During a visit to Paris, Howard Storm, an avowed atheist, while waiting for emergency surgery, had a near-death experience. Outside his body, he was met by begins whom he describes as "the worst imaginable person stripped of every impulse of compassion... a mob of beings totally driven by unbridled cruelty" (17). In their grasp, he began to pray desperately anything he could remember - a mix of the twenty-third Psalm, "The Star-Spangled Banner," and the Pledge of Allegiance. The beings left as he basked in the fact that "Jesus loves me" - even in the darkness of death. In the company of Jesus and the angels his life flashed before him: "They showed me scenes from my life that I would not have chosen, and they eliminated scenes from my life that I wanted them to see" (30). He was particularly struck by his "emotional abandonment" of his children (35). "As my adult life unfolded before us, my self-centered nature predominated, and this greatly displeased my divine company. I did very little that was not in my own self-interest. Other people's needs were less important than my own desires" (36). He realized he was being judged by the truth - for God cannot be deceived. Having been given a second chance, Storm asks many questions of Jesus. The answers he gives about life, reality, truth, and love are simple, yet profound. After his resuscitation and healing, Storm began reading the scriptures and was amazed at how much his experience harmonized with the Bible. He has since become a UCC pastor an an artist. I found this book deeply insightful and deeply moving. It gave me a new desire to preach with boldness as well as live by faith. And you can't ask for much more from a book! Note: It's a shame that some won't read this because they will be uncomfortable that Storm's near-death experience was not all positive. But this must be balanced with the fact that his cry for the Lord - though frail - was heard and he was given a second-chance. Even more, his experience has led him to a fruitful life of loving ministry to others.
There is a connection between a deep uncertainty about the afterlife and the fear of death. But why are people so uncertain about the afterlife? Almost all world religions teach that one's personal spirit or soul survives bodily death. Unfortunately, we've allowed philosophical naturalism to silence our witness to the afterlife. In this book, Nichols argues "that while scientific and philosophical challenges force us to rethink our conceptions of the soul, resurrection, and heaven and hell, we can still make a credible case for life after death with God, for a soul that survives bodily death, for bodily resurrection, and for heaven and hell" (13). Nichols then provides a helpful overview of death and the afterlife in Ancient Judaism, the New Testament, and early Christian Tradition. He then tackles scientific challenges to the afterlife and wrestles with the evidence from Near Death Experiences. He concludes with biblical studies of the soul, resurrection, judgment, heaven, purgatory, and hell. This is a fine introduction to a very important (perhaps, the most important) topic.
Paul was a Jew. He regularly boasted of his extreme commitment to his Jewish heritage. Therefore, the more we learn about first-century Judaism, the better we will understand Paul. Recapturing both Paul (and Jesus') Jewishness has had many advocates - and for good reason. However, Paul's Judaism was formed in the midst of Greco-Roman culture. Unlike Jesus, Paul was a "city boy." Tarsus, his hometown, was a major cosmopolitan center. As an educated young man, Paul would have been very familiar with Greco-Roman culture. Therefore, if we fully desire to understand Paul and his teachings, we must not only view them from the perspective of his Jewish heritage, but also from the perspective of his Greco-Roman setting. When we do this, we discover that many of the passages that moderns react against as narrow and intolerant are really, in Paul's Greco-Roman setting, progressive and revolutionary. Sarah Ruden argues for this powerfully and persuasively in her book. She incorporates many "hot button" Pauline texts to prove her point. For my extended analysis, click HERE.
In this book, two UCC ministers share the highs and lows, the benefits and quirks, and the privileges and challenges of professional ministry. They write in order to counter the glut of books out there that complain, denounce, and denigrate professional ministry. Yes, ministry is difficult - and certainly there are some bad ministers - but most of us really enjoy ministry and do the best we can with what we've got. The pastors deal with all matters of church life, both mundane and profound. The spirituality of hand-shaking, the trappings of living in a glass house, and the unique challenge of being a "preacher's kid" are all dealt with in enlightening ways. Lillian concludes by saying, "So, much of the time, I feel like an invited guest to special places where wondrous things happen. I am not invited because I am a special person, or because I have a particular set of skills, or because I have greater faith than anyone else does. Nevertheless, I am invited to those places in people's lives because I have accepted God's call to do this holy work" (234). This is a fantastic book for all seeking to understand more clearly the inner workings of church life, and even more particularly, of a pastor's heart.
