Religion Books

My husband and I have really enjoyed this book. It is packed with a lot of solid information and it has moved us to a deeper place in the Lord. The author lays out Biblical truth simply enough for anyone to understand yet the meaning feeds the soul.The Candidate: A Novel

I am using the book for a class so we are working through it at a gradual pace, but I love how Ryrie expresses things very clearly in each and every part of the chapter.

Dr. Ryrie is clear and concise in his explanation of theology and doctrine. I have used this book many times in conjunction with my classes at Philadelphia Biblical University and have always found it to be understandable and to the point. Dr. Ryrie has an amazing grasp of Scripture and brings it to bear in his Basic Theology. No library is complete without it.

Ryrie's 'Basic Theology' is one of balance, clarity, practicality, and assessability. This is the most important work currently which a new believer or Christian layperson should use to study the teachings of the Christian Faith. Ryrie is generous in his dealings with different perspectives, yet remains true to his own convictions in the process.

What is so worthwhile in this volume is not only the practicality of the work, but the usefulness of it on so many levels. It can be used for personal study of scripture, a reference guide, even a tool to formulate an outline for bible classes or a small bible study. Its worth can be seen on so many levels. This work is an excellent popular guide to basic systematic truth and should be used repeatedly in the Christian Church.

Dr. Ryrie's "Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth" is indeed one of best "basic" theology handbooks available. It is systematic, but it remains faithful to the Bible--this just goes to show that "systematic" and "biblical" are not necessarily at odds with each other as in some systems. Ryrie's work is "basic" in that it devotes over 600 pages to the main areas of theology. This makes it not only a good place for all believers to start off, but also as a handy, quick-reference guide for those in ministry as well. Of course, Dr. Ryrie sticks to a single, normative method of interpretation that serves us well as we look deeper into God's Word.

One criticism: Although I agree with Dr. Ryrie on most issues, it is significant to note that Dr. Ryrie refers to himself, along with some other prominent teachers, as a "moderate" or "4-point" Calvinist. In fact, he is at best a one pointer based on his acceptance of Unconditional Election. However, if you study the Calvinist T.U.L.I.P. as described by mainstream 5-pointers since the Synod of Dort, you will find that all the "points" stand or fall as a unit--that is how they were developed. Ignorance of this fact has lead many biblical evangelicals to misunderstand what each of the 5 points mean. For example, Unconditional Election does not simply mean that salvation is unmerited, and Perseverance of the Saints is not to be equated with the biblical doctrine of Eternal Security. Actually, the author would do all of us a much better service by simply referring to himself as a Biblicist.

Even though his views on unconditional election are not exactly the same as the extreme or 5-point Calvinists, Ryrie nonetheless holds what he terms "unresolved tensions" with Scripture in that area. Even so, Ryrie's "moderate" position eventually brings one back to nagging doubts about true free will, reprobation, and God being the author of sin. Up until a few years ago I also held to that same classical DTS position, but have since discovered a more scripturally harmonious view similar to the mediate/inductive one advocated by C. Gordon Olson in his books, Beyond Calvinism and Arminianism: An Inductive, Mediate Theology of Salvation and Getting the Gospel Right: A Balanced View of Calvinism and Arminianism.

In spite of our differences on election and use of theological labels, Dr. Ryrie's work remains very true to the Word. It would be hard to go wrong with his book!

Originally ordered as supplemental reading for a classes. All nurses should have a copy.

The book is in great shape and was shipped quickly. The seller is extremely warm and friendly. Nice business.

Years ago, I was assigned this book in one of my university classes. I number it in my most memorable and personally influential works that I have ever read. At the time, I had just begun to study archaeology and had very little understanding of the concept of ethnocentricism. My personal way of thinking was very black and white. The only real experience that I had with the dichotomies of the sacred versus the profane at that point was my own experiences.

The Sacred and the Profane gave me an entirely different perspective. I began seeing how others saw religion, spirituality, ritual, and symbolism in slightly different ways. How certain experiences could be interpreted in a variety of ways to become personal and cultural beliefs. I also noticed how these beliefs permeated into everyday life. So began my interests in spirituality, symbolic dichotomies, and the varied beliefs of others.

Yes, the sacred and the profane is discussed here. And guess what? They make sense. It's no secret, just sociology. Good sociology, too, none of your Discovery-Channel, sixth-tier, make every middle class viewer look down on those that are different from a Durkheim-style-deviance-arrogance and pray that they can forget just how screwed up they are kind of stuff. The good stuff. The meat, the bone and the marrow. Unapologetic, yet refined and in no way obscene. Great read. Well written, and, I can only assume, well-translated.

