Review of The Banned Book of Mary by Ronald F. Hock
In my ignorance, found that I knew nothing about The Infancy Gospel of James (which this book is basically about) or later documents based on it. I learnt a great deal. I found it to be very readable, accessible and interesting.
As a Reformed Baptist this book hasn’t changed my convictions at all. I am convinced that the four canonical Gospels are the best records of our Lord’s life that we have available to us. Admittedly that’s not really the topic of the book at hand, which is Mary, his mother.
One gripe I did have with the book, however, was to do with its cover. “How Her Story Was Suppressed by the Church and Hidden in Art for Centuries”. Again the Church (whatever that means, let’s not get into the hurtful debate about whether “Church” includes the Reformed Churches, to which I belong) is made to look like the villain. Many people will see this book in bookshops and libraries and will sneer that “The Church” is at it again, hiding the real truth about Christianity and so on. If authors have any real interest in the glory of God and the preservation of his Church they should produce books with covers which don’t say in big letters “Let’s blame the Church for this one” or “Now it can be revealed, more sins of the Church”.
Come on, in today’s age Church-bashing isn’t exactly trailblazing or revolutionary.
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