And Baby Makes Three: The Six-Step Plan for Preserving Marital Intimacy and Rekindling Romance After Baby Arrives

And Baby Makes Three: The Six-Step Plan for Preserving Marital Intimacy and Rekindling Romance After Baby Arrives
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Not for Healthy Relationships

worth reading & good tools for prevention

This will SAVE your marriage! A Must READ!!!!

Great book for Parents to Be

Straightforward, realistic, and useful advice - a good read!

And Baby Makes Three: The Six-Step Plan for Preserving Marital Intimacy and Rekindling Romance After Baby Arrives
John M. Gottman , and Julie Schwartz Gottman
Manufacturer: Crown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Love & Romance | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Marriage | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Sex | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Special Needs Children | Children's Health | Personal Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1400097371
Release Date: 2007-01-09

Book Description

Having a baby is a joyous experience, but even the best relationships are strained during the transition from duo to trio. Lack of sleep, never-ending housework, and new fiscal concerns often lead to conflict, disappointment, and hurt feelings. In And Baby Makes Three Love Lab™ experts John Gottman and Julie Schwartz Gottman teach couples the skills from their successful workshops, so partners can avoid the pitfalls of parenthood by:

• maintaining intimacy and romance
• replacing a culture of criticism and irritability with one of appreciation
• preventing post-partum depression
• creating a home environment that nurtures physical, emotional, and mental
health, as well as cognitive and behavioral development for your baby

Complete with exercises that separate the “master” from the “disaster” couples, And Baby Makes Three helps new parents positively manage the strain that comes along with their bundle of joy.

Customer Reviews:

Not for Healthy Relationships.......2007-10-06

I bought this book because I thought it would have tips on how to keep a marriage fun and exciting after a baby and maybe some tips on how to stay sane. But really this book just teaches you how to argue better. It had nothing to do with adjusting after such a big change. Well, there was maybe one chapter toward the end. The rest of it dealt with working through issues couples had regardless of their parental status.

worth reading & good tools for prevention.......2007-07-10

I am a fan of John Gottman's work and know that it is respected and backed up with research. This book was definitely worth the read. I chose it to help prevent problems since we don't have any children yet. I haven't found anything else out there like it and would recommend it to friends. It's nice to know there are some guidelines out there for something as specific as spousal relationships after bringing home a baby.
They share some interesting cases and give specific examples that I found comforting and useful. For example, using humor when asking your husband to help with the dishes is much nicer than the sarcasm I would normally use.
Also, I was pleased to see that they inform their readers of the importance of their marital relationship before and after birth on a child's emotional & social development. Very compelling!
My only somewhat negative observation is about the exercises at the end of the chapters. They are a great idea, but I don't know if I could get my husband to participate. I'm just grateful to have their suggestions as I enter this stage of life and will introduce the info to my husband if the opportunity presents itself.

This will SAVE your marriage! A Must READ!!!!.......2007-05-26

I am a certified labor doula and I bought this book so I could help my doula clients. I didn't realize how helpful it would be to me as well. I wanted to be able to provide my clients with some good information about how things might be after their baby is born. IT's not an easy transition in many ways. Although delightful, the roller coaster of emotions both parents go through can be rough and lead to divorce. I can't tell you how many times I have gone to a postpartum visit only to see my clients sitting separately. The dad not responding to mom's requests and mom not talking to dad but talking AT him. I know them because we met prenatally and seeing the transition is astounding. The once happy couple, who would do anything for each other while pregnant, is now sad. Dad is no longer focused on mom and wanting to make her happy. Mom isn't really doing much to make dad happy. They are two people living in the same home but they are slowly losing each other. Sleep deprivation and an overwhelming sense of responsibility on both parents is splitting them apart. What's worse is, we don't think about how this will affect the baby.

When couples think about how life will change when baby comes, they often think about how it will affect them. They don't think about how these changes will affect their baby; especially in the long run. This book describes those changes and offers suggestions and support on how to get through them. Dad's typically withdraw and I thought it was very normal. It is, however, if dad withdraws from baby and for significant periods, this will have a profound effect on the baby at the present time and in the long run. We must also think about the baby not just us.

I heard an MD speak about Bringing Baby Home last year. My son was almost 3 at the time. I was shocked when I learned about this transition and the stages that we go through. The biggest reason...we went through each transition! It was like I was reliving what happened. Learning that what we experienced was normal, that everyone goes through it but not everyone survives it. I was able to rejoice in the fact that we were in the last stage and we were going to survive.

