Amazon.com
"So what is it that really satisfies us?" On the first page of The Unknown God, author Alister McGrath walks us into this central question of our lives and proceeds to answer it by taking the reader through a kind of primer to the Christian faith. The chapters are quite brief, and while containing references to philosophers and theologians ranging from Plato and Augustine to Kierkegaard and Karl Barth, its style is quite simple and direct. A member of the Oxford University faculty of theology and the author of numerous works, McGrath clearly knows his material; but what's most striking about this book is not so much the answer to its primary question as the presentation. The book's short chapters are punctuated by beautiful color illustrations (paintings by Raphael, Rubens, and many other artists, as well as photographs) and highlighted quotations from Christian writers. These features make the pages extremely "user-friendly," much like what you might expect to find on a multimedia CD-ROM display. Checking in at under 125 pages, the combination of brevity and this design makes this a fine gift book for someone with little knowledge of Christianity. All that's required is the spiritual hunger. --Doug Thorpe
Book Description
A leading theologian shows what Christianity can offer those seeking spiritual fulfillment.
Do you ever stop and wonder what it all means? What is the point of life? Is there a way to achieve spiritual fulfillment? This new book, written by one of the world's most gifted Christian communicators, provides spiritual guidance to those looking for religious answers to their deepest questions. Taking as a starting point the deep sense of longing for meaning and personal fulfillment that so many people feel today, Alister McGrath suggests that, ultimately, spiritual hunger can only be satisfied by God. Looking afresh at the very heart of the Christian faith--most notably its beliefs about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus--McGrath invites readers to explore the inner peace, hope, and fulfillment that Christianity has to offer. Intended for all those who are seriously feeling their way toward spiritual understanding, this readable, thought-provoking book includes numerous full-color illustrations, quotations from poems and modern authors, and highly relevant extrac! ts from the Bible and other Christian writings.
Customer Reviews:
A wonderful little book..........2006-10-30
Having never read McGrath before, I had no idea what to expect when I cracked open this attractive book. What I found inside was absolutely delightful!!
What the author attempts to accomplish in this book is not unlike other recently published books like Andy Stanley's "How Good is Good Enough?" McGrath is simply trying to lay out a basic and understandable explanation of Christianity. The first half of the book deals with the human desire for God, borrowing some ideas from C.S. Lewis to characterize this desire as an argument for the existence of God. The second half of the book deals with several important theological points of Christianity, including the need for Jesus and an explanation of His atoning death and resurrection.
I wouldn't suggest that McGrath offers a great deal of profoundly new insight in this book. However, it is extremely well-written, both readable and challenging. He is a British theologian, and his writing demonstrates those parts of his identity in subtle ways that distinguish it from a similarly themed book if written by an American pastor. It is somewhat wordy and academic, but again, manages to maintain an engaging readability.
One of the best assets of the book is his citation of numerous stalwarts of Christian thought, including Augustine, Solzhenitsyn, Thomas Aquinas, C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and many others. He also refers to Scripture throughout the book to buttress his points.
Another unexpected bonus was the beautiful artwork, both photographs and paintings, included throughout the book. Though I'm not an art lover, they certainly added value to the text.
This book can probably be read in one sitting and certainly within a few days. Though not offering particularly new ideas, it is written poignantly and intelligently as a great resource to introduce people to the Christian faith or to solidify the faith of someone who already follows Christ. I would recommend it to anyone.
THE UNKNOWN GOD.......2004-09-06
Alister McGrath slowly weaves into the fabric of human intellect the silver cord which draws one to the ever flowing springs of living water. In "The Unknown God" the search for fullfillment, wholeness,and totality of the human heart is found in the belief of "The Known God". The spiritual hunger and emptinees that occupies the human heart cannot be fullfilled by the physical. They are diametrically opposites. The depth and breath of God's love for all mankind is shown at Calvary. The pilgrims find spiritual restoration and completeness. A masterfully written book on the plan of salvation.
Towards Spiritual Fulfillment.......2001-06-20
McGrath certainly is a prolific and articulate Christian writer. Here, he takes a rather different path than his other writings, a short, consise presentation of the search and fulfillment of spiritual wanderings.
