The T & T Clark Blog

Obituary to Dr Mervyn C.M. Davies (1940-2014)

It is with sadness that we announce the loss of Dr Mervyn C.M Davies, author of Leadership in the Church for a People of Hope (2011), and one of the series editors of our T&T Clark Religion and the University monograph series. His co-editors Gavin D'Costa and Peter Hampson have written some words to mark his passing.

 Dr Mervyn C.M. Davies (1940-2014)

“Grasped by the ungraspable God”

 

Following a two-year struggle with cancer, Dr Mervyn Davies, theologian, Bloomsbury author and editor, died on Tuesday 6^th May 2014; at home as he wished.

 

Educated at boarding schools run by the Dominican order, Mervyn later studied at Leeds and Birmingham Universities and completed a PhD entitled “Newman’s Theology of the Christian Life”.  He enjoyed a long and successful career in secondary education.  Then, after ‘retiring’ for the first time, Mervyn began a second career as an academic theologian. For 15 years he was involved in clergy formation first on the West of England Ministerial Training Course (WEMTC) and subsequently as Director of Programmes at Wesley College, Bristol.  A Newman scholar, a committed ecumenist, an accomplished writer and editor, he was also a much loved university and college teacher, family man, and friend.  Always more concerned with helping others than with his own status, he quietly influenced many people and shaped their lives for the better.  

Mervyn’s scholarly works include T&T Clark publications Leadership in the Church for a People of Hope with Graham Dodds, and two edited volumes in the Religion and the University Series:  Theology and Philosophy: Faith and Reason and Christianity and the Disciplines: The Transformation of the University with Gavin D’Costa, Oliver Crisp, and Peter Hampson.  A joint founder of the series, he was committed to the idea that our universities should be places where genuine liberal enquiry can take place, following Newman’s model, and havens of truth-seeking where intellectual and scholarly virtues can flourish.  He was passionate about the positive and constructive role that theology can play, not only in our universities and colleges, but also in the Church and wider society.  His long and distinguished career in education and ecumenism was honoured by the Church in 2007 on his second ‘retirement’ with the insignia “Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice”.

 

Mervyn was one of the most hospitable friends and reliable colleagues one could hope to have. He gave his last public talk on church history in March insisting that he be allowed out of hospital to fulfil the commitment. Friendship and scholarship went hand in hand for him, and he loved to talk about philosophy, religion and politics, over a glass of good red wine. Even while struggling with his illness, he was always the first to suggest a lunch, or to propose a meeting of his informal theology ‘book club’, and he was animatedly discussing academic matters only a few days before his death. At home in his last days Mervyn spoke movingly about his journey of faith and how he spent his life trying to grasp at the truth of the “ungraspable” God, and of his profound sense of being himself grasped by that God. Our thoughts and prayers are for the repose of his soul, and with his family. Requiescat in pace.

 

Peter Hampson, Blackfriars Hall, Oxford

Gavin D’Costa, Bristol University

The True Herod 6: The Final Post

Alas, our The True Herod series has now drawn to a close. We hope we have given you some insight into the book, its creation, its producers, and its creator. The True Herod is a beautiful book to behold and, more than that, it is a work of the highest scholarship from a world-renowned expert. Perhaps we'll leave the last word(s) to those who feature on the back cover:

'In this final book of his career, published posthumously, Geza Vermes' insightful eye remains as sharp as ever. Rejecting the traditional villainous presentation of Herod the Great, and drawing on both literary and archaeological evidence, Vermes argues that Herod was a complex figure, capable of terrible acts but also of loyalty and diplomatic brilliance. Beautifully illustrated, and written with real relish for presenting a personality almost larger than life, this book vividly explores the history of the Jews, Herod's stunning rise to power, the convolutions of Herod's personal and political life, his maniacal murders, monumental architecture, death and legacy. Herod has both horrified and fascinated us throughout the centuries, and this book superbly illustrates why.'

- Joan E. Tayloe, King's College London, UK

'In The True Herod, his richly illustrated account of this much maligned king of the Jews, Geza Vermes once again teaches us that to write great history is also - perhaps first of all - to tell a a great story.'

-Paula Frederiksen, Boston University, USA

'This is a fascinating journey into the past; the stimulating narrative causes the reader to ponder, wonder, and specilate about human frailties and fortunes. How did a figure remembered by history as an evil genius succeed in building monumental cities and the Temple, even bringing peace to a tortured land? This biography of Herod, "a genuine tragic hero," is another of Vermes' monumental achievements from a life devoted to research, study, and reflection.'

- James H. CHarlesworth, Princeton Theological Seminary, USA

To celebrate our publishing this gem, we will be doing a give away to one lucky follower on Twitter. All you have to do is retweet the link to this post, with the hashtag #TheTrueHerod, and you can be in with a chance of winning your own copy of The True Herod, as well as a copy of the entire set of the Vermes-Millar version of Schürer's A History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ, vols I-IV (see here: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/a-history-of-the-jewish-people-in-the-age-of-jesus-christ-9781472520166/). The winner will be announced on Tuesday 27th May.

