Daniel - by Daniel Berrigan (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The renowned poet, priest, and activist brings to life his namesake and role model, the biblical prophet Daniel.

Daniel Berrigan's powerful, poetic commentary on the biblical book of Daniel brings to life a prophet who has as much to say to our hedonistic, warring world as he did to the people of Old Testament times. Continuing the series he began with Isaiah and Ezekiel, Berrigan fuses social critique, Jewish midrash, and political commentary to bring us a book of stylistic distinction and spiritual depth.

A bold and unorthodox application of the Old Testament to current political and social discourse, Daniel is not simply a book about a bygone prophet, but a powerful charge to all people of conscience. As Berrigan writes, "There are principalities of today to be confronted, their idols and thrice-stoked furnaces and caves of lions, their absurd self-serving images and rhetoric. Someone must pink their pride, decode the handwriting on the wall. Who is to stand up, to withstand?"

Review Quotes

Once again, Daniel Berrigan uncovers the revolutionary mix of rage and wisdom of the biblical prophets. His meditation on Daniel shows how people of spirit and conscience can "lay siege" to the empires of today. --Mark Lewis Taylor, Princeton Theological Seminary

A modern prophet's commentary on an ancient prophet's words, this book tells more truth about our times than many want to hear....Berrigan's reflections will be difficult for those whose instincts are compromise and timidity. --John K. Stoner, author, If Not Empire, What?

Berrigan brings alive the biblical Book of Daniel in an astonishing way. We learn of the power of faith when joined to the courage of disobedience. The line between prose and poetry is erased as is the line between the past and the present. --Howard Zinn, author

Berrigan's encounter with his namesake makes for lively, challenging reading. This is commentary not so much on the biblical book as on the world. --Booklist

Berrigan's fiery prose illuminates both his own passion and that of the Book of Daniel. --Publishers Weekly

Daniel reveals Berrigan as a priest who has been on the front lines as both an antiwar dissenter and writer for so long that he has become the line. He stands all but alone among contemporary writers trying to make connections between the demands of practicing biblical faith and crafting powerful literature. --Colman McCarthy, The Washington Post

I recommend this book to all who want to understand the Bible and their own lives in the light of it. --Richard T. McSorley, Georgetown Center for Peace Studies

The subversive call to Daniel the Prophet and the writing call of Daniel Berrigan both shine forth in this brilliant book. --Richard Rohr, OFM, Center for Action & Contemplation

The Book of Daniel is here retold in a way that highlights its contemporary significance...Berrigan does a remarkable job of opening up for us a text only rarely studied in the synagogues. --Tikkun Magazine

These are barbed-wire words that protect truth's heart. Who can be a more apt scribe to write such an account than Daniel Berrigan, who has walked in the ancient Daniel's footsteps in lion's den and prison cell? --Megan McKenna, author, Not Counting Women and Children

This is Berrigan at his best. If he had written only one book, I would have wanted it to be this one. --Joan Chittister, author, A Passion for Life

To read this book is to risk every comfortable excuse one has to postpone resistance and reform. --John Francis Kavanaugh, author, Following Christ in a Consumer Society

Who better to read Daniel's political poetry and stories of resistance than a contemporary Daniel who has recited just such poetry and practiced just such resistance? Less a commentary than a re-narration, this makes Daniel's Daniel dangerously relevant. --Ched Myers, author, Who Will Roll Away the Stone?

About the Author

A renowned poet, Jesuit priest, and antiwar activist, Daniel Berrigan (1921-2016) has been called "the conscience of a generation." He became a household name in 1968, when he seized draft records at Catonsville, Maryland, and burned them with napalm, galvanizing a protest movement and igniting widespread religious opposition to the Vietnam War. "Better the burning of paper than of children," he told the judge. Berrigan published over fifty books of poetry, essays, and scripture commentaries in his lifetime. He was also arrested more than fifty times for creative acts of nonviolent civil disobedience and spent several years in prison.