HEAVENLY LOVE The Song of Songs simply explained by Gary Brady Evangelical Press (Welwyn Commentary Series) -paperback - 256 pages. £8.95 ISBN 0 85234 606 9
I remember in the 1950s attending a theological course and having large sections of the Song of Solomon read to me by another student on the first day of the new academic year. He had fallen in love, become engaged, and only the Song could express his feelings! The student concerned went on to become a high-ranking Salvation Army Officer who married his beloved fiancee and ‘they lived happily ever after’.
Perhaps few Passages of Scripture evoke more strong feeling and division than the Song of Songs (another title). Many historical figures have argued whether or not it should be in the Canon at all. Certainty, it has been a happy hunting ground for all kinds of strange and outrageous claims and not a few have cast the writing to one side as unintelligible, beyond logical explanation, or unworthy because of its frank and erotic style.
The intensely personal speeches of Canticles (a third name) take two main forms: dialogue and soliloquy. The power of the poetry lies in the expressed intensity of love and devotion. It is also filled with rich imagery and previous generations of Christians might feel this is far too detailed for Western tastes. However, in contemporary Britain, where concepts of sexuality and decency have undergone a revolution, it might now be considered rather tame. One great strength of Brady's new commentary is that it provides a corrective to false images of love, sex, and marriage, and it stimulates integrity of mind and purity in practice. The author is quite clear in his own thinking, both a natural and spiritual understanding are required for correct exposition of the Song. Coupled with this is the key to the book - a portrait of the loving relationship between God and His people.
In reality, interpretations of the Song of Solomon have been almost without number. Rabbis and Church Fathers mainly adopted an allegorical method. Some modern conservatives opted for the typical method, whilst F Delitzsch, building on Origen and Milton, chose the dramatic interpretation. Critical scholars have chosen to think of this disputed canonical book in terms of nuptial songs or love-poems. The tragedy is that Ministers, especially highly-pressured Pastors, have failed to give the Song of Songs the place it deserves, They may feel inadequate in the hermeneutical field, or think our present society, including the church, has enough exposure to sex, without adding to it. Thereby, the Devil robs us of a precious portion of God's Word.
Those who wish to pursue the critical arguments and wrestle with scholars will need to look elsewhere. Those charged with “feeding the flock of Christ and preaching the whole counsel of God" will find Gary Brady's latest commentary extremely useful. Like most of the Welwyn Commentaries, there is a rich combination of sound exegesis, devotional and expository thought, and clear outline. The busy pastor and heavily-committed layman will find much to inform.
In parish and local ministry my own style of preaching has been, over forty years, expository and systematic. Over a quarter of a century ago I attempted to expound Song of Solomon and I gave up after six sermons. I do not think I would have done so today, with Gary Brady's refreshing and encouraging little book. I have no doubt the author will be criticised for his exposition by a few, admired by many including myself and appreciated by the majority. I trust the doubters will not only buy this excellent volume but remember the words of a great Old Testament scholar, sadly no longr with us, ‘Not only does it (The Song of Songs) speak of the purity of human love, but by its very inclusion in the Canon it reminds us of a love that is purer than our own.' (E J Young).
Rt Revd Dr J Barry Shucksmith, Royal Navy (Rtd)
English Churchman (May/June)