Be warned: The cover image on Amazon is not the one that comes on the book!!! The book you get from Amazon is a new-age style cover photograph of some half-photographed "natives" playing with a circle of candles. The nifty little negative portrait of the Triune God should have stayed. It was much more appropriate to the content.

I read this book with a great excitement. It tells people about essence of our religion. In my opinion, this book is quite good companion for religious comparison study.

Eliade's book is by nature limited to making general statements without extensive illustration and qualification. But the general statements he makes are fascinating. He makes the birth of the "world" and the birth of religion identical, since the "world" is by definition a meaningful and ordered space, and only a divine "hierophany" can establish a reference point for meaningful (& chaotic) space. Pre-religious man lives in a meaningless, homogeneous space, and therefore has no concept of the world.

This view sheds light on the association between religion and violence. The collision of two religions also represents the collision of two worlds, and the nothing is more terrifying that the destruction of the world. Of course religion is only the first source (on Eliade's account) of the "world"; today we have many non-religion sources of value from which a world-sense can emerge. Or perhaps "religion" has just taken on many new guises, even "non-religious" ones.

Eliade also discusses the recurrence of sacred time vs. the linear movement of profane time.

There are valuable reflections in the book on the hidden religiosity of modern, profane man. For all human beings without exception, meaningful existence is only possible when we respect some version of sacred space and sacred time.

Rich ideas for such a short book. Highly recommended, even if it does get a little repetitive.

I decided to read this book for a religion-course I'm taking, and I must say I'm happy I did! Mircea Eliade was a Rumanian historian of religions, philosopher and author, in addition to being a vaguely religious man himself. This book was written to serve as an introduction to the study of religion for new students and the interested layman, and it does so excellently. Eliade was interestingly enough a member of the Legion of the Archangel Michael, back home in Rumania, the organization of Corneliu Codreanu. In addition to this wonderful fact, he was also acquainted with Baron Julius Evola, so this is certainly one of "our own boys".

The book itself is, as the title implies, an attempt to show the difference between the archaic mans sacred conception of the cosmos, and the profane view of the world of today's "modern man". The first part of the book details the sacred space and the sacralisation of the world. What he means by this is the fact that so-to-speak all religions and the various races have traditions of themselves living near the centre of the world, axis mundi. This world pillar, known as Irminsûl to my own Germanic ancestors, was the place (mountain, tree, building, pillar etc.) where the world traditionally was highest and hence the underworld, the human world and the higher realm of heaven was connected the closest. The various races and peoples then thought that this was where Creation had begun, where the cosmos has flowed out from, and hence the most sacred space on Earth. Eliade then delves into some depth about this subject.

The second chapter is about holy time and myths. He shows how the archaic peoples thought of time as always recurring, going in cycles. The first break with this line of thought was with Judaism and later Christianity, who thought of history as a unique happening, centred on Christ and his coming. The archaic peoples did their rites and their religious cultism so that they could transform themselves back into the sacred eternal present time when the Gods performed the actions the myths mirror today.

The third chapter is about the holiness of nature and the comical view of ancient religion. He shows how ancient man conceived of their own role in the cosmos, and how their actions were supposed to mirror the actions of the creation of the cosmos. It's a very wide chapter that is difficult to summarize, but as everywhere else in the book he fills it up with example upon example from all over the world.

The final chapter is about the existence of humans and the holiness of life. He tells us how many traditions thought of the human body as its own cosmos. The opening at the top of the scull was the place where the soul would leap from at death, and hence some Indians have the tradition of crushing the scull of a recently deceased priest to ensure his soul's easy transcendence. He also mentions männerbunde and various initiations that served to give birth to man anew, after the initiation was complete, and the new sacred man arose. This chapter is also very wide and difficult to summarize, but the richness of the examples is splendid.

All in all, a book that is hard to characterize, but I've read it twice in two weeks now, so I guess that says it all. An excellent book that nearly is enough to make the most profane person catch a glimpse of the holy. Highly recommended!

(I read a different edition)

Getting in the Gap: Making Conscious Contact with God Through Meditation (Book with CD)Excellent! The choice of a 10 or 20 minute meditation allows me to meditate even when time is "tight". The tonal quality is excellent and the instructions are easy to follow.

I enjoyed this book very much. It explained step by step what the Gap is and how to get there. It also uses "The Lord's Prayer" which is so important to me. Dr. Dyer is very good at teaching meditation and bringing in our Christian beliefs.

There are many ways to learn how to meditate. I found this one to be easy to follow and with practice I can see it being a great help. Its basic and to the point. I found reading the book first helpful in being aboe to follow the cd.

This book is a great companion to The Power of Now, Spirituality Simplified, The Belief Formula, or any book that recommends you explore the concept of meditation -- but doesn't provide an in-depth discussion of meditation practices. I read a review on The Power of Now where the reviewer complained about not knowing "how" to meditate; he consequently found the book of little use. Wayne Dyer's "Getting in the Gap" would have made all the difference in the world.