It is a rough road this "Transition to Parenthood." Don't let people think you need to be happy when all you are feeling is frustration and resentment. BUY THIS BOOK! Read it in pregnancy and read it again after the baby is born. Go to the classes if you have a local educator. IF you want to survive your marriage or relationship after Bringing Baby Home, YOU NEED THIS BOOK!

Great book for Parents to Be.......2007-03-16

I'm 7m pregnant and my husband and I are extremely excited about our first baby, we are always looking for ways to keep our marriage on track. We are not experiencing any problems, We approach things in more preventative measures, it never hurts to keep educating ourselves. We have been reading this book and doing the excersises so when the baby does arrive and we run into issues we know how to tackle them. I recommend this book to anyone expecting. It serves as a great tool in relationships.

Straightforward, realistic, and useful advice - a good read!.......2007-03-09

This book will definitely help couples keep their marriages on track post-baby if both spouses read it, and I'd recommend reading it BEFORE baby arrives and talking about it together. That way, when you're sleep deprived and your life is upside down due to having a new baby in your life and family, you might remember some of the good advice about how to communicate with each other and take care of each other. I really liked the many examples from couples studied, and the research-based nature of the recommendations. You probably won't be surprised at the "no-duh" nature of much of this book, since caring for your spouse and marriage really boils down to communicating well with each other, thinking about the other person, and treating them with respect and love. Kindness begets kindness! Nonetheless, it's helpful to read the data supporting the recommendations and to have these messages reinforced for you and your spouse. Good luck!

Parenting With Intimacy (Intimate Life Series)

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Parenting With Intimacy (Intimate Life Series)
David Ferguson , Teresa Ferguson , Paul Warren , and Vicky Warren
Manufacturer: Victor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
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Working With Groups on Family Issues: Structured Exercises for Exploring Divorce, Balancing Work and Family, Family Problems, Solo Parenting, Boundaries, Intimacy, Stepfamilies

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Working With Groups on Family Issues: Structured Exercises for Exploring Divorce, Balancing Work and Family, Family Problems, Solo Parenting, Boundaries, Intimacy, Stepfamilies

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Whether you're a clinical therapist or volunteer group leader, Working with Groups on Family Issues gives you tools for teaching people how to cope with today's family relationships, including divorce, single parenting, stepfamilies, gay and lesbian partners, working partners, and more. Twenty-five 30-60 minute structured exercises combine the knowledge of 24 marriage and family experts with practical learning activities to help you move individuals, couples, children, and families toward positive change, regardless of your expertise in addressing family issues.

Parenting With Intimacy Workbook (Intimate Life Series)

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Parenting With Intimacy Workbook (Intimate Life Series)
Teresa Ferguson , Paul Warren , and Vicki Warren
Manufacturer: Victor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1564765237

Book Description

In early July 1809 Napoleon crossed the Danube with 187,000 men to confront the Austrian Archduke Charles and an army of 145,000 men. The fighting that followed dwarfed in intensity and scale any previous Napoleonic battlefield, perhaps any in history: casualties on each side were over 30,000.

The Austrians fought with great determination, but eventually the Emperor won a narrow victory. It had not been his finest battle, however: the day was carried more by firepower (French artillery fired over 71,000 rounds) and bludgeoning than anything else. Wagram was decisive in that it compelled Austria to make peace. It also heralded a new, altogether greater order of warfare, anticipating the massed manpower and weight of fire deployed much later in the battles of the American Civil War and then at Verdun and on the Somme.

This significant battle has rarely been analyzed in any detail. Most of the current literature on it is French and self-serving. Gunther Rothenberg will tell for the first time the story of this immense engagement from both sides, making use of both French sources and the extensive Austrian archives.

Napoleon's Last Victory and the Emergence of Modern War (Modern War Studies)

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Excellent and usefull
Revolutionary New Look at the History of Warfare
Army Corps, Operational Doctrine, and Modern Warfare
A new perspective of the Napoleonic Wars
Thought provoking military history

Napoleon's Last Victory and the Emergence of Modern War (Modern War Studies)
Robert M. Epstein
Manufacturer: University Press of Kansas
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0700606645

Book Description

Presenting a significant new interpretation of Napoleonic warfare, Robert M. Epstein argues persuasively that the true origins of modern war can be found in the Franco-Austrian War of 1809.

Epstein contends that the 1809 war--with its massive and evenly matched armies, multiple theaters of operation, new command-and-control schemes, increased firepower, frequent stalemates, and large-scale slaughter--had more in common with the American Civil War and subsequent conflicts than with the decisive Napoleonic campaigns that preceded it.

