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Written to Be Heard: Recovering the Messages of the Gospels
Recovers the lost messages of Mark, Matthew, Luke-Acts, and John for people today The words of the gospels were meant to be heard . While we can still appreciate the construction and grasp some understanding when we read, we miss much of the message because we’re working in the wrong medium. In Written to Be Heard Paul Borgman and Kelly James Clark offer the keys to recovering the radical, relevant messages of each gospel as they were first heard. The shaping of the gospels for oral performances, which would have been obvious to ancient (mostly preliterate) listeners, is lost on even the best contemporary reader. With careful analysis of the gospel writers’ particular voices within their own ancient literary context, Borgman and Clark equip readers to read as if hearing, focusing on overlapping patterns of hearing cues that shape each text and embed theological perspective.
389 pages, Paperback
Published March 14, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 28, 2019
Periodically I make the mistake of buying a new theological/biblical book that has a neat title and interesting topic. Usually because someone recommended it (and I didn't pay close enough attention to who recommended it).
These kinds of books are good reminders that what comes out of the academy and publishers these days is not always worth its face value.
Here are three quotes which I think adequately reflect the shape of the rest of this book.
Commenting on John 1
"The divine unity is introduced first as abstract truth: the images of the Word (logos) and God (theos) are intimately related as powerful co-creators of the world. But then, in the poem's conclusion, this divine unity is pictured in personal and concrete imagery."
Notice two things about this comment. One assumes "word" is impersonal/abstract (whatever that means?). What does it means to say, "John begins his gospel with abstract truth"? Maybe the author meant to say something different.
Then notice the subtle "co-creators." Maybe this works, but ignores the identification of the Word and God in that very verse. Yes there is a distinction, but this is just simplistic analysis.
Commenting on the resurrection in John:
"Jesus returns from the Father - as promised - not in the physical form assumed by the eternal Word but as the Word in spiritual form, released from the trappings of the flesh" (317).
Maybe the author isn't docetic (maybe he is?). The point is that this is supposed to be an exposition (I guess?) of what John is saying. Why all the fuzziness?
And that becomes clear in their principles of reading Scripture, one of which is this:
"Be aware of and set aside prior religious beliefs and commitments that can distort the voice of each gospel." This is of course true, that we should set aside anything that distorts the text. The problem is that what is left unsaid, is that we need the biases that allow us to hear Scripture speak. For example, if I am talking to my friend, but I do not believe he is a real person, then I will not be in a position to hear what he has to say (since I don't care to listen phantoms). If I assume that God is not real, then when I hear him speak, I am going to assume all sorts of errors when I listen to him talk.
These kinds of books are good reminders that what comes out of the academy and publishers these days is not always worth its face value.
Here are three quotes which I think adequately reflect the shape of the rest of this book.
Commenting on John 1
"The divine unity is introduced first as abstract truth: the images of the Word (logos) and God (theos) are intimately related as powerful co-creators of the world. But then, in the poem's conclusion, this divine unity is pictured in personal and concrete imagery."
Notice two things about this comment. One assumes "word" is impersonal/abstract (whatever that means?). What does it means to say, "John begins his gospel with abstract truth"? Maybe the author meant to say something different.
Then notice the subtle "co-creators." Maybe this works, but ignores the identification of the Word and God in that very verse. Yes there is a distinction, but this is just simplistic analysis.
Commenting on the resurrection in John:
"Jesus returns from the Father - as promised - not in the physical form assumed by the eternal Word but as the Word in spiritual form, released from the trappings of the flesh" (317).
Maybe the author isn't docetic (maybe he is?). The point is that this is supposed to be an exposition (I guess?) of what John is saying. Why all the fuzziness?
And that becomes clear in their principles of reading Scripture, one of which is this:
"Be aware of and set aside prior religious beliefs and commitments that can distort the voice of each gospel." This is of course true, that we should set aside anything that distorts the text. The problem is that what is left unsaid, is that we need the biases that allow us to hear Scripture speak. For example, if I am talking to my friend, but I do not believe he is a real person, then I will not be in a position to hear what he has to say (since I don't care to listen phantoms). If I assume that God is not real, then when I hear him speak, I am going to assume all sorts of errors when I listen to him talk.
