Seize Life Now and Forever

REVIEW FOR SEIZE LIFE NOW AND FOREVER BY LOU AND NICOLE MERTES Lou and Nicole Mertes, business and communication experts as well as devoted Bible students, have rediscovered the ancient literary device of chiasm in reading and understanding scripture, in this case, the Epistles of John. In a creative and excited manner they share their insights with nonacademic but serious Bible readers. Their approach to John’s epistles is accessible without a theology degree. The Mertes want to help us listen to the Epistles of John as they were heard by first century listeners. In addition to their own background commentary on words and concepts, they do this through the use of what they call “a spiral text.” This arrangement of the text comes out of seeing it as chiastic literature, written primarily to be heard not read. An appendix explains how chiasm works without becoming mired in scholarly discussion. We get the picture when Mertes tell us that what John does is “split the (hamburger) bun in half to serve you his thinking in two parts and sandwiches the meat of his message in between them.” I commend Lou and Nicole’s readable and interesting work on John’s epistles. As with any commentary on scripture, read this one with at least one other approach.