A Theological Miscellany

What a quirky excellent book! This is a true gem for anyone with even the smallest interest in church history and trivia. I often found myself chuckling to myself while reading this book, "So that's where that came from." A great and easy read.

I've always been a fan of T.J. McTavish (this is his first published book, but he's appeared in the scholarly journal "Quackenbush" from time to time over the years). He's really outdone himeslf here. Get this book. In fact buy 5 of them. One for yourself, and one to give to 4 friends (or enemies).

A student in my systematic theology class gave me this book a few days ago, and I have already finished it once, and can tell it will be a regular companion. It is not a systematic theology text by any means -- what it is instead is a collection of trivia about Christianity, Christendom, the Bible and beliefs. There is no general organising principles behind the book other than if it is Christian, or even vaguely related to the subject, it might warrant a place here. For example, on page six there is a short section on Muslim beliefs about Jesus (including the idea that the prophet Muhammad believed the Christian Trinity to be referring to Jesus, Mary and God the Father; Muhammad was right in saying that this is not the Trinity and that Jesus never claimed it; however, that is not what the Christian concept of the Trinity is). There are various charts and lists. One example is the list of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence and their denominational affiliations; 13 of the signers are listed as of unknown affiliation, only one is listed as Roman Catholic, and none from outside Christianity. This is a book that leaves none out -- not even the Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox have exclusive claim in these pages, as McTavish lists half a dozen autocephalous (meaning, self-contained and self-regulating) groups beyond the big three. These include the Nestorians (at one time early in Christian history perhaps the dominant Christian body), the Abyssians, the Armenians (the first nation to formally adopt Christianity, in 301), the Coptics and the Jacobite/Oriental Orthodoxers. If you want to know who was good-looking in the Bible, you'll find the list here (various people are described as good-looking in different terms). If you'd like to know the names of the 16 men who might have had claim to being one of the 12 apostles (and we're not including Paul here), the list is in these pages. Most of us know people who are named for biblical characters (or at least whose names derive predominantly from biblical inspiration), but what are the least popular names? How many women have you known who were named Lo-Ruhamah, or how many men named Romamti-ezer? This is a little gem, full of fun facts and trivia in short, easily read and digested bits. Where something has a biblical reference, McTavish provides it. There is a subject index that concludes the text; unfortunately, there are no other reference materials such as notes or a bibliography (which would be helpful for authority and verification of some of the information). I am very grateful for this gift, and shall remember this as a potential gift for other friends, religious or not, who might be interested in knowing the odd bit of trivia here and there about Christianity (and, truly, some of it is very odd, such as the list of those excommunicated, which includes back in 1054 both the Pope and patriarch of Constantinople; hmmm, does that mean the whole church is gone n