Guardian Angel reviews
In the next few days, most of you who ordered Guardian Angel will receive your copy in the mail (overseas orders are delayed a bit as are some of those that were ordered after Nov. 28). I am asking a favor from you, my faithful readers. When you have read the book, please write a review. Just your thoughts, good or bad, about how it affects you. You can send your comments to me by email, or you can post them as replies to this post. I hope that this book will have a much wider circulation and begin to affect the lives of many, so your reviews as the initial readers count. And if you find errors, let me know so I can correct them with future orders.
Thank you.
Skip
This is not a review. But, as I was reading page 101, I could not get this humorous story out of my mind. Though only a political joke, it will resonate with every woman who tells herself the truth! 🙂
Last summer, the President and Mrs. Clinton were vacationing in their home state of Arkansas. On a venture one day, they stopped at a service station to fill up the car with gas. It seemed that the owner of the station was once Hillary’s high school love. They exchanged ‘hellos,’ and went on their way. As they were driving on to their destination, Bill put his arm around Hillary and said, “Just think, if you had stayed with him, you would be the wife of a service station owner today.” She smiled and replied, “No, if I had stayed with him, he would be President of the United States.”
Perfect!
Shalom, Skip ~ Yesterday I finished reading your book on the ezer kenegdo and my friend told me you are seeking feedback. Here I am with some, but first please allow me to tell you as briefly as possible about me. Married 26 years, and 20 years ago I read Romans 11 with new eyes and began to wonder what it meant to be grafted into Israel. What would that look like, I posed to my dear husband. So, our journey of discovery began and led us to the way of the commandments (of which Y’shua is the living personification). When my husband and I got married it was on the commitment that if the Word said it and we (after study) saw that it applied to us, we would do our best to do it, even if we didn’t like it or understand it. The Bible was to be the arbiter of all our disputes, was to be the benchmark of all our behaviors and that was that and so it has been (although of course we continue to fall short, that is the goal). We have shaped our marriage as you have described, much to the horror or many Christian friends who do not know the Scriptures. If we had not shaped our marriage this way, we would probably not be married today. It is in walking the way of the Bible that has kept us together. So, you can imagine our great interest in your new book. I have finished it, my husband will read it this summer when he finished the book he is currently reading. So, now you know a bit about me and if you will allow, here are my comments:
I thank you for having written this book. If people were to try to live it, we could turn the world upside down (making it then right side up because it is upside down right now). I think your introduction was quite repetitive, but with the productive purpose of chipping away little by little at peoples’ old way of understanding. As a teaching tool this is necessary. Those who have eyes to see will appreciate the repetition and not be annoyed by it, those who do not will find it too wordy. Don’t change a thing! We are quite familiar with the Hebrew Word Pictures (having been long time students of Frank Seekins) and as such followed the Hebrew Word Pictures easily. However, since this is a new concept to many I would suggest that you included a chart of the Hebrew letters (both modern and paleo) so that people can follow the concepts and see for themselves what you are talking about. When you describe a word as being bet tav for example, it would be very helpful if you would also insert the letters right there as well. If a reader does not know what those letters look like, they will not follow along easily.
I find it disturbing that your main title is Guardian Angel since the Scriptures never portray angels as female and makes it clear that human beings are not angels, in face, the righteous will judge angels. As a man, what you might not think about is actually that the main title dehumanizes me as a woman. History is rife with men wither idolizing women (God forbid) or mistreating us (God forbid). You main title puts me on a level that is different than my husand instead of following your Scriptural teaching that we are equal. Your subtitle says it all, is beautiful and entirely in keeping with Scripture and what you are communicating in the book. Your main title is not founded in Scripture and frankly, I beseech you to drop it, making your subtitle the main title. For the record, I have asked several woman about this and they all expressed the same opinion, finding the subtitle excellent, but the main title to be misleading and preferring that it be dropped. I also have to say that your cover art is disturbing, and every woman I have asked about it so far is equally disturbed (but for different reason, which I find fascinating).