He begins with that emptiness, that meaninglessness that thrives in the soul of each human. In essence, he begins with the natural knowledge of God, cf. Romans 1 and 2 (natural knowledge of God in creation and conscience) and then moves to supernatural knowledge of God through the Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ.
This book is beautifully done, with clean layout and sidebars of quotes, photos and artistic prints gracing the pages.
What McGrath chose to omit needs to be included. How does this knowledge of Christ and all His benefits to be received by the individual?
While the Calvinist and others struggle with this answer, the Bible declares this saving knowledge of the crucified comes through the gospel in the Word and Holy Sacraments. I resonate more to Senkbeil's excellent approach to this in the first forty pages of "Dying to Live: The Power of Forgiveness," and in Gene Veith's "The Spirituality of the Cross." Both provide the one searching for spirituality to be confronted with the true knowedgle of God proclaimed to them in the church's holy means of grace.
McGrath's fine book, although lacking a clear step from the natural knowledge to supernatural without speaking of God's means, is still a fine work which will benefit its readers.
REFRESHING!.......2000-04-08
This is a wonderful book. If you're struggling with the idea of God or looking for a portrayal of Christianity that's intellectually and aesthetically sensitive, check this out! One of the few explanations of Christianity I'd actually share with non-Christians.
A high quality apologetic of the Christian faith.......1999-10-13
Alister McGrath has written an excellent apologetic of the Christian faith. He starts with our human predicament, illustrated by Plato's "cave" and Rene Magritte's "The Human Condition". He then uses our culture's spiritual longings to bring us to a place where only God (in Christ) can satisfy. The excerpts from great theologians and writers through the ages are very relevant to his argument.
I am buying several copies of this book to give to friends and family and would recommend it for any seeker of true religion.
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- Great works
- Steinbeck's classics delivered in a wonderful manner
- Some pretty amazing Steinbeck magic
- steinbeck at his best in Mice and Men
- Of mice and men
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John Steinbeck : Novels and Stories, 1932-1937 : The Pastures of Heaven / To a God Unknown / Tortilla Flat / In Dubious Battle / Of Mice and Men (Library of America)
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Customer Reviews:
Great works.......2005-10-25
I recently visited Monterey and upon my return home, I became obsessed with Steinbecks novels as many of them focus on this beautiful city. This collection is a great reminder of lifes ups and downs, friendship, and perserverance. Very easy to read and relate to.
Steinbeck's classics delivered in a wonderful manner.......2005-08-26
I purchased this book because it was the first place where I read my favorite story, Of Mice and Men. It was delivered within three days of purchase. I am very very satisfied in the book, and the experience
Some pretty amazing Steinbeck magic.......2001-12-15
This volume contains some of the earlier works of John Steinbeck. Steinbeck was a master of the English language and had the talent of using the least amount of words to convey the greatest amount of emotions. His stories are moving without being cheap. He is compassionate and had keen insight into his characters and the world at large.
Reviewing each story that appears in this volume is beyond the scope of this review, and you should check out that various titles individually. I will just say a few words about the collection in general. Steinbeck's earlier works are, in my opinion, better than his later, more ambitious works. While his later works can be viewed as some sort of social criticism, these earlier works are simply his personal salute to human nature. Steinbeck knew a basic truth about writing - if you want to write a great book, before you have a great theme, make sure you have great characters, and the rest will follow.
Steinbeck is both profound and very accessible at the same time, which I think is the trademark of a great author. He wrote for ordinary people (unlike, say, Joyce), and at the same time his works are complex enough to be appreciated by scholars. Whatever group you belong to, you will not regret reading this book.
steinbeck at his best in Mice and Men.......2000-10-01
This wonderful novella tells the ineffably sad tale of two itinerant farm laborers in Depression California. George Milton is a small wiry man, his traveling companion, Lennie Small, is a giant, but a simpleton. The two travel from farm to farm, one step ahead of trouble as Lennie's incredible strength and feeble brain continually land them in trouble. Other farm hands are struck by the rarity of finding such men traveling as partners, but Lennie and George have a dream, a dream of a better life. As soon as they can raise $600 they can buy a farm and be their own bosses and Lennie will get to raise the rabbits that he loves, but has a tendency to accidentally crush. Unfortunately, trouble awaits at the farm where they are headed. The ranch owner's son, Curley, can't control his new bride who has "the eye" or his own temper which flares up whenever she starts flirting with the hired hands.
