The Two-Edged Sword by John L. McKenzie, S. J. (review)

355 The Two-Edged Sword. By JoHN L. :McKENZIE, S. J. Milwaukee: Bruce, 1956. Pp. 317. $4.50. The Two-Edged Sword is the most significant Catholic interpretation of the Old Testament ever written in English. This I believe, firmly. To begin with, Fr. McKenzie's prose is superb. This high literary quality is sustained throughout the book, even when the author discusses matters which of their very nature are difficult to analyze with simplicity. The solid scholarship behind each chapter will be evident to the expert, though it has been skilfully hidden from the eyes of the general reader. But the book's sigificance lies neither in its literary excellence nor scholarly foundations , but rather in the principles which determined the author's presentation of the teaching of the Old Testament. These principles have been known and used successfully for years by Biblical experts. Now for the first time in English the general public (for whom this book was written) may benefit from their application to the books of the Old Testament. Fr. McKenzie has clearly set forth his principles in his preface and repeated some of them at the end of his work. In both his Preface and Conclusion, the author tells us what he has tried to do: to present the religious and spiritual values of the Old Testament in terms intelligible to the general reader, i.e., "to anyone who thinks himself interested enough in the Old Testament to read a book about it which is not too deep or too heavy or too advanced or too big (p. v) ." He further indicates (p. 313) the nature of his book by pointing out that two other authors have written works similar to his own: Jacques Guillet, S. J. in Themes Bibliquea (Paris: Aubier, 1951) and Dom Celestin Charlier, 0. S. B. in La lecture chretienne de la Bible (Maredsous: Editions de Maredsous, 1950). The need for such a book on the Old Testament is very great. No one can deny that within the past 50 years there has been a revolution in the study of the Old Testament. Fr. McKenzie points out (p. vi) that this revolution is a consequence of the discovery and interpretation of the languages, history, art, and literature of the civilization of the Ancient Near East, in which the Old Testament was lived and written. The author disclaims any intention of presenting this "new learning" itself but rather " the religious beliefs of the Old Testament as they have been illuminated by the new learning (p. vii) ." Here, in brief, is the key to the proper understanding and appreciation of this book. The reader ought to understand it from the beginning and if possible remember it unto the end, especially when confronted with unaccustomed ideas. The author is attempting to use all the advances of modem biblical science in order to make more evident the true meaning and significance of Old Testament revelation. If the reader be tempted to withdraw from unfamiliar interpretations, he should remember the words Fr. 35G BOOK REVIEWS McKenzie wrote in his preface (p. vi) : " But the reader, whatever his own religious belief, is entitled to know that I accept entirely the teaching of the Catholic Church, and that what I say here is as ' Catholic ' as I can make it, in the ordinary sense of the term." A little further on, Fr. McKenzie clarifies the term "Catholic" book: "I do not mean that it is wholly and entirely a statement of Catholic doctrine; I mean that the Church has, as far as I know, said nothing which is contrary to what I say, that my personal interpretation is not out of harmony with her teaching (p. vii)." Even had he not said so, we would have known after reading his work that the author considers the Old Testament " a book of the highest spiritual value, second only to the New Testament into which it flowers." In the closing lines of his Preface (which ought to be carefully read) the author calls attention to the fact that he has preferred to usc the spelling of the King James Bible when using proper names. He laments the fact that the...