There are spiritual and philosophical teachings; and then there are the applications of spiritual tools and practices. Getting in the Gap is a great guide for people new to meditation, or the spiritual path, who want to know what it's like to "Be still" and hear that "still quiet voice within..." Best of all, this is a very small, very simple, very easy to read and understand guidebook -- not a major investment of time or money.

Getting in the Gap also comes with a meditation CD which makes it very easy for anyone to quickly "Get in the Gap."

I discovered Wayne Dyer's a couple years ago at a time when I really needed him. Since then I have read all of his books. I read Getting in the Gap over a year ago and spent 30 minutes reading it again this morning. Short, simple and to the point, this book and CD are particularly useful as an introduction to meditation. The idea is to be able to use the "Gap" between the times that you are doing things to reach sanctuary from your thoughts. I used the CD once and realized this Japa style meditation was so simple, the CD is not required a second time.

The meditation asks you to repeat a portion of the Lord's Pray several times and then slip into the "Gap" between the words, concentrating on that space. When intruding thoughts come to mind use the sound "Ah" as a chant to help you focus on the silence. The meditation style is intended to reach a peace of mind, rejuvenate, gain insight, relax, and improve performance.

I recommend this book for beginners. For those looking for an alternative, I recommend Mindfulness Meditation. See my other reviews for some good books on that subject.

The entire study package of Basics of Biblical Greek which includes the textbook, the study guide, the vocabulary cards, the summary sheet, and the lecture CD's is a blessed fruit of a long, thoughtful, meticulous, and high-tech labor of one of the world's best New Testament Greek scholars. I have to admit I have not studied Greek from other professors, but after studying Mounce, I simply can not imagine a better way to teach students an introduction to Biblical Greek than the one Prof. Mounce implements in this study packet. The structure and methodology are so impressively organized that I believe, without trying to diminish the role of an instructor, one can study by himself or herself without taking the class at a seminary. From start to finish, Prof. Mounce designs the lessons with solid exegesis skills as the goal in mind. He wastes no time but immediately exposes students with translation exercises using real Scripture passages in the study guide, even early in the first few chapters when he barely starts with nouns.

The lessons are divided into three major parts; nouns, adjectives and verbs. Each chapter begins with exegetical insights related to the topic being taught in that particular chapter. He then moves on by explaining the English and Greek forms. The nouns and adjectives are not too bad. They are usually divided into three types of declensions. While the nouns usually take on one of the three declensions, the most common configuration of adjectives is either 3-1-3 or 2-1-2 where the first, second and third numbers indicate the declension type for masculine, feminine and neuter genders, respectively. There are some discussions on special-case nouns having slightly abnormal endings; pant and ent, for examples. Now verbs are considerably more challenging because they not only have more numerous categories and rules, but the biggest obstacles are the tense stems and when they form the real verbs through a combination of augments, tense-formatives, connecting vowels, and personal endings. The trouble can be illustrated by comparing it to having to memorize the English present, past and perfect tenses of irregular and regular verbs which the Greek version has six; present, future active, aorist active and passive, perfect active and passive, instead of three in English. And each of these six stems has different forms not only depending on the person and number, but also on the voices; active, middle, and passive. On top of these, there is another parameter, called aspect, where these verbs take on other forms, the indicative covered in the early chapters of the verbs, subjunctive, infinitive and imperative. Some are similar if not the same as the indicatives, which make them even harder to distinguish which one is which. Here Prof. Mounce reminds students to always watch for the contexts. Context is your best friend when it comes to translation. There is no easy way of getting around this issue completely except in my view, to get the Greek Morphology text, also by Mounce. At the end of some chapters, there is coverage on extended materials that deal with special cases, additional rules in translation, contraction and morphology.

The summary sheet consists of all important rules involving word formation, verb-ending charts, and all the forms of frequently used verbs. It serves as a handy guide for students when doing the translation so they don't have to flip through the pages of the textbook. Some flipping of pages is inevitable, though, because the last few pages of the textbook has the list of major lexicons.

There are two types of drills in the study guide. The first is chapter-by-chapter review where students are asked to parse ten words in a table having the forms that have been covered up to that chapter. Next, there is a warm-up translation section consisting of seven short phrases or sentences to be translated before the real translation exercise begins with twenty sentences; some are long ones. From my experience, I sometimes had a headache after completing the translation work due to the intensity it involves in figuring out not only what the words mean, but also their forms, and how to restructure the sentence in English format that both are understandable and make sense. The second type of drill is the exam-type where the test materials are combined every five chapters. The tasks include parsing, grammar rules, and translations usually from a New Testament passage.

