Out of Step with God: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Numbers

The book of Numbers have been a stumbling block in my daily bible reading plan and that is the exact reason I chose to read this book. The Pentateuch (or Torah) is the main source for the salvation history and the starting point that the apostles used for preaching the gospel about Christ (before it was written down). The book of numbers is a hard reading both in literary style and content and fr. Reardon has made an arduous task in commenting it and bringing the dry censuses to life. Out of step with God is not an academic book in the sense of discussing various text variations with the historical critical method but it do take to account various Christian and jewish sources and commentaries as well as the writings of the saints and even secular prose used as comparisons. Even notes about Mediterranean climate and archaeological sources are sometimes used explaining various parts of the book. Reardon’s book follows the book of Numbers chapter by chapter and try to grasp the overall meaning historical and spiritual meaning of the text. The style is very accessible and can be read on its own apart from the biblical text. While I do appreciate fr. Reardon’s explanations and interpretations, they often turn into preaching and his personal view of several contemporary issues such as the calendar question or clergy payments. This is not about the book of Numbers per se but an application of principles found in it which may be more or less valid (in my view more valid than not!). I would recommend the book for any interested clergy and layman for knowledge and spiritual edifice, but no for academic purposes. It has enriched my reading of the Pentateuch and I will sure come back to it when the book of Numbers appears in my next bible reading cycle. Tobias Rydqvist (ThM), Sweden