David Lose believes the Bible is a powerful book through which God continues to speak. This book is written in the form of a dialogue in order to help Christians read the Bible better and (hopefully) learn to hear God's voice in it in order to make sense of their lives and also contribute to the well-being of their neighbor and the world (7). In contrast to viewing the Bible as an encyclopedia of facts, he invites us to see it as a scrapbook, a family album, that tells the story of the people of God (19). It is "the story of God and God's unyielding, tenacious, and indefatigable desire to love, bless, and save the whole world." These are good adjectives to describe God because "in the biblical story, God will do just about anything to tell the world and everyone in it that they are loved, that they have value, that they are special to God, and that God has a place and purpose for them" (26). It is not a book of facts, but a book of faith, and that is to be preferred, for how often do we pull down the encyclopedia. In short, the truth is so much bigger than facts. David ably guides the reader to reflect on the the Bible's truth, origin, and authority. He also provides helpful guidance to personal interpretation. I give this book my highest recommendation. I can't think of a single Christian who wouldn't be helped by this material!
In contrast to "changing culture" Hunter calls us to be a "faithful presence" within culture. Christians must reject the culture's understanding of power as domination over others and use power for the good of others. Both progressive and conservatives are guilty of desiring "their religious agenda to be enforced through the power of the state" (147). Christians must seek to conceive of power in way that does not lead to political domination. Likewise, Christians must reject the conflation of public life to politics. When "identity becomes so tightly linked with ideology that partisan commitment becomes a measure of their moral significance; of whether a person is judged good or bad" we have identity politics at its worst (105). "This turn toward politics means that we find it difficult to think of a way to address public (by which I mean collective, common, or shared) problems or issues in any way that is not political. Politics subsumes the public so much so that they become conflated. And so instead of the political realm being seen as one part of public life, all of public life tends to be reduced to the political" (106). There are problems people care about that cannot be solved by politics. Indeed, we know we have conflated public with politics when fairness, equity, justice, and liberty "have come to have little or no meaning outside the realm of politics" (172). Hunter concludes: "Over against the [Fundamentalist's] 'Defensive Against [the culture],' [Progressive's] 'Relevance To [the culture]' and [Ana-Baptist's] 'Purity From [the culture]' paradigms, I would offer an alternative: 'Faithful Presence Within'" (237). Each perspective captures something important, but at the expense of something else: "The concern to be 'relevant to' the world, 'defensive against' the world, and 'pure from' the world all, in certain ways, speaks to authentic biblical concerns. Yet the desire to be 'relevant to' the world has come at the cost of abandoning distinctiveness. The desire to be 'defensive against' the world is rooted in a desire to retain distinctiveness, but this has been manifested in ways that are, on the one hand, aggressive and confrontational and, on the other, culturally trivial and inconsequential. Finally, the desire to be 'pure from' the world has entailed a disengagement and withdrawal from active presence in huge areas of social life" (223). As the prophet Jeremiah taught Israel in exile, we should seek the welfare of the city of Babylon (see Jeremiah 29:4-7). Israel could have withdrawn, been hostile, or simply assimilated with the alien culture, but instead, they were to be God's faithful people in the midst of hostile territory. The book of Acts is proof that the church can be a faithful presence even when it lacks "financial, intellectual, and cultural resources" and has "few defenders among elite classes" (49). Anyone interested in engaging with the culture in distinctively Christian fashion, must read this provocative book! Whether one buys his argument or not, Gerrish provides an insightful summary on faith. New Testament faith (Greek: pistis) is a two-sided concept that corresponds to the English words "belief" and "trust." To believe is to accept something as true. To trust denotes a disposition of the will. One trusts in something or someone. Trust underscores the reliance, confidence and commitment the believer exercises toward the object of faith. Thus, there is a difference between faith as propositional assent and faith as personal trust. Both are aspects of saving faith: "In short: Saving faith is both (1) perceiving one's experience under the image of divine benevolence (fides) and (2) a consequent living of one's life out of an attitude of confidence or trust (fiducia)" (14). Faith as propositional assent is not assent to knowledge in the strict scientific sense. The intellect is not compelled to believe. The intellect must be moved to assent by a deliberate choice of the will. There is for the Christian, however, only one object of faith - God - but the believer apprehends the one object through a multitude of propositions. One of the main beliefs is in God's benevolence or goodwill as disclosed in the gospel.