 

Happy tweeting, we do hope you enjoy reading The True Herod as much as we have enjoyed creating it. It's available to buy here: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/search?q=the+true+herod&Gid=1

 

 

The True Herod 5: A Publishing Journey

The True Herod will be out very soon. Publishing this book has been extremely important to me, and it has in many ways been a labour of love. As I have written before, one of the very first ‘academic’ books on the bible that I ever engaged with was Vermes’ Jesus the Jew. Visiting Geza – and his wife Margaret – on the snowy January day mentioned in the preface of The True Herod was a true privilege. As we discussed the new paperback edition of ‘the Vermes-Millar Schuerer’ we also spoke of Herod. Geza had sent me the manuscript a few days in advance of our meeting and I thought that, if we could keep the image budget under control, we might just be able to create a beautiful book which told the tale of one of ancient history’s most remarkable figures.

It was a great sadness to me when Geza died so soon after completing the final draft of the manuscript, not least because I had been looking forward to a longer collaboration.

The work of researching the images began, trying to find those which fitted our budget, as well as the high resolution versions of those which Geza had found on the internet (in some cases fiendishly difficult to track down), and commissioning new maps for the book.

The process was involved and time-consuming. I spent a few hours collecting as many images as I could, and finding out where most of the images Geza had found were located and held. I also began a process of intense haggling with various image collections and museums. From this point I blithely thought we would get things done quickly, and that a day of discussions with Margaret would enable us to complete things. How wrong I was! Coins took a great deal of time and required external help, maps needed very careful checking. Other images were rotated, or extended to the full bleed of the page. We played with captions, and moved things around. In many ways much of this work is not usual for the academic publisher, it is either done by a specific illustrated division, or by the author. And it was hard work.

I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

The book we have produced is extraordinary. Geza’s presentation of Herod, in all his complexity but with that lightness of touch which was (one of) Geza's trademark(s) opens the ancient world up to the general reader, and provides rare new insights for the academic. The illustrations - 95% of which are the high resolution versions of those handpicked by Geza - go with this to keep the reader engaged, questioning, and involved at all times.

In addition all this, The True Herod is one of the most beautiful books I have ever seen. The maroon cloth it is bound in, the yellow/gold head and tail bands, the matte laminate jacket with gold foiling. The image on the jacket – a close-up of the plaster work in the theatre at Herodium. Inside is the gloss-coated art paper, the crisp full-colour printing. The elegant maps. Page 69 is a full page photograph of Masada in all its glory.

The True Herod is, for the reader, a rich journey through the life of Herod and his descendants. For me it has been a publishing journey, one which began with meeting a ‘legend’ and developed with both excitement, frustration and hard work, the latter elements being a crucial parts of all truly great journeys.

When I left Geza and Margaret that snowy day in January 2013 I sent a text message to a respected biblical-scholar friend bragging about the fact that Geza had laughed at a ‘Rewritten Bible’ joke that I’d made. The texts went like this.

 

If you’ll pardon the blasphemy above, little did I know that something had begun already, a journey that I would greatly enjoy, towards the publication of a book which I hope many more will enjoy even half as much as I enjoyed its production.

Pope Francis silent on criticism surrounding LCWR's Outstanding Leadership Award recipient Elizabeth Johnson

In the last few weeks, The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) was criticized by Cardinal Gerhard Müller because the association, who represents many American nuns, selected Sr. Elizabeth Johnson, a theology professor at Fordham University, to receive the Outstanding Leadership Award. Cardinal Müller said he was saddened when he learned of this choice because “of the gravity of the doctrinal errors in that theologian’s writings.” Johnson, author of the recent Ask the Beasts and The Quest for the Living God, which was denounced in 2011 by the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, was selected for the award because of her ministry to the church, her leadership and work in conscience evolution, and her public service.

So far Pope Francis has remained silent on the controversy, which Maureen Dowd speculates in a recent New York Times article is a sign that the Pope is finally losing his “cool”. In the article, Dowd speaks to author Paul Vallely, author of the biography Pope Francis: Untying the Knots, who argues that Pope Francis actually “agrees with the nuns” and wants the church to make decisions about this issue, albeit slowly. Read the full article here.

In Memoriam: Maurice Casey

I was very sad to hear, from James Crossley, that Maurice Casey has died.

I greatly enjoyed working with Maurice on his last two books - Jesus of Nazareth: An Independent Historian's View of His Life and Teaching and Jesus: Evidence and Argument or Mythicist Myths. He was a generous colleauge, and always concerned to be polite and helpful in his dealings with me.

