Jonah's Journey - (Interfaces) by Barbara Green (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The book of Jonah has been richly commented upon by centuries of Christians and Jews. Writers of prose and poetry have loved it as well as those interested in liturgy. Jonah is a small book, and yet it is placed with issues that have shown themselves existentially powerful over time and among readers of many types and cultures. In essence, Jonah's journey's among interpreters have had a great deal of territory to explore.

In Jonah's Journey's, Barbara Green, OP, focuses on the character Jonah and explores the variety of ways in which the prophet and the book have been represented and understood by various interpreters. The question of how readers construct meaning is central to the text.

Barbara Green, OP, Ph.D., is professor of Biblical Studies at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. She is editor of the Interfaces series published by Liturgical Press and author of several books within the series including: King Sal's Asking and From Earth's Creation to John's Revelation: The Interfaces Biblical Storyline Companion.

Review Quotes

At last we have a sophisticated study on biblical spirituality which engages the reader in the entire process of discovery with the Book of Jonah. In Barbara Green's words, we interpreters are invited to make a 'mutual investment in the relationship' with the Jonah text, questioning ourselves at the same time that we pose questions to the text. Leading us on a marvelous journey through centuries of interpretive attempts, from East to West, Jewish and Christian, believers and scholars, she demonstrates how the search for meaning foes progressively deeper, yet also leads the seeker to self-knowledge and transformation. Those engaged in the study of biblical spirituality need to ponder this work.John Endres, SJ

Using the content of the Book of Jonah, she seeks to discover how we make meaning and how that meaning works. The brevity of the biblical book makes it a perfect text for such an examination.The Bible Today

Green presents Jonah's journeys as desires to flee, resist, blame, project, and act out. . . . Her use of psychology leads to a final chapter of 'Provisional Conclusions' that contains apt lessons for each one of us: to become good questioners and listeners, to increase our historical awareness, and, most of all, to choose that which is most important in our own lives.Cistercian Studies Quarterly

The fascinating book--so full of information and historical knowledge--asks questions of us as we read--always bringing the reader into the center of the story. Jonah's journey and ours become interrelational in a wonderful spiritual way as we interface with all those who have written and interpreted the tale for usCatholic Library World

This is a fine addition to the innovative series.The Bible Today