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The Book of Life: The New Testament Retold
Beginning with the appearance of the Angel to a young girl in Nazareth, Henri Daniel-Rops tracesthe story of Christ, His youth, teaching ministry, firstdisciples, many miracles . . . and, in the end, His betrayal, trial,and death on the Cross.That end made anew beginning, for then comes the triumphant Resurrection, and thefinal appearances of Jesus in His earthly body before He is taken up toheaven, leaving us the Eucharist and the other sacraments that enableus to share in His divine life.Its a story that cant be told too often, a story for young and old, rich and poor: the story of salvation. Publisher: Sophia Institute Press Author: Henri Daniel-Rops Format: 176 pages ISBN: 9781933184494
- GenresCatholic
154 pages, Paperback
First published April 27, 2009
15 people want to read
About the author
Henri Daniel-Rops
393 books39 followersDaniel-Rops (Henri Petiot's literary pseudonym) was born in Épinal in 1901 and died in Chambéry in 1965. He was professor of history and director of Ecclesiae magazine (Paris), and became world-famous mainly for works of historiography: (1943), Jesus in his time (1945), and the ten volumes of the History of the Church of Christ (1948 - 1965). He has also authored several essays, works of children's literature and historical novels, among which are Death, where is your victory? (1934) and The Sword of Fire (1938). He was a voter for the French Academy in 1955.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 8, 2009
The Book of Life: The New Testament Retold is a translation from the French L'Evangile de mes Filleuls by Henri Daniele-Rops. Originally written in 1955, it attempts to rewrite the New Testament in pseudo-story form.
Daniele-Rops' attempt to make the Bible palatable to the young fails, I'm afraid, at least in the English translation. The "story" portions of his book are interwoven with more preachy-sounding Biblical exegesis which, while interesting in and of themselves, are too abrupt and do not weave seamlessly with the rest of the text.
The book is also too self-aware. It keeps drawing attention to the fact that it is being written by an outside author and never draws the reader into the story. We are too aware that we are being read to (or preached at) and are never allowed to lose ourselves in what is arguably "the greatest story ever told."
Daniele-Rops' attempt to make the Bible palatable to the young fails, I'm afraid, at least in the English translation. The "story" portions of his book are interwoven with more preachy-sounding Biblical exegesis which, while interesting in and of themselves, are too abrupt and do not weave seamlessly with the rest of the text.
The book is also too self-aware. It keeps drawing attention to the fact that it is being written by an outside author and never draws the reader into the story. We are too aware that we are being read to (or preached at) and are never allowed to lose ourselves in what is arguably "the greatest story ever told."
September 1, 2009
The Book of Life: The New Testament Retold was a fairly quick read, and it's written in everyday language-- it's not one of those religious books that requires total concentration and a Bible by your side as you read. I really appreciated that.
The tone of the book is as though a friend, or trusted teacher, is recalling the events for you. It's easy to imagine yourself right there as events unfold.
The only thing was.... it didn't really stick with me. I put it down a few weeks ago, and today, when I finally have a few free minutes to write this review, I had to flip through parts of it to remember what it was that I liked about the book. Now, whether that's the book's fault or my own is, of course, a matter of opinion. ;)
The tone of the book is as though a friend, or trusted teacher, is recalling the events for you. It's easy to imagine yourself right there as events unfold.
The only thing was.... it didn't really stick with me. I put it down a few weeks ago, and today, when I finally have a few free minutes to write this review, I had to flip through parts of it to remember what it was that I liked about the book. Now, whether that's the book's fault or my own is, of course, a matter of opinion. ;)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews