Religion Books

Everything he writes is so simple and yet so complex. You will just smile for days.

This is a fun book that my daughter and I are reading together. She is 8 and I wanted to teach her some of the Buddhist precepts I find character building. She loves the stories.

Again, I purchased this book for a small friend. I read it first and enjoyed it, but his mother tells me he and his brother also enjoyed the stories.

While many children's books deal with fiction this book speaks of the reality of here and now. It is thought provoking on a child's level teaching spirituality and awareness. My six year old seems to enjoy listening to the stories.

My daughter (2) is a little young for this book yet, but I read it and think it is wonderful for children. If you have children about 6 or older who are having a difficult time or are angry about something, this book would be great. Even if your children are happy though, there are wonderful lessons here for everyone and that can help the world to become a more peaceful place.

A good overview of many practices designed to help one wake up
to another level of awareness and how to put that to work in
daily life as an ongoing commitment and practice.

In 'The Heart of the World', Thomas Keating writes: "...it is not enough to have transcendent experiences. We have to translate those experiences into daily life and into our humdrum routine." The skillful authors of 'Living Deeply, The Art & Science of Transformation in Everyday Life' offer readers thoughtful teachings and practical tools for doing just this.
While emphasizing the value of making one's practice one's own, the authors draw on the wisdom of respected consciousness practitioners, a wide range of additional research participants, and their own noetic insights to arrive at the conclusions they share. "The essence of living deeply is bringing awareness to the simple ways you can make your life and practice a more seamless and graceful partnership," the book states. The beauty of 'Living Deeply' is its clear and expert guidance towards this end.

How does one make oneself change for the better? "Living Deeply: The Art & Science of Transformation in Everyday Life" is a complete and comprehensive guide to how to change one's self, drawing from science, and countless philosophies and religions such as Christianity, modern day spirituality, others such as Native American cosmology and so much more. "Living Deeply: The Art & Science of Transformation in Everyday Life" is highly recommended for community library self-help collections.

An Awesome Study & Timely Book by
Marilyn Mandala Schlitz, Ph.D. and associates

Reviewed by: M. Joyce McMenamin,

THIS IS A STUDY VERY WELL DONE AND PRESENTED IN A MANNER THAT IS EASILY READ AND ABSORBED.

WHILE READING THIS BOOK, I WAS A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED THAT THE AUTHORS AND PUBLISHER HAD FAILED TO INCLUDE AN INDEX. THEN I QUICKLY REALIZED THAT A CROSS-REFERENCED INDEX, TO A BOOK OF THIS SCOPE, WOULD POTENTIALLY BE AS LARGE (OR LARGER) THAN THE SUM OF THE TEXT ITSELF. THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MOMENT. THAT STATEMENT, IN AND OF ITSELF, PROPOSES THAT THIS BOOK IS A CULMINATION OF PERSPECTIVES ON A MASSIVE SCALE. YES, IT IS.

THE MAJOR THEME THAT BRINGS IT TOGETHER IS THE PRACTICE OF SELF TRANSFORMATION AND THE WISDOM OF THOSE, FROM VARIOUS CULTURES, TRADITIONS AND RELIGIONS, WHO HAVE BEEN PUBLICLY RECOGNIZED FOR, OR WHO FEEL THEY HAVE EXPERIENCED THEIR OWN TRANSFORMATION A VERY DEEP LEVEL. THOSE WHO ONE MIGHT SAY: LIVE DEEPLY.

IN A WORLD THAT HAS COME TO FOCUS MERELY ON THE "INTENTION" SIDE OF LIFE, THE AUTHORS HAVE REMINDED US THAT THE KEY ELEMENTS TO ANY TRANSFORMATIVE PROCESS ARE AS FOLLOWS: INTENTION, ATTENTION, REPITITION & GUIDANCE. NOW, LET ME TELL YOU THAT I HAVE NEVER READ A BOOK THAT DIDN'T COME TO ME AT THE RIGHT TIME BEARING THE SEED OF PERSPECTIVE. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BELIEVE THAT, OF COURSE - BUT THAT IS, SIMPLY: MY TRUTH. SHORTLY BEFORE THIS BOOK WAS DELIVERED TO ME, I HAD BEEN DEVELOPING A NEW PROGRAM FOR CONSULTANTS, COACHES, MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKERS & CORPORATE FACILITATORS, THROUGH MY SENSITIVE PIE PRODUCTIONS DIVISION AND I HAD SPECIFICALLY OUTLINED THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF ANY TRANSFORMATIVE PROCESS IN A SIMILAR LIGHT, BUT IN A DIFFERENT "ORDER". TRUE TO MY OWN VERY DEEP, VERY PERSONAL & CONSTANTLY EVOLVING TRANSFORMATIONAL EXPERIENCES, THIS BOOK CAME TO ME AT THE RIGHT TIME - TO HELP (PERHAPS) VALIDATE MY OWN INSTINCTIVE DIRECTION. THAT HAS BEEN MY EXPERIENCE THROUGHOUT MY LIFE. I SHARE THIS ONLY TO HELP MY READER UNDERSTAND THAT MY ROLE, IN REVIEWING THIS BOOK, IS JUST A SMALL PART OF WHAT LIVING DEEPLY IS ALL ABOUT.

