Overview

Ever since God called Abram from Ur, he has conveyed his revelation and displayed his splendors to the chosen Hebrew people. Bazyn's introduction incorporates fictional first-person recreations of Cain's murder of Abel and Rachel's theft of the household idols. His poems investigate such pivotal moments as Jacob's wrestling with an angel; the Israelites' faint-heartedness and desire to return to Egypt in the wilderness; the rise of monarchy and its alarming consequences; the prophet Elijah's troubled relationship with King Ahab; Jonah's futile flight from a call to preach repentance in Nineveh. Not afraid to tackle complex, difficult-to-resolve theological issues, Bazyn weighs in on faith, judgment, idolatry, free will, suffering, repentance, the coming Messiah, and resurrection. His taut, condensed style, thick with intriguing metaphors, probes the believer's conduct and motivation: Why does God at times seem so distant and hidden? What does it feel like to be persecuted? To aid in discerning each poem's meaning, Bazyn has added allusive, revelatory 35mm black-and-white photographs. Whether as a Jew, a Christian, or an unbeliever who is curious about the Tanakh's significance, you are drawn into this net of words, cut to the quick by standing naked and exposed before your maker like Job.

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Reviews

"""Ken Bazyn is deeply grounded in Scripture, world-wise, has read everything, and appreciates rich, evocative images. He brings all of these gifts together in a fresh reading of our old text. You may indeed find your faith newly enlivened through his good words."" --Walter Brueggemann, author of Solomon: Israel's Icon of Human Achievement ""Ken Bazyn is deeply grounded in Scripture, world-wise, has read everything, and appreciates rich, evocative images. He brings all of these gifts together in a fresh reading of our old text. You may indeed find your faith newly enlivened through his good words."" --Walter Brueggemann, author of Solomon: Israel's Icon of Human Achievement"

Author Information

"Ken Bazyn is long-time editorial director of Religious Book Club. He has written The Seven Perennial Sins and Their Offspring and Soul-Wrestling: Meditations in Monochrome. He has published articles in forty periodicals, from Commonweal to Dialog, and his photographs have appeared in forty-five magazines. His previous books of poetry are Gospel Midrashim, Jesting Angels, Artistic Alchemy, Humanity, Nuptial Favors, Creation Groans On, The Poetic ""I,"" and Apocalyptic Fervor."

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