I. Children of the Bible
Aron, Robert. A Boy Named Jesus: How the Early Years Shaped His Life. Introduction by John Shelby Spong. Berkeley, Calif.: Ulysses Press, 1997. 280 p. Out of print.
This publisher specializes in spirituality and health literature. From the catalog: "The childhood and adolescence of Jesus have always been shrouded in mystery. In A Boy Names Jesus, a distinguished historian ignores the wild theories about these 'lost years' and explores the real influences that shaped Jesus' early life." Robert Aron (1898-1975) was a widely published French intellectual and historian. Though best-known for books on the history of France, he also wrote religious works, of which this is the most popular.
Balla, Peter. The Parent-Child Relationship in the New Testament and its Environment. Tuebingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003. 279 p. $115.00
This is a scholarly work, submitted for the advanced degree of Habilitation at Evangelical Lutheran Theological University in Budapest. But its topic is deeply human and personal: the honor that children paid their parents in ancient cultures. The author aims to recreate the sensibility of children in Jewish, pagan, and Christian antiquity. The culminating chapters, on the New Testament, offer a thorough study of what we can learn of children's behavior towards parents from the gospels and Pauline literature.
Brown, Raymond E. The Birth of the Messiah. New York: Bantam, 1999. 752 p. $27.50
This classic text, first published in 1977, remains the single best authoritative study of the infancy narratives of Christ. Rev. Brown (1928-1998), who taught New Testament for many years at Union Theological Seminary in New York, brings the sanctioned historical-critical methods of Bible study to illuminate the nativity stories of Matthew and Luke (up through Jesus' adolescence in Lk 2:41-52). In the tradition of the Anchor Bible studies, this book offers detailed linguistic analysis and contextual commentary.
Bunge, Marcia, ed. The Child in Christian Thought. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001. 527 p. $29.00
From the publisher's catalog: "This volume offers the first major survey of the history of Christian thought on children. Each chapter, written by an expert in the field, discusses the particular perspectives on children held by influential theologians and Christian movements throughout church history, asking what resources they can contribute to a sound contemporary view of childhood and child-rearing." The most relevant chapter is the first, on children in the New Testament, but additional chapters of interest focus on perspectives from John Wesley and from modern feminist theologians.
Deiss, Lucien. Joseph, Mary, Jesus. Collegeville, Minn: Liturgical Press, 1996. 168 p. $14.95. [originally in French]
From the publisher's catalog: "[This book] focuses on Jesus' childhood years, highlights his humanity, and presents him to us 'familiarly' as a child. It concentrates on the 'sources' of Jesus' formation, the rich tradition of the people of Israel, the family practices of Joseph and Mary, and finally on what Jesus discovered on his own in his relation with God." The author taught Bible at the Grand Scholasticat de Chevilly-Larue.
Drewermann, Eugen. Discovering the God Child Within: A Spiritual Psychology of the Infancy of Jesus. New York: Crossroad, 1994. 202 p. Out of print.
This book is a sustained interpretation of Jesus's birth and childhood as presented in the gospel of Luke (up through Lk 2:41-52, where a 12-year old Jesus teaches in the Temple). The author brings to bear parallel stories of divine children from Egyptian and Greek mythology. His thesis is that the intended effect of these stories is to restore to adult listeners an intuitive openness they once had as children to divine presence.
Freed, Edwin D. Stories of Jesus' Birth: A Critical Introduction. St. Louis: Chalice Pr, 2001. 183 p. $19.99.
The author, who is emeritus professor at Gettysburg College, acknowledges Raymond Brown (see above) as the master analyst of the Christmas stories, but offers this work as a more accessible introduction. He carefully compares the accounts of Jesus' birth and childhood in Matthew and Luke, the role of genealogy in each, and the place of women in the genealogies. He also compares the birth stories of Jesus and John the Baptist.
Grassi, Joseph. Children's Liberation: A Biblical Perspective. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1991. 128 p. Out of Print
After an overview of stories about children in the Old Testament, the author devotes one chapter each to the four gospels and the roles children play in them. The author suggests that the New Testament stories about children channel longings for political and spiritual freedom in the early church. The nativity stories of Jesus receive special attention, as does the symbolism of discipleship that children in the New Testament carry. An epilogue explores the role of children as teachers of adults. At the time of writing, the author taught religious studies at Santa Clara University.
Hendrickx, Herman. The Third Gospel for the Third World: Preface and Infancy Narrative (Luke 1:1-2:52). Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1996. 288 p. $19.95
A graduate of the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium) and long-time teacher in East Asian contexts, the author brings to his interpretation of Luke particular awareness of Third World issues. He incorporates sociological, cultural, and feminist interpretive methods, while aiming to uncover the pastoral implications of the Gospel for Third World readers. This volume is the first in his multi-volume commentary of Luke.