THE INSTITUTE OF NOETIC SCIENCES PERFORMED A DECADE LONG STUDY TO BRING THIS INFORMATION TO THE MASSES. I CAN ONLY SENSE THAT, IN DOING THIS, WE HAVE COME TO A PLACE WHERE, IN ONE BOOK, ONE NOW HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO GAIN INSIGHT INTO A MAJORITY OF THE DOCUMENTED HISTORICAL PRACTICES OF THE PAST. PERHAPS THIS WILL HELP FREE INDIVIDUALS TO DEVELOP, OR VALIDATE, THEIR OWN UNIQUE & HIGHLY INDIVIDUALIZED TRANSFORMATIVE PROCESSES. TRUE SELF-TRANSFORMATION, NEEDN'T RELY MERELY ON HISTORICAL PRACTICES - IN DOING SO, ONE WOULD BE CONSTRICTED TO HISTORY AND WOULD NEVER FIND THE FREEDOM TO ACTUALLY TRANSFORM AT A LEVEL THAT IS NEEDED FOR THE FUTURE.

WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE FEW PEOPLE HAVE AWOKEN FROM AN EGO-BASED OR SURVIVAL-BASED DREAM. TO THIS END, I WOULD INVITE THE `WORLD AT LARGE' TO A CRAM COURSE IN SELF-TRANSFORMATION, WHICH CAN CERTAINLY BE OBTAINED IN A LITTLE MORE THAN THE TWO HUNDRED PAGES THAT ENCOMPASS THIS REMARKABLE AND COHESIVE STUDY OF EXISTING TRANSFORMATIVE PROCESSES. I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THAT THOSE INVOLVED IN THIS WORK EVENTUALLY FELT, THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS, THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING MORE, SOMETHING YET UNDISCOVERED ON THE TRANSFORMATIVE SCALE. PERHAPS THIS BOOK WILL SERVE AS A CATALYST IN UNCOVERING THE NEXT LEVEL OF TRANSFORMATION. AT A MINIMUM, THIS BOOK IS AN EXCELLENT PRIMER FOR THE INDIVIDUAL.

AT NO OTHER TIME IN HISTORY HAVE WE BEEN AT PLACE THAT IS SO FREE AND YET SO VOLATILE. THE PROCESS OF SELF TRANSFORMATION, IN FACT, AS THIS BOOK REMINDS US - HAS LESS TO DO WITH EGO AND MUCH MORE TO DO WITH A GREATER GOOD. YET, TRANSFORMATION, ONE MIGHT SAY, BEGINS `AT HOME' -- AND THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME FOR INDIVIDUALS TO USE THE POWER OF TRANSFORMATION AS A CATALYST FOR SELF-GROWTH ON THE EDGE OF WHAT, FOR SOME, MIGHT APPEAR TO BE AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE AND FOR OTHERS WILL CERTAINLY APPEAR AS A MORE TRAUMATIC TIME.

ONE MIGHT ALSO SAY THAT TRUE TRANSFORMATION IS IN THE HEART OF THE ONE EXPERIENCING IT & NOT NECESSARILY BOUND TO A SPECIFIC PRACTICE. AFTER ALL, PRACTICES THAT STILL SOME, MOTIVATE OTHERS. IN THE WORLD OF TRANSFORMATION, I BELIEVE THAT THIS BOOK LAYS THE GROUNDWORK, JUST IN TIME, FOR INDIVIDUALS TO SEE THAT THE CHALLENGES THEY FACE TODAY ARE, INDEED, THE SEED OF THEIR OWN TRANSFORMATIONAL PROCESS, WHICH COLLECTIVELY WILL DETERMINE THE UNIVERSAL OUTCOME FOR HUMANITY & THE PLANET WE CALL HOME.

