Tag: historical

“Weight of a Flame: The Passion of Olympia Morata (Chosen Daughters series)” by Simonetta Carr

~ Bob Hayton ~ 1 Comment

Book Details:
  • Author: Simonetta Carr
  • Category: Children’s Books
  • Publisher: P & R Publishing (2011)
  • Format: softcover
  • Page Count: 256
  • ISBN#: 9781596381582
  • List Price: $11.99
  • Rating: Highly Recommended

Review:
What would it be like to live in the years immediately following the Reformation? How joyful would the discovery of Gospel truth be? Yet, how terrible would it feel to know people close to you, who are suffering for their faith? The turbulent period which followed the Reformation is captured well in a new book by Simonetta Carr.

In Weight of a Flame: The Passion of Olympia Morata (part of the Chosen Daughters series from P & R Publishing), Carr tells the story of a Reformation-era heroine still remembered to this day. Olympia Morata was an Italian tutor and scholar, who embraced the teachings of Martin Luther and John Calvin with as much fervor as her professor father. She was fluent in Latin and Greek by the time she was 12, and at 13, she was summoned to the court of the Duke of Ferrara to tutor his eldest daughter, Anna D’Este. Morata developed into a scholar in her own right, lecturing on Cicero and studying philosophy. And she was known for her poetry, having written her own metrical adaptations of the Psalms.

This obscure historical figure is brought to life through the imagination and pen of author Simonetta Carr. Carr weaves us in and out of the tale of Morata’s short life. We share her wonderment at going to court, and learn with her of the terrible plight of French refugees fleeing religious persecution. Morata’s relationship with her father and her family is developed and a romance eventually unfolds.

But the story of Olympia Morata has its dark turns. She encounters suffering martyrs and survives a bout with the black plague. At one point her town is besieged and then sacked, and she and her family run for their lives. And at the young age of 28, she dies.

The author doesn’t leave us with the bare facts of the case. She infuses the story with Gospel hope. The characters rehearse Scriptural promises to each other and find encouragement in the Gospel. And through this fictional account we can imagine what it really would be like to be there in Olympia’s and her husband’s shoes living through these difficult times.

Stories like these can help build the faith of our children. This book, directed primarily to girls, will both educate and inspire them. And the story is written well enough to captivate both children and their parents. As the father of five daughters, I can’t wait to place Weight of a Flame in their hands. I can’t thank the author enough for uncovering another Christian heroine for my daughters to look up to and to emulate. May the hope-filled life of Olympia Morata inspire many chosen daughters to trust the Gospel and risk their lives for the cause of Christ.

Author Info:
Simonetta Carr, mother of eight and homeschool educator for twenty years, has worked as a freelance journalist and a translator of Christian works into Italian. She is the author of the Christian Biographies for Young Readers series.

Where to Buy:
  • Westminster Bookstore
  • Christianbook.com
  • Amazon
  • P & R Publishing

Related Media:
  • Book preview
  • Author interview about this book
  • Author’s website
  • Author’s blog

Disclaimer:
This book was provided by P & R Publishing for review. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

Book Release: “The Shooting Salvationist” by David R. Stokes

~ Bob Hayton ~ 3 Comments

Today, is the official launch of an exciting new book about Pastor J. Frank Norris of Fort Worth, Texas. David R. Stokes, columnist and a pastor himself, gives us The Shooting Salvationist: J. Frank Norris and the Murder Trial that Captivated America.

I just recently finished reading a pre-release copy of this book, and was captivated by the intricacies of this story. Norris is perhaps the most infamous fundamentalist leader of all, and as the book details, was the focus of perhaps the murder trial of the decade in the 1920s. The entire nation was riveted for months as front-page news detailed the story of a Texas pastor shooting an unarmed man in his office.

The book traces Norris’ career as well as the history of Fort Worth and Texas as a whole in the 1920s. It was the age of newspapers on every corner — and Norris had his own paper with a nation-wide circulation — was just giving way to the radio — and Norris was a radio pioneer too, with an audience reputed to be in the millions. The 1920s saw the Ku Klux Klan as still a powerful force in politics and city life, and Norris was more closely connected with the KKK and its mission than one would guess.

The book is written well, and the story of the trial reads like a novel. The picture painted of J. Frank Norris seems even-handed and true to life, and the author stops short of judging him. It’s a fascinating look into the mind of the legend that J. Frank Norris became.

I don’t want to launch into my full review quite yet. For now, I want to encourage you to check out the book, and consider purchasing a copy today to help it rise in the rankings and become an Amazon bestseller. It’s published by Steer Forth Press and distributed by Random House. I’d encourage you to purchase a copy from Amazon, but you can buy it direct through Random House or Steer Forth Press.