Religious fundamentalists and the New Atheists have much in common. They express truth claims that reek of false certainties, they seek to convert others to their opinions with evangelistic zeal, and they view outsiders to their "enlightened" perspective as enemies. The madness of extremism is not about religion, but about our distortions of religion. Likewise, the removal of all religion will not lead to utopia: "If only making ourselves happy, kind, and tolerant were as simple as giving up religious faith. If that's all it took, the Soviet Union under Stalin and China under Mao would have been such nice places to live, and for that matter, our secularized Ivy League universities would be filled with saints, instead of back-stabbing intellectuals ready to destroy each other over who gets tenure" (3-4). Religion exists because "moral/metaphysical/spiritual/aesthetic experiences are part of our lives" (65). In the second half of the book, Schaeffer offers some personal reflections on his own faith. His thoughts on how many great part of our lives comes from the unplanned parts (and even mistakes) is profound. Sometimes he takes cheap potshots, but overall his writing is witty and inspiring. This is the follow-up to his outstanding memoir, Crazy for God.
Hunter argues that the church's dominant ways of thinking about cultural change are wrong, naïve, and misguided. In contrast to two popular Christian proposals, culture cannot be reduced to ideas (and the values that arise from these ideas) or artifacts. Culture is more complex than this. "[C]ulture is a system of truth claims and moral obligations... embedded within narratives... [and] grounded in the social world... in concrete institutional form" (33-34). Though popular preachers argue for change from the grassroots up, this is not how culture works: "Even where the impetus for change draws from popular agitation, it does not gain traction until it is embraced and propagated by elites" (41). Thus, it is naïve to think that any culture can be changed in five years or even the space of a generation. "Culture is endlessly complex and difficult, and it is highly resistant to our passion to change it, however well intentioned and heroic our efforts may be" (47).
Gerrish argues that faith is not an exclusively religious word, but "the perception of meaning and purpose in one's life through commitment to an object of ultimate loyalty in which one finds security" (33). Whether one is religious or not, "a faith of sorts underlies the whole of human existence" (43). The belief in an external, meaningful world; the belief that our senses accurately receive information from this world - "these are the presuppositions of every scientific experiment and every scientific generalization" (43).
Yale scholar Carlos Eire laments the loss of the concept of eternity that was an essential component of the history of Western civilization. This is tragic for "when we lose eternity as a horizon we can end up with totalitarian, materialistic nightmares" (xiv). His book opens with a bang as he considers the possible end-time scenarios that await our universe - either the Big Freeze, the Big Whimper, or the Big Crunch. As far as we can tell, the universe is transcient and impermanent, and we human beings are insignificant in the seemingly endless expanse which engulfs us from all sides. Why then do we dream of forever? Of permanence and endurance? We ponder the unimaginable. This is not a "hiccup of gross irrationality" as some materialists like to argue. Eire surveys human conceptions of eternity from the ancient Hebrews and Greeks all the way to contemporary postmoderns. He argues that, at its heart, the Protestant Reformation was about the rejection of the dead and their relationship to the living as expressed in Catholic indulgences: "The false point of Luther's attack on Tetzel was the doctrine of purgatory and the custom of performing certain rituals to alleviate the suffering of the dead in the afterlife" (109). Hence, by rejecting the medieval Catholic conception of the afterlife, Protestants may be to blame (at least, partially) for the secularization of the Enlightenment. Eire also challenges Enlightenment elites and their postmodern children with the conceit of replacing one belief system (the notion of revealed truth) with another (that of the power of human reason) and rejecting - with certainty - that which is beyond reason, that is, the concept of eternity. Not all who believe in eternity are terrorists. "But what shocks and disturbs Westerners about these self-professed martyrs [suicide bombers] is not their belief in the afterlife, but their belief in the righteousness of killing and maiming civilians at random" (201). Belief in eternity is a blessing, but like all blessings, it is a mixed blessing: "Men who do not expect to cavort forever in some eternal paradise with eternal virgins in exchange for some horrific self-immolation that kills thousands in the name of the Almighty tend not to fly aircraft filled with passengers into tall, crowded buildings. But then, again, men who believe that they will suffer eternal torment for failing to love their neighbor usually shy away from doing that sort of thing too. Normally they also avoid building extermination camps where human beings can be turned into ashes and soap very quickly, by the hundreds of thousands, or millions, with industrial efficiency" (222).
Against the enthusiasts who praise the internet for its "democratization" or culture and the skeptics who condemn the internet for "dumbing down" culture, Nicholas Carr argues that the greatest danger of the internet is that it is changing the way we think - and not in wholly positive ways. New media offers real advantages, but always at a price, for "media aren't just channels of information... they also shape the process of thought" (6). And what is the process of thought the internet rewards? The internet rewards swift skimming and undermines deep concentration and contemplation. For my extended analysis, click HERE.
