Orpah’s Odyssey


Book Description

Did Orpah behave that badly?! The Book of Ruth paints a glowing picture of the Moabite widow who sacrificed homeland, faith, and family to accompany her mother-in-law Naomi to Israel. Ruths choice paid off . In Israel, she remarried and eventually became the great-grandmother of the illustrious King David. But what happened to Naomis other widowed daughter-in-law, Orpah, who decided not to go to Israel? Mentioned briefly in the Book of Ruth, Orpah chose to return to her birth family, an accepted custom. Nevertheless, religious tradition has excoriated Orpah for her decision. She has been labeled a traitor and worse. Why? What difference could that one unexceptional young woman have made? Or was she more remarkable than she has been previously portrayed? What happened to Orpah after she parted from Naomi and Ruth? What if a recently unearthed ancient scroll revealed those mysteries? Hidden centuries ago to prevent the revelation of shocking truths, the scroll bears Orpahs account of the famous story narrated in the Book of Ruth and more. Specifi cally, it offers secrets which some would prefer remain buried. However, why not allow Orpah to tell her side and defend her name, actions, and reputation? Here she does just that, looking back on a long, eventful life filled with anguish and joy, adventure and intrigue, and interaction with Biblical characters who may not have behaved as correctly, or, in some cases, as incorrectly, as history would have us believe. Sometimes the choices people make are not for their own reasons, but because a higher power has plans for them other than the obvious. And Jonah was not the only reluctant Old Testament prophet, as you are about to discover.




Messiah in Weakness


Book Description

Yung Suk Kim raises a perennial question about Jesus: How can we approach the historical Jesus? Kim proposes to interpret him from the perspective of the dispossessed--through the eyes of weakness. Exploring Jesus's experience, interpretation, and enactment of weakness, understanding weakness as both human condition and virtue, Kim offers a new portrait of Jesus who is weak and strong, and empowered to bring God's rule, replete with mercy, in the here and now. Arguing against the grain of tradition that the strong Jesus identifies with the weak, Kim demonstrates that it is the weak Jesus who identifies with the weak. The paradoxical truth with Jesus is: "Because he is weak, he is strong." In the end, Jesus dies a death of paradox that reveals both his ultimate weakness that demands divine justice, and his unyielding spirit of love for the world and truth of God.










The Story of Edgar Sawtelle


Book Description

An Oprah's Book Club Pick A #1 New York Times Bestseller A National Bestseller Beautifully written and elegantly paced, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is a coming-of-age novel about the power of the land and the past to shape our lives. It is a riveting tale of retribution, inhabited by empathic animals, prophetic dreams, second sight, and vengeful ghosts. Born mute, Edgar Sawtelle feels separate from the people around him but is able to establish profound bonds with the animals who share his home and his name: his family raises a fictional breed of exceptionally perceptive and affable dogs. Soon after his father's sudden death, Edgar is stunned to learn that his mother has already moved on as his uncle Claude quickly becomes part of their lives. Reeling from the sudden changes to his quiet existence, Edgar flees into the forests surrounding his Wisconsin home accompanied by three dogs. Soon he is caught in a struggle for survival—the only thing that will prepare him for his return home.




The Spectator


Book Description




The Bible's Many Voices


Book Description

The most common English translations of the Bible often sound like a single, somewhat archaic voice. In fact, the Bible is made up of many separate books composed by multiple writers in a wide range of styles and perspectives. It is, as Michael Carasik demonstrates, not a remote text reserved for churches and synagogues but rather a human document full of history, poetry, politics, theology, and spirituality. Using historic, linguistic, anthropological, and theological sources, Carasik helps us distinguish between the Jewish Bible’s voices—the mythic, the historical, the prophetic, the theological, and the legal. By articulating the differences among these voices, he shows us not just their messages and meanings but also what mattered to the authors. In these contrasts we encounter the Bible anew as a living work whose many voices tell us about the world out of which the Bible grew—and the world that it created. Listen to the author's podcast.




The Underground Railroad


Book Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • "An American masterpiece" (NPR) that chronicles a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. • The basis for the acclaimed original Amazon Prime Video series directed by Barry Jenkins. Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. An outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is on the cusp of womanhood—where greater pain awaits. And so when Caesar, a slave who has recently arrived from Virginia, urges her to join him on the Underground Railroad, she seizes the opportunity and escapes with him. In Colson Whitehead's ingenious conception, the Underground Railroad is no mere metaphor: engineers and conductors operate a secret network of actual tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Cora embarks on a harrowing flight from one state to the next, encountering, like Gulliver, strange yet familiar iterations of her own world at each stop. As Whitehead brilliantly re-creates the terrors of the antebellum era, he weaves in the saga of our nation, from the brutal abduction of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is both the gripping tale of one woman's will to escape the horrors of bondage—and a powerful meditation on the history we all share. Look for Colson Whitehead’s new novel, Crook Manifesto, coming soon!







Building Sisterhood


Book Description

The often forgotten role of Catholic sisters is told in experiences deeply rooted in self-realization and feminist methodology. In this collection of thirteen essays the contributors illuminate the little known world of a very creative and committed community of women—their aspirations, their values, their mission. An often neglected part of feminist research, this type of sisterly collaboration affirms the seminal paradigms in women's work and writing. These essays deal with many of the same issues of power, economic autonomy, friendship, spirituality, socialization, and professional commitment encountered in other feminist endeavors. Building Sisterhood gives the reader insight into the rigorous training involved in becoming a nun, including the complex relationships between the Monroe community, other IHM sites, and within the intricate church hierarchy. Feminist historian Margaret Susan Thompson places the essays within a historical context and provides detailed background for those unfamiliar with the life, duty, and experience of Catholic sisters. This book will make a unique contribution to feminist scholarship, religious studies, and women's history