This is one of those books you had to read in 9th grade, largely because it was by a famous author and it's short enough that teachers figure students might actually finish it. If you haven't read it since, give it another try. The relationship between George and Lennie is one of the most beautiful, and oft imitated, in all of literature and the themes of love, friendship, loyalty, courage and the dream of a better life are both timeless and compelling.
GRADE: A+
Of mice and men.......2000-08-09
I read Of Mice And Men because of a school requirement. The themes of Friendship, Loneliness and dreams feature strongly in this book. I felt that I could relate mostly to the theme of friendship, I like, Lennie and George rely on my friends to help and guide me along the way. In this sense I felt a connection with the plot. At the beginning of the book I was not very interested, and first I didn't like it at all, but towards the middle and end I started to be more interested, and I found that I had to finish it as soon as possible. Now, I feel that I have a stronger knowledge of friendship and trust and the limits I would go to for any one of my friends. Besides the book was good, I wouldn't recommend it, to people who don't like to read.
Book Description
As his father lies dying, Joseph Wayne decides to trade his Vermont farm for a new life in California. Once established on his ranch, he comes to revere a huge tree as the embodiment of his father's spirit.
Joseph's brothers and their wives join him, and their farms prosper. Then one of the brothers, repelled by Joseph's reverence for the tree, cuts it down. Consequences follow -- harsh and severe.
In TO A GOD UNKNOWN, one of his earliest novels, Steinbeck uses the Western American experience as a way of exploring man's relationships to his environment -- a theme that would come to characterize much of his later work.
Customer Reviews:
Not Steinbeck's greatest, but still worth your time.......2007-08-30
I opened this book for the first time - one of the few Steinbeck novels I had not yet read - shortly after completing my own first attempt at writing a novel. The little book is one of Steinbeck's earliest published works and, interestingly enough, the one that took him the longest to complete. It was in this context that I found the book most provoking: myself an aspiring writer, it was interesting to witness part of the development of one of my favorite novelists. Although not yet as strong and defined as in his later works, the classic Steinbeck tone is still there, and, of course, it is set against the oft-revisited setting of the fertile farmlands of Central California.
What prevents me from giving this book a higher rating is that, in the scope of Steinbeck's literary career, it is not very impressive. The characters do not gel together as flawlessly as those in most of his later works and the classical allusions to parallel stories and characters in the Bible are a bit shaky and somewhat inconsistent. Nevertheless, what prevents me from giving this book a lower rating is that it remains a thoughtful, intriguing, and insightful piece on the nature of man's relationship to the land and to God.
Overall, it is certainly a worthwhile read. In both its length and the complexity of its symbolism, To a God Unknown is certainly more accessible than Steinbeck's more celebrated longer works, such as The Grapes of Wrath or East of Eden, but it is in no way a comprehensive sample of Steinbeck's essential style and literary voice.
To the great unknown.......2007-06-23
"To a God Unknown" is one of the most cryptic or simply weird novels I have ever read. I write this more as a book report, as opposed to a review, for my own clarification.
The story begins simply enough. Joseph Wayne, a carbon copy of his father, upon reaching adulthood faces the harsh realities of sharing a small Vermont homestead with his three brothers. To his father's chagrin, he travels west to the new promised land of California, where he finds a fine tract of land and sets down roots. Everything seems at first so promising in his land of milk and honey. Yet he soon finds out that the previous settlers had been forced to flee on account of a mercilessly relentless drought. Undaunted, he dismisses out of hand any notions of past disaster and even goes so far as welcoming his three brothers to move west to share in the wealth.