Epstein examines 1809 in terms of the evolving new systems of recruitment, organization, and command used by both sides. As he shows, this was the first time that two states confronted each other on the battlefield with armies created by large-scale conscription, organized in corps, and coordinated along two major theaters of operation (Danubian and Italian). As a result, the opponents were forced into "distributed maneuvers" that produced broad operational fronts in which battles became both sequential and simultaneous, but ultimately indecisive.

Ironically, as Epstein points out, neither Napoleon nor the opposing commander Archduke Charles ever fully understood that a paradigm shift had occurred in the conduct of war. Regardless, after 1809, warfare would never be the same.

This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent and usefull.......2007-09-02

I read another books about the 1809 campaign but this exceeds in the analisis of the all around campaign fronts , including a detailled italian campaign point of view Eugene versus John both " minor " generals in the official history , and the austrian corp army evolution . A brief but essential study . If you likes Napoleonic strategy , you must have it !!!

Revolutionary New Look at the History of Warfare.......2006-06-21

This book offers a refreshing and revolutionary new view of the history of warfare and emergence of modern war, one based on the history of military organization and structure rather than the traditional technology based analysis. The thesis is well made and well argued and will certainly be a guiding force in the future of military studies, especially now that are beginning to give greater value to decentralization of military operations in the 21st century. Not only is this work revolutionary and foundational in the field of military studies, it is also an excellent analysis of the 1809 War of the Fifth Coalition with many valuable insights into the relationship between Napoleon, his Marshals, and Prince Eugene.

The only reason I gave this book a 4, rather than a 5, is because of the maps. There are many large detailed maps included in the books, unfortunately the generally span two pages with the centre being unreadable between the pages, the difficulity with this is compounded because the deployments and action is generally towards the centre of the map and, therefore, unreadable. I am rather surprised that problem was not caught before publication. Because of this I often found myself having to resort to other sources for maps while reading the book. However, in spite of the maps, the book is more than worth the time and cost for the revolutionary new look at Napoleonic warfare.

Army Corps, Operational Doctrine, and Modern Warfare.......2003-08-30

Epstein's thesis is thought-provoking and admirably supported. He convincingly argues that the start of modern warfare occurred in 1809 during the Franco-Austrian War when, for the first time in history, two armies met in battle, each utilizing the new doctrine of independent army corps at the new operational level of war. His research sheds new light on the military history of the nineteenth century by challenging the popular wisdom that Napoleon won battles through tactical genius and force of personality alone. Rather, the author demonstrates that Napoleon's genius was primarily manifested in his creation of a new system of warfare based on interdependent action of individual army corps at the operational level of war to achieve strategic objectives. This was a major shift from the tactical-strategic paradigm of eighteenth century warfare (i.e. the ancien regime). Although Napoleon's ideas were based on those of prior theorists, he was the first commander to fully implement this new style of warfare. The result was a doctrinal asymmetry between Napoleon's army and those of his enemies that enabled him to achieve his astounding victories at Ulm, Austerlizt, and Jena-Auerstadt in 1805-1806.

After 1806, however, the other European powers began to organize their own armies according to this corps system. Although they generally lacked Napoleon's mastery of command and control at the operational level, this development ended Napoleon's doctrinal monopoly and restored operational balance to the battlefields of Europe. It was this restoration of doctrinal symmetry at the operational levels of war that account for Napoleon's inability to achieve another Austerlizt in 1809 or thereafter. He strongly suggests that Napoleon himself was unaware of the dynamics of this doctrinal paradigm. Epstein's thesis argues against the possibility of a Lee or Jackson, or for that matter Napoleon himself, capitalizing on this imbalance again. He also argues against the idea that Napoleon had lost his personal edge and was in decline starting in 1809. Rather, the decline of Napoleon's battlefield fortunes resulted from his enemies learning the lessons he himself had taught them in 1805-1806.

While the book is essentially about the developement of the corps system and the emergence of the operational level of war, it is also an excellent operational history of the Franco-Austrian War of 1809. His descriptions of the significant battles, especially Wagram, are thorough, detailed, and readable. The uninitiated reader in the field of military history may suffer from information overload when reading his descriptions and maps, but the detail is greatly appreciated by serious students of the subject. Nonetheless, the general reader will still greatly benefit from learning how warfare fundamentally and irreversably changed in the year 1809. Students of the U.S. Civil War will also benefit from his thesis in that it greatly effects how one weighs the roles of doctrine, technology, and personality during that war as it relates to Napoleon's development of the corps system and the operational level of war.

