Book Description
"I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn't resolve. . . . I used to not like God because God didn't resolve. But that was before any of this happened." In Donald Miller's early years, he was vaguely familiar with a distant God. But when he came to know Jesus Christ, he pursued the Christian life with great zeal. Within a few years he had a successful ministry that ultimately left him feeling empty, burned out, and, once again, far away from God. In this intimate, soul-searching account, Miller describes his remarkable journey back to a culturally relevant, infinitely loving God.
Customer Reviews:
Love that Schama!.......2007-10-18
Just as fun as the PBS series! Has more information than the series too.
Good, but hypocrytical . . ........2007-10-11
As a Christian who frequently finds sustaining spirutuality in more resources than just the bible, I enjoyed this book some of the time.
Miller is dead on in his assertion that "the Church" and from that really all Christians, need to re-connect with the example of Christ's love, especially with regards to those whom Christians don't mingle with on a daily basis (at least my "daily basis" anyway).
His hypocrisy ruins it for me, though. It seemed like every time things were warming up about "loving others", Miller would drop some hugely critical comment about Republicans, fundamentalists, evangelicals, etc. I get it that these people aren't necessarily his cup of tea. However, if we are to accept, and adopt, Christ's example of love, it's all inclusive.
Loving only the less fortunate doesn't count; Christ loves all of us. And if Miller is going to write with integrity about emulating and expanding that love in our own lives, he can't pick and choose whom to love and not to love. In short, he falls in to the very trap he accuses "the Church" of living in.
And the hypocrisy of that makes it difficult to take his message seriously, at least for me.
With all that said, I am sending a copy of the book to an atheistic friend. You never know!
Miller's faith perspective rings true.......2007-10-10
Get Real: a spiritual journey for men
Blue Like Jazz is a beautifully written book that requires the reader to think honestly about issues of faith. Miller has moved well beyond the posturing and pretense that characterize too much of Christian apologetics. It's impossible to read Miller without being struck by his disarming candor and honest self-examination. Rather than introduce doubt, Miller makes sense, and he makes a strong case for a Jesus who is real and interactive in the world today. Like journalist Derek Maul's "Get Real: a spiritual journey for men," (2007) Blue like Jazz presents the Gospel as engaging, incisive, and deeply authentic.
Inspired Me to Read His Other Books.......2007-10-08
Blue Like Jazz is a sort of meditation on Don Miller's spiritual life so far (he's in his early 30s), sprinkled with a little Christian apologetic told by narrative rather than by theories or "spiritual laws" (Miller's "Search for God Knows What" is more along the lines of an apologetic though). Miller's writing style is accessible and easy, though he's prone to meditative tangents on the nature of God or faith or creation that may annoy the less religiously-inclined reader. Miller has a lot of credibility in the so-called emerging church movement for his narrative approach (and probably for his decidedly left wing politics), but his religious beliefs themselves come across as pretty standard evangelical Christian, which I was a little surprised by. It's not heavy theology by any means, and there's a lot of raw meat in Miller's book for the internet's theology attack dogs to tear apart, but the books resonated with me. After reading "Blue Like Jazz," I was inspired to read Miller's "Searching for God Knows What" and "Through Painted Deserts." My favorite moment in the book was the "reverse confession booth," where the campus Christians confessed the sins of the church to astonished students. For a new spin on evangelical Christianity, check out "Blue Like Jazz."
Re-thinking my original opinion.......2007-10-06
I am actually re-reading this book because I got so much out of it during my first read. I may have made a mistake by reading all these negative reviews here, but I'm finding I agree with some of them to an extent. It's funny because I am seeing both sides here, both good and bad, about the book. Yes, some of the stuff he wrote about is a little self-obsessed, but some of the stuff he wrote sparked real passion in me and furthered my relationship with God. I think I just had a moment of realization (an epiphany, if you will) that you cannot take ANYONE'S word for anything, except God's. This is just more proof to me that people, no matter who they are or what their intentions or how close to Christ they are, can lead you astray. To conclude; read the book (it has some good stuff in it), take from it what you will, and trust God with all your heart.
Book Description
With over one million novels in print, New York Times best-selling author Joel C. Rosenberg has been called "eerily prophetic" and a "modern Nostradamus" for his uncanny ability to write political thrillers that come true. In his first nonfiction book, this evangelical Christian from an Orthodox Jewish heritage takes readers on an unforgettable journey through prophecy and current events into the future of Iraq after Saddam, Russia after Communism, Israel after Arafat, and Christianity after radical Islam. You won't want to miss Joel's exclusive interviews with Israeli, Palestinian, and Russian leaders, and previously classified CIA and White House documents. Similar to the approach Joel takes in his novels, his desire is to draw readers into stories, anecdotes, and predictions in a way that builds confidence that allows Joel to share his faith in Jesus Christ and the reliability of Scripture as a guide to understanding the past and the future. Drawing on his experience in Washington, his own exclusive interviews with world leaders, and his astute political acumen, Joel makes sense of the events surrounding the Middle East. He connects information in a way that will make you understand and really care about the world's most important events and how they impact your life--from gas prices to your bank account.Epicenter is about: Change--big changes, dramatic changes, changes that will transform the world as we know it. Answers--what the changes are underway in the world's most important countries. Insight--readers will understand the trajectory of world events by being taken inside the governments of Iran, Iraq, Russia, China, and more. Accessibility--aimed for a wide audience in both the general and Christian markets. Faith--Joel shares his faith in Jesus Christ and the reliability of Scripture. Epicenter will answer questions like: Will Iraq go from bad to worse? Will Israel and her Arab neighbors find peace, or is another major Middle East war just around the corner? If the new, post-Soviet Russia is our friend, why is the Kremlin creating a new class of thermonuclear weapons and building an alliance with radical Islam?