Steinbeck drew a sharp contrast in the way he depicted the four Wayne brothers. The stoic Joseph was the oldest and natural leader of the pack. Thomas was a naturalist whose love and caring for wild things overshadowed everything else. Burton was the fire and brimstone brand of fundamentalist who forcefully took exception with anyone who departed from his notions of creation. The baby of the family, Benjamin, was by disposition prone to laziness, drinking and womanizing. At first, the unified family made a success with the land. But, as so often seems the case when it comes to the long-term practicality of communal living, internal dissensions spelled its ultimate demise. Benjamin's transgressions with one of the farm helper's wives results in his being brutally stabbed to death. Furthermore, owing to Joseph's pantheistic inclinations,* Burton leaves the farm.
The final blow arrives in the form of drought. In searching out sources of water at an ancient, legendary spring, Joseph tragically loses his new wife to a freak fall. Emotionally and spiritually distraught by the scorched earth, Thomas flees with the few remaining emaciated livestock. Lastly, Steinbeck closes the book with Joseph's suicide. Perhaps he provided this as a metaphor. Did not Christ give up his life here on Earth so that we might have a better chance of reaching heaven? Could it not, therefore, be interpreted in a rather convoluted way that Joseph's taking of his own life was a means through which to bring about the drought's end and return to the people its promised land?
*Joseph views a large oak tree on the farm as an extension of the soul of his deceased father
Steinbeck Finding his Chops.......2005-11-17
"To a God Unknown," is a curious little book written early in Steinbeck's career developing into one of the better American writers to come along since the entity of what we know as America came along. It is his third book preceded by "Cup of Gold," and "The Pastures of Heaven." It came out the same year 1933 as the better known "The Red Pony" novella and predated "Tortilla Flat," by two years. I've read a few of Steinbeck's works and consider him pretty near my favorite American writer. As such, "To A God Unknown," just didn't resonate with me.
I would only recommend the book for those wanting to better understand Steinbeck and how his style developed. For the pure joy of reading, I'd direct avid and semi-avid readers elsewhere. It seems to be a largely symbolic tale of paganism versus religion. It is curious what drove Steinbeck to want to address this dichotomy of belief but address it he does. Through a tale of Joseph Wayne who migrates west upon the death of his father, Steinbeck scratches the surface of the land of California that his writing seems so deeply connected to. Wayne loves the land. He indeed loves the land. So much so that he has a little episode of sorts with the land upon his first arrival. It kind of left me taken aback and not wringing true. Couldn't have dear John shown this characters love for the land in another way than to have to have Wayne dismount his horse and wallow in the dirt mounting his dear new land? Though it makes for curious reading, it sure is entertaining to write about it later.
When writers make a concerted effort to explore life's deeper meanings through symbolism it many times comes off as a forced convention. Steinbeck had much more success later on in other works when he learned to relegate the symbolism to the subtle. A large oak tree on Wayne's new land represents his late father. A grove of trees with a huge green mossy rock and a magical stream represents something else...maybe Eden perhaps. Wayne meets a wife along the way, prospers and loses it all, and eventually becomes sacrificial (quasi-Jesus symbolism) in his love for the land.
The dialogue for each character comes from a collective voice not unique to each character Steinbeck is attempting to develop. It comes across as slightly wooden and unlike how real people would talk. The actions of the characters seem to represent some deeper symbolic meanings...when as a reader I'd prefer them to reveal the depth of the characters or advance the march of the story. With both dialogue and action, I was left wanting.
"To a God Unknown," is a short book and not, by all means, a bad book. It is the genesis of a developing writer that seems to have used this book as a stepping ladder to bigger greater things. I am grateful for the gift left by Steinbeck of deep and rich literature. With "To a God Unknown," Steinbeck was on his way to deeper and richer.
Read on dear fellow readers.
-MMW
The Life of the Land.......2005-09-23
As always with John Steinbeck's novels, "To a God Unknown" is lyrically descriptive and intensely potent with emotion and meaning. The topic matter of this novel might seem like strange territory for the Steinbeck of "Cannery Row" or "Of Mice and Men", but is filled with his trademark depictions of men who have been broken by life trying to find their way. This time the novel focuses on Joseph Wayne and his family as they try to eek out a living in the valley of Nuestra Senora in California.
