It's been a while since I offered a summer series on the lighter side of Bible studies. The main reason for this lapse is that I've always tried to make those series humorous, and that's a stretch for me (just ask any of my students). I always wish I could tell a good joke, but, at best, that's not my forte.
So for your reading pleasure in Summer 2016, I thought I would instead give you a book review series on Bible-related fiction. The books that featured here will not be from the Bible. They will not be Sacred Scripture. Rather, I intend to offer reviews of works that are imaginative explorations of Bible stories. Reviews will come from a variety of sources (students, faculty, staff) in the CBS community. I will be accepting submissions for the series all summer long.
If you know a work of biblical fiction for which you'd like to write a brief (one paragraph) review, simply email your review to catholic.biblical.school@aohct.org.
Our first submission comes from Jim Creed of St. Bridget in Manchester, CBS Class of 2019:
The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant, retells the Jacob saga through the eyes of his daughter Dinah. Thus writing from a woman's perspective, the author gives an added dimension of interesting alternatives to the scriptural account. While being a fictional novel based on scripture, it provides thought-provoking perspectives on the Jacob saga and fills out the lives, personalities and actions of the characters in very gripping, sometimes disturbing, and always intriguing ways. If one remembers that it is not true scripture, it still gives an alluring "insight" into the minds, mores, morals and culture of Jacob's patriarchal clan. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997)