Reviewed by: M. Joyce McMenamin
Publisher & Producer and author of The Integrity Channel[m.j.m. estrada]
Network Abundance sponsored by Sensitive Pie Productions
March 2008 Edition of ER.U.DI.TION(TM)

This book speaks to the deep need of our times to turn within, wake-up to that inner wisdom, and most importantly, live from that place of Truth we discover through whatever authentic means connects us with that Truth.

In my work as a spiritual counselor in hospice, I have seen that so many people have left organized religion, but have thrown the baby out with the bathwater so to speak - in terms of not recognizing that one can still have a deeply spiritual life even if one chooses to not attend formal religious services. This book addresses the need many people have to find their own authentic, lived-spirituality.

A great hope for our times is that more and more people will join this inner revolution of transformation and that we will in turn become a kinder, more loving, respectful people - who live and act from that reverence for the sacred in everyone and everything.

Living Deeply is an inspiring book for those interested in the process of transformation and for anyone interested in living a deeply meaningful life.

Having loved The Da Vinci Code I'd thought I'd delve deeper since Holy Blood Holy Grail was the inspiration for it. Big mistake. This was an absolutely exhausting book to read. It seems to go on for over 300 pages of endless genealogies before it gets to the main hypothesis. It's an extremely slow read,at times repetitive and incredibly boring. The subject was interesting but getting there will kill you. Don't do it.

What an incredible book. Once you start reading it, you won't be able to set it down. The premise of this complex story is this- three different religions set out to discover the bloodline of Jesus and to accurately paint the picture of his life. With very little evidence this would prove a daunting task. While the book is controversial, it is all well written and a treat to have read. I even got yelled at by my boss for reading the book on company time. I've read it 4 times and each time is like the first time. There is a lot of information to process so get ready be blown away. It's awesome. Also, if you missed reading GE0RGI0U's masterpiece--FATES, go and read it. Fates (classic)

Well according to the gospels THERE IS! Is there something odd about the way Jesus was tried & convicted by Rome's accord? If you read the gospels with a historic eye THERE IS! People pick up the bible and read it along with what they question and you will come out with the same conclusion

i never got the product and i am still wating for someone to contact me.

The book arrived in excellent condition. Look like I had just plucked it off the shelf. No yellowing of pages, dog ears or tares.

I bought this book about ten years ago when I wanted to learn more about my birthstone and some other gems. I still use it today with my collection of rocks, gems and crystals. I'd say that even if you are not into crystals it's a great reference tool to have around...and while this particular volume doesn't have photos I still think it's one of the best on the market.

We wanted to get this book in Crystal Magic, Sedona, AZ, but they were out of stock. We bought The Crystal Bible instead. The Crystal Bible is a very good book, but if you need more information, Love is in the Earth will provide that. Very comprehensive, descriptive and it has number and chakra info that most books will not have. Melody has a lot of info if you want to soak it up. Very intelligent read for crystals.

I first saw this book in my local New Age store. There was a well loved copy on the counter, that anyone was able to flip through for reference. This was my first indication that this book is a must have. The amount of information surpasses all of my other crystal books, and really makes you feel confident about working with crystals. The only downside is that there are no pictures. However, this is easily rectified by buying the other books in the 'Love is in the Earth' collection. They are all good buys, and I highly recommend them.

This is an extensive collection of information that is unsurpassed. My only complaint is that I didn't realize when I bought this book that it has no pictures of the gemstones whatsoever. At first, I was dissappointed, but now I just jump on the internet if I need to take a look at the stone in question.Other than this, you honestly will have a hard time finding a more thorough book on gemstones than this one.

Love is in the Earth was recommended to me by a family member after spending a lot of time together discussing various rocks and gems from our beautiful earth. His mother, a jewelry designer, had gifted me with a stunning tourmulated quartz necklace, which peaked my forgotten interest in geological wonders. Having loved to collect rocks and stones since childhood, yet lacking any education on mineral properties, I found this volume exciting, fascinating, and academically comprehensive.