Joseph Wayne leaves his family and dying father in Vermont to fulfill his dreams of owning his own land in the vast unknown country. After he has established his farm, he receives news that his father has passed away, and his brothers shortly come to live with him at his ranch. The Wayne family experiences every prosperity the land has to offer and happiness settles on them; however, Joseph believes that this prosperity is due to the spirit of his father who resides in the great oak tree he built his house next too. He daily offers news and sacrifices (of a sort) to the tree as a way of thanksgiving. This worries his devoutly Christian brother Burton, who eventually destroys the tree when he leaves the ranch. As soon as the tree is destroyed and dying, disaster settles upon the ranch and the Wayne family.
After the disaster strikes, Steinbeck takes readers along on Joseph's quest as he madly searches for the meaning behind the dying land and a way to bring it back to life. In his search, he means to leave no stone unturned, no matter what the sacrifice. "To a God Unknown" is a compelling examination of man's fate and beliefs. The story is beautifully told with vivdly poetic descriptions of the land. And yet the characters seem to lack some luster, some thread of reality. While some may mark that up to the story being a fable, a vast quantity of the dialogue rings untrue and leaves the characters flatly, one-dimensional. The story is strongest when the author isn't forcing his characters to confess things to move the story along, when it's allowed to unfold with the enviable grace that infuses all of Steinbeck's greatest works.
At home with John Steinbeck.......2005-09-14
Steinbeck returns to the valleys of California in "To a God Unknown." Of all of the landscapes he writes in, this most seems like home. He knows every detail of the land in the way only a son could.
He describes the seasons and seasonal changes. Spring being the season of procreation and birth; summer the season of work; fall the season of the harvest; and winter the season of preparation and patience.
It is really in the winter that contains the most detail. The other seasons move so quickly but the idle days of winter seem to inspire the descriptive prose within the pages. I also think this season may be the underlying theme of the book, winter being the season of death in a human's life.
To combat the fear of death, Steinbeck introduces faith. There is a tree in the yard that Joseph believes embodies the spirit of his father and a moss covered boulder in the woods that represents an ominous fate.
Where I don't believe that Steinbeck himself is believes in Paganism (I think he is Christian), I do think he has a respect for people whose beliefs were formed based on the land, on his land.
On a side note...
John is always the son of Joseph and Joseph is always the son of John. John's are very good or very bad, never mediocre. If they are mediocre they are called Jack. I doubt John Steinbeck ever went by Jack.
Amazon.com
To an Unknown God: Religious Freedom on Trial is the story of one of the most important Supreme Court cases of recent years involving religious freedom--the case that resulted in the passage of one of the most sweeping civil rights laws since the 1960s, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. Author Garrett Epps writes with the simplicity and suspense of an investigative journalist (he was formerly a reporter for The Washington Post) and the precision and authority of a legal scholar (he teaches law at the University of Oregon). Both skills are necessary for bringing to life this strange and complicated tale, in which a routine unemployment dispute grew into a showdown regarding the right of Native Americans to worship God with the use of peyote. In addition to the book's deft analysis of the many legal questions the case raises, To an Unknown God describes a cast of memorable and intriguing characters, principal among them Al Smith, a 70-year-old drug-and-alcohol abuse counselor to Native Americans, and Dave Frohnmayer, a Harvard-educated politico who balanced his prosecution of this case with his commitment to caring for three children with a rare bone disease. Like A Civil Action and other classics of investigative journalism, To an Unknown God examines questions that arise in peculiar circumstances, and frames them with such skill and sensitivity as to make their universal relevance unquestionable. --Michael Joseph Gross
Book Description
