A Coming Christ in Advent

Any words written by Fr. Brown are always excellent.

Good

I would recommend this book to anyone. I had to buy this for a class, but ended up really liked it.

A great work of scholarship for the layman by the most capable of modern exegetes. A book worth reading and studying.

Simple, thoughtful, well-researched. Typical Raymond Brown.

Good material for anticipation.

One of Raymond Brown's most enduring and significant works is THE BIRTH OF THE MESSIAH. It is without a doubt the most helpful work for preparing Advent and Christmas homilies as well as Bible studies based on the Advent and Christmas seasons. Though it's filled with great information, it's not quick reading by any stretch of the imagination. A quick reference guide would be more than appreciated by most readers and A COMING CHRIST IN ADVENT and its companion volume AN ADULT CHRIST AT CHRISTMAS, both published by Liturgical Press, serve this purpose.A COMING CHRIST IN ADVENT looks at the major stories in Matthew and Luke associated with Advent: The Annunciation to Mary, the Visitation, and Magnificat; The Annunciation to Zechariah, birth of John the Baptist, and Benedictus; Matthew's genealogy of Jesus Christ and Joseph's encounter with the angel. He treats each story separately and encourages readers to do the same, believing that combining the stories can take away from the overall message. He also warns about worrying too much about historical accuracy, believing that doing so can away from the beauty and message of the texts. Readers familiar with Brown's writings know that when he states this, he's not arguing against a scholarly study of the Infancy Narratives, but rather is encouraging readers not to get so boggled down in details that the message is either missed or ignored.Because it's a slender volume, it's perfect for an Advent Bible Study series or spiritual reading for people who combine scripture study and prayer. At such a busy time of the year, people want substance but often don't have time for lengthier works. This volume is perfect for that purpose. It's also great for preparing a homily, since it has major themes specifically for Advent. It also has footnotes with references for THE BIRTH OF THE MESSIAH which makes it a great beginning for further research.

I found spiritual insight in this slim volume by Fr. Raymond E Brown, S.S. "A COMING CHRIST in ADVENT" is a collection of essays on the gospel narratives preparing for the birth of Jesus. As such, it is a commentary of the first chapters of Matthew and Luke. The subjects include the genealogy of the CHRIST, Jesus, as presented in Matthew, the three Annunciations as well as the Benedictus. The subject is given the characteristic thoroughness Fr Brown applies to his larger works. Two themes which I found intriguing are first, that the Lucan Infacy Narratives contain figures from the Hebrew Scriptures (Zechariah and Elizabeth) and Gospel figures (John, the Baptist) encountering each other in order to bridge the two periods of GOD's salvific action. The second theme which was presented in a new light for me is the role of Mary as a disciple of the CHRIST. Fr Brown writes, "In all of this Luke has anticipated a christological terminology that is appropriate to Jesus' ministry and beyond." Jesus defines 'family' in terms of accepting his gospel about the LORD (Mark 3:35; Luke 8:21). Mary's answer in the Annunciation is "Let it be done to me according to your word." Again, from Fr Brown, "The evangelist is descrbing not only one who is consenting to be the physical mother of Jesus but also and very importantly one who meets Jesus' criterion for his family of disciples -- indeed the first one." If you are interested in understanding the Gospel message in the Infancy Narratives, this book will be interesting to you.

I bought this book to support research on a university assignment. The views expressed were thought provoking and the book is an easy read compared to other academic books.

Not a lengthy book but very useful by a well known and respected author who gives some real aspects to think about.

excellent - one of a series of seven

Very thought provoking

Great and insightful reading for preparation for Christmas