That said, I was never on the receiving end of Maurice's sometimes rather abrupt prose. Despite the fact that his writing could often be rather colourful, my abiding memory of unedited Casey is that it was always exceptionally well-written, a gift which by no means all possess. Maurice's writing was - is - fun and frequently refreshing to read. Language mattered to Maurice, it was his tool to for telling the truth as he saw it, and frequently his means of discovering this truth. He also had a tremendous sense of fairness. He wanted to be fair in his discussion, even if that sometimes meant he had to take no prisoners.

Maurice had spoken of his wish to write a volume on Christian Origins, which would have been a significant contribution along the lines of Jesus of Nazareth in terms of length and scope. It is a great sadness that he did not get to write this book.

Maurice was a scholar to the last, and I shall miss him.

The True Herod 4: Herod the Builder

The fourth installment of our The True Herod blog series features another exclusive extract from the book, in which Herod's architectural legacy is explored. Vermes draws some insights into Herod's personal motives for building, and truly beautiful images reveal the past splendour of Herod's building ventures.

 

Enjoy the extract. You can buy your copy of the book when it is published at the end of this month here: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/search?q=The+True+herod&Gid=1

The True Herod 3: Guest Post from Professor James Charlesworth

As part of our True Herod series, we have the following guest blog post from Professor James Charlesworth, who not only knows the work of Geza Vermes, but knew also the man behind them. Read his review of The True Herod:

'Of the kings in the East, few are so well known as Herod, whom within the Roman Senate Antony and Octavian [Augustus] voted to be “King of the Jews (rex socius).” Along with the Roman armies, Herod defeated the Persians after they invaded the Holy Land and briefly entered Jerusalem, an account made famous in the Parables of Enoch. The recent discovery of Herod’s tomb near Bethlehem has been hailed as sensational; it is heralded in an unprecedented feature in the Israel Museum. Herod is the evil king who killed his sons and wife, and (according to Matthew) was frustrated by “the Wise Men” who came to honor Jesus, a Jew who was crucified as the “King of the Jews.”

            Now, Professor Geza Vermes shares with us his last thoughts on this evil genius, the greatest builder in ancient Israel. Vermes is famous for his “full” translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls and his mastery of Early Judaism as well as the historical Jesus. For Vermes, Herod – hailed for 2,000 years as “Herod the Great” – was “a powerful and athletic man,” excellent on horseback and in hunting, an “outstanding soldier,” a “brilliant general,” had “good judgement,” a politician “with exceptional gifts,” and “generous to the Pharisees and the Essenes” (which promoted “the intellectual and spiritual life” of Jews). Herod was fiercely devoted to Rome and his Idumaean family.  

            Unfortunately, Herod also returned minor antagonisms with “the severest retribution,” was “patently and atrociously cruel to his in-laws,” and possessed a “suspicious and brutal temperament.” Herod desecrated and robbed David’s tomb of priceless gold treasures. Vermes judges that Herod could never fully “overcome his inferiority complex.” One may appreciate Caesar Augustus’ comment, near the end of Herod’s demise: “It is better to be Herod’s pig than his son.”

            This is a fascinating journey into the past; the stimulating narrative causes the reader to ponder, wonder, and speculate about human frailties and fortunes. How does an evil genius succeed in building monumental cities and the Temple (“one of the marvels of the ancient world’), even bringing peace to a tortured land? The great Jewish historian of the first century CE, “our best informed witness,” Josephus, imagined Herod was schizophrenic, being both remarkably generous to humankind and a brute to his subjects and relatives. Yet, Josephus’ cannot be expected to be fair; he was a Hasmonean, the archenemy of Herod. And Matthew’s report of “the massacre of the innocents” is a crime Herod “never committed.”

            Vermes’s work fits neatly within the new perspective of Herod; he was not just an evil madman or an “infamous king” (according to S. Mason) but a person of compassion, improving the lifestyle of many artisans in Judea, remitting taxes when his subjects were in financial collapse, supplying grain for those starving, and distributing warm garments for the elderly during winters. Thus, Vermes’s portrayal is close to the portraits of Herod found in the research by A.H.M. Jones, A. Schalit, and E. Baltrusch. Vermes avoids non-commitment, writes with passion and clarity, and points out, inter alia, that Herod’s household was “a hornet’s nest” and that the Christian and Rabbinic views of Herod are “a caricature of the true Herod.” Bravo.

            Herod’s life epitomized the fall of an icon, early on raising to heights in Rome and finally expiring in loneliness and great pain in Jericho. This biography of Herod, “a genuine tragic hero,” is another of Vermes’s monumental achievements from a life devoted to research, study, and reflection. I highly recommended Vermes’s masterpiece for all searching for human understanding or historical insight. The work is ideal for undergraduate or church classes.'

Professor James Charlesworth is George L. Collard Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, and director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Project at Princeton Theological Seminary. Some of his publications with T&T Clark include: The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and the New Testament: Prolegomena for the Study of Christian Origins (1998), New Discoveries in St Catherine's Monas (1975) and Sacra Scriptura: How "Non-Canonical" Texts Functioned in Early Judaism and Early Christianity (2013).