Told with the grace of a novel, To an Unknown God: Religious Freedom on Trial is a modern legal epic chronicling the six-year duel between two remarkable men with very different visions of religious freedom and of America. Neither man sought the conflict that would erupt into one of the most provocative and influential Supreme Court decisions.Al Smith, a nationally known counselor to Native people suffering from alcohol and drug abuse, wanted only to earn a living.Dave Frohnmayer the Harvard-trained Attorney General of Oregon was planning his campaign for governor and tending to his three desperately ill daughters.But a series of miscalculations transformed a routine unemployment dispute into a constitutional confrontation.Before it was over, Frohnmayer and Smith would twice ask the United States Supreme Court to decide whether the First Amendment protects the right of Native Americans and others to seek God in the form of peyote, a form of worship some scholars believe to be more than 10,000 years old.And the Court would finally answer no; it would say, for the first time in the history of the Constitution, that the Bill of Rights provided no protection for obscure and minority religions if the legislature chose not to recognize their needs.The Court's decision produced a fierce backlash from religious leaders and ordinary citizens culminating in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (1993), one of the most sweeping civil-rights statutes of the past 30 years.Now that the Court has invalidated the Act, some say it will end to a Constitutional amendment and a radical change in the American law of church and state.In the tradition of A Civil Action and Gideon's Trumpet, Garrett Epps tracks the case from the humblest hearing room to the Supreme Court Chamber, skillfully building the suspense and tension so much a part of litigating a great case.Expertly weaving together a fascinating legal narrative with dramatic personal stories, To an Unknown God is a riveting look at how justice works-and doesn't work-in America today.AUTHORBIO: Garrett Epps, a former reporter for The Washington Post, has written for The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, The Nation, and The New Republic.The author of three novels, he is currently an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Oregon.
Customer Reviews:
First Amendment Struggles Brilliantly Told.......2001-04-06
The very first part of the essential, very first amendment to our Constitution says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This ringing phrase, so seemingly simple and obvious, has been the focus of an enormous amount of controversy and clarification. It is a great legacy, but what does it really mean? We are still struggling to find out. In _To an Unknown God: Religious Freedom on Trial_ (St. Martin's Press) by Garrett Epps we learn how one of the latest struggles is turning out. It is a fine book to show in detail how a specific constitutional decision came to be made.
On one side of the story was Al Smith. Smith was born into the Klamath tribe, but was pulled out of it to go to Catholic boarding school. Rather late in his life he was introduced to sweat lodges and Native American religion. He was also introduced to Alcoholics Anonymous, and eventually became a respected counselor, speaker, and organizer of treatment centers for alcohol and drug abuse. As he traveled to different reservations to set up recovery programs, he came across peyote religion. It seemed to give some of his clients spiritual strength, and they seemed to do better in overcoming substance abuse if they participated in its religious ceremonies. He began to consider participating in peyote religion. He was told that taking peyote at a ceremony would violate the rules of the treatment center in which he worked, and so he did so. He was thereupon fired, and he filed for unemployment compensation. That filing set the stage for a subsequent battle within the Supreme Court and beyond.
On the other side was Oregon Attorney General David Frohnmayer. He had tried in his political offices in Oregon to mend fences with the tribes of his region. He was, however, very worried about the dangers of drug abuse, and so he felt he was doing the right thing in trying to squelch community acceptance of drugs, ceremonial or not. He approached the Supreme Court proceedings with the mantra, "Drugs are bad. Slippery slope." Not only was peyote illegal, but it was used in a minority religion; if it were allowed, then surely someone would be asking to use other drugs for religious purposes. But he did reflect sadly to his legal team, "How did we get to be the Indian bashers?"
Epps is not only a journalist and lawyer, but also a novelist. His ability to describe personalities and anecdotes serves him well, for although this is a legal story, the human stories within it are what make it live. He has used process of the legal arguments as a springboard for an examination of many connected subjects: the history of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; the story of Alcoholics Anonymous; the tale of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and the Oregon town that was taken over by his devotees; the saga of the Road Man who is the ceremonial leader of the peyote religion. These set pieces are fascinating, and strengthen the main story. It is disconcerting that there is no pat final resolution, but Epps writes, "The law of religious freedom remains unsettled." Thus may it ever be.
