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Summary: Transformative Reading with Discussion Group
Comment: "Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality" was chosen for use by an ongoing group of adults working together to journey through Scripture and other Spiritual works. This book challenged and emboldened many in our group, myself included. It requires a mature faith and an open mind and heart. I will return to it again and again as I journey toward mature Christianity. I appreciate Fr. Rohr's work and am pleased to have discovered the work of this enlightened writer.
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Summary: Mysticism within the Bible
Comment: His old books on "The great Themes of Scripture" are updated with the evidence of much prayer, reflection, meditation, contemplation all based on his study of the scriptures, I believe this is the best book Rohr has ever written and invites us to see the themes that the biblical text proclaims. I wish I could give this book to every christian, esp catholics, who are in an on the inner journey of union with God, others and all of creation.
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Summary: Counterintuitive common wisdom
Comment: Rohr is improving. He's an experienced practical pastor, whose reflections on scripture are direct and commonsensical. His lines are often powerful: "We can't always be correct, but we can be connected", or "the best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better". And his questions are hard as an anti-Christian might ask: "was Jesus a sado-masochist? Did he relish victimhood?"
Throughout the book Rohr takes on the common self-righteous attitude that religion is about separating from or destroying evil. He shows how Jesus did the opposite, building relations with even the most despised and hated people. It's a kind of wisdom I wouldn't call "hidden", just contrary to our more immediate reactions.
--author of "Different Visions of Love"
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Summary: Nothing To Be Afraid of in God
Comment: "The amazing wonder of biblical revelation that I hope to make clear in this book is that God is much different than we thought, and also much better than we feared," promises Richard Rohr in the first chapter of Things Hidden. The book is based on the author's earlier talks on great themes of scripture. Two key themes he stresses are "Divine, unmerited generosity" is offered unconditionally, and the Spirit promised by Jesus is available to all.
In the Bible, writes Rohr, any time God or an angel breaks into human life, the event is prefaced by "Do not be afraid." God's entering the scene was considered bad news. "Even today most feel that God's love and attention must be earned and then we deeply resent the process." The earliest Hebrews saw God as punitive and petty, demanding of blood sacrifices. By the time of Abraham the sacrificial instinct "matured a bit," Rohr tells us, and animals became the sacrifice of choice "to please this fearsome God." When we get to the Risen Jesus, there is nothing to be afraid of in God.
The author uses numerous examples to show the gradual enlightenment. Of the Adam and Eve story, he suggests that seeking knowledge may seem more like virtue than sin. However, it isn't knowledge that God is trying to keep us from, but "lust for certitude, explanation, resolution and answers." He sees Noah's Ark as an image of how God liberates us, embodying "the contradictions, the opposites, the tensions and the paradoxes of humanity." And in Mary, he finds God's total gift of grace. She asks how the angel's proposition will come about without wondering why she is chosen or protesting her unworthiness "It takes all of the Bible to work up to one perfect vessel that knows how to say an unquestioning yes to an utterly free gift."
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Summary: Things Hidden
Comment: Things Hidden: Scripture As Spirituality This is the most important book I have read in a long time. It changes lives and allows the practicing Christian a more balanced perspective on life especially at this time. It really is the preaching of "Good News" as Christ taught. The message is what I needed to hear even though I already knew it. Fr. Richard puts it together so well.
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