A new perspective of the Napoleonic Wars.......2003-06-26

Epstein believes it was greater combat effectiveness of Napoleon's adversaries and not the decline of the French army that led to the fall of Napoleon. In his book, Epstein writes about how the Austrians copied the French corps system that allowed greater personal intiative on the battlefield. This also permitted the Austrian army to retreat in detail rather than being surrounded in whole. As a result, unlike Austerlitz, Napoleon was unable to destroy the Austrain army at Wargam in 1809. I would reccomend this book to anyone who wants a new perspective of the closing phases of the Napoleonic Wars.

Thought provoking military history.......2002-08-24

If you are interested in the development of war, this is an excellent read, otherwise turn away. The author shows how Napoleon's decline began as his enemies fought like he did, in a modern fashion. He makes the case that war as we understand it today began in 1809. The maps are wonderful, although the level of operational detail was a bit much.

The Emperor's Last Victory: Napoleon and the Battle of Wagram (Cassell Military Paperbacks)

Average customer rating:

Serviceable work describing Napoleon's last major victory

The Emperor's Last Victory: Napoleon and the Battle of Wagram (Cassell Military Paperbacks)
Gunther Rothenberg
Manufacturer: Cassell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Austria | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

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General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

18th Century | World | History | Subjects | Books

19th Century | World | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0304367117

Customer Reviews:

Serviceable work describing Napoleon's last major victory.......2007-01-28

This is a serviceable version of Napoleon's last major victory--at Wagram, as he defeated the Austrian Army under Archduke Charles. The battle was a monster of its kind, with a huge number of soldiers involved. 300,000 troops fought over a 2 day period; there were about 72,000 casualties (killed, wounded, missing, prisoners), with each side suffering about equally. As the book concludes: "The year after Wagram, Napoleon still looked unbeatable, but Wagram was to be his last decisive victory, the last to break the enemy's will to resist."

The book itself traces the Wagram campaign from its early origins. It describes how Napoleon created an army by shuffling a variety of units, some scattered hither and yon. It also describes the Austrian forces, under the leadership of Archduke Charles.

The maneuvering before the battles itself is described. Indeed, the lead up to Wagram was most propitious for the Austrian forces. In a battle at Aspern-Essling, Charles managed to bloody the French and experience a tactical victory. Unhappily for the Austrians, however, they did very little (such as fortification) after their modest victory. On the other hand, Napoleon redoubled his labors, brought some additional forces onto the field, and developed a typically ambitious plan of action.

At the last instant, Charles decided that he must also show some initiative. Thus, both armies planned to attack the other at about the same time. However, the French generals were better, Napoleon hit his stride during the battle at Wagram, and the end result was a fairly convincing French victory. It was not Austerlitz, but it was a substantial win.

Some useful features of the book: there are some decent maps at the beginning (while they could be better, they are serviceable); there is a nice section with short biographies of the major figures; the "order of battle" provides detailed information on the structure and leadership of the armies. The writing is not elegant, but it is serviceable. For a brief description of Napoleon's last big victory, this will serve.

A final brief comment. The author died before this book was published, always a sad event.

The Emperor's Last Victory: Napoleon and the Battle of Wagram

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The Emperor's Last Victory: Napoleon and the Battle of Wagram
Gunther Rothenberg
Manufacturer: Cassell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OSTAYK

Average customer rating:

The Emperor's Last Victory: Napoleon and the Battle of Wagram
Gunther Erich Rothenberg
Manufacturer: Weidenfeld and Nicolson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORU8TM

Customer Reviews:

all messed up.......2005-08-04

One of the problems in this book is that Littell attacks as anti-semetic Christian teachings such as so-called supercessionism which seperates Christianity and the Church from judaism. The teachings are essentially that after Christ, we as humans are all now equal in God's eyes and that we are not to read into prophecy a special role (prophectic or otherwise) for the Jewish people. Such ideas are not anti-jewish, rather they are the modern foundation of co-existance between christians and jews.

The book ignores the other strain of christianity which rejects these ideas. Starting with the Plymouth Brethern and John Darby, there arose in America a set of very dangerous doctrines which sees the Jewish people as a "means to an end" in Christian Prophecy and religion. God is said to have a special role for the Jewish people which involves first the re-creation of Israel, then the re-construction of the temple, then the driving of all Jews in the world to Israel, then the depature of Christians out of the world to the side of God, and then a war in the world where the majority of Jews will die leaving only christian converts as survivors.

Their theology is nothing less than "blessing" Israel by leading it to the slaughter. His modern followers see it as their duty to keep Israel at war with its neighbors and to help coax it along to what they consider its inevitable descrution. All the while along the way, they work to convert Jews in fufullment of other aspects of their prophecies.

