Dec. 21, 2010
BOOK REVIEW: 'Original Sinners'
An Interpretation of Genesis That Will Resonate with Virtually Everybody, Believer or Not
Reviewed By David M. Kinchen
What is laid down, ordered, factual, is never enough to embrace the whole truth: life always spills over the rim of every cup. -- Boris Pasternak, used as the opening epigraph in "Original Sinners"
Read the Bible in your own way, and take the message because it says something special to each reader, based on his or her own experience. -- Joseph Campbell, American comparative mythologist, author of "The Hero With a Thousand Faces" and many other books
* * *
Somebody out there in book publicity land has a sense of humor, sending ME a review copy of the quality paperback edition of "Original Sinners: Why Genesis Still Matters" (Free Press, a Simon & Schuster imprint, 256 pages, notes, index, $15.00) by former Episcopal priest John R. Coats.
Actually, publicist Anna Suknov was hitting on all eight cylinders when she put the book in the mail: She knows my catholic (note the Lower case "c") interest in diverse subjects, including religion, especially the literary and psychological aspects of religion. I'm not religious, but I like the stories in the Bible, especially the ones in the Old Testament, and I thoroughly enjoyed how Coats, raised a Southern Baptist in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, interpreted the stories that are familiar to Jews and Gentiles alike. "Enjoyed" is not a word commonly associated with theological books, but believe me, you'll find laugh-out-loud and "aha" moments throughout "Original Sinners."
In addition to putting an up-to-date spin on the stories of Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Rachel and Leah, Abraham and Isaac and Joseph and his brothers, Coats weaves in stories from his own life and experience and his interaction with others and how they relate to the stories in the first book of the Pentateuch. The epigraph from the author of "Dr. Zhivago" used by Coats and quoted above applies in spades to Genesis, where life is constantly spilling over.
Take the story of Abraham and Isaac, please! Coats says Isaac would be removed from the family home and Abraham would be sent to the nearest mental hospital for lengthy observation if he lived in our times. Imagine, Coats says, Abraham telling the arresting officer when the story came out that he heard a voice telling him to take his beloved son Isaac up to the top of a mountain, tie up his arms and legs, lay him down on a bed of firewood, kill him with a meat cleaver and offer him up as a "burnt offering" to God. Read pages 123-131 a couple of times to absorb Coats' interpretation of God's test of Abraham.
Coats doesn't single out this biblical tale, told in Genesis Chapter 22, as one that led to his expulsion from his Baptist church's Sunday school, but it might have been. Coats says he was expelled for asking too many questions, only to be allowed back in if he kept his mouth shut. One note to his parents from his teacher read: "Johnny can come back to Sunday school when he stops asking so many questions." That's my main objection to organized religion, being compelled to accept things on faith alone. I was drawn to journalism because it's a profession that appealed to the skeptic in me. It's no surprise that very few journalists are true believers in religion, any religion or sect.
I was intrigued by Coats' thesis that much of the confusion over the stories is caused by translators. He uses the Jewish Publication Society's translation of Genesis and the other books of the Old Testament he references, including Exodus and Samuel. Ancient Hebrew is difficult to translate into modern English. In fact, all languages are difficult to translate, giving rise to the famous Italian phrase "traduttore, traditore." ("translator, traitor."). I'll have to check out the JPS translation; I'm most familiar with the King James Version and love the cadences of the 17th century English used by the translators of a king that was called called, probably unfairly, since the first of the Stuarts inherited the debts of Elizabeth I, "the wisest fool in Christendom."
There should be no confusion about the trickster aspects of Jacob, Isaac's son, as told by Coats in Part III of his book, "The Blessing Thief: A Story In Three Acts." Coats discusses how Jacob tricked his twin brother Esau, who was born a few seconds before Jacob, into selling his birthright. His price was something that sounds good to me, a reddish brown lentil stew, served with bread. Jacob -- Yaakov in Hebrew -- means "heelholder" and Coats suggests that Jacob may have gotten his name because of his holding onto Esau's feet, trying to pull him back into the womb!
