3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated

Rating:
Summary: Novel Approach
Review: After being aware of this book and also recently having read "Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About", I was eager to read this book. My expectations were high, possibly too high, but this was a decent book. Yes, some of the theology is light, but many of the text exegesis are right on target. There are three pages of comments for each of the 59 verses, which a good variety of detail without making it overly complicated. A good read.

Rating:
Summary: A unique and intimate portrait of the Bible.
Review: From his idiosyncratic perspective as a computer scientist, Knuth presents an aesthetically pleasing and intellectually inviting commentary of the 3:16's.

In this day and age of technological sophistication, it is so courageous that a scientist and scholar of Knuth's stature can say "it's tragic that scientific advances have caused many people to imagine that they know it all, and that God is irrelevant or nonexistent. The fact is that everything we learn reveals more things that we do not understand... Reverence for God comes naturally if we are honest about how little we know." [1]

Knuth is candid about what he knows as well as what he doesn't know and he presents his views in a non-judgemental, introspective manner. For example, Knuth is surely including himself when he states "God sees the rottenness, deceit, and hypocrisy in every one of us..." [2] Furthermore, there are rare glimpses into Knuth the man as he unabashedly says what he feels. To illustrate, Knuth describes his thoughts about his own mortality and how he felt when his father died. [3]

Ultimately, this book is Knuth's solemn and joyous celebration of his relationship with God. But don't let the elegance of the artwork or the relative brevity of the commentary fool you into thinking this book is merely easy on the eyes. The Christian will find this an uplifting and spiritually challenging study, while the non-Christian will discover the richness of the 3:16's and why Knuth finds the Bible is relevant to everyday life.

Knuth is a consummate craftsman and this is a towering work of biblical scholarship, an enduring exegetical legacy for the ages.

Quotes and references from book:
[1] Proverbs 3:16 study
[2] Romans 3:16 study
[3] Job 3:16 study

Rating:
Summary: We Are Not Worthy!
Review: In the well-rounded, whimsical, yet diligent style that is so characteristic for all of his work, Knuth has given us a small stochastico-theologico-typographical masterpiece.

This work shows Knuth's authorship to an extent that even medieval monks could only dream of: He not only wrote the exegeses, but he translated each of the 59 verses of the bible he picked from the original Hebrew or Greek; he picked 59 illustrators to illuminate the verses; he wrote the software that controls the placement of each character on the pages of the book, and he wrote the software that controls the bits for each character of the book.

This book is by no means Knuth's most important contribution to humankind, but if it were the only one of his works to reach posterity, it would still suffice to show him as the compassionate and inspired genius that he is.