Born From Above
by Dr. Eduardo P. Olaguer, Jr.
Ambassador Books, Inc.
87 pp., $7.50
1-800-577-0909

St. John’s Gospel begins as Genesis does, “In the beginning . . .” because, like Genesis, it is a tree from which many other branches grow. The synoptic Gospels are day-to-day narratives, but St. John’s Gospel soars high above daily life to give a magnificent overview of the great romance between God and man.

Far too often the Catholic faith is taught without such an overview, as a series of classroom lessons. In this one we learn that the Catholic Church has three branches: the Church Militant, the Church Suffering and the Church Triumphant. In the next we learn that there are three kinds of persons: divine, spiritual, and human. In the one after that we learn that the Church opposes contraception, abortion and euthanasia. After the last class the catechist goes home, reflecting that all he has taught was faithful to the Magisterium, while his students scatter and are soon lost. We need to teach the Catholic faith by starting with the tree of life from which all else grows: how we can know that God has objective existence, that His Messiah was Jesus of Nazareth, and that Jesus the Good Shepherd made Peter and his apostolic successors shepherds to tend His flock. A student who clearly understands that everything he learns comes from Christ’s public revelation through the apostolic succession and is directly connected to love for God and for God’s image and likeness will hold fast to the Catholic Church.

On the vast terrain of salvation history we meet the woman in the exile from Eden, (Gn 3:15), at Cana (Jn 2:4), at Calvary (Jn 19:26), and in the Revelation (12:17). Few readers perusing the Bible one page at a time would notice the great theme of a woman so prominent in salvation history that she can be described simply as the woman. Most of us depend on an overview. Sometimes, when even the overview rolls over us like a tidal wave, we look for help in an insightful commentary.

And so we come to Jay Olaguer’s commentary on St. John’s Gospel, Born From Above. A rare gem, very deep and very clear, it consists of fifteen short chapters, each just a few pages, organized according to St. John’s major themes, which reprise the age-old romance.

Dr. Olaguer begins with Nicodemus. Jesus told him, “. . . unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Jn 3:5). Ruach, the Hebrew word for “spirit,” has overtones of wind, breath and soul. Ruach and water are present at God’s Creation of the earth: “. . . and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters” (Gn 1:2). Ruach and water are also present at God’s creation of man: “. . . a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground—then the Lord God . . . breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Gn 2:6). Ruach and water are together again at God’s renewal of the creation of man through Noah. “God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided” (Gn 8:1). No wonder Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this?” (Jn 3:10). Dr. Olaguer brings this to the reader’s attention, adding that St. John’s Greek anothen for “again” in “born again” also means “from above.” Each time, the Spirit, the wind, came from above, reminding us of the Holy Spirit’s descent on the Apostles. “A sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind” (Acts 2:2).

Dr. Olaguer continues in this remarkable opening of St. John’s Gospel for fourteen more chapters. Each opens the reader’s eyes, then his mind, and finally his heart. Born From Above is a book to be sipped and savored, like a great wine. It is best read before the Blessed Sacrament, with a Bible nearby. After reading each chapter, the reader might look at Jesus and ask, “Lord, what would You teach me from this?” If the Blessed Sacrament is not exposed we can still sit in the church with Him. If our parish church is locked up we can, after doing all that we can to secure tranquility for a time, sit and read in our home.

It is also excellent commuter reading. Many active Catholics who ride public transit would do very well to read this rare book as the train or bus proceeds along the familiar route. I relish imagining a rider in the next seat surreptitiously reading Born From Above and finally asking, “Excuse me. Are you Catholic?”

Born From Above would work as well for classroom use. It has an imprimatur from Most Rev. Jaime Cardinal Sin, Archbishop of Manila. It also has “questions for discussion,” organized by chapter. A teacher preparing to use the book in a classroom setting need only prepare some notes to guide and direct classroom discussion. Parish Directors of Religious Education can use it as a secondary text in an RCIA or adult-ed class to overlay the basics. For instance, after teaching the Sacrament of Baptism, in which we are “born of water and the Spirit,” (Jn 3:5) Born From Above helps the student see that the Creation itself was born of water and the Spirit. Our baptism is participation through water and the Spirit in the Creation!

Dr. Olaguer is a devout Catholic. Every word in Born From Above affirms Catholic teaching. But, aware that the battle is between Christ’s forces and Satan’s forces, he concentrates on the part of Catholic teaching that Protestants accept. This is a book that I would give to any Catholic as a birthday present. I was surprised to see that I can also give it to Protestant friends on their birthdays. Dr. Olaguer gracefully affirms Catholic teaching on the Blessed Virgin Mary, particularly at Cana and Calvary, but he is always insightful rather than confrontational. Protestants are so Scripture-focused and this book is so insightful; I can imagine a Protestant reader thinking, “Well, maybe the Catholics have something here.”

So much from one book of Scripture! After reading Born From Above I began to reflect. Pope Pius XII had urged:

Let the Catholic exegete undertake the task, of all those imposed on him the greatest, that namely of discovering and expounding the genuine meaning of the Sacred Books . . . so that the mind of the author may be made abundantly clear.1

Today we are awash in Scripture “scholars” who exclude from the start any possibility that Jesus of Nazareth was a divine Person. They construct a “historical Jesus” set apart from “the Christ of faith.” Their primary opposition is an extremely literal approach hostile to both Catholic doctrine and contemporary science. My late dear mentor, Father William Most, a world class Scripture scholar and staunch defender of the Magisterium, was one of the few doing true exegesis. Born From Above provides a succinct explanation at a deep level of what St. John’s Gospel can teach us.

Marty Barrack, a Jew who has become complete as a Catholic evangelist, is the author of Second Exodus, which illuminates the Jewish heritage of the Catholic Church, published by Magnificat Institute Press in Houston, Texas. The book is the centerpiece of Marty’s Second Exodus apostolate (http://www.secondexodus.com) which helps Catholics serve Jews interested in learning more about the Church.

Copyright © Martin K. Barrack, 2001. All rights reserved.

End Note
1 Divino Afflante Spiritu, Encyclical Letter on the Promotion of Biblical Studies, Sept. 30, 1943, § 23.