Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #141683 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-30
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 232 pages

Customer Reviews

Excellent Research Text
I needed to write a biography on John the Baptist for class. I didn't think it would be so hard, but finding a good book on John the Baptist wasn't so easy. This is the best one I found anywhere. This is the most exhaustive text on John I found anywhere and it takes everything into consideration. I highly recommend it for research, but it is written so well that it is good for even a curious reader.

Repent, Repent, Repent
Early in this comprehensive work, the author reminds us that John the Baptist's message emphasized sin, repentance, judgment, and hell, "topics that run counter to the more user-friendly religion of the twenty-first century." Burke, who holds a doctorate in theology from Fordham University, begins by tracing Old Testament patterns and prophesies that set the stage for John's appearance as "the last of the prophets and the first of the Christians." We learn of the culture into which John emerged after 20 years in the desert, his effect on the Israelites, and the parallels between his message and that of Jesus.

The chapter on John as a Model for Contemporary Christians goes into detail about what Burke calls "the sterner Christian virtues that need reinvigoration today," centered on repentance. Burke suggests that if John were alive today, his priority would be restoration of the sacrament of confession to a position of central importance. "He would require sincere acts of mortification as evidence of good faith."

Burke's work on John the Baptist, though scholarly, is nonetheless accessible to the layman. The layout and style are clear and inviting, and the author has included a number of tables to help clarify the text, questions for reflection on each chapter, and a detailed index. The text is enriched by references to artists' renderings of John the Baptist and their significance as well as opinions of scholars that may differ from those presented by the author. Burke closes with several pages of devotions to John the Baptist.

Individuals and groups would profit most by studying this work straight through, but an alternative approach that tailors the material to time constraints would also be of benefit.