Levenson, Jon. The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son: Transformation of Child Sacrifice in Judaism and Christianity. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993. 257 p. $19.00
This book is inspired by the author's perception that, though the Bible prohibited actual child sacrifice, it remained throughout intrigued by the ideals of self-denial that motivated renunciation of the first-born and first-fruits. He examines those ideals as they manifest in the stories of Abel, Jacob, Isaac, and Joseph, all of whom suffer threats to their lives, and links this tradition from Hebrew scripture to the story of Jesus. Prof. Levenson, who teaches at the University of Chicago, is one of the most acute scholars of Jewish thought and literature writing today.
Lockyer, Herbert. All the Children of the Bible. Zondervan, 1970. 287 p. Out of Print
This unique book attempts encyclopedic coverage of everything the Bible has to say about children, and about childhood as both life-stage and metaphor. A topical arrangement of themes (e.g., "The Folly of Favoritism") is complemented by a long chapter on all the children who receive significant mention in scripture, including Isaac and Ishmael, Moses, Jephthah's daughter, Jesus, and the Canaanite woman's daughter (Matt 15:21-28), among many others. The author was a lecturer affiliated with the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.
Marcus, David. Jephthah and His Vow. Lubbock, Texas: Texas Tech Pr, 1986. 77 p. Out of print.
This scholarly study (cited in this year's spiritual growth study) has one chief aim: to explore the fate of Jephthah's daughter. The author notes that, while the majority tradition within biblical interpretation teaches that Jephthah's daughter was literally sacrificed, a minority tradition holds that the "sacrifice" was consecration to God, meaning ongoing life as a celibate. Through careful analysis of ambiguities in the biblical Hebrew, the author concludes that "the fate of Jephthah's daughter cannot be determined with any finality."
McKenna, Megan. Not Counting Women and Children: Neglected Stories from the Bible. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis, 1998. 225 p. $15.00
The title of this book comes from Matt. 14:21, part of the story of the loaves and fishes, the last story in this year's spiritual growth study. The number of women and children fed is not included in the total count, but that the Bible pauses to mention that omission at all is McKenna's stimulus to plumb the story more deeply. Other stories analyzed for allusions to childhood and children include those about the infant Moses, Sarah and Hagar, the Canannite woman (Matt 15:21-28), and Jesus's youth-all of which are addressed in the spiritual growth study. The author, who holds a doctorate from the Graduate Theological Union, is a popular retreat-leader.
Patte, Daniel, ed. Kingdom and Children: Aphorism, Chreia, Structure. (Semeia, 29). Chico, Calif: Scholars Press, 1983. 130 p. Out of print.
This academic study comprises three articles by New Testament scholars Daniel Patte, V. K. Robbins, and John Dominic Crossan on the relation of Jesus to children: his blessing of children and his use of childhood as a metaphor in relation to the kingdom of God. The essays were presented as part of the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in 1982 in New York.
Perry, Paul. Jesus in Egypt: Discovering the Secrets of Christ's Childhood Years. New York: Ballantine Books, 2003. 288 p. $24.95
A popular nonfiction writer with a penchant for the paranormal, Perry offers here a lively travelogue of a journey he made to Egypt. He traced the putative steps of Jesus there, as recounted in the apocryphal supplements to the New Testament. By his reliance on those sources, he indirectly testifies to how little is really known of Jesus' childhood (despite the misleading book title). But the book is instructive for the local Egyptian lore on Jesus it relates along the way, and stimulates reflection on Jesus' youth.
Water, Mark. What the Bible has to Say about Children. Nashville: Abingdon, 2003. 96 p. $8.00
This book is part of a series that, according to the publisher, "takes the word of God and offers contemporary comment." From the publisher's catalog: "Children and their relationships with their parents and families are often treated obliquely in the Bible. But the wisdom is there if you look for it, from Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac … to the comparisons (particularly in the Psalms) between the innocence of the human soul and the innocence of a child. This book offers strong interpretations of all these passages, whether talking about children in the literal sense or using them as a metaphor."
Zuck, Roy. Precious in His Sight: Childhood and Children in the Bible. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 1996. 280 p. $25.00
From Books in Print: "The author covers all the children in the Bible, intensively studying the biblical text as well as incorporating insights from the best history works on childhood and child-rearing in ancient times. The author's sensitivity to the cultural and sociological factors impinging on families in biblical times is everywhere apparent…. Everything the Bible says about children applies to contemporary childhood, according to the author. He finds biblical examples and implications for children's physical, emotional, social, and spiritual development. The principles that can be garnered from this incisive work will help educators and parents in the teaching and training of children today."