Articles - Book Reviews
 

"After Eating the Apricot". by John Goldingay. Remaindered price £2.00. ISBN 1-900507-02-1.

John Goldingay taught me about the Old Testament when I was at theological college - you can read into that whatever you like. I must say that he did remarkably well in turning what could have so easily been a dry and dreary subject into one that was exciting and enthused us to discover more. He manages the same in this book, taking the reader deep into the early books of the Old Testament to discover the powerful human (and divine) stories that lie below the surface of what most of us are more familiar with.

Thankfully John had the wisdom not to write a text-book. Instead he writes about stories. There's fifteen stories in this collection. They begin with John's story, or actually John and Ann's story, for most of these tales involve pairs of people - parents and children, brothers and sisters, or as in this case husbands and wives. Their story illustrates how being the people we are challenges the way we understand Scripture, and how Scripture challenges the people we are. He moves on to reflect on the creation story and the relationship between men and women and God. Incidentally, this is an excellent chapter to read if you're trying to understand what relevance faith may have in your daily work

The bulk of this book deals with the sometimes complex, sometimes frustrating, sometimes rewarding relationships between the characters involved: People like Adam and Eve, Joseph and his brothers, Naomi and Ruth. Their stories with each other and with God are skilfully related to issues affecting our lives today. This helps illustrate the continued relevance of the Old Testament to our contemporary faith; a faith worked out in a world where things are rarely black and white, but more often shades of grey.

John concludes with a critique of his own method. His attitude is, "I've done it this way and this is what I've found, but I could be totally wrong," which is quite typical of him. For me it makes what he says more palatable. I've left my copy in the church library.

© St Edmund's Church, Roundhay