March 15, 2019
This took me longer to finish than expected, mainly because it requires a lot of thought (I tend to speed-read my way through a lot of things, which isn't really optimal, but is what works for me). Written to be Heard, however, is the kind of book that you want to mull over and read with your Bible open at the same time, not because you don't trust what Borgman and Clark are expounding on in the text, but because you want to see with your own eyes the patterns that are being pulled out for you--and maybe read aloud to yourself.
Part Bible exposition, part literary study, the writers cover each of the Gospels in great detail, teasing out the biases, aims and structure of each writer, or in this case, storyteller of the Good News. Rather than cross-referencing the Gospels to each other and arguing about their differences, as we tend to do, they suggest that we consider each Gospel as individual stories, and as a transcription of an oral heritage. Variations, repetitions, and the way each book is structured then becomes understood as less of haphazard and poorly-constructed narrative--they are instead cues for listeners to pick up the points and themes of each Gospel.
Written to Be Heard: Recovering the Messages of the Gospels gives modern Christians a lot to chew on. As society moves from heavy reliance on text and the written word back to a preference for audio-visual forms, maybe the church should also reconsider what it means to read the Bible aloud.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Part Bible exposition, part literary study, the writers cover each of the Gospels in great detail, teasing out the biases, aims and structure of each writer, or in this case, storyteller of the Good News. Rather than cross-referencing the Gospels to each other and arguing about their differences, as we tend to do, they suggest that we consider each Gospel as individual stories, and as a transcription of an oral heritage. Variations, repetitions, and the way each book is structured then becomes understood as less of haphazard and poorly-constructed narrative--they are instead cues for listeners to pick up the points and themes of each Gospel.
Written to Be Heard: Recovering the Messages of the Gospels gives modern Christians a lot to chew on. As society moves from heavy reliance on text and the written word back to a preference for audio-visual forms, maybe the church should also reconsider what it means to read the Bible aloud.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
October 21, 2021
My fav. book of all-time i will buying more book by. paul. This book is real GOOD!. thanks paul! GOD BLESS YOU! SO GOOD I COULD RE-READ THIS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!
July 19, 2023
It was good. Got a little borderline heretical with its commentary on John and how Jesus didn’t have a truly physical body post resurrection. Good read though.
January 25, 2019
We live in a culture that is obsessed with written way of learning. Hundreds if not thousands of books are published everyday designed to communicate information via the medium of reading. Anachronistically, we presume that this is the normal way of learning/formation throughout the world and centuries. But clearly this is false assumption. Even today, most of the world uses oral, not written, mode of communication. Ancient stories and valuable histories are passed down throughout centuries orally. While oral ‘things’ are being written down, they lose some richness in their translation due to change in modes.
‘Written to be Heard’ argues that the Bible particularly the words of the gospels were meant to be heard not read. Consequently, when we read instead of hearing, we lose some of the richness and even miss the mark in grasping the key message due to wrong medium. This can lead us into erroneous interpretation.
Paul Borgman and Kelly James Clark attempt to recover and understand the message of each gospel which would have made different impact on oral hearers. They argue that gospels were oral performances. This method of learning was advantageous and common in preliterate society. In modern society, this is lost because our mode of understanding is different. Thereby, the authors attempt to analyse with fresh ‘ears’ and re-read the gospels with the lens of ‘oral performance’.
This book is stimulating. Somethings you won’t agree with and other things you will find compelling. It’s primarily written for an academic audience. But that is not to say that ordinary people cannot learn much from this book.
I thank Eerdmans for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
‘Written to be Heard’ argues that the Bible particularly the words of the gospels were meant to be heard not read. Consequently, when we read instead of hearing, we lose some of the richness and even miss the mark in grasping the key message due to wrong medium. This can lead us into erroneous interpretation.
Paul Borgman and Kelly James Clark attempt to recover and understand the message of each gospel which would have made different impact on oral hearers. They argue that gospels were oral performances. This method of learning was advantageous and common in preliterate society. In modern society, this is lost because our mode of understanding is different. Thereby, the authors attempt to analyse with fresh ‘ears’ and re-read the gospels with the lens of ‘oral performance’.
This book is stimulating. Somethings you won’t agree with and other things you will find compelling. It’s primarily written for an academic audience. But that is not to say that ordinary people cannot learn much from this book.
I thank Eerdmans for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews