I was recently sent a copy of The Deuteronomy Project to review. The author, Richard B. Couser, took the book of Deuteronomy and rewrote it in novel-form ... giving the reader the truth and understanding of Deuteronomy, and through it, the entire Bible, from the discussion and experiences of the fictional characters of Hal, a retired Pastor and Moses figure, Chris, a young lawyer, and their friends. The entire text of Deuteronomy is presented, chapter by successive chapter in each chapter of the book. The Deuteronomy Project moves beyond the traditional commentary or study guide to take the reader into the fictional “reality” of the characters, and, through them, a real understanding of the mind of God.
This looks like a incredibly book to me. I will be honest ... I have not read this one. (It's huge! and I had several other books that needed finishing first.) I have read Deuteronomy several times, and am eager to read this book and see how well his fictionalized version matches up with the Scriptures. Most of us are familiar with, or have at least run across on the shelves of the church library or local Christian book store, a novelized version of some of the spicier characters of the Bible ... Mary Magdaline, Hosea & Gomer, Esther ... all come to mind. I am looking forward to seeing a fictionalized take on the words of Moses - those words where God again and again reminds His people that if they just are faithful to Him, He will exceedingly bless their nation.
“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, then watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery."
Deuteronomy 6:4-12
that sound like one I want to tackle
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