Some were upset that you chose a piece of art that has been commissioned by the Roman Catholic church, since that organization has a history of demeaning women and exalting virgins. Others objected because Ghiberti’s door panels are understood to be the highest expression of Rennisance humanism. Otheres wondered why you could not find a more Hebraic expression of the eschet chayil; there are many examples in art of the Valorous Woman. For myself, I was immediately concerned about the nudity of the woman (who was of course not wearing a dress as she was drawn forth from Adam, I get that). Modesty is understood in Scripture as a virtue for women to exercise and to value. In front of God and one’s husband (as in the Garden) there is no need for modesty but we do not show the entire world our secret garden, which is what nude art does. The Greek concept (as we see in the ancient Olympics) is that there is no need for modesty that the body is beautiful and for display. Hebrew thought demands that to everything there is a season and the nude body is not for public display. The lovers in Song of Songs do not enter into their passion in public. So, I am pleading for a change in cover art or to dispense with it altogether.
I know I have already taken a great deal of your time and I thank you for your patience, but I have one more topic to add. Skip, my husband and I have been reading the annual Torah cycle for the last 20 years. We revel in reading the entire Bible, of course, but this yearly discipline sets a firm foundation for going through the rest of the Bible. I tell you that your work in the Torah regarding the roles of man and woman is tremendous, it is masterful, and I praise God for it and for the work you are doing to enlighten us all to our proper roles. I have read many book on the roles (some excellent, some awful) and none can even begin to compare to the sterling work you have done in the first 2/3rd of your book. However, I was quite surprised to find that your Pauline section was so brief and in my opinion very unsatisfying. If I were a church taught person who had no idea that the Torah actually applied to me, if I believed that everything that I needed to apply was found in the New Testament alone (as many church people believe), I would not be swayed by your Pauline explanations. They fall short of the mark at which you are aiming. Skip, your work here is not complete. In my opinion, you need to build your Pauline section, to use the same teaching methods that you used throughout the rest of the book so successfully. It is almost as though the Pauline section is written by a different person (which I am not suggesting it is), like you wanted to get it done, to wrap it up and get it out there. Please consider re-visiting that section or doing a future work expanding it.
Skip, I know I have directed some suggestions and critiques. I hope they do not discourage you. The work you are doing is important, it is timely an I pray God will give you the determination and desire to continue on. many people are having their eyes and hearts opened to Hebraics by God through your work. Be strong and very courageous, my brother! That you for this book and thank you for giving me so much of your time in the reading of my comments. Your sister through Y’shua ~ dot olsen
thank you for the time you took to provide such a long critique.
Just some remarks in reply.
The repetition at the beginning might be cut down, but as you guessed, the usual audience for the book is not someone aware of the Hebraic and theological backgrounds. So, I believe that it will leave it as is for the time being.
As for introducing the Hebrew word pictures, I put in the references so that those who wish could pursue them. But I think adding the paleographs might be useful although I do not want to get too sidetracked.
Let’s talk about the title. It was suggested to me by a woman, my wife, who just confirmed that she finds nothing offensive in it. Since everyone in this culture recognizes the ethos of a guardian angel, I thought it attractive enough to encourage others to pick up the book and take a look. The sub title helps explain. You would be hard presses to find anyone in the Christian worldview who realized that there are no female angels in Scripture given our cultural distortions, but I think the title is intriguing enough to peak interest and that’s what it’s supposed to do. However, I will consider your remarks carefully.
I do not see how the title itself diminishes women. Perhaps that’s because I am a man, but I know that the idea, even erroneous, of a guardian watching over me is something I want. Finally, on this one, I do think that women are on a different plane than men – a higher plane of personal responsibility in their role as ‘ezer kenegdo. We are ontologically the same, but not teleologically so.
OK, now the cover. Whether commissioned by the RCC or not, the door panel is a work of art. It captures the essence of the story I wish to explore and since Havvah came into the world without clothing, I see no offense here. In fact, this is the only place in Scripture where naked is NOT associated with shame. Perhaps you might reconsider your reaction. If you were Havvah, would you want me to represent you in any other way. It is glorious that nakedness is not shameful in this event. Why would we be concerned about this? Clearly the door panel does not present a public event. Only God and Adam are present. While I haven’t conducted a poll, everyone I have spoken with has liked it. You have to admit that it is a beautiful piece of art in brass.
Finally, as for Paul. Yes, this section is not as developed, but that is because most of the detailed arguments which I agree with have already been articulated in great detail by others whom I cite. I saw no purpose to go back over the same ground. I only wanted to show that Sha’ul’s rabbinic orientation from Torah meets some of the more onerous objections.
So, on the whole, I hope that the cover and title do not prevent you from endorsing the work and I trust that you will find all the Pauline material available in the references. The book is already too long and I will be trying to write another version for those who don’t want to delve into this much detail. I assure you that it will have a different title and a different cover.
Thanks again.