As in any other languages, learning Greek requires extra memory power, but not brute-force memorization of every single word indiscriminately. Prof. Mounce always warns students only to memorize special-case words and rules such as endings and contractions, instead of every single word with all its garden variety of forms. Excellent advise.

Needless to say, I delightfully endorse Prof. Mounce as your virtual Greek instructor. If you decide to homeschool yourself, you can purchase the complete combo set at teknia dot com. I don't think Amazon sell the lecture CD set. But even if you are taking the class at the seminary, I don't see any harm for you to buy the combo set anyway, though you probably won't need the lecture CD's provided you have an excellent instructor.

I have found this to be a handy help with Koine Greek. It contains a great deal of useful information in a sturdy, durable folder. It fits quite well into the front or back of a three ring binder along with one's class notes. The font is small and crowded, but, afterall, this is a "cheat sheet". Generally, I think it is safe to say that this guide has most of the things that one might need help with as a student.

This is a helpful, portable chart, more appealing & clearer to read than the Quickstudy Guide Latin chart, its opposite number. It matches the Mounce grammar books, but a much better book to learn N.T. Greek as well as an intro to Attic is:
"The Elements of New Testament Greek, Third Edition" (Book and Audio CD) by Jeremy Duff. This however does not have a companion chart, hence the need for this chart. So you might as well get it.

I have found this little cheat sheet very helpful. As one reviewer mentioned, its not a must have, but it is certainly nice to have. Wile learning another language, it is nice to have a quick reference guide readily available instead of thumbing through your textbook. If you are just learning Greek, you could certainly live without this chart, but its cheep and personally has helped me.

It is a handy tool for reviewing, but you don't have to buy it. As he/she make progress through the first year of Greek class, one can make his own review or cheat sheets, more through than this one, focusing on the issues he/she need to learn better. Not to mention the reviewing and the systematizing work itself that can provide a great help in order to organize the Greek grammar knowledge in one's mind (using different colors and highlights, tips and tricks, and so on).

You can spend your money more wisely by buying Mounce's BBG vocabulary cards, which are really helpful (unless you decide to make your own cards...)

This book is awesome! It is so easy to understand and really explains the mass. It gives history of the mass, the "why" of traditions,and the "how" to really encounter Christ in the mass. This is a must read for all Catholics and converts. I am so glad I made this purchase...well worth the money.

Wonderful! The explanations are clearly written, easy to understand, and informative. A friend visiting from Portugal was very impressed with this book.

I converted to Catholicism 4 years ago and still found many things clarified and/or pointed out in this book. It is well done and I highly recommend. In fact, I've shared with our Deacon and RCIA director for their use.

Very good - Would love to have all my confirmation students read this. It really stops you and makes you think about all the stuff you do automatically and the meaning behind it.

Even if you are a life long Catholic I am sure this book will be a great help in understanding every element of the Mass. It is written in clear concise language and full of useful information on the reasons why we celebrate the Mass the way we do, the history behind prayers,the liturgy etc. Would be a great gift for First Communion or adults converting and coming into full communion.

Several features of this translation make it unique. First, the text is broken into useful paragraphs rather than a complete run-on as is the case in the original Arabic. Second, numbering has been assigned to make references much simpler to find. In other words, it reads much like the standard English Bible. Abdel Haleem is an expert in Arabic and Islamic studies. It is obvious that he has taken great care with a heartfelt effort to make this translation as true to the original as possible while still being understandable by an average English reader. Further, he has published a book titled Understanding the Qur'an: Themes and Style, which tackles significant areas of the Qur'an versus Biblical episodes and attempts to explain the beauty of the rhyming Arabic in the original Qur'an. Together, these two books with a biography of Muhammad will give any non-Muslim a very good knowledge of Islam.

This translation shows literary polish and is very pleasant to read. It uses brackets in the text to clarify who is being addressed by "you" and imperative verbs. This is important since standard English does not distinguish between singular and plural in the second person.

There are a judicious number of footnotes to explain certain interpretive issues, but they do not try to present a particular sectarian understanding of the text. They aim to present uncontroversial interpretations to help non-Muslims such as myself understand what any native Arabic-speaking Muslim would already know about the background of certain words and statements.

I have run across a pair of cases in which the repeated literary polishing (referred to in the introduction) evidently got ahead of the note editing. On p. 38, Sura 3:46 begins, "He will speak to people in his infancy..." and there is a footnote reference after "infancy." The note says, "Cf. 19: 29-30. The word _mahd_ means a place smoothed out for a small child to sleep in. It is not a piece of furniture like a cradle." Very good, but the translation as it stands has no word for either a smoothed place or a cradle. Looking in the Arabic (with the aid of a bilingual edition), I see that it has a clause that can be literally translated something like, "He will speak to people from the sleeping place," where 'sleeping place' is my rendering of _mahd_ intended to avoid the translation "cradle" to which Mr. Haleem objects. The point is that the English word "infancy" implies nothing about a sleeping place; it refers to the earliest stage of life. Thus the note here (and in the cross-referenced passage) is confusing. It only makes sense if a more literal translation is given. In Haleem's translation, it should simply be omitted.

