In this volume, author Paul C. Reddington relates the life of Mary, mother of Jesus, as only a storyteller can. The author states on the back cover that the text is “the private musings” of the author as he places Mary “in the normal situations of raising a child.” Imagination fills in gaps where scripture doesn’t address specifics.
Reddington adds to the Nativity story, including a scene where Mary’s mother acts as midwife at Jesus’ birth (“Joseph…get me some water so I can wash my hands, the baby will be born any minute”). He also refers to a vow of celibacy made by Mary (“She explained to Joseph that she was adamant in her vow to God that she would remain a virgin for life”). Yet scripture indicates Mary and Joseph had at least six other children after Jesus was born (Matthew 13:55,56). For those who believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God, such embellishments may be offputting.
More problematic is the unpolished nature of the writing. The text reads as a first draft, including misspellings (one chapter is titled “The Public Ministeries [sic] of Jesus”), grammatical errors (“As far as the profits [sic] go Jeremiah was a teenager…” ) and improper usage of punctuation, capitalization and other writing mechanics (“Mary looked at him compassionately and said, ‘oh Jesus, how are you my son?” Jesus smiled at her and said, ‘starved’.”).
It’s clear that Reddington sincerely desires to honor Mary with this book. But the diversion from scripture and error-filled technical elements hinder the serious reader from enjoying and believing this re-imagined age-old story.