Customer Reviews:
Epicenter.......2007-10-18
Terrific book based on scriptures but a little scary in it's revelations. I would highly recommend this book.
What the future holds!.......2007-10-17
This is a very infromative book and spot on about future events. The headlines daily prove the accuracy of this book.
Epicenter.......2007-10-17
For those who are willing to use the third len to view world events, this book is a must read. Joel Rosenberg has done a good job correlating the world events with Biblical prophecies. Those who have ears must listen.
Epicenter.......2007-10-17
A must read for anyone who wants to view future events relative to Bible Prophesy. I was especially moved to look into the mind of a Messianic Jew. The author is right on!
Epicenter.......2007-10-17
Interesting information - don't know how much is true. A lot of chest thumping by the author. The evangelical ending kind of turned me off. If I'm going to find Jesus, it will not be through reading a novel. I think that Mr. Rosenberg has some intertesting takes on some recent world event - all probably driven by some really unbelievable coincidences and turns of history. Broader picture?, I think he's on to something. Whether God comes and reaks havoc as decribed in the Bible is anyone's guess. Overall, not a bad read - but then you put the book away and go on to something else.
Book Description
“Thousands of people have written to tell me that I am wrong not to believe in God. The most hostile of these communications have come from Christians. This is ironic, as Christians generally imagine that no faith imparts the virtues of love and forgiveness more effectively than their own. The truth is that many who claim to be transformed by Christ’s love are deeply, even murderously, intolerant of criticism. While we may want to ascribe this to human nature, it is clear that such hatred draws considerable support from the Bible. How do I know this? The most disturbed of my correspondents always cite chapter and verse.”
So begins Letter to a Christian Nation…
www.samharris.org
Customer Reviews:
A book that says what I mean........2007-10-17
This book says all things I've been saying for years, and makes no apologies about it. The aurthor logic is inscrutable. A very solid argument for atheism that is at the same time complicated and easy to read. I was feeling evry word.
A good "starter book" for atheism.......2007-10-10
"Letter to a Christian Nation" is, as it says, a letter. To a nation. Of Christians. As someone who is already a confirmed atheist, I wasnt't really the target audience for this book. As such, I found it a little lacking in comparison to other works of atheist thought, such as The God Delusion (a very good book), and God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (a decent, but not as good, book).
Sam Harris makes many of the same points in his book as Dawkins and Hitchens do in theirs, but he doesn't go into nearly the same level of detail as Dawkins or the same amount of polemic as Hitchens. He does make his points, but I felt there was more he could have done.
On the other hand, this is a very, very short book (only about 90 pages... about the same as, to my understanding, Common Sense (Penguin Classics), which I haven't read and should). Due to the length, I guess he wasn't able to go into too much detail. Of course, he could have simply written a longer book...
If you, like me, are someone who is already firmly in the atheist camp, this really isn't the book for you. If you're someone who can feel your faith wavering, and know that you're getting to the point where you're about to divcorce from god (and there's a term I love and will have to use elsewhere), then perhaps you might want to give this book a go. After all, what do you have to loose?
Well, aside from your religion...
thin volume that should be required reading.......2007-10-10
The author doesn't belabor any points - but rather is concise and crisp. I wish I had written it.
Concise, articulate and enlightening.......2007-10-09
Bravo to Mr. Harris. This is a must-read for anyone with children who might consider placing them in religious schools. Mr Harris makes the point that religion is propagating fairy tales (at best) and training our children to be scientifically illiterate (at worse). Personally, I couldn't agree more. Between my graduation from a Christian high school to my PhD in Neuroscience, I had to overcome all the illusions taught in my Christian high school and learn how to think critically. Critical thought has led me on a slow but steady journey away from Christian indoctrination and on to free-thinking athesism. Where I have at times struggled to articulate my doubts, questions, rationale and reasons to 'true-believers' (or my parents for that matter) this book does so in remarkable clarity and brevity. Similar to Dawkins "The God Delusion", this book provides excellent tools to fend off the specious arguments of religious people, but it does so with a bit more tact and grace. While I absolutely loved the God Delusion, I would not recommend it to a Christian, as it is certain to offend their sensibilities from the start. Harris's book may actually get through to them (one can hope!).
Quality.......2007-10-08
This is a good, concise response to the many outlandish complaints against the member of society who have no interest in fabricating a diety to explain away their problems. Some points could have used flushing out, but then it wouldn't have been very concise. I recommend this book.
Book Description
There are more than one billion Catholics in the world, and each one has a similar set of basic beliefs and practices that he or she follows. Some of the teachings of Catholicism are thousands of years old, while others are more recent. So what is the Catholic culture like and what do they believe? Catholicism For Dummies answers these and many other questions.
Whether you’re a Catholic or not, you may be totally clueless or just unaware of some aspects of Catholic traditions, history, doctrine, worship, devotion, or culture. No sweat. Regardless of whether you’re engaged, married, related to a Catholic, or just curious about what Catholics really do believe, this book is for you.