Learn more about the book at TheShootingSalvationist.com or the book’s Facebook page. And enjoy the 8 minute video clip below of author David Stokes discussing his vision for the book.


A Conversation with David R. Stokes from David Stokes on Vimeo.

St. Patrick the Missionary: Excerpts from Patrick’s “Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus”

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

The following excerpts are taken from St. Patrick’s “The Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus”, one of only two documents that were certainly written by St. Patrick himself and preserved for future generations by careful copyists. The letter tells of a brutal act done by Coroticus and his men– the murder and capture of several newly baptized converts of Patrick’s. I cannot reproduce the entire letter, but you can find it here. The translation I’m using is that found in The Wisdom of St. Patrick: Inspirations from the Patron Saint of Ireland by Greg Tobin (Ballantine Books: New York, 1999).

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1. I, Patrick, a sinner and poorly learned, as is well known, speak to you as the true and anointed bishop in Ireland. I believe with certainty that all that I am I have received from God; and so I live among barbarians and foreigners, a stranger and an exile for the love of the Father— and He is my witness that this is so. I would never, of my own will, speak so harshly and sternly as I feel I must, but I am compelled to by the zeal of God and the truth of Christ, and for the love for my friends [neighbors] and children [sons], for whom I have given up my homeland and my family, and even risked my very life unto the point of death. Though I am despised by some, I have dedicated my life– if I am worthy– to my God to teach these heathen tribes.

2. I have written these words myself and sent them to be given, delivered, and handed to the soldiers of Coroticus. I do not call them my own people nor fellow citizens of the holy Romans, but because of their evil deeds [I call them] the cohorts of demons…. I denounce them as bloodthirsty men who seek to gorge themselves on the blood of innocent Christians, whom I have “given birth to” [begotten] in countless numbers for God and confirmed in Christ.

4. Therefore, I do not know for whom I should more rightly grieve. Should I weep for those who were killed or captured, or for those whom the devil has enslaved?…

5. So let every God-fearing person know that those who murder their own families, who kill their brothers like ravening wolves, who devour the people of the Lord as they would eat bread–they are forever estranged from me and from my God, whose missionary I am. As is said, “The wicked have destroyed Your law, O Lord,” the law that He has of late– and at the end of time– graciously sown so successfully in Ireland to become firmly established there with God’s grace.

7. Therefore I earnestly beseech those of you who are holy and humble of heart that it is not correct to seek favor from such as their kind, or even to eat or drink with them, nor should alms be accepted from them until they have done the most severe penance, pouring out their tears to God’s satisfaction, and until they have freed the baptized servants and handmaidens of Christ on whose behalf He died and was crucified.

9. …We know that a murderer cannot stand with Christ. And he who hates his brother will be called a murderer, and “He who hates his brother lives in death.” More offensive is he who stains his hands with the blood of those children of God whom He has recently won over to His ways through my own paltry efforts here at the utmost ends of the earth.

10. Could I have come here, to Ireland, without the guidance of God, or for reasons that were human and secular? Who compelled me on this mission? It is because of the Holy Spirit that I am bound to remain forever separated from my family. Does this forgiveness that I have shown to the very people who once enslaved me and pillaged the male and female servants of my father’s household come from within me? In the eyes of the secular world, I am a free man, the son of a Roman decurion. But I have traded my noble birthright, without shame or second thought, for the advantage [benefit] of others. In a word, I am Christ’s slave; I serve Him by ministering to foreign tribes for the sake of the indescribable glory of eternal life that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

11. …I do not seek anything for myself. It was not by my own grace, but God who put within me this sincere care in my heart, that I should be one of His hunters and fishers of souls, whom God had long ago foretold would come in the end of days.

12. I am the target of resentment and jealousy. What shall I do, O Lord? I am openly despised. Look, all around me Your sheep lie torn and spoiled, and by these very soldiers of Coroticus at his evil orders. Far removed from the love of God is anyone who betrays my newly won Christian into the hands of the Scots and Picts. Voracious wolves have eaten the Lord’s flock, just when it was increasing in Ireland with tender care…. So do not be pleased with this calamity; it is unacceptable, unjust, and irredeemable all the way to hell.

13. So who among the holy saints would not shudder to make merry or partake of a feast with men such as these? They have filled their houses with the stolen property of dead Christians; they live only to plunder….

15. I do not know what more I should say or how I can speak of those dead children of God who were ruthlessly struck down by the sword….