Other than this, though, I find the translation quite good. I recommend it to all English speakers who wish to acquaint themselves with the contents of the Qur'an without having to suffer through the archaisms of some earlier translations. However, if you want a version that is more formally similar to the Arabic, you will probably need to get one of these older translations and endure the "thees" and "thous". Even better, learn Arabic, as I am trying to do, and see how the originally _really_ goes.

I have not read this all the way through, but what I have read is a clear, crisp and easily digestible translation. The type and font size is perfect in my opinion. This would make a good introductory book for reading the Quran or Koran in English.

This translation is among the best translations of the Qur'an i have read... The verses of the noble Qur'an are translated in a very clear and easy to understand vocabularies that anyone with an adequate background in english can benefit from it.. Most of the translation of the Qur'an are very hard to get the concept due the the translators' usage of obscure and archaic english but this translation is quite clear and manifest for anyone wanting to get the most out of it... I strongly recommend this translation..

If you are looking to learn about Islam and the book that guides it, I recommend this translation. Written in straight-forward contemporary English, this translation is easy to read, more like a book than a religious text. The introduction is very good and I strongly urge you to read it before starting in on the Qur'an itself. It starts with a historical background; compilation, structure, and style of the Qur'an; interpretation of the Qur'an; and a short history of English translations. Only within this framework can the reader truly understand and appreciate the meaning of this complex work.

You can learn a lot about man's search for GOD from the beginning. 14,000 years ago.

/

"A History of God" by Karen Armstrong

The omissions and distortions of this author's other work, "The Battle for God" made me skeptical of this book also. If Karen Armstrong titles a book "A History of God," you can be sure that GOD, in any normative manner of understanding, is not going to be the subject of her book.

From the very beginning, the author begins to play fast and loose with both facts and language. For example, on page xx of the INTRODUCTION, despite the coy proclamation of the title, the author announces:

"This book will not be a history of the ineffable reality of God itself, which is beyond time and change."---page xx, INTRODUCTION, "A History of God" by Karen Armstrong

One has to watch carefully for such contradictions with Armstrong. When she makes an assertion, you can almost invariably depend upon it to have either of two failings.

(1) The author will usually not support any claims with facts, evidence, or even a rationalism. The author simply declares a thing to be SO, because the author writes that it is SO. [CARTESIAN AFFLICTION]

(2) The author uses language in contradictory contexts. Subjective terminology is presented as though it were Objective evidence.

For example, what does the author mean by the following statement?

"Jesus Christ, about whom we talked far more than about "God," seemed a purely historical figure, inextricably embedded in late antiquity."---page xviii, INTRODUCTION, "A History of God" by author Karen Armstrong

What is the meaning by the term "HISTORICAL FIGURE"; and indeed, what is the rational distinction between a:
"HISTORICAL FIGURE" and a "PURELY HISTORICAL FIGURE"?

This is nonsense verbiage at its best. It doesn't mean anything.

What is the meaning of the terms: "LATE ANTIQUITY" or even, "EMBEDDED IN LATE ANTIQUITY". Armstrong's book is rife with such irrational sentences.

The nonsensicality is not apparent on a page here or there, willy-nilly. Such irrationalisms appear on nearly every page. For example:

"As I grew up, I realized that there was more to religion than fear."---page xvii, INTRODUCTION, "A History of God" by author Karen Armstrong

This is the kind of redundancy, which, if produced in another context, such as an athletic event like baseball, would read something like:

AS I GREW UP, I REALIZED THAT THERE WAS MORE TO BASEBALL, THAN GETTING RIPPED OFF AT THE TICKET OFFICE!

With Armstrong however, the reader is in for the ultimate course in rocket surgery. There's more.

"My ideas about God were formed in childhood and did not keep abreast of my growing knowledge in other disciplines."---page xix, INTRODUCTION, "A History of God" by Author Karen Armstrong

Perhaps the author could find a more private and therapeutic medium to admit ideological development ended at childhood.

"Yet my study of the history of religion has revealed that human beings are spiritual animals."--page xix, "A History of God" by author Karen Armstrong

The proposition, by reason, that an "ANIMAL" is "SPIRITUAL" is a contradiction in terms. It also serves as evidence for the Error of Eclecticism. The author has a confused understanding of the principle of the GENUS, and is guilty of combining Religious assumptions and Science assumptions regarding the Natural Order which are both inimical and contradictory.

