crisis, Walter Raushenbush

Why Christian? Douglas John Hall

Things Seen and Unseen, Nora Gallagher

Sexism and God-Talk, Rosemary Radford Ruether

Risks of Faith, James H. Cone

Islam

Islam: A Short History, Karen Armstrong

The Oxford History of Islam, John L. Esposito

Muhammad, Karen Armstrong

Islam in America, Jane I. Smith

Hinduism

Classical Hindu Thought, Arvind Sharma

Jnana Yoga, Swami Vivekananda

The Bhagavad Gita, trans., Eknath Easwaran

Banaras: City of Light, Diana L. Eck

Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda

Buddhism

Buddha, Karen Armstrong

Buddhism Plain and Simple, Steve Hagen

Buddhism in America, Richard Hughes Seager

The New Buddhism, James Coleman

Buddhism Made Plain, Antony Fernando

Earth-Based Religion Books

The Spiral Dance, Starhawk

Drawing Down the Moon, Margot Adler

Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, Scott Cunningham

The Wiccan Path, Rae Beth

Pagan Book of Living and Dying, Starhawk

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The Bible in the News

Just about every avocation, hobby or interest you can think of (and some you can scarcely imagine!) has its own bible (admittedly with a small b), as is demonstrated by this list—a veritable A-Z of publications that someone (not me) has deemed biblical in scope:

Advertising Age: bible of the advertising industry

Billboard: recording industry’s bible

Cigar Aficionado: bible of the stogie set

Daily Variety: US media and entertainment industry bible

Entertainment Weekly: Hollywood Bible

The Face: bible of youth magazines

GQ: style bible for discerning men about town

Harper’s Bazaar: the fashion bible

Industry Standard: bible of the new economy, also styled the Silicon Valley bible (alas, it stopped publication in August 2001; woe unto those who placed their faith and their nest eggs in this bible!)

J-17: monthly style magazine, the bible for adolescent girls

Kelley Blue Book: the bible of the used car trade

Living on Thin Air: Charles Leadbeater’s new-economy bible

Media Week: advertising agencies’ bible

Nova: sixties style bible

Outside: the literary bible of the outdoor adventure set

Premiere: the film buffs’ bible

Queer New York: bible for the gay community

Rolling Stone: music industry bible

Soap Opera Digest: soap watchers’ bible.

Time Out: London’s bible of events, things to do, places to go

USDA’s Food Guide Pyramid: nutrition bible used by dieters, taught to school children and plastered on bread labels

Vogue: fashion bible of ice queens

Wallpaper: interior design bible for urban modernists

X: OK, you read this far. I have to be honest with you. I can’t find an X-bible. Any ideas, you X-filers out there?

Yachts & Yachting: bible of sailors, weather, tides & sailing competitions

Zagat: travel bible for the well-off American

If this column becomes essential reading for seekers of Lighthearted, non-Jeremiad Gnosis, could we call it the LJG (why do those initials sound familiar?) bible?

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10 Commandments as Movie Promo

We recently reported on the Supreme Court’s decision to let stand a lower court ruling (City of Elkhart v. Books) that found the display of the Ten Commandments in front of an Elkhart, Indiana, municipal building unconstitutional (Jots & Tittles, BR 17:04). BR reader Robert Matter of Anderson, Indiana, a town about 150 miles from Elkhart, has informed us that the monument was not, as we reported, the brainchild of a local judge who hoped the inscriptions would have a positive influence on troubled teens. Rather, it was the work of E.J. Ruegemer, a Minnesota judge, and Cecil B. DeMille.

The full story of the 6-foot-tall granite statue of the Ten Commandments is reported by Rob Boston in the July/August 2001 issue of Church & State, a publication of the Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Boston reports:

“The monument had found a home in front of the Elkhart City Hall four decades earlier as a tie-in for a promotional campaign for a movie—Hollywood producer Cecil B. DeMille’s biblical extravaganza The Ten Commandments.

“DeMille’s involvement grew out of a nationwide campaign first launched in 1943 by E.J. Ruegemer, a Minnesota juvenile court judge and head of a Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE) committee dealing with the problems of youth. Ruegemer claimed that many of the young people who ended up in his courtroom lacked a moral foundation, and he proposed pasting paper copies of the Ten Commandments in juvenile courts to rectify that.

“DeMille got wind of Ruegemer’s project as he was working on his epic film, which starred Charlton Heston as Moses. DeMille, eager to drum up publicity for the 1956 movie, proposed displaying bronze tablets instead of paper copies, but Ruegemer felt that granite markers would be more appropriate, arguing that the original Ten Commandments were probably made of stone. DeMille agreed and authorized Ruegemer to contract with a Minnesota granite firm to begin production. Eagles units soon began donating them to cities around the country.

“DeMille carefully exploited the situation to ensure maximum publicity for his movie, and some of the monument dedications were even timed to tie in with the release of the film. In one town, Dunseith, N.D., actor Heston appeared personally for the ceremony. In Milwaukee, a Ten Commandments monument was unveiled the same week the film debuted, with actor Yul Brynner—Pharaoh in the movie—on hand for the festivities.

“Ruegemer, 98 and still living in Minnesota, told the South Bend Tribune in May that the Eagles were at first wary of taking on the project, fearing that it might be perceived as sectarian. To get around that, organizational leaders asked Catholic, Protestant and Jewish representatives to come together and decide on how to word and list the commandments in a way that was agreeable to all. (Roman Catholics, Protestants and Jews use different versions of the Ten Commandments. For example, in the Catholic version, the fourth commandment is ‘Honor your mother and father.’ In the Protestant and Jewish versions, it is ‘Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.’)

“Thanks to the DeMille–Eagles partnership, more than 2,000 Ten Commandments monuments were donated to communities around the country. The FOE kept the project going long after the film opened, and some monuments did not get erected until 10 years later. Elkhart’s monument was dedicated on Memorial Day of 1958, when local Protestant, Jewish and Catholic clergy in Elkhart, joined by FOE officers and city officials, unveiled it at a public ceremony.

“Four decades passed…Ironically, the monument that has sparked so much fuss was until a few years ago covered with weeds and vines. Many town residents didn’t even know it was there until a groundskeeper cleaned it off one day in 1998.”

As BR reader Matter notes, if the Elkhart, Indiana, monument is only one of 2,000 erected by Ruegemer and DeMille, the other 1,999 must be lurking somewhere undiscovered. Writes Matter: “Let’s hope there will not be that many future lawsuits spawned.”

Anthony J. Saldarini, 1941–2001