16. For this reason I cry aloud in sadness and grief: O most beautiful and beloved brothers and sons whom I confirmed in Christ, and whom I cannot number, what shall I do for you now? I am unworthy to help either God or man. The injustice of wicked men has overcome us….

17. Consequently, I grieve for you. Indeed, I deeply mourn for you, my dearly beloved ones. Yet, I also rejoice within myself. For I see that I have not labored without result, and my journey [exile] to an alien land was not without purpose. And though this was an unspeakably horrible crime, I thank God that you were baptized believers when you left this world for paradise. I can see you in a vision: you have embarked upon your journey to a place where there is no more night, no sorrow, and no death. Freed from your chains, you will romp like young lambs and the wicked will be like ashes beneath your feet.

18. You will reign with the apostles and the prophets and the martyrs. You will win eternal kingdoms, just as He Himself promised: “They shall come from the east and west, and they shall sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” While “outside [heaven] lie the dogs, the evildoers, and the murderers.” And “liars and blasphemers shall be damned to the lake of eternal fire.” The apostle rightly says: “When the just man shall barely be saved, where will the sinner and the ungodly lawbreaker expect to find himself?”

20. I witness before God and His angels that, though I lack learning, all shall be as I have predicted. For these words that I have written in Latin are not mine; they are from God and His apostles and prophets, who have never lied. “Whoever believes will be saved; whoever does not believe will be damned.” Thus God has spoken.

21. My first and sincerest request is that the servants of God who shall come into possession of this letter, do not conceal or withdraw it, but be sure that it is read aloud in public, and even when Coroticus himself is there. I pray that God will inspire the hearers to come to their senses and, even at this late stage, that they should repent of the evil they have committed– the murder of the Lord’s brothers– and that they should release the baptized women whom they have taken prisoner and sold. In this way they may yet deserve to live in the grace of God, and they may be restored whole, here and for all eternity. Peace be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen. [bold emphasis is mine, words in brackets are part of the translation]

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Patrick lived from around A.D. 390 to 460. It’s refreshing to see how Bible-rooted so much of Patrick’s thinking was– we are not all that removed from his theology and passion. I was struck by his connection of “hunters and fishers of souls” with Old Testament prophecy, something my study has only recently revealed to me. Patrick also considered his mission field the “utmost ends of the earth”. He viewed his ministry as fully within the “end times”, too.

From the above selection, it should be obvious that Patrick viewed himself as a missionary. He was on a mission to save the lost souls of Ireland. God blessed His efforts, we can fairly say. Above all, this selection reveals the heart of Patrick. He is broken over injustice and sin. Yet the horrors of hell motivated him to warn all not to be complicit with Coroticus’ evil deeds.

Patirck was a man on a mission– a missionary. And he was equally enthralled with “the indescribable glory of eternal life that is in Christ Jesus our Lord”. We do well to ponder St. Patrick on this, his special day.

John Sailhamer’s Messianic Interpretation of the Song of Solomon

~ Bob Hayton ~ 8 Comments

I came across the NIV Compact Bible Commentary and was delighted to find that John Sailhamer was its author. I’ve so enjoyed his The Meaning of the Pentateuch, that I picked up his commentary on the Pentateuch. I’m going to have to pick up this compact Bible commentary of his as well.

I was able to read the section on the Song of Solomon and was fascinated by Sailhamer’s insights, which I plan to share here. The following quotes are from his treatment of the book on pages 359-361 in the NIV Compact Bible Commentary (Zondervan, 1994), emphasis added.

Sailhamer begins by briefly recounting the traditional figurative interpretations of the book and the quite literal modern interpretations.

Although it is, on the face of it, just that–an ode to human love–one must ask whether it was originally intended to be read as such by its first audience. There are some indications within the book itself that suggest it was not…. There is no question that the book is a poetic drama of a lover’s longing for his beloved and of her willing complicity. To suggest, however, that this drama of two lovers is, in fact, the intent of the book is to confuse the poetic imagery with the purpose of the poem.

He is careful to say that this does not “justify the wholesale allegorizations of the poem that have characterized much of its history.” He admits the picture of the relationship of God/Christ with Israel/the Church, is a wonderful picture, but avers “there are no clues within the book itself to support such a reading. In the last analysis, one’s interpretation should come from within the book itself, and preferably from the clues given by the author himself.”

Sailhamer goes on to uncover several clues which do confirm that there is more to the Song than may meet the natural eye, however. He first points out from the overall structure of the book, that “the ‘reflections of love’ of the lover and the beloved do not progress and build in intensity in the course of the poem itself.” This is no average love story. He also argues that “though the poetic imagery comes close at times to suggesting the lover and his beloved have in fact come together and joined themselves in that union that they so longingly describe, the structure of the book itself suggests that has not yet happened.” Rather, the “lovers’ quest is an ideal, a longed-for desire that lies beyond their own grasp.”