Then there are the quantum leaps, in which the author begins writing of herself as a PLURALITY. For example:

"Our ethical secular ideal has its own disciplines of mind and heart and gives people the means of finding faith in the ultimate meaning of human life that once were provided by the more conventional religions."--page xix, INTRODUCTION, "A History of God" by author Karen Armstrong

This is about as FLUFFY and meaningless as language can get. It utterly begs questions. For example:

(1) Who is identified by the PLURAL possessive pronoun "OUR"?

(2) What is the meaning of the phrase, "ETHICAL SECULAR IDEAL"? What exactly is it, and where can it be studied?

(3) What indeed are the "DISCIPLINES OF MIND AND HEART? Where are these DISCIPLINES objectively identified?

(4) In the context of the author's "ETHICAL SECULAR IDEAL" what are the "MEANS OF FINDING FAITH" and how are the MEANS objectively identified?

(5) In regard to the terminology in (4), the author indicates the existence of something referred to as "THE ULTIMATE MEANING OF HUMAN LIFE" but the author fails to objectively identify what that is, or where it is identified and studied.

(6) If the author is a member of a LESS "conventional religion," does good scholarship not require that the subject be clarified? Of course it does; but Karen Armstrong reveals nothing of this.

You see, Armstrong writes long about the most mundane issues of religion, and yet it obviously is not in the author's interest to bring objective clarity to her own assumptions; for if she did, it would be seen to indicate a most egregious irrationality.

The author has an almost overwhelming ability to generate a never-ending stream of nonsense verbiage. Here's an example:

"We shall see that it is far more important for a particular idea of God to work than for it to be logically or scientifically sound."---page xxi, INTRODUCTION, "A History of God" by author Karen Armstrong

Armstrong never indicates where we are to find a "SCIENTIFICALLY SOUND" idea for God; but then, Armstrong never seems clear about the inablity of SCIENCE to identify the boundaries of God, the subject of which Armstrong herself identified on page xx of the INTRODUCTION as..."beyond time and change".

So this entire book is like the Three Card Monte card game, in which the assumptions of Science, Religion, and Philosophy are all constantly shuffled in context, masquerading as some kind of HYPER-INTELLECTUALITY, which for the lack of any distinct sensibility or underpinning, runs rampant through the alleyways of confused ideation.

_______________________________________________________

*CONCLUSION*

Armstrong fails in the field of scholarship on several identifiable issues:

(1) Failure to define her subject. No clear delineation is offered to distinguish between GOD and RELIGION.

(2) Failure to establish specific SCOPE & BOUNDARY of her subject.

(3) Failure to explain CONFUSING the classification order of GENUS. The author defines man as a "spiritual animal" which is a confusion of the orders of METAPHYSICS and the NATURAL SCIENCES

(4) Failure to qualify shifts in writing in the First Person Singular to writing Third Person Plural; e.g. shifting from writing "I" to writing "WE" and "OUR" without qualification or specification.

(5) Failure to elevate her core assumptions beyond the CARTESIAN AFFLICTION.
[ It-Is-So-Because-I-Say-It-Is-So.] This is the common error in New Age authorship, and Armstrong provides a plethora of conclusions that are reached only by way of SELF-AUTHENTICATION.




/

please contact me if you really want a page by page breakdown, Karen just is not educated enough to write this book. She comes off as a disgruntled Nun which she actually is. every other page represents a outdated theory, popular when she wrote the book as the mainstream concensus. Also the entire thing is a work of Teleological tunnel vision and is ridden with anachronism. If you wish to learn more about religion consult authors like Pagels and Pelikan, doctors and eminant scholars in their fields. please do not hesitate to contact for additional information, aim = hendrixangus. I do not give this book a one lightly!

What I love and respect about the author, is how she is open minded and honest enough to challenge the reader to think outside their comfort zone and all they have been taught to believe based on faith and not a serious study of history and how religion whatever the belief system, is something that has evolved and changed over the centuries.

She challenges the reader to study and dissect myth from fact. To stop and ponder why we as humans have been given a brain, as well as how over the centuries, a select few have known human weaknesses and the whole herd mentality, and thus, have sought to demean certain groups while building up or making special, other groups.

And how many if not most of the conflicts the world have seen, have been based on made up myths concerning people of other races and regions. Or as Darwin would note, the survival of the fittest or in the case of religions, the religions with the most charismatic leaders. Right or wrong.

