Abstract
What strikes me as the most fascinating feature of this book is Brown’s willingness to sit inside of a text and point out all of the refracted rays of wonder to the reader, functioning as a “docent of wonder” (to use Michael Jenkins’ felicitous phrase). That is how this book ought to be approached: Brown is a docent leading the reader on a guided tour through the wonders of Scripture. Be prepared to learn the nuances of some key Hebrew and Greek words; be open to the explosion of fixed categories (such as the Israelites “seeing” of the voice of God at Mount Sinai); be willing to observe the play of Wisdom or Leviathan as well as the wondrous terror of Job’s suffering—that is what we get from this docent, who guides us through sixteen different halls of wonder and is intimately entranced with each one. Brown’s frequent citation of the biblical vocative “Voila!” enhances the experience.
It is difficult to categorize Brown’s book. It is a Bible study book, but not one that allows the reader to be the subject, with the text as object. Here, biblical texts have their own subjectivity that defies any attempt to contain them. It is a theology book, but not one that imposes a rigid systematic formula on the panoply of theological claims that arise. It is a book for spiritual growth, but not a collection of inspirational sound bites. Even the museum tour analogy is inadequate, because museum displays usually are passive objects instead of interactive subjects. Brown’s book invites us into an experience more like that depicted in the film “Night of the Museum,” starring Ben Stiller, in which the natural history displays come to life, break out of their neat compartments, and wreak havoc. A reader who has passed through this museum will never look at the displays the same way again.
If the book has any weaknesses, only two are worth mentioning. First, readers expect some sense of where they are being led. At times, Brown’s descriptions become an accumulation of wonder on top of wonder that can be dizzying. With a little better sense of where each chapter is going, the effect could be even more dazzling. Perhaps this is more a critique of the way many of us have been taught to read than a critique of Brown’s writing.
The second weakness is the unevenness of the topics. Some chapters are long and luxurious, while others are brief and a bit rushed. Perhaps it is well that Brown does not try to stretch a narrative about the Road to Emmaus into a story as chock full of nuance as a creation story. Still, for a preacher who would like to use this book as the foundation for a sermon series—as I intend to do—it means that some weeks the challenge will be selecting from an abundance of insights, while other weeks one might need to look for additional resources. The book is not intended as a homiletics guide, and it may be that Brown’s professional modesty restrains him from saying more about New Testament texts, but this book would better lend itself to a sermon or study series if it were more balanced. Neither of these flaws, however, takes away from the extraordinary experience that Brown’s book provides: he guides readers through the wonders of Scripture.
When people exit a movie theater during the daytime, the sunlight almost seems unbearable because one’s eyes are fixed on seeing in the dark. Having William Brown as a docent will have the opposite effect. The finest details of both the biblical texts and human experience—from the genetic kinship of bonobos and humans to the exquisite shape of a lover’s nose—will be new opportunities to engage in wonder, with the insights of an expert guide. That is a lot to hope for in a single book, and Brown delivers.