This is an essay focusing on how Siegel and Shuster took a negative image - Nietzsche's superman - and retooled him into an American icon. In the Science Fiction of their day, the superman was almost always a "sinister figure... obsessed with his power and... contemptuous of mankind... who cannot be permitted to exist." Siegel and Shuster's innovation, their originality "was in differentiating their creation from his predecessors ... by being neither alienated from society nor a misanthropic power-obsessed nemesis but a truly messianic figure... the embodiment of society's noblest ideals, a 'man of tomorrow' who foreshadows mankind's highest potentialities and profoundest aspirations but whose tremendous power, remarkably, poses no danger to its freedom and safety" (68). Superman helps others because he wants to help others. He "chooses to do it because it brings him great satisfaction" (206). A fun book for a Superman fan!
Robinson attempts to counter "the ultimate statement of the modernist impulse to discredit the witness of the mind" (56). She rejects contemporary "parascience" which treats "scientific knowledge as complete, at least in its methods and assumptions, in order to further the primary object of closing questions about human nature and the human circumstance" (129). Even "[i]f 'mind' and 'soul' are not entities in their own right, they are at least terms that have been found useful for describing aspects of the expression and self-experience of our very complex nervous system" (xi). The quarrel between religion and science is overrated. There is no symmetry between the two: "[S]cience is a comparatively recent phenomenon, for several centuries strongly identified with the culture of the West, which it has profoundly influenced and by which it has been formed and channeled. Because it is recent and culturally localized, it is difficult to distinguish from its setting... Religion, on the contrary, is ancient and global, and. since it has no clear geographic or temporal limits, persisting as cultural habit even where it seems to have been suppressed or renounced" (10). Science has not eclipsed the value of religion or metaphysics. The modern rejection of metaphysics is misguided. One cannot pretend to dispel mystery by appealing to accident. Robinson writes, "I have come to the conclusion that the random, the accidental. Have a strong attraction for many writers because they simplify by delimiting. Why is there something rather than nothing? Accident. Accident narrows the range of appropriate strategies of interpretation, while intention very much broadens it. Accident closes on itself, while intention implies that, in and beyond any particular fact or circumstance. There is vastly more to be understood. Intention is implicitly communicative, because an actor is described in any intentional act. Why is the human brain the most complex object known to exist in the universe? Because the elaborations of the mammalian brain that promoted the survival of the organism overshot the mark in our case. Or because it is intrinsic to our role in the universe as thinkers and perceivers, participants in a singular capacity for wonder as well as for comprehension" (71-72). Either way, we must not lose our minds - or our souls - to the reductionists of parascience.
Video games owe a great debt to Dungeons and Dragons. Especially multi-player games. This book chronicles the movement from playing Dungeons and Dragons on paper to the massive online computer worlds based on the same principles. From the earliest text-based computer role-playing games played on University servers to first-person three-dimensional shooters like Castle Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake to online games like Ultima Online and Everquest, the authors reveal the common denominators in all. This book brought back great memories. I played RPG games as a kid, surfed the early bulletin boards, used Prodigy and America Online, and now am a fan of Dungeons and Dragons Online. I still feel like a geek, not chic!
This is an amazing look at the mind of a genius. Daniel sees numbers in colors and shapes. He memorizes languages and finds patterns in everything. He tells the story of growing up in a large family. Perhaps the most surprising material (to me) is his story of becoming a Christian through the writings of G. K. Chesterton (pages 223-226).
An endless series of concussions provides the framework for Meat Loaf to tell his life story. With all his accidents, he's lucky to be alive. Meat Loaf tells his story from his childhood to the making of "Bat Out of Hell II." Lots of pictures and crazy stories makes for a quick and enjoyable read.
Two of my favorite heavy metal albums are Ozzy's first solo albums with Randy Rhoads. Because of this, I read Ozzy's newest biography. One thing becomes clear upon reading it - Ozzy should not be alive. And yet he is. He tells the story from his childhood until the present. He describes Black Sabbath as "a blues band that had decided to write some scary music" (83). Unlike some radical followers, they never took any of the satanic stuff seriously. Ozzy's love for Randy is apparent and his story of coming to know and love Sharon is interesting. A quick, fun read.
