"Wow, what a wild ride. Exhaustively researched while concise. I’ve got much to ponder here� some veers into strange and seemingly problematic territory (to this Anglican reader) and yet Danielou shows all his receipts. So what he’s saying is ancient and common in the tradition, even if odd.

I love that he focused less on the ontology of angels and more on their mission. So there’s barely anything about what they are (I do wish he said some things there) but there’s ton about the angels in the history of redemption. Almost every page was eyebrow raising. I was struck by the dynamics between earthly and heavenly angels, eg that the earthly angels ascended with Christ and the heavenly ones didn’t recognize him (Ps 24). On that point, lots of psalm quotes 🤩

As a side note, I wish Heiser had been given this book. It proves that the tradition has been saying what Heiser claimed it missed, so the problems of neglect that he identified are more recent and probably more due to academia than the church! Ironic. In his later years, it seems Heiser recognized this and had someone research what the fathers said about the spiritual realm. Again, I wish he were given this book. "

"At the Feet of Jesus is unlike any other book I have read. It is designed as a prayer retreat, shaped around the three encounters Jesus had with Mary of Bethany (along with Martha and Lazarus). It leads the reader/pray-er into the setting of these encounters using “all our powers� of reason, memory/imagination and will, to place ourselves in the world of the text, but also, as Scripture is the place where we see Jesus� face until we see him face-to-face in the new heavens and earth, to place ourselves in the presence of Jesus.

The authors� stated purpose is “to help you…open your home [your life] to the Lord Jesus Christ and to consider what it might mean to invite him into this most intimate space. What does it mean to be befriended by Jesus Christ and beloved by him in such an interior way?...� since Christians are “called to receive him and allow him to enter in and make his home with us.� The authors draw on long-standing devotional practices of the church (spanning both Catholic and Protestant practice), which dig deeply into Scripture with open hearts and Holy Spirit-guided imagination and reason. The book encourages and guides the reader to read deeply, to meditate on the text and immerse oneself within it, and to pray into and out from the narrative and theological depth of the gospel encounters with Jesus.

The chapters of the book function as a “recipe for a meal.� The book guides the reader through all the steps in the process of making the dish. Eventually, the recipe fades away as the ultimate goal of a fellowship meal with Jesus that is both nourishing and beautiful is experienced. The authors helpfully walk the reader/retreat participant through five steps in each of Mary’s three encounters with Jesus: prepare, see, reflect, respond, and review. The goal is for the reader/pray-er to have their own encounter with Jesus, and to grow in likeness to him, since he is “both the source and the form of our spiritual life.� The specific prayer-goal of this guided retreat is to ask God, by his Spirit, to work in the participant “increased faith, greater hope, and deeper love,� which are the foundational theological virtues. Only an intimate personal encounter with Jesus through the Scriptures, the place where Christ may be seen in our earthly sojourn, will accomplish this for us, growing his image-bearers increasingly into his likeness.

Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher before its release date because I have participated in two live prayer retreats, hosted by the authors, which formed the basis for this book. Reading this book over three days (Friday � Sunday, the same duration as the prayer retreat events I attended), I was struck by how very similar experiencing the book felt to experiencing the live retreats. This is partly due to the gentle conversational tone of the book, partly due to the sensitive manner and pastoral experience/qualifications of the authors, and no doubt partly due to the book's contents meshing with and echoing my memories of the in-person retreats. This book is active and participatory; it is not a passive experience if the reader follows the guidance of the authors and does the spiritual work they have laid out.

The authors have stated three ways this book may be used to good effect for the reader’s spiritual growth: 1) to read it through on one’s own � as with any book � pausing to pray and/or journal the things of most significance it has raised for the reader; 2) as a structured personal prayer retreat; 3) as a group retreat. Having done a hybrid of methods 1 and 2 now and having participated in method 3 on two previous occasions, I can attest to this book’s effectiveness in each case. But there is a fourth way to read this book, or perhaps a better way to state this is that there is an additional benefit to reading this book which grows naturally out of using it in any of the three ways stated above. This book is an excellent pattern of, and default manual for, learning the most scripturally faithful way of practicing lectio divina that I have ever come across. Lecto Divina is simply sacred reading; faithful scriptural reading intended to foster spiritual growth. As lectio is trendy right now, there are many guides and manuals to this practice which are less than helpful, making lectio seem like an esoteric practice reserved for initiates and which results in near-magical encounters or experiences. I have read several works on lectio. Some are quite helpful, while others are not helpful at all and lead in some harmful directions, spiralling the reader into their own feelings and notions rather than grounding them in Christ as encountered the biblical text. As circumstance would have it, when I received At the Feet of Jesus, I had just finished reading a very good book on lectio divina. After completing At the Feet of Jesus, I was struck by how well it trains the reader to practice lectio in the most biblically faithful way. The very good manual on lectio I had just read taught me all about lectio � the why and how. At the Feet of Jesus was even more effective as it doesn’t merely talk about sacred reading (it does do this helpfully, briefly, and at key points throughout), it guides the reader through the process and practice of sacred reading of biblical texts three times over! Reading the manual on lectio was a bit like reading a manual on how to cook and the importance of eating a balanced diet. At the Feet of Jesus was like actually making a recipe and eating the meal. And what a nourishing meal it is.

As an ordained minister, I would be thrilled if congregations made wide use of this book, aimed as it is at spiritual growth in Christ and based firmly in Scripture. I would highly recommend this book to pastors, Christian leaders, and ministry teams, as well as individuals, families or home groups. This would also be a great way to revive or renew a Bible study even while training people with useful tools for all their future study. I hope this resource is well received and proves to be the first of several retreat guides from Bruce and Carolyn Hindmarsh.

The book's cover image on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ is not the cover image of the book I received. The paperback cover is the same at the CD audio book image here on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ."

"I've seen this book recommended and quoted in many other works, and I finally got around to reading it. I'm so glad I did. One of the first things that surprised me was Bauckham’s critique of the "stewardship mandate"—after all, isn’t that the very reason many of us care for creation in the first place? But he makes a compelling case for the limitations and potential pitfalls of making stewardship the sole or primary framework for Christian ecological thought.

Instead, Bauckham invites us into a much richer, more theocentric vision—one that sees creation not as a resource managed by humans, but as a community centered around God. He walks the reader through this biblical vision with clarity and depth, rooting his argument in Scripture while also engaging thoughtfully with the current ecological crisis.

As a biblical scholar, Bauckham brings fresh insights into many familiar passages. I was especially captivated by his reading of God’s speeches in the book of Job—profound, humbling, and deeply relevant.

I’ve already recommended Bible and Ecology to several friends, and I know I’ll be returning to it again. It’s also convinced me that I need to read more of Richard Bauckham’s work."