A complex and engaging legal narrative.......2001-03-16
Epps' book is one of the best in recent memory to explore a Supreme Court case. Examining the case of Oregon v. Smith, Epps deploys his skills as both a journalist and a novelist to plumb the depths of Indian rights, religious freedom and states rights. The only quibble one can have is that the book spends too much time on the minutae of Oregon Attorney General Frohnmeyer's life. Other than that minor matter, this is an elegantly told tale. As an aside, Epps presents a concise yet complete recouncting of the Rajhneesh cult saga of the '80's, relying to good effect of the work of Oregon Magazine Editor-in-Chief Win McCormack.
A concise analysis of one of a critical legal case.......2001-03-16
This book is one of the best looks at a Supreme Court case in quite some time. Examining Oregon v. Smith, one of the most important yet unheralded legal battles of our time, Epps' book plumbs the depths Indian rights, religious freedom and states rights in a manor which devestates the intellectual pretensions of Court conservatives such as Justice Scalia. The only quible one can have with the book it that it has too much detail on Oregon Attorney General Frohnmeyer. Other than that minor matter, this is a top rate book. Of additional note, the book provides an exceptionaly concise yet comprehensive overview of the Rajhneesh cult afair in Oregon, relying to good effect on the journalism of Oregon Magazine's Win McCormack.
Don't miss this book.......2001-02-27
This book could easily have been a bore--yet another detailed legal explication of a Supreme Court case you know you should be interested in, but aren't, because you can't follow the jargon. But in Epps' hands an amazing story comes to life. This is serious constitutional law, with enormous consequences for our country, and it reads like a novel. Anyone concerned with religion and free expression should read it. Or you could just read it because it's a great read!
Humanizing the Law.......2001-02-25
I was lucky enough to read an early copy of this book, and I found it astonishingly good. I had loved Epps's work as a novelist (his "Shad Treatment" is one of the best first novels I know) and I had always wondered if he could apply his writerly powers to non-fiction, as well. "To an Unknown God" draws on all the creative gifts that fans of Epps's earlier books will remember. He takes an important Supreme Court case about religious freedom (he's now a law professor) and tells the story through the remarkable personalities who were involved in the case: Al Smith, the Native American member of a peyote cult who was the plaintiff, and David Frohnmeyer, the all-American Republican wunderkind attorney general of Oregon, who argued that peyote use wasn't protected as an exercise of religious freedom. Epps deconstructs these billboard identities to provide a rich and very moving account of the real people and the heartbreaking pressures that shaped their actions in this legal case. This is a rare book--taking the sometimes dry subject of law and filling it with life. I hope it's a promise of more books to come from Epps, who is a vastly talented writer.
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God and the ancient Chinese
Samuel Wang
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The law of God: For study at home and school
Serafim Slobodskoi
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Customer Reviews:
For the open-minded.......1999-11-06
If you are interested in other ways of thinking, then this is definitely the book for you. The writing is excellent. Well worth it.
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- TRUE PROFESSIONALISM : The Courage to Care About Your People, Your Clients, and Your Career
- U.S. Presidents and Foreign Policy: From 1789 to the Present
- Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir
- 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death & Life
- A Long Way from Home (Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the Americas)
- A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
- A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder--How Crammed Closets, Cluttered Offices, and On-the-Fly Planning Make the World a Better Place
- A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- An American Life: The Autobiography
- The Baby Owner's Manual: Operating Instructions, Trouble-Shooting Tips, and Advice on First-Year Mai
- Little Altars Everywhere: A Novel
- Knitting In The Nordic Tradition
- One Day My Soul Just Opened Up: 40 Days and 40 Nights Toward Spiritual Strength and Personal Growth
- National Electrical Code 2005 Softcover Version
- Regression Methods in Biostatistics: Linear, Logistic, Survival, and Repeated Measures Models
- Edible and Useful Plants of California
- How to Succeed in Business by Giving Away Millions
- Weiss Ratings' Guide to Brokerage Firms: Spring 2001
The Trinity (Foundations of Christian Faith)
Book of Catechisms
Glimpsing the Face of God: The Search for Meaning in the Universe
Christian Theology: An Introduction
Theology for the Community of God
