Prophets Of Love: The Unlikely Kinship of Leonard Cohen And The Apostle Paul

Author: Matthew R. Anderson

Publisher: McGill-Queen’s University Press, Volume 15 in a Series on Advancing Studies in Religion, hardcover, 182 pages, including Acknowledgments, 11 chapters, Notes, Bibliography, and Index

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

The Author 

The Rev. Dr. Matthew R. Anderson is an ordained pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church In Canada, and he teaches biblical studies at Concordia University and St Francis Xavier University. His PhD in Religious Studies (New Testament) is from McGill University (1999), with a specialisation in Paul. Recent books, in addition to this volume, include: Our Home and Treaty Land (co-authored with Raymond Aldred, Wood Lake 2022); Pairings: The Bible and Booze (version francaise: Apocalypse et gin tonic; Novalis 2021/2022). His forthcoming book is The Good Walk (University of Regina Press, 2024). Matthew’s musings on pilgrimage and decolonisation can be seen in his blogs https://somethinggrand.ca/ and https://unsettledwords.com/, his open-access article “Aware-Settler Biblical Studies” (Journal of Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies, 2021), and his podcast “Pilgrimage Stories from Up and Down the Staircase”:https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/pilgrimage-stories-from-up-and-down-the-staircase/id1525283078.

While reading this volume, Matthew, for this reviewer, comes across as a creative, insightful academic sleuth—examining the evidence from diverse angles/perspectives, and then drawing conclusions, which, at times, are paradoxical, rather than being either-or, they are both-and. Reading this volume reminded me of trying to put together a large puzzle, connecting all of the pieces in order to see the whole picture. Indeed, Matthew makes a lot of connections that some readers—including yours truly!—may not be aware of; that is perhaps why the title has this phrase: The Unlikely Kinship of….

Matthew wrote this volume for all the scholars, mostly women, who inspired and influenced his views of Paul and Leonard. He especially dedicates it to Dr. Agata Bielik-Robson, professor of Jewish studies, University of Nottingham.The 11 chapter titles include words or phrases from Leonard Cohen’s writings, as well as inform readers of the diverse perspectives on Paul and Leonard. At the end of each chapter, there is a “Text Meditation” section, and a “Further Reading” section. In the “Text Meditation” section, readers are invited to listen to one of Leonard’s songs, and then think about and compare excerpts from Paul’s and Leonard’s writings. 

In chapter 1, Matthew provides readers with background concerning how his feet ended up on Leonard Cohen’s coffee table.

In chapters 2 to 11, Matthew examines Paul and Leonard from several diverse perspectives, including: Leonard and Paul within Judaism, their preoccupation with Jesus, their attitudes toward and relationships with women, their asceticism, their masculinity, their beguiling rhetoric, their having no choice, their mysticism, their witnessing to brokenness and redemption, and their long afterlives. 

According to Matthew, Paul could be belligerent, whereas Leonard could be diplomatic. Paul’s attitude toward sexual relationships was different than Leonard’s. Paul advises sex within marriage, whereas Leonard has been described as ‘a ladies’ man’ and in his lyrics there is ambiguity about whether he is referring to sexual relationships or the divine, or connecting both of them. Paul, in his writings, seems to have remained celibate, whereas Leonard was involved in a number of sexual relationships, and he could also at times be misogynistic.

Regarding asceticism, Paul, unlike Leonard, did not deliberately deprive the body. For example, Leonard was a Zen monk for a number of years, and the master would require the monks to sit and meditate for long periods of time, without giving them bathroom breaks.

According to Matthew, there were also a number of similarities shared by Paul and Leonard. Both Paul and Leonard were religious Jews. Matthew, accepting the emphases of the “Paul within Judaism” group of scholars, cites three reasons supporting this viewpoint. One of which is that after Paul’s Damascus road encounter with Jesus, Paul never left Judaism. In Leonard’s case, Matthew makes the point that even though he became a Zen Buddhist monk, he never regarded that as a religion. Rather, he still considered himself within Judaism.

Both Paul and Leonard: wrote from a mystical perspective, both were disciplined in their faith and practice, both were popular and unpopular in their Jewish communities, both became famous in the non-Jewish world, both were ambiguous about women, both were inspired by Jesus, and both were drawn to the God of Israel, both loved the Hebrew Bible and were well-versed in it, both remained Jewish right up until they died. 

Both Paul and Leonard speak of having no choice regarding their calling. In Galatians 1:15-16, Paul speaks of his call in a similar way as the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah. Leonard, in one of his songs, states: “I was born like this, I had no choice.” Like other biblical prophets, both Paul and Leonard realize that as prophets they will experience suffering. Both connect weakness, brokenness and suffering with the divine presence and divine purposes. 

Both Paul and Leonard were masters of persuasive speech. Their words express in powerful ways what countless other human beings think and feel. Who isn’t moved by Paul’s ode to love in 1 Corinthians 13? And in endnote 27 of chapter 10, Matthew quotes Max Layton, son of poet Irving Layton as saying this about Leonard: “the greatest psalmist since King David.” Freedman, Leonard Cohen, 192, points out that Cohen’s Book of Mercy (1984) was self-consciously modelled on the psalms” (p. 155). Speaking of endnotes, although it can be tedious to read them, I humbly advise readers to do so, since Matthew makes plenty of valid points in them, and provides further significant background information on such subjects as the ancient world’s view of gender, conjugal duties prescribed in the Torah cited in Talmud Kethubod 61b, the Jewish tradition of Merkabah (chariot) mysticism, and more. 

All who enjoy listening to Leonard Cohen’s music and reading Paul’s letters will certainly benefit from and appreciate this volume. I would give it a 4.75 out of 5!