Book Review: Biblical Heroes by Mark Hart
Early Christian Efforts to Understand Scripture
From the earliest days of Christianity, Christian apologists have sought to create aids to help people understand the Sacred Scriptures. Biblical commentaries, stained glass windows depicting scenes from the Bible, the sacred art that decorate our churches, meditative practices like the Rosary or the Stations of the Cross—all of these exist in order to help pious Catholics understand the Scriptures in an immersive way. Today, we have resources like Fr. Mike Schmitz’s “Bible in a Year” series or the plethora of resources available from the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. It’s truly a great time to be Catholic, with so many helpful aids for Scripture study all around us!
Introducing a New Resource: Biblical Heroes by Mark Hart
Today, I will look at a new addition to this rich repository of resources, Mark Hart’s Biblical Heroes: Stories of Faith and Courage (Ascension Press, 2024). As someone who taught high school Sacred Scripture for ten years, I am always interested in seeing new products geared at getting young people engaged with the Scriptures. Biblical Heroes immediately caught my eye due to the gorgeous cover art by my friend Chris Lewis of Baritus Catholic Illustration. And if the name Mark Hart sounds familiar, it’s because Mark is better known as the Executive Vice President of Life Teen and the author of over twenty books on Scripture study and Catholic living.
Purpose of Biblical Heroes: Connecting Past and Present
The purpose of Biblical Heroes is to show how the challenges faced by the characters of Old and New Testaments relate to the everyday challenges faced by today’s young people—and how the faith that inspired the Bible’s heroes can inspire today’s generation. Each chapter centers on a specific biblical character, mostly from the Old Testament but a few from the New. I appreciate that the book chose several “secondary” biblical characters; I expected the usuals, like Abraham, Joseph, and Moses, but instead, we have greater representation from characters like Abel, Miriam, and Ruth (in the New Testament, there is a whole chapter dedicated to the nameless “Loaves and Fish Kid,” which I thought was great).
Chapter Structure: A Consistent, Engaging Format
Each chapter has a very structured layout incorporating four distinct elements:
Personal Anecdote: Mark begins each chapter with a story from his own experience which sets the stage for helping the reader understand what’s at stake in the biblical narrative.
Biblical Summary: The chapter’s Bible story is summarized, focusing on the important people, events, and lessons to be noted in the text.
Scripture Reading: The reader is given soem Scripture verses to read (the verses are not included in the text, so this book would best be used with a Bible on hand).
Finding Yourself: Each chapter concludes with a “Finding Yourself in the Story” section (so, for example, in the chapter on Miriam, the section is called “Finding Yourself in Miriam’s Story”). The purpose of this section is to show how the lessons of the story are applicable in a young person’s life. So, for example, the book uses the story of David’s lusting for Bathsheba to discuss custody of the eyes in what we see online.
Target Audience and Suggested Usage
The book does not have a recommended age, but I’d say this would be appropriate for the tween demographic, probably around ages 11-13. At 140 pages and thirteen chapters, it is suitable to be broken up across a semester, perhaps as part of a religious ed class, with one chapter assigned per week. That being said, the chapters aren’t so long that they could stand on their own; you’d definitely want to pair this with a more substantive resource. One thing to note is that the excellent cover art is very reminiscent of a graphic novel format, and the unaware buyer purchasing online might mistakenly think this is a graphic novel. It’s not. Each chapter is introduced with a beautiful color illustration, but that’s it; the text is more of a conventional chapter book.
Final Thoughts: A Practical Guide for Young Readers
You can get a copy of Mark Hart’s Biblical Heroes: Stories of Faith and Courage from Ascension Press. The product page on Ascension allows you to preview parts of the book and offers suggestions for other resources to pair it with (e.g., biblical timeline charts, etc.). I’d say this book would best serve young people who were struggling with digging into the scriptural text and need a practical, down-to-earth aid to see how faith in God makes a difference in our daily lives.
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