The only drawback I found to this book is that it lacks any photography or depicting illustration to assist me in identifying whether a stone I hold is indeed the same as the one being described in my reading. Having a visual comparison, particularly in a full-color photograph of each entry, would help me immensely. I think this book would be even more enhanced by offering images of each stone, and perhaps that could be considered for a future edition. However, this point is only due to my budding understanding of rock, crystal, and mineral identification. I pair this volume with another book, the Crystal Bible, to have my visual reference. Love is in the Earth offers me the expansive and comprehensive text that I have yet to find equaled in another book. I appreciated that I could read text specific to variations within a mineral family. For example, there is not just one entry titled, "Quartz", but sub-headings individually written and devoted to variations of stones within the quartz family.

Admiringly, the author meets the interest of everyone, whether a reader is a metaphysical or new-age being seeking healing and personal understanding, or a geological rock-hound looking for sound scientific mineral properties and understanding. The author's solid science education credentials, along with her well-rounded human approach, enhance this feature. For the depth of the knowledge shared in this volume, it is presented in an easy-to-follow, and quick-to-reference format that is as accessible to the casual arm-chair reader, to the hands-on field-seasoned geologist.

This text was one used in my grad-level course on Islam. I enrolled in this class because, as a Christian, I wanted a deeper understanding of Islam. In particular, I wanted to be able to speak intelligently within Christian circles about Islam, particularly because of the current political tension that has so many fearfully approaching the topic, often with a set of stereotypical, illogical ideas. My motives for reading this book are definitely the lens through which I write this review. I found this book full of tedious information but ultimately lacking practical synthesis. If you want a historical account of the roots, both political and philosophical, of Islam then this is a fine book, although his chapters are often organized in a rather confusing manner (my fellow students are in basic agreement on this point, each of us having to present on several chapters). If you want a book that will help the average person understand the basic tenants of Islam and assist the reader in understanding Islam as a movement; if you want to be able to feel like you really have a grasp on Islam, particularly in how it relates to the current global climate, then I would suggest you keep looking. Denny really doesn't delve into modern relevance until the last portion of the book. I also felt that the author was unconvincing to some extent. He obviously is arguing in favor of Islam as a religion, and I am not critiquing this. But, he fails to offer some much needed critique of enculturated-Islam's past, and when he does, he has a tendency to justify unethical historical/political choices by claiming that Christianity has behaved in even more unethical ways. Now, while I wouldn't argue with his critique of enculturated-Christianity's often unethical behavior as an institutionalized movement (think "the Inquisition!"), but this is a logical fallacy. It is an error to defend one wrong by demonstrating another (perhaps worse) wrong. Critique of religious movements is healthy and necessary for they often (being human-run) get "off-track" and a little more critique would have strengthened Denny's argument in favor of Islam. All-in-all, I would suggest this book as a supplement to a library on Islam but not as a primary text to understand the movement.

I read this book because of a desire to understand as much as I could about Islam - I was not disappointed when I finished this book. The author provided an answer to every question that I had before reading this book and has given me the desire to read more about certain aspects of this religion. For me, the most interesting chapters were those that detailed the basic beliefs and practices of Islam, Islamic life and the family, Islamic community life and finally the issues concerning Islam in the modern world. I more fully understand their beliefs, but maybe more importantly, the challenges the religion faces as "progressive" Muslims try to open free dialouge about their religion - and the obstacles they face in doing so.
Highly recommend - if at all intersted in Islam, you will not be disappointed in the knowledge you will gain.

This text book is great for someone who wants to learn about Islamic doctrines. The author of the book is mostly discussing Sunni sect and at some point referes to Shi'ite Muslim in Iran.

Denny does a great job of explaining what can be a very complex topic. I used this as a textbook for a history course, but it is still very readable for personal enjoyment. It is clear that Denny is very passionate about his work. Although the book is not a chronological history of Islam, the knowledge gained from it is useful when trying to understand that type of study.

I bought this book because my knowledge of Islam was minimal and I wanted something thorough, but not scholarly. This book was perfect. It's laid out as an undergrad textbook, with the sort of logic we westerners expect to see when being introduced to something. The chapters each have an over-view, then break into well-defined sections. If there are four important things about something, Denny gives four section headings. He also reviews information, where needed.

The best thing about the text is Denny's strategy of leaving many words in Arabic (after he has explained the terms); that means you won't learn about an idea under a name specific this translator. Sometimes there's a longish space between iterations of a term - 50 pages, for example - but the excellent glossary and the very thorough index make it possible to recover the information easily.