The utter, seemingly perpetual redundancy of this book is enough to make me nauseous. The fact that she can't explicate a single religious or philosophical subject without concluding that its proponents originally saw it merely as some "expression of his or her inner notions of God and self" makes this waste of perfectly good paper virtually unreadable. But that she completely destroys Plato (!!!) for the sake of her own little "inner self" fancy is enough to convince me that she has no business even talking about philosophical, historical, or theological subjects. I read this book with an open mind, thinking it would be a postmodern revisionistic history, but history nonetheless. No. It's not. It's her own pathetic, unrefined reflection posing as a well researched deconstructive analysis. If you're a religious skeptic or atheist, you should be let down by this book. If you're a philosopher you should feel extremely irritated. If you're a historian, you should raise an eyebrow and scratch your head. If you're a theologian, you should say "WHAT?!". If you're a mystic, you should be really confused. If you're a Christian thinking that this book will undo your faith...you probably don't even know what you believe or why you believe it.

This is the famous little book that Minor White advised his pupils to read. It's an account by German professor Eugen Herrigel of several years of archery lessons with a Japanese archer in the 1950s. My review is written with photography in mind, though the principles discussed in the book can be applied to many arts.

If you have an interest in photography, should you read it?

Here are a few quotes from this little book in which I have taken the liberty of replacing archery lingo with photography lingo:

1. "...fundamentally the [photographer] aims at himself and may even succeed in hitting himself."

2. "Do you know why you cannot wait for the shot and why you get out of breath before it has come? The right shot at the right moment does not come because you do not let go of yourself. You do no wait for fulfilment, but brace yourself for failure."

3. "If [the photographer] is to fit himself self-effacingly into the creative process, the practice of the art must have the way smoothed for it. For if, in his self-immersion, he saw himself faced with a situation into which he could not leap instinctively, he would first have to bring it into consciousness."

If these ideas interest you, then this book is for you. It is a pleasing and thought-provoking little book, written in a conversational manner lacking the overcomplicated lingo and "isms" of most philosophical and spiritual texts.

This book had a real influence on my early spiritual development. I read it when I was a teenager; the impression I was left with was one of discipline, self-mastery, and the difficulty of the art of archery. I loved the author's earnestness and sincerity. For some time, I shot my own bow with what I took to be the spirit of the Zen approach. I wished I could travel to Japan and learn from a master.

From where I sit now, I'd have to acknowledge that this book is more a description or a memoir, rather than an actual guide. That is, for one determined to walk the spiritual path, this book will be more an inspiration than a manual. For some, that may lead to frustration.

For me this book is first and foremost about Zen. Students of Japanese archery can come to it to take their craft to another level but for me the archery is just a mantle for the teachings to sit on. I've been studying Zen for ten years or so, and have read many great works on the subject. This book was a gentle reminder, ushering me back onto the path. It's wisdom can be applied to almost anything. For a more in depth look at some of the discussions in this book, see Suzuki's Zen and Japanese Culture.

One reviewer, with whom I disagree, says that this book is not a valid source of Zen because the master archer in the book had never "studied" Zen. I think he came in touch with the Zen Mind through his art. The Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng had never "studied" Zen either and came by his enlightenment through living life and carrying fire wood. "Studying" Zen, in terms of following the rituals of an institution, can be formative but is not necessary. Zenmind existed long before the Zen religion.

So whether you're studying Japanese Archery or looking to deepen your awareness of your own art (I study painting, music and Tai Chi), this book can help if you're ready for it.

there's an old adage in the acting world..'don't give a performance, let the performance give you'..so what does that have to do with this book? well, I read this wonderful book a few years back when I was studying acting in NYC and I really worked hard at incorporating some Zen technique into my acting process..it wasn't easy..but I stuck with it and I feel as if I reached a different level consciousness and ability with my craft. This book is a wonderful teacher for the ways of Zen and incorporating those lessons into real life events not just archery.

This is not a book on kyudo. As Earl Hartman says in another review, Herrigel did have little contact with kyudo in Japan (3-4 years). This book could be about many interesting things (zen, misticism, ...), but I don't know of them. But it's not a book on Kyudo. It seems more a book on Herrigel himself.
I don't says this is the worst book someone can read if is interested on kyudo. Last years saw apearing one or two terrible book's with kyudo in title.
Should be read with precaution and specially doesn't substitute pratice and guidance from a teacher or a master. Many persons come to kyudo allready knowing this book but after a few sessions they give up. and many of them continue to claim that they know about kyudo only by reading this book.

Piper's book was shallow, repetitive, and not useful. He also has a painfully bad writing style that was tiring to wade through. He advocates disturbing things like wives always being submissive to their husbands. He warns wives not to be "cocky" in their behavior to their husbands. Repellent, ugly stuff.

Such a great book. My only complain is that it can get a little repetitive. The last few chapters are EXCELLENT! I hope that you can at least read the last few chapters, if not the whole book. Worth the money. Very moving and very biblical. A way at looking at things your might now expect, but you will wonder why the thought had never crossed your mind before, haha.