I've heard these people say in public that the holocaust was an expression of God's will and prophecy to enable the re-creation of Israel as a nation. They go into a panic at the mention of Israel making peace with anyone because peace for Israel can only be the work of the anti-christ.

The greatest source of anti-jewish theology in christianity today can be found among the so-called evangelicals. They hide it will in that in public they talk about blessing Israel and their love for Israel, but what they believe in their hearts is that Israel's destruction in war is inevitable and necessary. And that while god will take every christian away to protect them from that war, it is the role of the Jews to be destroyed.

The problem for Littell and his book is that he is fighting the previous battle against anti-semitism while remaining almost totally blind to whats going on around him *today*.

So-called supercessionism is compatable with the modern idea that Jews and Christians can co-exist. Darbyism and its followers see it as their role to bring about the end of the world and lead israel to descrution.

There are other reasons for me not giving respect to Franklin H. Littell. He has over the years made alliances with certain disreputable groups and organizations. He has published in their magazine, received a medal from them, signed petitions on their behalf and has turned a deaf ear to the critics of that particular group. While he falls to his knees in guilt over christianity, he has bent over backwards in obediant service to an utterly reprehensible organization.

In his guilt, he lost the ability to know right from wrong. And has undermined his work since at least the early 1980s.

BEHOLD, ELIJAH IS HERE-I Kings 18:8.......2005-01-21

Elijah was one of Israel's greatest prophets who fled for his life from the Sidonian princess Jezebel, who was married to Ahab, a King of a divided Israel, the division happening after King Solomon's son Rehoboam. Elijah told these words to his servant to tell Ahab that he (Elijah) would appear before him and to stop looking for him. Ahab was the worst of Israel's kings, Jezebel, a gentile, their worst queen; they made unholy alliances and killed the prophets I Kings 18:13 and 19:10. They also killed and slandered and stole see I Kings 21 about Nabaioth's vineyard.

G-d always sends someone to speak to an apostate people, someone like Elijah. The apostates are those within the ranks of the faithful who reject the tenets or teachings of their faith. This book was written to analyze anti-semitism, its sources, its nature, its expression, its danger. There are two appendices in the back of this book, the first contains a document entitled "A Statement to our Fellow Christians" which was drafted by a committee working for the National Council of Churches for which the author served as chairman. Of the 18 theologians who contributed to this letter, one third were Roman Catholic, one Greek Orthodox, the rest all Protestant; 16 of the members were American. They address basically what the attitude of Christians should be to Jews and the nation of Israel and cite scripture and historical events to bolster their arguments. Their last point equates antisemitism to that unforgivable sin, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit Matthew 12:31. They state: "The pain of the past has taught us that antisemitism is a Pandora's box from which spring not only atrocities against Jews but also contempt for Christ. Whatever the antisemite inflicts on the Jews he inflicts on Christ..." Littell warns in this book that "Recent studies show a rise in anti-semitism in the United States", yet he wrote this book nearly 30 years ago. What about today? One evening in Massachusetts, I sat at a table with all Irish Catholics and one replied "those dirty Jews". I'm sure that not everyone felt the same way, but the question remains where did he get that. In a lesson I'm completing from a National Bible study attended by mostly Protestants, one of the questions asks, "What will unbelievers refuse, causing them to be deluded to believe a lie (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12?" Yet can't believers believe lies too? Didn't Christian Germany believe the lies of Hitler? Doesn't Christ himself say that 'Many of the elect will fall away?' Translation: Many will apostize. Hmm. Jesus also said in John 16:2-4: 'the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to G-d...They have not known the Father, nor me. I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you will remember that I told you of them.' It's interesting to remember that Jesus never set foot out of The Holy Land and always spoke to audiences of nearly all jews.

As Littell shows, one source of anti-semitism is Christian teaching itself from its earliest days which is termed displacement theory or supercessionism. This teaching supplants judaism by suggesting that the Church, now in Christ, has nullified everything that went before in the Old Testament. And then there is the deicide charge, that the Jews crucified Christ, which is inaccurate on many counts, and is ignorant of the fact that the Romans crucified many jews before and after Christ. This teaching was not omitted from Vatican II as Littell writes despite much discussion over it. Littell does not trace antisemitic teachings to the Apostle Paul, neither do I. His (Paul's) attitude to his fellow Jews is best expressed in the letter of Romans which is cited by Littell in his second chapter entitled "Christian Antisemitism".