The only fault I could find - aside from the somewhat self-satisfied tone of his first-person plural narrative style - is that he never addresses the way he sets up the book. Does Islam naturally lend itself to western academic organization? Did the author impose this organization on the material in the service of his readers? If so, what would a Muslim text look like? Or did the western academy get this principle of organization from the Arab world, as we got our number system?

The second edition is MUCH cheaper than the third edition - the post-9/11 edition - but the history of Islam hasn't changed. Save your money and get the second edition.

Am delighted with this book - twill be a valuable resource in my growing Feminist Theology section of my library. Am so glad that experts have put this together.

I use this book in my Old Testament Class in seminary. It is very insightful and provides a much need perspective on the text.

Contrary to what some may believe from the title, the Women's Bible Commentary does not show favoritism. It simply addresses individual needs/issues and/or individual audiences -- and it does so in a manner that is at least as fair, honest, and genuinely scholarly as most other one-volume Bible commentaries. Of hundreds of Bible commentaries that we have in the BibleTexts Online Commentary library, not one is so absolutely exhaustive that it includes everything that all of the other commentaries have. Each commentary includes material that its editors consider to be most important within the commentary's intended own scope and within their own editorial perspective -- whether that commentary is a one volume commentary of the entire Bible, a multi-volume commentary of a single book of the Bible, or a multi-volume commentary of the entire Bible. The Women's Bible Commentary not only includes much of the same basic information found in other high quality one-volume commentaries, but it also provides valid information and valuable insights that are not found in other commentaries. It is an excellent biblical commentary worthy of inclusion in any Bible student's library.

This is my go-to commentary for all of my seminary work. As a man who has been steeped in a tradition of male-dominated interpretation of scripture this is volume is a breath of fresh air. One is remiss to deny the scholarship of this collection. With contributors like Amy-Jill Levine, Jouette Bassler, Mary Ann Tolbert, and the editor Carol Newsom you are presented with some of the greatest feminist theologians alive. The contributors skillfully employ literary, historical, and redaction criticism in studying the texts to help flesh out the place and role of women in the story of God's people.

This should be in the library of any real student of the bible.

PAX

E

Though I have not had the opportunity to review this book, I would like to challenge the negative review it has received. The book description is fair in making the disclaimer that not all readers will appreciate the position it takes. I can say with confidence however that at least one well respected Biblical scholar (a current professor of mine) is a contributor, and I do not think she have agreed being a part of a substandard commentary.
Perhaps the feminist view challenged the reader beyond where he was willing to travel.

This is the best book that I have read detailing what relationships should look like in the church. Using examples from their own experiences and Christ, The Jacobsen brothers cleverly and thoroughly go through 22 verses in the Epistles that focus on the concept of "one anothering". The chapters are masterfully ordered to display the progression of relationship building. The first section starts with one's relationship with God. The next progression is the genesis of a truly authentic relationship. The authors follow this portion with a section called, 'Sharing the Journey'. As the title states, this portion of the book details relationships within an authentic community. The final chapters deal with what happens with true spiritually linked relationships deepen. If this was not enough, the end of each chapter lists discussion questions that really allow you to search your heart and challenge the authenticity of your relationship with God and others.

I have found the Jacobsen brothers to have true spiritual insight concerning what it means to walk the Christian journey in community with God and one another.

Currently, I am involved with a fellowship of young adult believers who wish to reach out to our surrounding community and friends. I am going to purchase a few more copies and use it as a mid week study tool. I would advise you to purchase this book, prayerfully read it and allow God to show you how your relationships with people can become deeper!

My husband and I chose to read this book together and have really enjoyed it. It explains the practicality of one anothering each other in every relationship type -- marriage, family and friends (both old and new!).

This is more than a book-it is (hopefully) a way of life, one that I am certainly desiring. Our Pastor has agreed to use this material as a basis to begin our home fellowship groups which is exciting to me. The subjects have been well thought out and applied and it is part of "the progression" of our christian walk that is a necessary ingredient.

This book is a wonderful personal or group study book. It really helps us focus on how we can better serve each other and grow closer as a spiritual family.

This is one of the best books on relationship development from a biblical point of view. Very practical and simple; not another list of "to dos." Our small group is loving this book.