I'll leave the curious reader to explore the continuing story of the "Blessed Trickster," as Coats calls Jacob. The story encompasses his son Joseph, he of the multicolored coat, and his envious brothers who sold him into Egyptian slavery.
I should mention that the women of Exodus get their proper due in "Original Sinners." Regardless of their official state in the male chauvinst pig world of the bronze age Middle East, these after all are Jewish women, who take crap from no one! To give only one example, Isaac's wife Sarah played a major role in enabling her trickster son Jacob into fooling old man Isaac into believing smooth-skinned Jacob was hairy-bodied Esau, thanks to a clever use of animal skins.
Whether you're a believer or not, "Original Sinners" will provide a fresh look at the characters in Genesis you think you know. Coats explores the strengths and weaknesses of the men and women in Genesis, pulling back the wrappings that have hidden their humanity to reveal the vibrant drama of these foundational narratives. Different clothing, yes, and language, and customs, yet at the human level, he writes, they were just as greedy and generous as we are, as gullible and crafty, as moronic and brilliant, as cowardly and brave. They are us, their stories, our stories, mirrors in which to see our best and worst selves.
About the Author
John R. Coats holds master’s degrees from Virginia Theological Seminary (Episcopal) and Bennington College Writing Seminars. A former parish priest, he was a principal speaker and seminar leader for the More to Life training program in the United States, Great Britain, and South Africa, and an independent management consultant. The More To Life/Kairos Foundation is a non-profit educational charity which aims to help people connect their daily lives with their highest values and sponsors personal development training programs on four continents. Coats was involved with the program from 1981 to 1995; as a senior trainer, he lead over 300 weekend intensives, working with about 30,000 people, and today remains well connected with the program as well as with people he worked in such places as California, London, South Africa, Knoxville, Atlanta and Houston. He lives with his wife, Pamela, in Houston, Texas.
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BOOK REVIEW: 'Original Sinners'
An Interpretation of Genesis That Will Resonate with Virtually Everybody, Believer or Not
Reviewed By David M. Kinchen
What is laid down, ordered, factual, is never enough to embrace the whole truth: life always spills over the rim of every cup. -- Boris Pasternak, used as the opening epigraph in "Original Sinners"
Read the Bible in your own way, and take the message because it says something special to each reader, based on his or her own experience. -- Joseph Campbell, American comparative mythologist, author of "The Hero With a Thousand Faces" and many other books
* * *
Somebody out there in book publicity land has a sense of humor, sending ME a review copy of the quality paperback edition of "Original Sinners: Why Genesis Still Matters" (Free Press, a Simon & Schuster imprint, 256 pages, notes, index, $15.00) by former Episcopal priest John R. Coats.
Actually, publicist Anna Suknov was hitting on all eight cylinders when she put the book in the mail: She knows my catholic (note the Lower case "c") interest in diverse subjects, including religion, especially the literary and psychological aspects of religion. I'm not religious, but I like the stories in the Bible, especially the ones in the Old Testament, and I thoroughly enjoyed how Coats, raised a Southern Baptist in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, interpreted the stories that are familiar to Jews and Gentiles alike. "Enjoyed" is not a word commonly associated with theological books, but believe me, you'll find laugh-out-loud and "aha" moments throughout "Original Sinners."
In addition to putting an up-to-date spin on the stories of Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Rachel and Leah, Abraham and Isaac and Joseph and his brothers, Coats weaves in stories from his own life and experience and his interaction with others and how they relate to the stories in the first book of the Pentateuch. The epigraph from the author of "Dr. Zhivago" used by Coats and quoted above applies in spades to Genesis, where life is constantly spilling over.
