Books in Brief

Revelation and Redemption

George W. Buchanan (North Carolina Press, Inc., 631 pp.) $12.50

This collection of translations of medieval religious writings was prepared by George Wesley Buchanan as part of preliminary research for a commentary of the Book of Revelation. In the course of Buchanan’s study he learned that in Judaism, from the time of Jesus to the end of the Crusades, the only eschatological expectations (doctrines about the end of days) were closely related to the reestablishment of the Jews in the promised land under Davidic rule which would then be extended to all of the civilized and known world. Not wanting merely to report this observation to New Testament scholars for them to believe or disbelieve, Buchanan translated some of the most important texts so that scholars could read them in English. Buchanan advises, however, that “this literature should not be read only by New Testament scholars to learn the nature of eschatology in ancient Judaism and Christianity; it should be read for its own sake, just to appreciate the feelings of a people and their artful literary skills.”

Buchanan eases the reader’s journey through the texts by identifying all Biblical quotations and adding extensive commentary and definitions of important terms.

Archaeology in the Land of the Bible