There's much in this little book, much of which I've not relayed to you. I leave you with this statement of Littell's: "A rise of Antisemitism is often the first seismographic reading on a serious shifting and shearing along the fault lines of bedrock Christianity. The fundamental fault line...is a line of false teaching about the Jewish people." Well worth the read, highly recommended for my fellow Christians.

Startlingly honest.......2004-11-01

Israel and the Holocaust are "alpine events deeply resented by many modern Christian teachers," writes Littell in this frank assessment of man's oldest hatred.

For starters, Israel's survival against great odds requires theological appraisal for which few are ready. Furthermore, he observes that popular religion admits error but denies guilt.

Yet according to Littell, a Christian theologian of towering virtue, "the crucifixion of the Jews is an unavoidable reality," for churches exemplifying a shameless fact. This reminds one of Littell's eloquent call, in Simon Wiesenthal's Sunflower, for increased awareness of the earnest nature of the "choice between good and evil, between innocence and guilt."

Israel's very existence, he writes, disproves the replacement theology that would have the Jewish people withering away. The state's strength refutes that idea that Israel and or the Jewish people will eventually be assimilated or annihilated, as well as a "traditional Christian myth about their end in the historic process." For this reason, Littell argues that Israel creates a crisis in much of contemporary Christian theology.

To his great credit, Littell recognizes that it is not only the Christian peoples of the world that cannot define themselves without reference to the Jewish people. The same situation presides for Muslims, whose definition of themselves also stems from Judaism.

Meanwhile, although the Jewish people define themselves in reference to gentiles, it defines neither Christians nor Muslims nor any other non-Jews, but calls them all gentiles and asks only that they abide by Noachite laws--in other words, follow seven of the 10 commandments; all who do so, Judaism considers righteous.

Moreover, the Jewish people need neither Christians nor Muslims to define themselves, which Littell believes perhaps to account for much of the hatred Jewish people have faced over the centuries and today.

Littell recounts quite thoughtfully the history of church anti-Semitism, putting all of this detail into the context of its relevance today. There is a struggle with the past in all churches, he writes, a trial which remains as yet unresolved.

During the Holocaust, he observes, Jewish people died en masse because other peoples and nations did not recognize their people- and nationhood. "Christians, with the exception of a minority of martyrs and confessors, betrayed the life unto which they were called."

But Israel, after all, was and remains the thing that places Christianity into crisis, although Littell admits that Islam's crisis is far deeper than that of Christendom, the Islamic spiritual and intellectual unity remains that of an "unscientific religious culture," which hasn't yet "entered the period of voluntary adherence, pluralism, skeptical study." Littell places the monastic mindset of Islam today on the same plane as the Christian culture of the 13th century.

This hardly relieves Christianity of its grave responsibilities, however. According to Littell, the post-Christian eras of Marxism, secular humanism, postivism, and various forms of fascism must be added to the crisis in values plaguing the west. The assured oral tradition of earlier eras has eroded seriously, he writes, far mores than in the Muslim states, which boast "hafiz," or living libraries, people who have committed many books in the Islamic tradition to memory.

During the Yom Kippur War, Littell recalls the anti-Semitic press pundits whose grossly anti-Jewish ideology boiled to the surface in vulgar BBC, newspaper and even parliamentary oratories and essays. "This was obviously not the same Britain that had stood courageously alone against the Nazis or even the one that under Anthony Eden's leadership had checked Nasser's illegal military operations in the Suez, Sharm-el-Sheik and the Sinai in May 1967.

In France, "even handedness" in 1973 allowed for the training of Arab fighters, a surge in Gaulist right-wing anti-Semitism, and arms shipments to Saudi Arabia and Libya.

In Germany, the nation that in 1952 had admirably embarked upon a rapprochement with Israel, now capitulated to the Arab League. These Christian nations, once Christendom's heartland, "acted in a crucial moment without regard to religious or ethical considerations."

As for free churches such as the Quakers, Landrom Bolling's "Search for Peace in the Middle East" and other similarly titled editions were blind to the ethics, sensitivity, courage and confrontation of injustice for which Quakers were traditionally famous, much less to the facts of the regional history. Most important, these reports all ignored the 1 million Jewish refugees forced from their homes and businesses with nothing by the 22 Arab Muslim nations.

The left wing of the churches, Littell observes, has so often tended to focus on the reformation that it has completely ignored the model set by the Jewish people, forgetting that the new covenant of Christ was laid on the foundation of service to God set by the Jewish people. This, Littell observes, is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called "cheap grace."

