"The Blurred Cross" by Richard Bauckham

4🌟/5🌟


Richard Bauckham is a highly respected Biblical scholar and theologian. I read his work "Jesus and the Eyewitnesses" and I am making my way through "Gospel Women."

This book is a departure from a major academic work. This is an intimate memoir where Richard Bauckham shares his story of suffering and discusses his experience when he believed he would lose his vision.

Losing vision would be terrifying to anyone. For Richard Bauckham, the threat of vision loss was particularly painful because of his love for reading, poetry, and academia. So much of his life, his career, and his personal interests required his ability to see, be it reading, studying, or writing. Without his vision, he faced a future cut off from the many things he loved. 

This book is also filled with reflections and personal poetry. As the reader, I couldn't help but think of this as if Richard was sharing his diary and his deepest thoughts and fears. His faith during a challenging circumstance is inspiring to me and makes me appreciate his academic work even mode. This book helped reconsider my own perspective on faith, belief, hope, steadfastness, and suffering.

I recommend this book to anyone who may want to see the author behind such great academic contributions in theology and Biblical scholarship. After reading this book, I have such an appreciation for Richard's deep, sincere, and compelling faith.

If anyone ever asks me the question ‘who would you choose to have at a dinner party if you could invite anyone?’ my answer invariably includes Richard Bauckham. And this book reads as if we are pulling up armchairs by the fire for a chat after dinner, discussing life’s challenges and how we can respond.

It is difficult to pin down the genre of this book – while it is a personal and honest memoir of a few months of Richard Bauckham’s life, it is also a theological musing on suffering, and a Biblical study and book of poetry. Somehow the book hangs together beautifully and is easy to read, while still being challenging and real. There are no cliches about suffering here, but there is some deep contemplation. By looking squarely at personal suffering - perhaps surprisingly - this memoir also becomes a handbook for others who are experiencing difficulties in their journey of life.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone, Christian or not, suffering or not. If you want a fireside chat with Richard Bauckham about how he dealt with a challenge in his life, this book is for you.

A beautiful true story of Richard Bauckham reminds me that the hardest time of my life can be an opportunity to draw closer near to my living God. The Blurred Cross will bring us to go deeper in the struggle of Bauckham to experience the blurred cross of Jesus Christ. This book really encourage me more in my ministry to stay faithful in God even in the deteriorating physical body.

A moving memoir of Bauckham's struggles with his vision and how it impacted his life and faith. Very sincere and heartfelt!

(I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)