A couple years back my dad got demoted and was potentially going to lose his job. He was facing a lot of uncertainty and was not sure how to deal with it. I first read The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times in a high school philosophy class when I was dealing with a lot of my own personal problems and found it incredibly helpful and selected this book as an introduction to Chodron. Since reading this book my dad has started reading several other books about buddhist spirituality and has pursued meditation, all of which have helped him immensely both then and now. This book serves as a great tool for maintaining spiritual health and a comprehensive introduction to Buddhist spirituality and Pema Chodron.

Pema is accessible... Her writings are very helpful and exemplify the very compassion she teaches for herself and for ourselves and others...Her writing is grounded while pointing to the "ineffable". She makes Buddhism and meditation more ... well, meaningful for those in the trenches...all of us...very healing...simply good advice that she makes even clearer!!!Thank you Pema Chodron for your life and sharing so much of it. Another great book!!!

It's a best of some of her writings, and it's really good. It's a nice concise set of one and two page sections from her other books. Something that I found myself reading a second time.

Once in a great while a book like this comes along. It's so honest and plain and challenging at the same time. The short chapters and conciseness furthermore make it all the more accessible.

This book is quite enlightening. I can forsee reading many more of Chodron's books.

This is absolutely the best book I have ever read. It is so intriguing that I have read it at least twice and have extensively highlighted and marked the text.

It is got to be one of the greatest masterpieces of our age.

Carl

This book was recommended in a tape I had heard of a 1992 Retreat given by a Jesuit. It was all it was cracked up to be. Clear, informative and thought provoking.

Came only 2 days after purchase, in perfect condition! These gifts brought great joy! Thanks!

Fr. Nolan wrote this book over 25 years ago. It has recently been republished to celebrate its 25 anniversary by Orbis Press, a progressive Jesus centered Catholic press.

I have read books exploring the real Jesus by Marcus Borg, Geza Vermes, Brian McLaren, Dominic Crossan and other more recent authors, and frankly, I was not expecting any new insights from this book.

It is wonderful, and for its small size delivers a picture of Jesus from the more historical perspective that seems, to me, could have been written last year.

It strikes me how many of the insights of the above mentioned authors and Nolan are "in the same ball park".
They point out that Jesus taught the "kingdom of God" as a way of living and being that God wants to exist NOW on this earth. Jesus has little to say about heaven and how to get there. Jesus cares for the poor; opposes the domination systems; wants his followers to form a community of love, caring, and faith -- not in the future, but in this very present.

This book is very short, but very rewarding. Make time for it.

Nolan wants to understand what people saw in Jesus before anyone could call him "the risen one". There was a movement of Jesus' followers before Easter or Pentecost. What was it like? Nolan's clear, common-sense approach presents reasonable distinctions between Jesus' own teaching and the theological interpretations of later followers. He notes where the later interpretations do or don't fit with Jesus' own words, or with the context of Jewish history. For example, concerning the accounts of Jesus execution, Nolan notes that the gospel accounts say that Jesus gave himself up to the executioners, believing that this was God's will. But the accounts also report that Jesus was a wanted man, and the authorities in Jerusalem argued as follows:

"This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone like this the whole population will believe in him. Then the Romans will come and sweep away our temple and our nation .... it is more expedient for one man to die than for the whole nation to be destroyed." (John 11: 48-50)

Nolan points out that this logic was very traditional. The wanted man must be handed over lest the entire community suffer on his account. Perhaps, Nolan suggests, this was the real sense in which Jesus was "a sacrifice for the people". And possibly it was this threat of punishment from imperial overlords which was later ascribed to God -- so that it was God who had Jesus die rather than make all of humanity suffer.

--author of "Different Visions of Love"

This book takes writings from church founders, and some who argued different points that have not survived well through today in order to compare and show the growth of christianity up till the reformation. It is good in that it uses the actual writings (or translated writings in many cases) of early church founders, which unfortunately can be dry reading, but is extremely informative reading. I recommend reading it along with Placher's other book, A History of Christian Theology, in order to get a full overview of what was happening in the church during the periods of the different writings, but it can be read alone also.

`Readings in the History of Christian Theology, Volumes 1 and 2' edited by William Placher are almost exactly the sort of thing I was looking for when I was planning an `advanced' Sunday School study group examining major commentators on Christian doctrines throughout the last 2000 years. I say almost, because the editing policy which selects small fragments from a large number of documents is really not what I had hoped. A second weakness is that oddly, some major documents were left out.

