“This book is more than biblical interpretation. It is poetry — and poetry about the greatest work of poetry ever generated: the Prologue to John’s gospel. Anthony Esolen writes with erudition that never encumbers his eloquence. He situates the New Testament text in its Old Testament context, and he calls the saints and sages to witness to the truth and beauty that are obscured in clumsy modern (even official) translations. I closed the book feeling gratitude and awe.”
—SCOTT HAHN
co-author of The Decline and Fall of Sacred Scripture: How the Bible Became a Secular Book
“Anthony Esolen uses the magnifying glass of his vast erudition like a detective to inspect ‘the most influential paragraph in the history of man’ — the first eighteen verses of the Gospel of John. In a word-by-word commentary that is accessible and scholarly, robustly orthodox, and poetically inspiring, the great translator of Dante sheds new light on St John’s meditation on the incarnation and thus opens our eyes and our hearts to the deep truths embedded there.”
—FR DWIGHT LONGENECKER
author of Letters on Liturgy
“Here philological expertise — not only in Greek, but in the Hebrew and Aramaic that underlie it — is brought to bear on the paragraph of text that is arguably the most pregnant with meaning of any ever written. Above all, this exegesis is open to and sensitive to poetry: the poetry of the beloved disciple’s love and (even more importantly) the poetry of his Divine Master’s teaching, which points us to what is beyond words. The weight, force, and ordering of each word is considered in the context both of John’s gospel and of the Bible as a whole. The discussion is informed by a wide awareness of poetry, liturgical texts, and theological thought, but, shining through it all, is love, not just for these words, but for the Word Incarnate — a love that works to open the reader’s heart and mind to the Savior.”
—FR LUKE BELL
author of The Meaning of Blue: Recovering a Contemplative Spirit
“Holy Scripture is an inexhaustible source of wisdom even though contemporary translations often render it lifeless and unimaginative. In this splendid gem of a book, Anthony Esolen reminds us that all Scripture — perhaps especially the Gospel of John — sparkles and delights, if only we would see its theological, philosophical, and poetical brilliance. You won’t find a better guide than Esolen if you want to understand the beauty of the Good Book.”
—R. J. SNELL
author of Acedia and Its Discontents: Metaphysical Boredom in an Empire of Desire
“The most famous prologue in the world does not precede its logos, but rather articulates it. Herein sounds the Utterance that made the world, with vocabulary and meter both logical and lyrical. No one better than a translator of Dante could help us to hear not only the doctrine, but also the poetry, of this Word. Augustine and Aquinas wrote their own marvelous commentaries, but their Latin could not always do justice to the Greek subtleties and the Semitic atmospheres at work in St John’s mind. Anthony Esolen here reveals something of the original tongues that fed into this theological overture, allowing our souls to resonate with the allusive overtones of the Logos that tells us our Story.”
—SCOTT RANDALL PAINE
author of The Other World We Live In: A Catholic Vision of Angelic Reality
“And the Word became flesh. Standard literary criticism cannot do justice to these all-important words that tower over all others. Anthony Esolen guides us in a sapiential exploration that delves into them as inspired literature, eliciting a profound love for all the particularities of the sacred word. This unique, arresting book allows a mere eighteen verses to shed their light into the very heart of life and culture!”
—R. JARED STAUDT
author of The Beer Option: Brewing a Catholic Culture Yesterday & Today
ANTHONY ESOLEN is a professor of humanities, and writer in residence, at Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts. He has written or translated twenty-five books, on language, literature, culture, and the Christian faith, including a three-volume translation and edition of Dante’s Divine Comedy, and, most recently, his own book-length poem The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord. He lives in Warner, New Hampshire, with his wife Debra and their two children, Jessica and David.