Every thinking person of faith should read this shining example of Christian righteousness.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

The Crucifixion of Jesus: History, Myth, Faith (Facets)

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Jesus's death in historical context

The Crucifixion of Jesus: History, Myth, Faith (Facets)
Gerard S. Sloyan
Manufacturer: Augsburg Fortress Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

Jesus's death in historical context.......2007-03-17

Fr. Sloyan has done a credible job of placing the story and meanings of Jesus's death and resurrection within the historical context of Church development. Thus, he helps us to better understand their meaning as learned in the canonical writings, and as the religion evolved from Judaism to Christianity and then towards contemporary understanding. The breadth of the historical developments are extremely welcomed. The conciseness of the book is very welcomed, but the writing style could be smoother.

The Christ-Killers: A Fictionalized Historical Analysis of How the Jews Got Blamed for the Crucifixion

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The Christ-Killers: A Fictionalized Historical Analysis of How the Jews Got Blamed for the Crucifixion
Russ Weinstein
Manufacturer: Listening Post of Melbourne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0963940201

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The crucified Jew: Who crucified Jesus?
Max Hunterberg
Manufacturer: Bloch Pub. Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

The Crucifixion of Hyacinth: Jews, Christians, and Homosexuals from Classical Greece to Late Antiquity

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Excellent Outline
Readable history--I loved it
Pseudo-scholarship of a very poor sort
More than just a "homosexual Issue"
from White Crane: A Journal of Gay Men's Spirituality

The Crucifixion of Hyacinth: Jews, Christians, and Homosexuals from Classical Greece to Late Antiquity
Geoff Puterbaugh
Manufacturer: Authors Choice Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

Greece | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

Rome | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

History | Gay & Lesbian | Subjects | Books

General | Nonfiction | Gay & Lesbian | Subjects | Books

General | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

History | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0595130577

Book Description

A concise and accurate history of the arrival of homophobia on Planet Earth.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Outline.......2005-07-06

This book presents a brief sketch of changing attitudes toward homosexuality in the western tradition, especially the transition from classical greece to late antiquity and the impact of the Judeo-Christian tradition in eroding the pagan acceptance of same-sex relations. Although this book is not an in-depth analysis, I've found it extremely helpful as a skeleton key to this historical transition.

I was surprised to read the author's review of various political books. Geoff,having read many of these books and authors (e.g., David Horowitz, Ed Klien, and other conservative pundits) I'm surprised that you swallow this foolishness. I would recommend you open your mind and check out Joe Conasan's "Big Lies" or even more applicable, David Brock's "Blinded by the Right." Many of the conservatives you champion are people who would gladly burn you at the stake or at least put you in jail for your progressive sexual politics.

Readable history--I loved it.......2002-01-27

Don't be afraid to buy this book if your are not inclined towards scholarly works. While this book seems well researched, with all the necessary citations, it is highly readable and doesn't weight itself down in the minutea. It's a quick read, but comprehensive. The author makes a point of balancing the historical homophobic rhetoric with some wonderful surviving odes to male-male love. I felt informed and empowered. While I can't debate this book on scholarly terms, I can tell you how good it feels to know that some of the most homophobic of early Christian writers also thought rabbits pooped once a year and that hyenas changed sexes. They know not of what they speak! This book doesn't get into the why's of homophobia, but the context and history of it are well presented. I really recommend this book to people who normally wouldn't delve into this kind of writing because they feel it would be too dry. (By the way, great title, but Hyacinth is not addressed specifically at all.)

Pseudo-scholarship of a very poor sort.......2001-11-29

Mr. Puterbaugh seems more intent on maligning the true scholar in this area, Yale historian John Boswell, than on the proper pusuit of historical sources. He skims lightly over many quotes, approaches some true analysis, but always veers away at the last moment. While not quite as discursive as Clement of Alexandria, Puterbaugh is no "sober historian", the sobriquet he chooses for himself in the chapter on the deluded Clement. The publisher has seen fit to provide very generous interlineal space as well as a monstrous bottom margin, so don't be misled by the page count. This is a slim and worthless volume.