On the first point, an important discussion topic may be the Nag Hammadi documents, their reflection of Gnostic doctrines, and their relevance to Christian orthodoxy of the first 200 years of the Common Era. The editor includes the most important of these Gnostic gospels, the `Gospel of Thomas'. Unfortunately, the editor only sees fit to include a scant 12 out of the 114 verses printed in, for example, Bart D. Ehrman's `Lost Scriptures'. This is not nearly enough to accurately contrast this document with the canonical gospels on all major points such as the nature of Jesus and the Gnostic cosmology story, which is distinctly different from the one early Christians inherited from the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament).

On the second point, there are important highlights which I really wish would have been included such as the text of Martin Luther's 95 Theses and the writings of Jonathan Edwards on Free Will, especially as the snippet from Augustine is on the subject of Free Will and the topic comes up again in the selection from Blaise Pascal's `Pensees'.

On the whole, the book tries to cover all bases, even if that means the coverage is as thin as a leaf of phyllo dough. I would have much rather seen in the section on (Early) American theology less from Joseph Smith (Mormons) and Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science) and Ralph Waldo Emerson (`Transcendentalist') and much more from Edwards, who was easily the very best American philosophical theologian even up to the present day, rivaling even Charles Saunders Peirce for the distinction of most important American philosopher.

The one thing that makes these failings even more regrettable is that the generally very good bibliography doesn't give references to complete texts for all sources such as any works of Jonathan Edwards or Soren Kierkegaard for example. I would also argue that some of the bibliographical references are not as strong as they could be, for example, the often criticized `The Gnostic Gospels' by writer for the layman, Elaine Pagals.

This pair of volumes remains a nicely inexpensive overview of source documents and a starting point for the study of same, but one could do a better job of providing a good source for all the most important post-canonical writings.

"We are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, by whose grace we see farther than they. Our study of the works of the ancients enables us to give fresh life to their finer ideas, and rescue them from time's oblivion and man's neglect." (Peter of Blois, 12th century)

"Christian theology is a series of footnotes to St. Paul." (Sydney Ahlstrom)



Christian Theology:
A definition by John Leith states briefly but clearly that, "Christian theology is critical reflection about God, about human existence, about the nature of the universe and about faith itself in the light of the revelation of God recorded in Scripture and particularly embodied in Jesus Christ, who is for the Christian community the final revelation, that is, the definitive revelation which is the criteria of all other revelations."

Case for Historical Theology:
"The history of philosophy, especially that philosophy which hired itself out as a handmaiden to theology is a succession of conflicting views and of attempts to reconcile them...theology, which occasionally stoops to speak the language of ordinary men, would describe it as a process of peacemaking between mutually misunderstood friendly opinions. But while in theology peacemakers are pronounced blessed and are they who inherit the kingdom of dogma, ..." Harry Wolfson, Religious Philosophy.
"Christians have always disagreed about what they ought to believe, and both sides in those disagreements have often made a persuasive case. The study of the history of theology teaches that diversity within Christianity is nothing new. Studying the history of theology on its own terms, rather than only when theology touches on some other branch of history, also teaches greater respect for the intellectual coherence of the theological tradition." W. Placher

Theology's beginnings:
"Christianity begins with Jesus, and Jesus was a Jew: born in a Jewish family, ... raised and educated in a Jewish culture. He worshiped at the Temple and in the synagogues; he chose all his disciples from among his fellow Jews. Jesus and his first followers set the shape for Christian theology down the centuries, and they had grown up within Judaism. They took many of its ideas about God, human beings, nature, and history for granted. One cannot understand them or what they said without knowing something about Judaism and the traditions of Israel that lay behind it. A short time after Jesus' death about A.D. 30, a handful of his followers began to proclaim him as their resurrected Lord. The (canonical) books of the New Testament ( basis of theology) come out of that first century after Jesus' death. The general trends in earliest Christian theology were started by Paul and established by John who dominate the New Testament theological thought written by them (or by their followers).