Catholicism For Dummies is not a catechism or religious textbook, but a casual, down-to-earth introduction for non-Catholics and reintroduction for Catholics. It gives commonsense explanations so that the next time you’re invited to a Catholic wedding, Baptism, funeral, Confirmation, or First Communion, you won’t be totally confused. You’ll also discover other important topics that can help you better understand the Catholic culture—from morality and devotions to worship and liturgy. This book will familiarize you with Catholicism by showing you:
- What it means to be a Catholic: traditions, prayers, beliefs, and holidays
- Who is who in the Catholic hierarchy
- How Catholics worship
- What the Seven Sacraments and Ten Commandments are
- The book regarded as the holiest to Catholics: The Bible
- The Church’s stand on some sticky issues
Catholicism For Dummies presents a rich tapestry and history of the Catholic faith—from devotions to doctrines. This intelligent and faithful look at Catholicism will open your eyes to this religion and answer many of the questions you may have about it.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful Reference.......2007-08-25
My husband is in RCIA and this has been his "text book" ! Very informative, well written. Highly Recommended!
Read this..........2007-05-15
They bilk the parishioners, as the priest live in a lap of luxury surrounded by gold. Everyone knows the Vatican has Billions of dollars, but keeps it's book secret so we can not know how many billions they have. Meanwhile, in the churches where the victims want justice, they just throw up their hands and say "we are bankrupt". The Bible says that a Priest or "Bishop" MUST be a married man. The people who let these pedophile priest jump from parish to parish to get fresh kids should also be thrown in jail. The most serious problem however, is that the Catholic church has people fooled into believing it is a "Christian Church", it is far from it. They call their own shots calling themselves "Infallible", meaning whatever they say or do can't be wrong. I am somewhat puzzled by the people who still attend there. They rape kids, then covered it up, why are you still a part of that organization? You should never confess to a priest, that is putting someone between you and Jesus. Jesus is the only mediator, if you read the real bible KJV, it will tell you the truth. The catholic Manuscripts were created by the Alexandrians, another cult found in Egypt. To top things off, the current Pope even swore in before as a Hitler Nazi Oath as a youth. This church isn't Christian, it just pays "lip service" to let everyone think they are. The priest are living in the lap of Luxury, while the victims live without reparations. My heart goes out to all the victims of the Catholic Church. Please stand up for the victims, and do not continue to look the other way because you are also guilty of association if you say and do nothing.
Catholicism for Dummies.......2007-05-12
bought as a gift. The person just love the book has thanked me several times.
Catholocism for Dummies.......2007-05-07
This is a good book for looking up anything pertaining to our Catholic Faith. It is easy to find the topics and explains it well. I have bought several of these books as gifts and a few for our Parish Library. Highly recommend.
Just the facts.......2007-04-25
A well-communicated summary of Roman Catholic doctrine and tradition. A good start for anyone interested in getting past the basics in preparation for further serious study. A handy resource for those who simply want a basic understanding of Catholic doctrine and practice. The approach seems to be one of simply reporting the facts without much emotional attachment by the authors and in that respect it seemed to be lacking some of the impact it might otherwise have. But such an approach may be exactly what most readers are looking for in this genre.
Book Description
The two leading, bestselling experts on the Gnostic Gospels weigh in on the meaning of the controversial newly discovered Gospel of Judas
When the Gospel of Judas was published by the National Geographic Society in April 2006, it received extraordinary media attention and was immediately heralded as a major biblical discovery that rocked the world of scholars and laypeople alike. Elaine Pagels and Karen King are the first to reflect on this newfound text and its ramifications for telling the story of early Christianity. In Reading Judas, the two celebrated scholars illustrate how the newly discovered text provides a window onto understanding how JesusÂ' followers understood his death, why Judas betrayed Jesus, and why God allowed it.
Most contemporary readers will find passages in the ancient Gospel of Judas difficult to comprehend outside of its context in the ancient world. Reading Judas illuminates the intellectual assumptions behind JesusÂ' teaching to Judas and shows how conflict among the disciples was a tool frequently used by early Christian authors to explore matters of doubt and disagreement. Presented with the elegance, insight, and accessibility that has made Pagels and King the leading voices in this field, this is a book for academics and popular audience both. PagelsÂ's five previous books, including The New York Times bestseller Beyond Belief, and KingÂ's The Gospel of Mary of Magdala prove that there is a considerable audience eager for this kind of informed and engaging writing.
Customer Reviews:
Pretty thin, and methinks they doth protest against Bart Ehrman too much.......2007-09-07
Ehrman beat Pagels and King to the publishing punch with "The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot" in 2006. I don't know if that's why they feel they have to attack him (and others) in the introduction for allegedly trying to shoehorn the Gospel of Judas into a Gnostic boot or what, but their complaint just doesn't wash.
Their own description of the "doctrines" of GofJ would lead any blindfolded New Testament or early Christianity scholar to call GofJ "Gnosticizing," if not full-blown Gnostic, and it is.
Also, they give no story of the discovery of the codex, and do less to place it in historical background. And, the 50 pages of "Comments on the Translation" would have been better served coming at the start of the book, as a Sitz im Leben chapter, a la what I just said Ehrman did.
