Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1410822 in Books
• Published on: 1997-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Greek

Customer Reviews

Accessible digest version of important text
The Shepherd of Hermas is an early Christian text which was a serious contender for inclusion in the canon. It was rejected not on doctrinal grounds but on grounds that the anonymous author was not in the direct apostolic line i.e. an apostle or companion / disciple of an apostle. Robert Van de Weyer has provided a very readable condensation of the book.

The book itself consists of revelations including parables, commandments, etc. from which contrition and a desire to know God's ways are enhanced. The primary characters of the revelation are women personifying the Church and/or various virtues and angels especially a "guardian angel" or shepherd. Mountains, stones and trees are frequent images in the building up of the Church or in the judgment of Christians. The recipient of the revelation is an unlettered Christian slave; this leads to an emphasis on understanding with the heart rather than intellectual knowledge.

To give a bit of the flavor of the book, the twelve commandments received by and explained to the slave are:
1. Believe that God is one
2. Be as simple and innocent as a little child
3. Love truth
4. Keep your minds free of any impure thoughts
5. Be courageous and yet prudent
6. Control your temper
7. Always keep faith
8. Fear the Lord, and keep his commandments
9. Show temperance
10. Ensure that you are not two-minded or hypocritical
11. Be joyful
12. Put away from yourself all evil desire, and put on yourself only desires which are good and holy.

This book is useful for those interested in early Christianity or as devotional reading.

Shepherd of Hermas
This small book is a powerful work from early Christianity that was popular in its day but excluded from the canon. It has a clarity greater than many of the Gnostic gospels that are read today. I will be giving this small but powerful book as a gift to many friends this year.