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Special thanks to Bob Todd and Pickwick Publications for the review copy. Jun 25, Lee Harmon rated it really liked it. Witherington is one of my favorite authors. But I never knew he wrote fiction until my own publicity agent mentioned it to me! Bob Todd Publicity represents Witherington as well, so he sent a sample my way for review.
It's the third of a series about a lovable archaeologist named Art West. Indiana Jones with half the testosterone and twice the education. In this book, Ar Witherington is one of my favorite authors. In this book, Art investigates the discovery of the house of Papias, who forms an important link between the church fathers of the second century and the original apostles and writers of the first century. Art helps uncover a find that would make any Christian archaeologist salivate: Matthew, a tax collector, and Mark, the sidekick of Peter.
But much of the book is factual, built upon current archaeological finds.
Buy for others
This one will appeal primarily to fellow archaeologists and wannabees. I never did get used to the stilted language, and my editor would tell Witherington to swap his passive for active verbs. But I loved the subject matter, and I definitely enjoyed learning about first- and early second-century Christianity from a different angle.
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May 19, William Bradford rated it liked it Shelves: There are two ratings for this book. The theological speculation, descriptions of museums and cities, and explanations of customs and cultures gets 4 stars The dialogue, most of the plot, and the character development get 2 stars.
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When the Witherington's are describing things like a wonderful explanation of a Jewish wedding or engaging in theological speculation what would be revealed if we found the house and some writings from a 2nd century bishop? The book is worth every penny for these sections. And putting it in a fictional story is an intriguing way to introduce these.
But - the books have gradually deteriorated in plotting and character this is the third. It varies between average pulp fiction and bad pulp fiction.
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So - if you enjoy knowing more about the early church, these are a good way to do so. Hopefully the surrounding story will improve as the adventures continue.
Papias and the Mysterious Menorah: The Third Art West Adventure by Ann Witherington
Shaun rated it it was amazing Jun 08, Sep 22, Pam Larson rated it really liked it. Good archaeological adventure, with lots of accurate historical background. Patrick rated it really liked it Mar 29, Diane Shields marked it as to-read Oct 26, Andrew Nedelchev marked it as to-read Sep 02, Ben marked it as to-read Dec 06, Simon Wilkins marked it as to-read Jan 20, There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Books by Ann Witherington. It's good because the authors use a fascinating mix of genuine contemporary archaeological sources and thoughts alongside some interesting and revealing theology Art West is a Christian exploring Christian sites in the Middle East, and in this case, Turkey.
But the 'thriller' in this one was almost second place to developing story lines for the squeaky clean black and white characters. For me there needed to be more intrigue and more grey! The chapters are short, there are plenty of different characters from different backgrounds, though they are too harmonious. Let's have some more edginess!
Most helpful customer reviews on Amazon. There are two ratings for this book. The theological speculation, descriptions of museums and cities, and explanations of customs and cultures gets 4 stars The dialogue, most of the plot, and the character development get 2 stars. When the Witherington's are describing things like a wonderful explanation of a Jewish wedding or engaging in theological speculation what would be revealed if we found the house and some writings from a 2nd century bishop?
The book is worth every penny for these sections. And putting it in a fictional story is an intriguing way to introduce these.
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But - the books have gradually deteriorated in plotting and character this is the third. It varies between average pulp fiction and bad pulp fiction. So - if you enjoy knowing more about the early church, these are a good way to do so. Hopefully the surrounding story will improve as the adventures continue. Prefer a well crafted dialogue. Ben and Ann Witherington have done it again in this third installment of the Art West series of mysteries. Paipas and the Mysterious Menorah is a fast-moving archaeological thriller filled with tantalizing discoveries of "biblical" proportions.
Biblical scholar and archaeologist Art West finds himself consulting on a new cache of scrolls in Turkey that seem to be from the second Christian century. And as he gets involved with the dig and the newly discovered documents, it quickly becomes evident they have unearthed something of grand significance: But the plot quickly thickens as Art is trapped and nearly killed in a tunnel connected to the home. As he recovers from his near miss, Art and fellow archaeologist Marissa Okur, the supervisor of the dig and a person of growing "interest" to Art, find themselves on a whirlwind journey to both understand the significance of the Paipas house and scrolls and to understand the forces that seem to be nefariously aligning against them.
Meanwhile, West's friend Kahlil el Said and his daughter Hannah have chosen a wedding gift from their antiquities shop for their mutual friend Grace Levine's upcoming wedding, but the provenance and mysterious contents of their fortuitously chosen menorah come to light, even more mystery and discovery ensue. I greatly enjoyed the first two installments of the Witheringtons' Art West Adventures, and this third volume is certainly no different. The writing is solid, the settings are uniformly enjoyable, as are the characters.
Especially valuable is the obvious familiarity with both the ancient and modern intricacies of the middle east, as well as the thorough knowledge of biblical studies and archaeology that they bring. And unlike Dan Brown's imaginative fiction concerning Christian origins, the Witheringtons' imaginings are informed and plausible, even if they occasionally indulge some of Ben's minority opinions such as the fictional confirmation of Lazarus's identity as the "Beloved Disciple" in the fourth gospel , but none of these judgments can be argued to be misleading or distorting.
And for me one of the greatest values of these great mysteries, beyond their obvious intrinsic worth as fun reads, is that they bring to life the investigation of the ancient world and its documents and dramatize the revelations that can come from the pursuit and interpretation of ancient sites and documents. So I highly recommend all of three of the extant Art West Adventures, and look forward to the unveiling of future volumes. Special thanks to Bob Todd and Pickwick Publications for the review copy. Witherington is one of my favorite authors.
He's very well steeped in the history and Christianity of the first and second centuries, and an excellent source for learning.
Papias and the Mysterious Menorah: The Third Art West Adventure
But I never knew he wrote fiction until my own publicity agent mentioned it to me! Bob Todd Publicity represents Witherington as well, so he sent a sample my way for review. It's the third of a series about a lovable archaeologist named Art West. Indiana Jones with half the testosterone and twice the education.
In this book, Art investigates the discovery of the house of Papias, who forms an important link between the church fathers of the second century and the original apostles and writers of the first century. Art helps uncover a find that would make any Christian archaeologist salivate: Matthew, a tax collector, and Mark, the sidekick of Peter.