Besides, Ehrman's got a better analysis in general. And, I think he turns an even more skeptical eye to some matters of early Christian origins and development than do they. (For example, they seem to credit the Eucharist, in some way, as having started with an actual event, rather than made up out of pagan whole cloth by Paul.)
I might have three-started this, but I thought the attack in the introduction -- for whatever reason -- was egregious.
It's so logical.......2007-07-26
Book in excellent shape. Contents coincide with what I've been arguing, from a logical point of view, for decades: No betrayal no crucifixion, thus Judas was an accomplice, not a traitor.
Judas: Evil Incarnate or Fall Guy?.......2007-07-19
Eminently readable and intellectually stimulating.
The authors manage to maintain a neutral view of the writing, trying to put it into the historical context (persacution of one Christian sect by another).
I was most interested by the alternative view of the universe presented by this text.
Comparing the actual text of the gospel to the cleaned up version is an interesting exercise. It gave me insight into the workings of historical slueths.
The authors are somewhat obsessed with pointing out that the writer of the gospel is VERY angry about something (probably the fact that he and he group are being eliminated).
This book interests me in reading more of the gnostic texts.
Academic but readable book.......2007-07-03
This book contains 2 gems: The newly published Gospel of Judas and a readable, academic framework for understanding the gospel itself. I have recommended this book to several laity in my congregation. (I am a local church pastor.)
From Great Deceiver to Bosom Buddy..........2007-06-12
Judas Iscariot has played the role of Christianity's ultimate traitor for centuries. Tradition, as portrayed in the synoptic gospels, claims that he handed Jesus over to the Romans for thirty silver pieces. This vile act led to Jesus' crucifixion and death. So repugnant was this that his name has become synonymous with deceit and betrayal. For example, when Bob Dylan abandoned folk music for electric rock in 1966, an appalled audience member at the Royal Albert Hall yelled "Judas!" Right or wrong, everyone knew what that single name implied. Some cheered, some hissed. Pope Benedict XVI upheld the tradition in 2006 by accusing Judas of greed and power mongering. And why did the leader of the Catholic Church feel the need to reiterate this well-worn point in the twenty-first century? Because the long lost Gospel of Judas had resurfaced. A translation of this document's extant text appears in Part Two of "Reading Judas." Written sometime before 180 CE, the short gospel inverts tradition by depicting Judas as Jesus' most trusted Apostle, as his bosom buddy, his confidante. Not only that, Jesus shares the "mysteries of the Kingdom" with this great deceiver. And only with him. The gospel portrays the other Apostles as weak and conniving dolts who, according to Jesus, worship the wrong God through cruel sacrifice. Jesus' delineation of the "Mysteries" evoke elements similar to Pythagorianism, Platonism, Vedanta, and Buddhism. Certain sections of the gospel read more like Plato's "Timaeus" than the New Testament. In these passages, Jesus outlines a mystical mathematical transcendental cosmology involving a pantheon of lesser imperfect gods, one of which, called Saklas, created humanity, and the all knowing all seeing "Great Invisible Spirit" (the "real God") from which everything emanates. Humans have this Spirit within them, but they must search for it by examining the Self. Jesus' death will serve as an example to humankind that they can escape their physical bodies and enter the Heavenly Kingdom via the discovery of this inner Spirit. Jesus entrusts Judas with initiating this sacred event. Judas then indentifies Jesus to the accusers as instructed, receives some copper coins, and the text ends. Thus does Judas become, in this long lost gospel, the catalyst to humanity's salvation. Judas also sees the vision of his demise. The other Apostles will apparently stone him to death. But, as Jesus points out, such is the price for the "Mysteries of the Kingdom."
Part One of "Reading Judas" analyzes the Gospel in historical context. Drawing from voluminous sources, including the Bible, other Gnostic gospels, and various miscellaneous ancient texts, the essay's authors, Pagels and King, frame the Gospel of Judas as a text infused with anger. What caused this anger? In the second century CE, Christianity as we know it was solidifying under the auspices of bishops and clergy. Recent discoveries show that other interpretations of Jesus' death co-existed with the now dominate view. In other words, Christianity was not as homogenous as tradition suggests. Over time the fringe groups, along with their documents, were suppressed and outlawed as heretical. The Gospel of Judas, argue the authors, represents one of these alternate, or dissenting, ideologies. At the time of its composition Christian persecution was widespread and expanding. Certain founders of the nascent church, such as Tertullian, Ireneaus, and Heracleon, began to glorify the suffering of those who were killed in horrifying and unimaginable ways by the then pagan Roman government. Others Christians followed them "to glory" and met similar ghastly ends. Pagels and King argue that the Gopel of Judas' fervent anger stems from the church's encouragement of martyrdom. The "false venegeful God," according to the Jesus of the Gospel of Judas, demands such needless sacrifice. But the "true God" never would. Jesus demands that the Apostles "cease sacrificing!" So was the Gospel of Judas a protest piece? Maybe. It definitely paints an alternate picture of Jesus and Christianity.
Overall, "Reading Judas" enables general readers to grasp the document's signifigance. Most helpful are the some forty pages of commentary that accompany the translation. Though Pagels and King claim that this gospel doesn't belong in the Christian canon, they argue that it nonetheless demonstrates that the Christianity we have today was written by the winners. And those winners suppressed dissent so effectively that the Gospel of Judas, among others, remained lost for almost two millennia. All together, these ancient texts help scholars piece together the story of Christianity's development. "Reading Judas," though unlikely to alter anyone's faith, provides fascinating and provocative glimpses into the history of western civilization's dominant religion.
