Well...I've been waiting to get to this one for some time now, but it's size...and weight!...intimidated me, so I tucked in to some other things. But I'm ready now. I was talking to a friend yesterday and I said, "I love reading fiction, and I love reading history and philosophy, but at this point (with not so many years to go), I really want to bear down on religion and spirituality.
So this.
Volume I: xxvii + 877 = 904 pages
Day 1 (DDRD 3,111) May 8, 2026
Read to 18.
I have to admit that when I turned the page and saw the eleven pages of abbreviations, I stopped short and caught my breath. Was I really man enough for this? I don't know. But I'm going to find out.
And?
Raymond E. Brown is a very good writer, and I think I can hang in there with his book. He even injects a little bit of humor into his commentary now and then. So...we're off, you know.
BTW:
So it hasn't been sitting around TOO long.
Day 2 (DDRD 3,112) May 9, 2026
Read to page 40. Long day: movie with Joe, visits from Joe and Jacqueline, and an Indiana Fever 🏀 game. Plus I'm pooped--not sleeping well at all.
"It is not tautological to insist that the Gospels are primarily evangelistic; to make them dominantly reportorial is a distortion." (24)
Get this: the parts of the New Testament covered by this book (and Volume 2 as well) are Mark 14:26 - 15:47, Matthew 26: 30 - 27:66, Luke 22:39 - 23:56, and John 18:1 - 19:42. That's like eight pages! * Talk about a deep dive. (And that's the way I like it.)
* Maybe a tad more. I did a word count (I know, I know) and turns out the four Passion Narratives ** = 21 pages (8,179 words). Still....
** For your reading pleasure, you can find these four HERE.
Day 3 (DDRD 3,113) May 10, 2026
Read to page 70.
I'm still in the preliminary stages of this book (wherein Fr. Brown is setting up his premises / assumptions), But there is some fascinating stuff here. For instance, apparently Luke tried to clean up the disciples' reputations by omitting certain events from his narrative; he also avoids Aramaic place names and terminology...presumably because his audience wouldn't be into that.
I'm anxious to read more. It's no walk in the park, though. This is a pretty dense, scholarly work, and I'm not sure that I can maintain a 30 pages per day pace...but I am going to try. 😤
Day 4 (DDRD 3,114) May 11, 2026
Read to page 90. Confession: I am really enjoying this book, but today I put a lot of reading time into finishing Jack Vance's pulpy science fiction novel The Dragon Masters. Sometimes you just needa bag of potato chips, man.
Day 5 (DDRD 3,115) May 12, 2026
Read to 130.
Day 6 (DDRD 3,116) May 13, 2026
Read to page 160. So to generalize Luke's Jesus is imperturbable; even in the Garden of Gethsemane, he has only a minor brush with a sense of futility. The Matthew/Mark Jesus, on the other hand, is feeling a sickness unto death in Gethsemane. He seems much more human.
Day 7 (DDRD 3,117) May 14, 2026
Read to page 192.
Cheat sheet:
John = sovereign Jesus
Luke = composed & masterful Jesus
Mark / Matthew = human, vulnerable* Jesus
* Brown does not use the word "vulnerable." That's my conclusion from what he has written. This Jesus suffers more obviously than the others, though.
Day 8 (DDRD 3,118) May 15, 2026
Read to page 208. Yeah: x-ray, cardio rehab, nephrologist, Zoom meeting, Rocky, Indiana Fever vs. Washington Mystics. Sorry, just ran outta time.
Sample sentence:
So...how do you like your 👁 👁 👦 now, Mr. Death?
Day 9 (DDRD 3,119) May 16, 2026
Read to page 215. No good excuse today. Just tired.
Day 10 (DDRD 3,120) May 17, 2026
Read to page 245. Back in the saddle again.
Day 11 (DDRD 3,121) May 18, 2026
Read to 255. 😶
Day 12 (DDRD 3,122) May 19, 2026
Read to page 285.
So...in Luke 22:38 the disciples say to Jesus, "Lord, look, here are two swords." He responds to them by saying, "It is enough." Which could be taken to mean, "That's all the sword power we need." But doesn't that sound a bit contradictory to the whole message of Jesus? Brown has a better idea. Instead of acknowledgement/ tacit approval, we have, "That's enough!" Y'know? Just fed up with these bumbling frat boys.
Day 13 (DDRD 3,123) May 20, 2026
Read to page 315. I have to confess that I've fallen into the 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam series, so it's been a little harder to push myself to do my 30 pages of reading every day. But I am interested in this book and have found many small revelations in the past two weeks. So onward.
According to Brown (ATB), Luke seeks to present the disciples in the best possible light, even to the extent of leaving out details which make them look bad. Mark and Matthew, on the other hand, seek the raw truth-- with Mark the rawer of the two. John seems to be on another plane entirely...what I think my dear Father Zoeller, would have referred to as high Christology. So high, in fact, that he seems to border on gnosticism at times.* I guess that's why John appeals to me so much.
* Thus does John begin his gospel with a dissertation on the logos. More pertinent to this book, when Jesus is met in the garden of Gethsemane, he announces himself and his would be captors fall to the ground as if hit by an explosion.
Day 14 (DDRD 3,124) May 21, 2026
Read to page 345.
Day 14 (DDRD 3,124) May 21, 2026
Read to page 355.
Day 15 (DDRD 3,125) May 23, 2026
Read to page 362.
Day 16 (DDRD 3,126) May 24, 2026
Read to page 384.
There was a footnote reference to A Rabbi Talks with Jesus by J. Neusner. Of course I had to order that. And then I saw that Brown's The Birth of the Messiah was sitting in my cart, so what the heck, I ordered that, too. This is the way.
Day 17 (DDRD 3,127) May 25, 2026
Read to page 399.
Day 18 (DDRD 3,128) May 26, 2026
Read to page 430.
Day 19 (DDRD 3,129) May 27, 2026
Read to page 460. Jesus was put to death at least in part because he wrecked the tables in the temple and "threatened" to destroy it and build it back up in three days. Interesting.
Day 20 (DDRD 3,130) May 28, 2026
Read to page 476.
When Joe was younger, he was talking about the Holy Family and he began to name them: "There's Jesus Christ, Mary Christ, and Joseph Christ." Which is pretty logical, isn't it? Ever since then I've had this picture in my mind:
Day 21 (DDRD 3,131) May 29, 2026
Read to page
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