Setting aside these preliminary observations for the moment, we come to Sailhamer’s focus on the “larger structural movement given to the poem by the author.” The repeated refrain throughout the book reads, “Do not arouse or awaken love until she [NIV, it] so desires” (2:7b; 3:5b; 8:4b). The meaning of this refrain comes from its connection to 8:5b where the author links it with the last statements made by the beloved (the woman): “Under the apple tree I roused you; there your mother conceived you, there she who was in labor gave you birth.” In this connection, Sailhamer sees an allusion to two other key biblical texts: the prologue of Proverbs (chapters 1-9), and the account of the Fall in Genesis 3.

If an illusion [sic] is intended to these passages, it suggests that “the beloved” in the Song of Solomon is intended to be understood as a personification of “wisdom” and Solomon, or “the lover,” is intended as a picture of the “promised seed” of Ge 3:15, i.e., the Messiah.

He goes on:

What appears to have happened in the composition of the Song of Songs is that the author has seen in this love-song the possibility of a portrait of Israel’s long-awaited messianic king. Solomon, the son of David (cf. 2Sa 7:16), whose quest for wisdom characterizes the central core of the book of Proverbs, speaks in the prologue of that book of binding wisdom to himself and on his heart (Pr 3:3; 7:1-3) in the same way that in this book [Song of Solomon] the beloved says, “Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm” (8:6). Moreover, in Proverbs Solomon says, “Say to wisdom, ‘You are my sister'” (Pr 7:4), just as here the beloved says, “If only you were to me like a brother” (8:1). An extended comparison of these two books suggests that these are not mere coincidental similarities of words and phrases, but rather a deliberate “inter-textuality,” or allusion of one text to another. Such verbal links and allusions between the personified Dame Wisdom in the book of Proverbs and the young beloved in the Song of Songs invite our attempts to see a larger purpose behind this love song. I have suggested that such a purpose is to be found in the growing messianic hope found in these sections [i.e. the Wisdom Literature] of the OT.

Thus far then, Sailhamer has shown “the Song of Songs is intended as a portrait of the promised Messiah’s love for divine wisdom.” He goes on:

The Messiah is here pictured by Solomon, and “wisdom” is personified by the young and beautiful beloved. Throughout the poem the notion of love is idealized by the fact that its obtainment lies in the future. The quest for wisdom was aroused “under the apple tree” (8:4a), probably an allusion to the time of the Garden of Eden when the first woman “saw that the fruit of the tree was…desirable for gaining wisdom [and] she took some and ate it” (Ge 3:6). The obtainment of wisdom, however, will come only when one like Solomon comes to claim his beloved.

Sailhamer also sees the reference to “there your mother conceived you, there she who was in labor gave you birth” (8:5b) as suggesting that the author of the Song of Solomon “also understood both the promised ‘seed’ in Ge 3:15 and the reference to Eve as ‘the mother of all living’ (Ge 3:20) messianically.”

The result of these inter-textual links, “if… intended by the author of this book” then,

…would place this song on a quite different level than that of an ode to human love. It would, in fact, give credence to the traditional attempts to see more in this poem than meets the eye. It would also provide some guidelines along which the symbolism of the book is to be read.

One final argument supports Sailhamer’s conclusions:

Finally, such a reading of the book would also provide needed insight into the underlying justification for the book’s inclusion into the OT. There is general recognition today that the time of the formation of the OT canon coincided with a significant surge in the hope of the imminent return of the messianic king. This book was included in the canon, one might say, because it was intended as a picture of the Messiah.

I am not one to discount seeing the Divine Author’s hand behind the human book as intentionally foreshadowing future covenant realities. I would see no problem in taking Sailhamer’s lead and affirming that this authorial intent was expanded in the wisdom of God, to allow the book as we have it in our Bible to suggest analogies between Christ and the Church. Think of the many songs that have been written culling from the poetic imagery of this Song of Songs.

Still, I had never seen Sailhamer’s reasoning for seeing a human authorial intent behind the Song of Solomon including an explicit Messianic connection. I’d be interested to know, if any of my readers knows whether Sailhamer has written more explicitly of this connection. The section on the Song is only a few pages long in the NIV Compact Bible Commentary. Along these lines, I’d also love to know what you think of this. Does this ring true to you? Or do you think Sailhamer is off base?

You can pick up a copy of this little book at Amazon.com or direct from Zondervan.