Book Description
The simple revolution has begun. From the design of the iPod to the uncluttered Google home page, simple ideas are changing the world.
Simple Church clearly calls for Christians to return to the simple gospel-sharing methods of Jesus. No bells or whistles required, so to speak.
Based on case studies of four hundred American churches, authors Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger prove that the process for making disciples has quite often become too complex. Simple churches are thriving, and they are doing so by taking these four ideas to heart: Clarity. Movement. Alignment. Focus.
Each idea is examined here, simply showing why it is time to simplify.
Customer Reviews:
Concise and practical.......2007-09-07
Well, it would be awfully ironic if the book wasn't easy to understand. Fortunately, the authors do with the book exactly what they are calling leaders to do with their churches. They outline a simple structure for streamlining churches and letting loose the baggage that slows churches down.
The process is...simple (sorry to repeat). Churches should seek clarity, alignment, movement, and focus. Clarity is the singleness of purpose, stated in a single phrase. Movement is making sure there is a process of spiritual development that runs through the ministries of the church that fulfills the purpose. Alignment is the process of making sure that all the ministries of the church cannel people through a similar movement to fulfill the purpose. And focus is the challenging process of saying "no" to everything that distracts the church from its purpose. The authors have decided on this clear process as a saving grace to churches, repeat it fluidly, and walk the reader through all four steps.
The theory is based on a study of a number of churches that were considered thriving and many that were not. The authors say that their data shows highly significant difference between thriving churches that simplified and complex churches that did not.
The only part of this book, or the genre, that ought to give the reader pause is that the authors presume that ministry requires a strategic process through which people are funneled on the way to spiritual growth. While that is the reality of modern, institutional church management, it seems to overrule the fluid and organic (if not disorganized) ministry of Jesus and the disciples while co-opting their names. This is not a major critique of the book, just the observation that business management principles are governing the church whose founder had very little to say about business management.
Nonetheless, for those of us who find ourselves dealing with the necessities of management, this book is an essential read. It's well-written, accessible, and offers the bird's eye view that a lot of churches miss.
Good for discipleship and Church Growth.......2007-08-29
This is an excellent book that tells pastors and church leaders to keep it simple, rather than complex and this book tells you how. The basic premise of this book is that simple sells and that keeping it simple and maintaining focus is the best method of discipleship and church growth. If you have been trying to write long vision statements or missions statement or purpose statement and have come away frustrated, then this book is for you.
Simple, but could be simpler.......2007-08-23
I think this book will help many traditional North American churches to lower the bar of how church is done and raise the bar of what it means to be a disciple (to borrow from Neil Cole). But as a former pastor who has recently begun to enjoy the simplicity of a network of microchurches that has no paid staff, no building to maintain or enlarge, and yet enough time to be a small army of disciple-makers, I find Rainer & Geiger more complex than is necessary. If you like simple, you might like simpler even better!
Excellent example of making things simple.......2007-07-22
Simple church not only explained clearly how necessary it is to simplify our way of doing church,or more precisely making disciples, the book was a very good example of doing this. The demonstrated and illustrated in a straightforward way and the process suggested was very simple to follow and easy to apply. Great job!
Excellent -but felt slightly cheated.......2007-07-18
Excellent book, but really this should have been an article, or perhaps one chapter of a book. There's not really enough material to be a book.
Book Description
In this provocative book, author, consultant, and church leadership developer Reggie McNeal debunks these and other old assumptions and provides an overall strategy to help church leaders move forward in an entirely different and much more effective way. In The Present Future, McNeal identifies the six most important realities that church leaders must address including: recapturing the spirit of Christianity and replacing "church growth" with a wider vision of kingdom growth; developing disciples instead of church members; fostering the rise of a new apostolic leadership; focusing on spiritual formation rather than church programs; and shifting from prediction and planning to preparation for the challenges of an uncertain world. McNeal contends that by changing the questions church leaders ask themselves about their congregations and their plans, they can frame the core issues and approach the future with new eyes, new purpose, and new ideas.
Also available: The Present Future DVD Collection (978-0-7879-8673-5), Reggie McNeal's DVD presentation of the ideas and insights featured in his best-selling book.
Customer Reviews:
Asking The Hard Questions.......2007-10-17
Fantastic book. Really makes you reflect on your ministry and the questions the book asks gives a structure for evaluating the overall focus of your church. I would highly recommened this book for someone seeking to bring about revitalization within their congregation and personal ministry.
The New Church.......2007-09-11
Excellent book which speaks to the problems the modern church faces. Gives specific information and direction to deal with current issues. I have found this work tremendously useful in advocating change for the church I serve as pastor.
One that must be read........2007-07-25
This book explores the emergent church culture. The book's focus is on missional living within a ever changing culture. The books deals with the changing paradigm of modernism to postmodernism. Some church leaders would consider this book radical, but this book is helpful in providing a proper perspective on reaching out in faith. It is a plea to change churchianity into Christianity. Because of the influence of mega-church culture, we have been seduced into selling Christianity like a product on the open market, the book presents a way to authentically change the community for Christ.