Take the story of Abraham and Isaac, please! Coats says Isaac would be removed from the family home and Abraham would be sent to the nearest mental hospital for lengthy observation if he lived in our times. Imagine, Coats says, Abraham telling the arresting officer when the story came out that he heard a voice telling him to take his beloved son Isaac up to the top of a mountain, tie up his arms and legs, lay him down on a bed of firewood, kill him with a meat cleaver and offer him up as a "burnt offering" to God. Read pages 123-131 a couple of times to absorb Coats' interpretation of God's test of Abraham.
Coats doesn't single out this biblical tale, told in Genesis Chapter 22, as one that led to his expulsion from his Baptist church's Sunday school, but it might have been. Coats says he was expelled for asking too many questions, only to be allowed back in if he kept his mouth shut. One note to his parents from his teacher read: "Johnny can come back to Sunday school when he stops asking so many questions." That's my main objection to organized religion, being compelled to accept things on faith alone. I was drawn to journalism because it's a profession that appealed to the skeptic in me. It's no surprise that very few journalists are true believers in religion, any religion or sect.
I was intrigued by Coats' thesis that much of the confusion over the stories is caused by translators. He uses the Jewish Publication Society's translation of Genesis and the other books of the Old Testament he references, including Exodus and Samuel. Ancient Hebrew is difficult to translate into modern English. In fact, all languages are difficult to translate, giving rise to the famous Italian phrase "traduttore, traditore." ("translator, traitor."). I'll have to check out the JPS translation; I'm most familiar with the King James Version and love the cadences of the 17th century English used by the translators of a king that was called called, probably unfairly, since the first of the Stuarts inherited the debts of Elizabeth I, "the wisest fool in Christendom."
There should be no confusion about the trickster aspects of Jacob, Isaac's son, as told by Coats in Part III of his book, "The Blessing Thief: A Story In Three Acts." Coats discusses how Jacob tricked his twin brother Esau, who was born a few seconds before Jacob, into selling his birthright. His price was something that sounds good to me, a reddish brown lentil stew, served with bread. Jacob -- Yaakov in Hebrew -- means "heelholder" and Coats suggests that Jacob may have gotten his name because of his holding onto Esau's feet, trying to pull him back into the womb!
I'll leave the curious reader to explore the continuing story of the "Blessed Trickster," as Coats calls Jacob. The story encompasses his son Joseph, he of the multicolored coat, and his envious brothers who sold him into Egyptian slavery.
I should mention that the women of Exodus get their proper due in "Original Sinners." Regardless of their official state in the male chauvinst pig world of the bronze age Middle East, these after all are Jewish women, who take crap from no one! To give only one example, Isaac's wife Sarah played a major role in enabling her trickster son Jacob into fooling old man Isaac into believing smooth-skinned Jacob was hairy-bodied Esau, thanks to a clever use of animal skins.
Whether you're a believer or not, "Original Sinners" will provide a fresh look at the characters in Genesis you think you know. Coats explores the strengths and weaknesses of the men and women in Genesis, pulling back the wrappings that have hidden their humanity to reveal the vibrant drama of these foundational narratives. Different clothing, yes, and language, and customs, yet at the human level, he writes, they were just as greedy and generous as we are, as gullible and crafty, as moronic and brilliant, as cowardly and brave. They are us, their stories, our stories, mirrors in which to see our best and worst selves.
About the Author
John R. Coats holds master’s degrees from Virginia Theological Seminary (Episcopal) and Bennington College Writing Seminars. A former parish priest, he was a principal speaker and seminar leader for the More to Life training program in the United States, Great Britain, and South Africa, and an independent management consultant. The More To Life/Kairos Foundation is a non-profit educational charity which aims to help people connect their daily lives with their highest values and sponsors personal development training programs on four continents. Coats was involved with the program from 1981 to 1995; as a senior trainer, he lead over 300 weekend intensives, working with about 30,000 people, and today remains well connected with the program as well as with people he worked in such places as California, London, South Africa, Knoxville, Atlanta and Houston. He lives with his wife, Pamela, in Houston, Texas.
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