Enjoy!

If your looking to understand your relationship with God you have to read this book.

~Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist~ is the book that started it all. Christian minister John Piper offers a profoundly controversial teaching of 'Christian Hedonism' popular in some evangelical circles, particularly amongst Reformed Protestants. The teaching of Christian Hedonism was first advanced in this book.

What might you ask is a 'Christian Hedonist'? 'Christian Hedonism' at its core sounds contradictory. Piper has stated that such a provocative appellation is "appropriate for a philosophy that has a life changing effect on its adherents." Piper notes: "Christian Hedonism is a liberating and devastating doctrine. It teaches that the value of God shines more brightly in the soul that finds deepest satisfaction in him. Therefore it is liberating because it endorses our inborn desire for joy. And it is devastating because it reveals that no one desires God with the passion he demands. Paradoxically, many people experience both of these truths. That certainly is my own experience (p. 13)."

Piper underscored the message of his works with a theme that the Puritan minister Jonathan Edwards was adamant about: "God is most satisfied in us, when we are most satisfied in Him." Piper elucidates, "This is the essence of what it means to love God -- to be satisfied in him. In him! Loving God may include obeying all his commands; it may include believing all his Word; it may include thanking him for all his gifts; but the essence of loving God is enjoying all he is" (p. 24).

For the philosophically minded, it is worthy of notation that this book was born out of a subliminal opposition to philosopher Immanuel Kant's deontology. Kant suggested: "An action is moral only if one has no desire to perform it, but performs it out of a sense of duty and derives no benefit from it of any sort." Piper is adamant that Scriptures contradict this assertion. Actions can indeed be moral when a Christian pursues them for spiritual gain. It's a heartfelt expression of faith to covet spiritual treasures in Heaven, and seek them as a humble servant. And through faith, walking in the footsteps of God, men can and should strive for spiritual treasures, and Crowns of Righteousness in light of the promises of God. How can we accrue eternal rewards? By obeying God, being ambassadors for Christ, striving to labor for His kingdom, taking pleasure in that work, and being diligent in our appointed station in life as servants of God. In doing so, we are laying hold of 'Future Grace,' which is a subject of another Piper book that later capstoned his 'Desiring God' trilogy.

This review has Dr. Piper's "Desiring God" book in mind, but I am spreading this post around for those who, like me, feel uneasy with Dr. Piper's main point. I am restricting my review to that because--from what I can tell--it has become central to his whole outlook on God and life. It appears to have metastasized into almost all his writings. He spoke at a plenary session of our denomination and if I remember correctly he said something like, "this is my theology." Here it is:

"What is the chief end of man? To glorify God BY enjoying Him forever." And, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him."

Dr. Piper teaches that this is the supreme testimony of Scripture regarding glorifying God. He would have us adopt it as the highest priority in our lives. He is saying, in effect, God being glorified in us ultimately rests on whether or not this is happening.

I read this years ago and the more I have thought about it in the light of the life of Christ the more uneasy I have become. But it has taken me years to find words for my uneasiness. Here is my best attempt so far.

My question has been, What does Jesus Himself have to say about glorifying God? Or, more specifically, did He say anything about HOW He personally glorified God? If Dr. Piper's theme is, in truth, at the heart of glorifying God on earth, then we can be sure Jesus certainly would have spoken to it. I cannot believe that He would have left the question open on a matter of such transcendent importance.

What did Jesus say about how He brought glory to God on earth? One reference emerged in my study. He said, in His High Priestly prayer: "I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do." John 17:4, niv. (If I missed a passage please point it out in the comments. I welcome correction.)

Do you read anything in those statements to the effect that the Son of God glorified God primarily through enjoying Him or through being satisfied in God? I have no doubt that Jesus certainly did. But I don't see here or in any aspect of His life and teaching that He made that foundational.

As I see it, my Master brought glory to God by completing His Father's assignment, and so with me as His disciple. I do not doubt that He will give me joy and satisfaction in Him throughout the journey. He has already--far more than I can possibly contain--but if that were the main point in glorifying God, I am convinced that Jesus would have told us explicitly that that is the main point.

Why only a one star review? Because how we glorify God is immeasurable in terms of its significance and impact. We are talking about ultimate reasons that affect everything we do all day long. Like having the right motive in something--if we get that wrong, everything is wrong. Dr. Piper, in my estimation, has substituted in a secondary good for the primary one Jesus revealed in His prayer. And whereas in other matters in life that may not do much damage, with ultimate concerns it ends up being a colossal distraction.

In stark contrast to "Christian Hedonism," consider what Thomas Kelly wrote in his "Testament of Devotion:" "When you are obeying to the uttermost you even forget about yourself."