Church Transformation.......2007-05-24
While many will be turned off by the author's strong language and seeming 'over stating' of the case; most of what McNeal says and recommends rings true. The church in North America is dying and dying rather fast as seem by the exodus of members and churches from the major denominations. If you are a leader - and especially a pastor - in a church you need to study this book (preferable with the rest of your team) and seriously consider what and how you are going to respond to the new world order. Unlike the Boomer Generation who have `grown up' and for the most part taken their responsible position in leadership in the ministries of the church, this current last generation (Millenniest or Matrix) are not likely to do that. They are looking for something better and God may indeed pass by the North American Church to accomplish His purpose in reaching the entire world with the Love of Jesus for the Glory of God.
The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church.......2007-05-15
Excellent book! SO HELPFUL!
Book Description
Thomas Aquinas' best-known work is the Summa Theologica. As the title indicates, the Summa is a "summing up" of all that can be known about Christian theology.
Customer Reviews:
A great resource for theological research.......2007-09-28
I purchased this Five-volume set after taking a couple of philosophy courses, which I feel like I should recommend to anyone starting to dive into this hefty text. If you don't feel like taking a class, perhaps some of the secondary texts written by philosophers about Aquinas will help in reading this fantastic set of info.
Aquinas forms his arguments in a way that is almost flawless. I am not Catholic, yet I find this to be an explanation of Catholic doctrine that makes me almost want to convert. For anyone from the atheist to the devout catholic, this text is a window into one of the greateast natural and revealed theologians to ever document his thoughts. Footnotes are aplenty to send you on your way to other documents, especially Augistine, so be prepared for an obsession.
Mike Yandell
Summa is supreme.......2007-05-13
Probably the best sys theo work ever. Oh, that more fellow Protestants would pour over this text!
Good Theology, Good Philosophy.......2007-01-12
These volumes have withstood the test of time in the worlds of religion and philosophy. Reading the words of one of the greatest minds in history is both entertaining and educational. This set is a must have for anyone who likes to study philosophy. For a beginner, it may be beneficial to get one of the many Aquinas readers or help texts, but it doesn't take very long to catch on and soon you will find yourself just reading at your own pace, making your own ideas about what Aquinas is all about.
Great Work, Good Translation.......2006-11-08
The Summa Theologica of Saint Thomas is without doubt one of the greatest works in the history of the Christian faith. The logical order and progression is simply amazing and the scope of the work monumental.
This translation is generally very close to the sense of the Latin original, although in a few cases I have noticed some strange differences. For example, in Pt. 1 Q.1 A. 4. The Dominican Fathers translate the Latin (which reads "Magis tamen est speculativa quam practica") as ". . . speculative rather than practical" although the Latin reads ". . . speculative MORE than practical." This is a substantial change in the meaning which ends up creating confusion in the next article when Thomas says that theology is ". . . partly speculative and partly practical". There are other variations from the Latin throughout the rest of the work, some more and less important.
I urge those who are interested in a serious study of Saint Thomas to use this text as an aid to a deeper study with the Latin. If this is not possible for you, this translation will nevertheless give you a good introduction and tool for an introductory and intermediate understanding of Saint Thomas's thought.
St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica (5 volume set) .......2006-11-05
This set of books is very good for religious studies majors or anyone pursuing a higher education in theological studies. This series addresses in detail, the myriad questions pertaining to Christian theological doctrines through philosophical reasoning.
Book Description
Using unconventional examples from his own life, Shane Claiborne stirs up questions about the church and the world, and challenges readers to truly live out theirÃ, Christian faith.
Customer Reviews:
IRRESISTIBLE REVOLUTION (Shane Claiborne).......2007-10-18
IRRESISTIBLE REVOLUTION (Shane Claiborne)
(Zondervan, 2006).
Shane Claiborne looks, speaks, and dresses like an Old Testament prophet (or John the Baptist). And he makes the same sort of crazy sense. (But he's had a better formal education than most of them).
He's a young (my guess: 30s) idealistic American, who spent time with Mother Teresa's helpers in India, and went to Iraq with other peacemakers (there he was lucky to survive a car accident and other possible horrors). He's one of the founding members of The Simple Way community in very-downtown Philadelphia, and a prominent activist.
A couple of months ago I heard him speak at the Urban Neighbours of Hope conference in Melbourne, and was impressed. (My wife Jan's job at the conference was to provide hospitality - bedding and breakfast, for Shane - and his mother: he's never married - and other speakers, but that's by-the-way). He's a terrific raconteur. Who could forget his lines: 'Patriots you may bring your flags; we're washing feet and will need some rags'? Or his story about throwing $10,000 worth of small change around Wall Street. Or of his grandfather's setting fire to fields because he overloaded a new trailer with hay, which ignited from friction?
This book is a terrific read: those of us over 50-or-so mightn't get some of the modern lingo, but we'll certainly enjoy his humor (particularly 8 or 10 'Just kiddings!').
I have no other comments to make about the book, and would rather use the space here to cite a few representative 'quotable quotes' to whet your appetite:
* (When Roman Catholic authorities began the legal process of evicting homeless people from a deserted cathedral): 'We ran through campus hanging up flyers that read, "Jesus is getting kicked out of church in North Philly. Come hear about it. Kea Lounge. 10 pm. tonight".
* 'You guys are all into that born again thing, which is great. We do need to be born again, since Jesus said that to a guy named Nicodemas. But if you tell me I have to be born again to enter the kingdom of God, I can tell you that you have to sell everything you have and give it to the poor, because Jesus said that to one guy too'.
