What's New?

Tales from Ancient Egypt

 

• The Story of Sinuhe: A Wander on the Earth
• The Enchanted Prince
• The Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor
• The Journey of Wen-Amon
• A Dialogue between a Man and His Ba

Of Tales from Ancient Egypt, Baruch Levine wrote,

The ancient Egyptians were masters of the prose story, from short story to novelette. These stories are windows into history, to be sure, and a such informative of the biblical world. They are, at the same, works of wisdom, magnificent examples of the literary art. They are 'telling' in every sense of the word. Loren Fisher has brought the best of them together in an engaging and insightful form, enabling us to read these very old stories as it they were recounting the recent past.

The Many Voices of Job

After working on the separate voices in the book of Job during the past few years, it was necessary to bring them together in this book. They are brought under one cover not for some kind of false harmony, but rather to show the long and vigorous struggle in Israel to understand suffering, justice and the nature of God. From these traditions it is obvious that this struggle was ancient and ongoing in Israel's experience, and it is alive today. Questions concerning the date of the book of Job become moot in light of this living tradition. The rebel Job was and remains a person with a minority view; it is a view that is valuable and can be helpful for our future.

Here are two quotations from the back cover:

"In this compelling work, Fisher brings a fresh understanding to the book of Job by highlighting the four main sections of the book that have truly different perspectives: the folktale, the poetic dialogue, the poem on wisdom, and Elihu's speeches. . . . Anyone interested in a fresh translation and a vibrant analysis of Job will want to read this volume." - The Cascade Books

And the theologian John B. Cobb, Jr. adds: "Many writers seek a single unifying thesis in the book of Job. Fisher uncompromisingly insists that it is not a coherent book. By taking it apart he exposes the contrasting views of God and justice. In particular he frees the angry Job to utter his powerful and unqualified attack on the orthodoxy of his day and of ours."

The Many Voices of Job can be ordered from Wipf and Stock Publishers or by email at orders@wipfandstock.com or by calling 541-344-1528. It will soon be available from Amazon.com.

Revised Edition of The Rebel Job

The invigorating discussion of The Rebel Job at the 2007 Job Conference at The Center for Process Studies made it clear that this book needed to be revised. In this new edition, I have changed my translation of the text of Job 3-26 in a few places and added to the notes. Appendices I and II address some of the questions raised by the participants of the conference. The response to the first edition was helpful, and I was motivated to make this revised edition even more meaningful.

This revised edition is now available from Booksurge and from Amazon in both soft cover and Kindle book formats.

Kirkus Discoveries' Review of The Rebel Job

A historian of the ancient Mediterranean world exhumes a controversial poem from the story of Job to help reconcile God's existence with global calamity.

A retired professor emboldened with age and stirred to action by recent natural disasters, Fisher translated and wrote this work to underscore the importance of dealing with suffering without resorting to fantasy. Because suffer Job did. Recall that the pious man had it all - seven sons, three daughters, a loving wife and his health, not to mention tens of thousands of livestock. Egged on by Satan, who questioned Job's piety, God took it all away. Framed by Job's debate with three God-fearing friends, The Rebel Job finds Job in the nadir of his despair, ranting against his very birth, the injustice of his situation and the notion of a just God. This is the second of what Fisher refers to as the two books of Job - Job I and Job II. Embraced by orthodox religious leaders and conservative politicians, the author argues, Job I advances the idea of a just God who rewards good and punishes evil. The latter rages against the concept of divine justice. Unlike the Old Testament Book of Job, this poem does not conclude with God overcompensating Job for his losses and granting him a 140-year lifespan. On the contrary, Fisher's Job ends on a suitably agnostic note with the protagonist asking, "Who can know the thunder of his might?" The author points out that while we may not fully understand the nature of God, we must love and help the powerless. Thankfully, Fisher pads the 30-page poem with relevant philosophical references - to Nietzsche's death of God concept, 20th-century works of Joseph Roth and Archibald MacLeish and a keen anecdote of how famous Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel decried God's incapacity to stop Nazi death camps. It's these keen references that make the book much more relevant and contemporary than it would have been on its own.

A short, obscure poem very relevant to the chaotic 21st century.

Download Kirkus Discoveries' review of The Rebel Job in PDF format.

Convocation on Job

In 2007 the Center for Process Studies held a conference on the Book of Job at the Claremont School of Theology. Professor John Cobb, Jr. invited four presenters to discuss my books on Job (Who Hears the Cries of the Innocent? The Minority Report, and The Rebel Job) with panelists and an intelligent audience. This was an exciting meeting, and the rebel Job was allowed to speak again. Duane Smith gave some excellent reports on this meeting in his blog.

Extending Horizons (a working title)

This novel continues the story of Jonathan, Keziah, their son Naam, and others who lived and worked at the Jerusalem Academy. This account is written by Naam who narrates his and his family's activities during the last part of David's reign in Jerusalem and all of Solomon's reign. This is my third novel dealing with my friends at the Jerusalem Academy. The first novel in this series was The Jerusalem Academy, which dealt at length with the compilation and performance of Part I of The Royal Epic (Genesis). In the second book, The Minority Report the focus was on Jonathan's poem, The Rebel Job. Keziah wrote both of these books.

Naam became a teacher in the academy where he was able to continue the work and the interests of his father and mother. There are some sad moments in his memoir, but there are also many good times. His marriage to Sharmila was one of the good moments. Also he always had the help of a small group of teachers and friends who were not bound to old traditions. Old traditions were important, but they must be sifted. Some things were rejected and others were rescued. Naam was inspired by Khety, his teacher from Egypt, and he sought to extend the horizons of his students. All of this was done in the context of the international scene and with an aim of moving toward a new future. These people had the desire and the ability to expand their horizons.