Norfolk’s Pilgrim Routes: A history of paths, places and people by Andy Bull (Amberley, £15.99 (£14.39); 978-1-3981-2421-9).
“This book describes those pilgrim paths and places, including the main feeder routes that pilgrims would have taken across the country to reach Norfolk. It features priories and abbeys, pilgrim churches, hostelries and crosses, holy wells, chapels and hermitages as well as stories of historic figures such as the mystics Margery Kempe and Julian of Norwich. Norfolk’s Pilgrim Routes: A History of Paths, Places and People will appeal to all those who enjoy walking and exploring Britain’s heritage. Through this book readers and walkers today can explore the full breadth of Norfolk’s rich pilgrim history and the fascinating history to be discovered en route.”
The Historical Jesus and the Temple: Memory, methodology, and the Gospel of Matthew by Michael Patrick Barber (Cambridge University Press, £26.99 (£24.29); 978-1-009-21086-7).
“In this book, Michael Patrick Barber examines the role of the Jerusalem temple in the teaching of the historical Jesus. Drawing on recent discussions about methodology and memory research in Jesus studies, he advances a fresh approach to reconstructing Jesus' teaching. Barber argues that Jesus did not reject the temple's validity but that he likely participated in and endorsed its rites. Moreover, he locates Jesus’ teaching within Jewish apocalyptic eschatology, showing that Jesus’ message about the coming kingdom and his disciples’ place in it likely involved important temple and priestly traditions that have been ignored by the quest. Barber also highlights new developments in scholarship on the Gospel of Matthew to show that its Jewish perspective offers valuable but overlooked clues about the kinds of concerns that would have likely shaped Jesus’ outlook. A bold approach to a key topic in biblical studies, Barber’s book is a pioneering contribution to Jesus scholarship.”
Dilexi Te: On the love of the poor (Apostolic Exhortation) by Pope Leo XIV (Catholic Truth Society, £4.95 (£4.45); 978-1-78469-859-1).
“In his final months, Pope Francis was preparing an Apostolic Exhortation on the Church’s care for the poor. Giving it the title ‘Dilexi Te’, he intended it to be a follow-up to his final encyclical, ‘Dilexit Nos’. The title is a message of love from Jesus to the poor, referring to the Book of Revelation: ‘You have but little power,’ yet ‘I have loved you’ (3:9). Now, at the start of his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV has chosen to make this document his own, by adding his own reflections to those of Pope Francis, ‘since I share the desire of my beloved predecessor that all Christians come to appreciate the close connection between Christ’s love and his summons to care for the poor.’ ‘Love for the Lord, then, is one with love for the poor. The same Jesus who tells us, “The poor you will always have with you” (Mt 26:11), also promises the disciples: “I am with you always” (Mt 28:20). We likewise think of his saying: “Just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me" (Mt 25:40). This is not a matter of mere human kindness but a revelation: contact with those who are lowly and powerless is a fundamental way of encountering the Lord of history. In the poor, he continues to speak to us.’”