* 'If you don't know what a eunuch is, see the diagram in the appendix. Just kidding. Check the phone book and call up a pastor and ask her or him: it should make for an interesting conversation'.
* 'Many spiritual seekers have not been able to hear the words of Christians because the lives of Christians have been making so much horrible noise. It can be hard to hear the gentle whisper of the Spirit amid the noise of Christendom'.
* 'When people move beyond charity and toward justice and solidarity with the poor and oppressed, as Jesus did, they get into trouble... Managing poverty is big business. Ending poverty is revolutionary'.
* 'There is one thing I will never forget - (Mother Teresa's) feet. Each morning in Mass, I would stare at them. I wondered if she had contracted leprosy. But I wasn't going to ask, of course... One day a sister said to us, "Have you noticed her feet?" We nodded, curious. She said, "Her feet are deformed because we get just enough donated shoes for everyone, and Mother does not want anyone to get stuck with the worst pair, so she digs through and finds them. And years of doing that have deformed her feet." Years of loving her neighbor as herself deformed her feet'.
* 'The stuff Jesus warned us to beware of, the yeast of the Pharisees, is so infectious today in the camps of both liberals and conservatives. Conservatives stand up and thank God that they're not like the homosexuals, the Muslims, the liberals. Liberals stand up and thank God that they are not like the war makers, the yuppies, the conservatives. It is a similar self-righteousness just with different definitions of evildoing. It can paralyze us in judgment and guilt and rob us of life'.
* 'Bono, the great theologian (and decent rock star) said in his introduction to a book of selections from the Psalms: "The fact that the Scriptures are brim full of hustlers, murderers, cowards, adulterers, and mercenaries used to shock me. Now it is a source of great comfort".'
* 'The Catholic Workers used to say "The true atheist is the one who refuses to see God's image in the face of their neighbor".'
You get the idea... Every Westerner whose life is fairly comfortable should read a book like this at least once a year.
Rowland Croucher
October 2007
jmm.aaa.net.au
Life changing.......2007-10-16
Read this if you want to be knocked off your feet. I literally think about something related to it every day. Sure, there is much to be argued with...but the discussion he is generating is one that needs to be had.
Hard Encouragement.......2007-09-28
The message is radical, but very much in keeping with how Jesus taught us to live. As I read this I felt encouraged by the stories of how everyday people are following in the ways everlasting.
Spectacular.......2007-09-24
This book is life changing. Read it if you deeply desire a new way of life and are tired of seeing dilution of the church and it's foundation take place.
Irresistible.......2007-09-03
This book knocked me on my but. I don't agree with everything Shane says, but this book is an eye opener. Just when I thought I had it all together, this young man challenges the way I live my faith. The book is not for wimps.
Book Description
For almost 1,500 years, the New Testament manuscripts were copied by hand––and mistakes and intentional changes abound in the competing manuscript versions. Religious and biblical scholar Bart Ehrman makes the provocative case that many of our widely held beliefs concerning the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, and the divine origins of the Bible itself are the results of both intentional and accidental alterations by scribes.
In this compelling and fascinating book, Ehrman shows where and why changes were made in our earliest surviving manuscripts, explaining for the first time how the many variations of our cherished biblical stories came to be, and why only certain versions of the stories qualify for publication in the Bibles we read today. Ehrman frames his account with personal reflections on how his study of the Greek manuscripts made him abandon his once ultra–conservative views of the Bible.
Customer Reviews:
Good reading.......2007-10-18
This is a very good study into alternative views of how The New Testament was put together. I recommend reading this book.
Enlightening.......2007-10-13
Keep your bible handy when you read this book, no matter how familiar you may be with the New Testament. Ehrman is very convincing--the NT as we know it is a far, far cry from the original, but he makes no claim to knowing that original. His point is that the copies of copies of copies have introduced thousands of changes--some very significant. And he backs his claims with scholarly and very convincing arguments. The title is misleading, however. Jesus' words, as recorded in the NT, make up only a small portion of this work. It's thrust, instead, is how ignorant, prejudiced and sometimes well-meaning scribes altered the texts, time after time. Fascinating, interesting, enlightening and very readable.
good reading.......2007-10-04
Anything worth believing is worth questioning. This book will help you realize there is a lot more to know about the bible, than you have been told. I would recommend this to people who have never looked into how the NT came to be.
For those who take the Bible seriously.......2007-10-03
Whether you are a member of a Bible study group or a skeptic, this book should be read. The author is candid about his personal spiritual path, which allows readers some insight into his possible bias, but he is also scrupulous about his scholarship. If you believe every word of the Bible--whichever translation you read--is divinely inspired, you may have no interest in reading this book. However, if the idea that modern translations alter the meaning of the King James version on which you were raised has already occurred to you, you may have begun to wonder about other changes to the Bible over the years. This book is enlightening, and for anyone willing to study the Bible seriously, reading "Misquoting Jesus" will be important to your spiritual study. Because the author respects his readers enough to explain the painstaking nature of his field of study, the book demands a willingness to wade through some difficult passages, but the effort is worth it. I highly recommend this book.