Systematic Theology:
The development of (Systematic) Christian theology, may be known by most of us, but what about how it started and why? By the end of the second century, most Christians in the three great centers of the Roman empire, Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch had agreed that some interpretations of Christianity, by Gnostics, Montanists, and Marcionists, were out of the main stream, of congregational Orthodoxy and were labeled as Heterodoxy or heresies. Since the Gnostics rejected the world of matter themselves, they could not believe that God had fully entered into it, which contradicts the redeeming mission of the Word incarnate. Paul warned against Gnosticism, active in Rome, following its great philosophers in Alexandria. "... Origen combined philosophical sophistication with learned biblical interpretation. Theology in its modern scope, as defined today started in the catechetical school of Alexandria. Origen its second and greatest dean, stands as the first great Christian systematic theologian and as one of the most prolific biblical commentators in history. Although his belief (or hope) that everyone will eventually be saved and his emphasis on Alexandrine allegorical method of Bible interpretation would soon became controversial, after his death.

Fine Theological Quotations:
William Placher, has put together a selected collection of early Church fathers writings, and their consequencial theological fruitage, in the early and high middle ages, although he did not aggregate the Dionysian mystics from the Aristotalian scholastics. While this reader is a pioneer effort to examine the originals, the eminent theologian shied away from applying any historical turn points, that fit within theology much more than Christian history, as Mark Noll proposed. Developments in theological thought and later Church doctrine were initiated and advanced by people and concluded by events. Theological history associated Marcion/ NT canon, Alexandrine theology/Christian Neoplatonism, Augustine/Predestination, Dionysius p-Areopagite/ Mystical theology, Iconclasm/Damascene theology, Aquinas/Aristotlean replacing Neoplatonic philosophy (or faithful fallability and Roman church infallibility), etc.
Although the learned author provided the original theological concepts in quotations of some of the great theological writings he attempted to keep his comments to a neutral minimal. On the other hand A. McGrath rearranged his theological reader in a topical order, that render the focus more on theological concepts and their progress in Church history. which supports Placher's ecumenical goal more clearly. This drawback may be overridden by reading Placher's 'History of Christian Theology' first, or alternatively, as a companion book.

William Placher teaches religion and philosophy at a university nearby to my schools and residence; I've had the opportunity to hear him speak several times. During his time as a teacher, he has written books on religious studies, theology and history for use in classroom settings, and this two-volume set of readings is one such useful product of Placher's.

Originally intended to be reader companions to his earlier work, 'A History of Christian Theology: An Introduction' (1983), Placher discovered to his surprise and delight that these books are able to stand alone without the earlier volume as a useful narrative of the development of Christian ideas.

The first volume deals with Christianity from the earliest days in Apostolic times to the late Middle Ages, immediately prior to the Reformation. The first few chapters deal with the earliest Church Fathers, who were writing at a time Christianity was still trying to form an identity, often over and against beliefs commonly referred to as heresies. The first chapter deals with Gnosticism and opponents -- Placher pulls in writings from Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, Eusebius, and a few anonymous pieces (the Gospel of Thomas, for example). The second chapter moves forward a century into more elaborate developments of Christian thought; Placher chose writings from Justin Martyr, Clement, Origen, and especially Tertullian. The third chapter deals with the Trinitarian and Christological issues that pushed forward through the various credal formulations -- here, Placher draws from a wide range of writers, including the Cappadocian fathers, writers on 'losing' sides such as Arius and Nestorius, and text from the creeds themselves.

Chapters 4 and 5 highlight East and West. The fourth chapter explores many of the leading lights in the Eastern church after the Ecumenical council of Chalcedon, including John of Damascus and Gregory Palamas. The fifth chapter, the only one to concentrate on a specific individual in either volume, deals with Augustine, drawing from his many writings, including the Confessions, the City of God, and lesser works.

The next three chapters look at the Middle Ages in successive Early, High, and Late periods. The Early Middle Ages includes figures such as Jerome, Gelasius I, John Cassian, and John Scotus Eriugena. The High Middle Ages include the greats Anselm, Aquinas, and Francis of Assisi. The Late Middle Ages, up to the period of the Reformation, included William of Ockham (Ockham's Razor), Meister Eckhart, Julian of Norwich (the only woman in the first volume), and Erasmus.

In all, this gives a very solid introduction to the pre-Reformation church in sense of ideas, beliefs, and struggles.

The books in this set are ecumenical in nature; it is generally Western in its bias, tending toward the northern-European and American development; of course, this is audience to whom Placher writes. This is not an institutional history, but rather a history of ideas. Placher has introductions to the chapters and again to each of the primary texts, but these are minimal percentage-wise of the overall text. Placher made the conscious effort to include the most common and familiar of the passages from history, making the persuasive argument that, for students, often the passages seemingly over-used by teachers and ministers, are in fact new.