In the Beginning Was the Word: An Annotated Reading of the Prologue of John - Hardcover

Esolen, Anthony

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1621387984 ISBN 13: 9781621387985

Publisher: Angelico Press, 2021

Synopsis

In this extended meditation, Anthony Esolen looks, phrase by phrase, at the majestic Prologue to the Gospel of John, which with good reason he calls "the most influential paragraph in the history of man." He unfolds its theological richness by showing how the Apostle John has in mind, not only what he saw Jesus do and heard him say, but also the whole witness of Scripture before the time of Jesus, and the way the young Church proclaimed him. A unique feature of this remarkable work is how Esolen "hears" (and we with him) the Hebrew/Aramaic underlying John's Greek (which was not his mother tongue), echoing those languages in such a way that, all at once, what we thought could never be more profoundly expressed bursts forth in a renewed poetic splendor that brings into ever keener relief the whole panorama of the theology of the God-Man. Esolen's decades-long immersion in Christian poetry and Scripture uniquely positions him as a guide to the astonishing and life-changing "poem" of the Prologue. He says it best: "My hope is not only to illuminate what John wishes us to hear, but to show that, when it comes to this poetry, John is not the originator; he is, rather, the beloved disciple who caught the habit from the Lord Himself."

About this title

About the Author

ANTHONY ESOLEN is a professor of humanities, and writer in residence, at Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts. He has written or translated twenty-five books, on language, literature, culture, and the Christian faith, including a three-volume translation and edition of Dante's Divine Comedy, and, most recently, his own book-length poem The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord. He lives in Warner, New Hampshire, with his wife Debra and their two children, Jessica and David.

Edition details

• Publisher: Angelico Press
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1621387984
• ISBN 13: 9781621387985
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 174