Clear and respectful exposition of a hot topic.......2007-10-02
In spite of the provocative title, "Misquoting Jesus" is very respectful of Scriptures - so much so that it willing to tell the truth about them. Bart Ehrman does his typically great job of explaining a difficult topic -- in this case, the history, operation and findings of biblical textual criticism -- to a lay audience. Ehrman's journey as a textual critic has been a long and difficult one, and it seems to have knocked him off-balance, at least for a time. Starting as a fundamentalists of the fundamentalists (to paraphrase Paul) he decided to study scripture. His first epiphany was when he asked himself, if the Bible is God's word, then why do I have to learn Greek and Hebrew to understand it? This question led to others, culminating in a nuanced and complex understanding of the Bible and its history -- as told by the ways scribes have changed the Bible itself.
Ehrman discusses the history of the Bible's transmission through the centuries-- via scribes whose literacy was sometimes comprised only by their ability to copy the shape of letters from an old copy to a new, without understanding their meaning. This was eye-opening for me, but Ehrman supports his contentions with evidence that is sometimes funny and always persuasive. Ehrman helps us to understand the world from the scribe's point of view, as they miss and repeat words, misunderstand abbreviations and (as they listen to dictation) write down homonyms that sound the same but mean vastly different things.
Ehrman gives us a glimpse at the history of biblical textual criticism. We learn how we got the Vulgate, St. Jerome's 4th-century translation of scriptures into Latin, and about 16th-century scholar Erasmus's rush to be the first to print a Greek New Testament. Erasmus's slapdash work then became a basis for the King James Bible, a translation still considered sacrosanct and untouchable by many. Through Ehrman, we learn of the great men whose work lay the foundations for modern biblical scholarship. We also learn of the tens of thousands of variant readings of Scripture that exist. It is this variation that causes consternation for those who believe the Bible to be unblemished and inerrant, and prompts delight for scholars who use the variants to piece together the original words, and to determine the theological biases of the scribes who introduced the variants into the text.
Ehrman is not on a mission to destroy the sacredness, the authority of the Church or to downplay the teaching of Jesus. He seemed constantly poised to deliver a death blow to the basic authenticity of the Bible. But mostly, he delivered examples that show the conservatism of even the most interventionist of scribes. Most of the variants, Ehrman admits, are insignificant -- misspellings and such. Interestingly, the truly significant variants are mostly tentative add-ons to the text, where a scribe changed one unpalatable word, but left the rest of the text alone. Textual critics identify these "patches," note their mismatch with the surrounding text, and propose solutions that bring us closer to the originals. Ehrman shows how variants can tell us much about the struggle for ideas that was the history of the Church. Ehrman identifies texts that were used against heretics like Marcion, against Jews, against gnostics and against women. Difficult texts, says Ehrman -- those that contradict what we would like the Scriptures to say, may well be the most accurate. For instance, in Mark 1:40-45, Jesus encounters a leper hoping to be cleansed. Most translation say that Jesus, filled with compassion, touched and healed the man. But some variants say that Jesus grew *angry* before healing him. Which is correct, and why? Ehrman argues that the variant in which Jesus becomes angry fits better into Mark's overall presentation of Jesus, and may therefore be original.
Ehrman's greatest sin is the way he vastly overstates his case. Perhaps this is due to his extremely conservative starting point (one shared by his more vituperative critics and reviewers) which cannot tolerate even the suggestion of the hand of Man in the Bible. Perhaps Ehrman's seeming overreaction (and the consequent lack to deliver) is akin to the doctor who warns that a procedure will hurt, bringing relief to the patient when he delivers only a minor sting. More darkly, perhaps Ehrman really believes that his work brings the Bible into such disrepute that he has lost faith in its divine authorship. But one need not believe that God inspired the Scriptures by literally dictating his words to scribes. One need not believe, along with the simpleminded, that Jesus had scribblers in his entourage. There are solutions to the divine authorship of the Bible that don't require the unsupported belief in its inerrancy posited by the fundamentalists nor the utter rejection of atheists. Some sort of imperfect, mysterious divine-human cooperation is an alternative, supported by mainstream scholars, which Ehrman's work certainly supports.
"Misquoting Jesus" is a terrific primer to the obscure field of textual criticism, especially as applied to the Bible. Though it provides many examples to illustrate Ehrman's points, it is not an exhaustive study of the discipline, but ably and gently leads Bible lovers to a new level of understanding of their holy book. There is no question that Ehrman simplifies his presentation. For instance, he gives us little insight into which textual criticisms are generally accepted and which are hotly debated. Some might see this book as a way for Ehrman to rush his own opinions into print. But Erhman backs up each of his contentions with logic and plausible theories. At the very least, the reader gains enough knowledge to follow the argument.
Ehrman's book helps us to be more careful about selecting biblical translations, and helps us appreciate the work of the legion of scholars who try to parse out the real meaning in its many verses. It lets us see through the gauze of false piety to understand and appreciate the differing worldviews and intentions of the Bible's writers and scribes, letting them speak for themselves. Above all, "Misquoting Jesus" helps us to see that the Bible cannot be read apart from the personalities and world-views of those who wrote it, those who copied it, those who translated it or those who read it. As such, it is a living document.
Which when you think of it, may have been its Inspirer's idea all along.
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- Captain John Smith: Writings with Other Narratives of Roanoke, Jamestown, and the First English Settlement of America
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- Film Directing: Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen (Michael Wiese Productions)
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Books Index
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Discipleship
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Searching for God Knows What
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