Prince Chivalry removes himself from being the next king when knowledge of his bastard son, Fitz, becomes public. With royal blood in him, Fitz is a potential threat to the kingdom and the remaining princes. He is trained to be an assassin for King Shrewd. Most of his assassin work has to do with putting to death villagers who have been "Forged" - their humanity removed by the Outislanders. Conflict arises when Fitz must choose between blindly doing the king's bidding or doing what he thinks is right. Chade, his trainer, tells him, "Never pretend we are anything but what we are. Assassins. Not merciful agents of a wise king. Political assassins dealing death for the furtherance of our monarchy. That is what we are" (350). But Fitz struggles with his assignment: "This was not a serving of a king's justice. This was not a death sentence for a crime. This was a simple removal of a man who was an obstacle to greater power" (350).
King-in-Waiting Verity builds war-ships to fend off the Outislanders but the problem is too great. He decides to search for the Elderlings, leaving the castle under the dangerous hands of his ambitious younger brother, Regal, who will stop at nothing to gain the throne. What Regal does to Fitz, King Shrewd, and Kettricken is absolutely evil and the novel ends on a completely down note, which demands picking up immediately with book three.
Killed by King Regal who has finally usurped the throne, Fitz is brought back to life through his Wit connection with his wolf. After a failed attempt to assassinate Regal, he begins a quest to find King-in-Waiting Verity who has ventured off to find the Elderlings. This is the story of his quest. A bit too long, but still captivating, with a very satisfying conclusion.
What a set of twisted fairy tales! Good intentions are never rewarded in this collection of fairy tales from hell featuring genius chickens, crappy snowmen, and sombrero-wearing maggots. Happily ever after does not exist in this dark world, and yet, the stories touch a nerve through their connection to contemporary fears and events. I enjoyed this, but I imagine most people wouldn't.
This is the story of Yeine, an heiress to a king who oversees the gods who have been reduced to "weapons" by one God. Though convoluted, Yeine's discovery of who she is and why she has been chosen is well-paced and compelling.
In search of work, Tyler and Anna Mayfield move to the small town of Wormwood. A meteor lands in the center of town, leading some residents to proclaim the end of the world, others to take advantage of Wormwood's new fame, and others to expect alien visitation. Tyler sees aliens - which may or may not be attributed to his pot-smoking. Anna sinks into depression. I won't give away the ending, but not enough happens in this book to merit interest.
Two Voyagers come into the possession of three pages that appear to have their origin from the top of the Great Divide: a sheer cliff soaring miles above the clouds and rumored to be the end of the world. They attempt to discover what lies - if anything - beyond the Great Divide. What awaits is unknown, but one Voyager, who wants only to be the greatest Voyager ever, has the suspicion that they will be waking a Fallen God. The tension mounts as the story progresses and one gets the sense of deep tragedy awaiting all. Though the conclusion is swift and horrific, the ride is well worth it for those who like their fantasy dark.
In the real world, Thomas Covenant is a bestselling author who recently has become a leper. He has lost his wife, society shuns him, and he is - understandably - very bitter. He is summoned into a fantasy land where he bears the semblance of a former great hero. He refuses to believe what's going on around him. That is the reason he is Thomas Covenant, "the Unbeliever." The stakes for the land grow great as he reluctantly helps. His despicable actions bring great challenge and suffering to others. This is a good introduction to what I'm told is a great series.
After retrieving the Staff of Law and returning home to his leprous existence, Thomas Covenant is summoned back to fantasy world by his ill-begotten daughter, Elena. This time, another earthman is there, leading the war efforts. Again, Thomas refuses to believe his situation or to take responsibility for it (for to take responsibility would be to believe it). He gives a good reason for his unbelief: "If he failed, he would die. And if he succeeded, he would never again be able to bear the numbness of his real life, his leprosy" (105). He reasons that this is the reason Lord Foul allowed him to be summoned: "It was the means by which Lord Foul attempted to ensure the destruction of the Land. When inadequte men assumed huge burdens, the outcome could only serve Despite" (105).
After helping a young girl surive a snake bite, Covenant is summoned once again from his leprous existence to the fantasy earth. The story follows High Lord Mhoram's defense of Revelstone and Covenant's journey to Lord Foul's Creche. Though Covenant still doesn't believe in this world, he decides to do something about the situation anyway because of all those who've lost their lives because of him. To me, the climax was a let down. We don't learn much about Lord Foul, his motivations, or the reason for Covenant's summoning in the first place. One simple act brings about Foul's ruin.
A great collection of short stories about Geralt, the Witcher, who hunts monsters for pay. Each story stands on its own and usually involves a nice twist. I enjoyed the quick pace and fun dialogue. At one town, Geralt patiently listens as people describe a whole host of monsters that don't really exist. When asked by his travelling companion why people invent monters, Geralt responds, "People like to invent monsters and monstrosities. Then they seem less monstrous themselves" (215). Great book!
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