More than just a "homosexual Issue".......2001-04-21

Most of the books I have read on the subject of antique sexuality were written under the aspect of socioeconomic analysis. There is an undeniable connection between, say, dowry customs and liberality in the practice of sexual orientations, or between inheritable land and the required virginity of a bride. Matriarchal societies don't allow the male to inherit land, his wife is subject to visits from her husband on the premises of her own clan, but the couple never moves in together, and the bride's clan pays a recompense for the time of his absence from his own people. There is an incentive here, to look for more than one sexual outlet and it is generally accepted. Systems of this kind seem to have evolved from prehistoric agriculture and matrilinear bronze-age dynasties. Evidence for a "patriarchal revolution" that finally overturned the old establishment has left traces not only in classic literature and the Bible: the Amarna tablets testify to upheavals among pastoral Canaanites who are depicted more like social outcasts than a separate tribe or invading nation. The movement finally carried the day against their urban masters -- or rather mistresses -- and that may explain the fanaticism and retentive taboos of the early Hebraic religion, when grumpy old Yahweh still had many peers. The Bible can be read in many ways, it also is a warcry for male dominance (Gen. 2:21), and yes, in many places it is a testimony to homophobia. In Greece and Italy the situation was not very much different from Palestine. Patriarchs took the helm and remodelled the economy and their sex-life, but with a significant difference: in Palestine the Jews had always been a minority surrounded by matriarchs; in Italy and Greece only two matriarchal enclaves survived the early iron-age: the Etruscans and the Spartans. Both were feared by their neighbors for their warlike prowess and very little understood socially. In Palestine the pressure created a need for fanaticism and monotheistic unity. In Greece and Rome fanatic asceticism was confined to the mystery cults -- the official line was a laid back polytheism. Therefore I was surprised that the author had missed his most important link in his presentation of pagan asceticism: the Orphic cult, which at Europe's Mediterranean shores was the first to introduce the ideals of chastity, asceticism and taboos on homosexuality. It was a widespread undercurrent of classical culture, much more popular and influential than any single philosopher. Mr. Puterbaugh's assessment of Plato and Socrates, is, by and large, based on Popper, but I think Plato was too much of an aristocrat ever to leave the boys alone. Only after Viagra couldn't have done its thing anymore he wrote the "Laws" and turned completely into a fascist prig, who not only frowned on homosexuality, but recommended inquisitions, star chambers, secret trials, censorship and euthanasia. And this is a connection which should concern everyone of us: A sexually intolerant legislation ALWAYS comes with some sort of totalitarian agenda. How the historical Socrates fits into this picture is a matter of opinion. This smug enemy of Athens' democracy has never been my favorite saint, and on his trial the court jester and protege of the 30 tyrants had it coming. (Just imagine, with nothing on your mind but minding your own business, you suddenly find yourself cornered by Socrates and his aristocratic companions who jeer him on to humiliate you in a dialectical cat-and-mouse game of leading questions. Who would not be fed up and pay back?) On the whole Mr. Puterbaugh's exposition of pederasty and homosexuality as an accepted practise from Homer's time up to the closing of Roman male-brothels is accurate, very true -- and nothing new. Which is a shame: after two centuries of competent scholarship on the subject, the facts still need to reach a wider audience, and this is what the author had set out to do, before he could move on to his indictment of the one agent who has caused the modern homophobia in legislation and public perception. So Puterbaugh's attack on Philo and Clement struck me first as unfairly hostile. The reason is something, I should be ashamed of: I have read of Philo only "De Legatione" and of Clement only a few Gnostic bits and pieces of a more benign nature. So it is easy to be tolerant simply out of ignorance. Things look different if you speak for a mistreated minority.

But the last quarter of the book really wraps it up. The evidence from late Roman legislation and its enforcement is the darkest thing I have read for a long time. Of course it was part of my job description to know these things, but they use to come in a more diluted form, as dissipated details of a wider picture, easily lost in a flood of trivia. And after all, empires don't fall for simple causes, or do they? Laws and regulations tell us what people think and fear, and sometimes it is good to remember what "history" meant for a Roman: the "custom of nations." When bundled up in this concentrated form as presented here, I really wonder how anybody can propose that history would have taken a similar turn if there had been no Church and no Christian religion. This was more than an instrumental coincidence, this was the ecclesiastical impact on actual legislation, for crying out loud; it motivated perfectly decent people to commit atrocities on a colossal scale and then successfully anesthetized the conscience of the perpetrators. Times were different then, true enough, but what we see here is a deliberate effort to switch off the lights, and from the result, one must say, they succeeded. Ancient civilization may have ended anyway, but not like this. If you expected a quick review on ancient sexual practices and what changed it, prepare yourself for more than you had bargained for -- 177 pages brimming full of facts. Money well spent.

from White Crane: A Journal of Gay Men's Spirituality.......2001-04-13

Subtitled: "Jews, Christians, and Homosexuals from Classical Greece to Late Antiquity," this little book documents and explains what was likely really going on in the ancient world. In a way, of course, what the ancients thought is truly irrelvant today. Our world is so unlike theirs, one of them transported by time machine into the year 2001would hardly recognize he was still on earth and that these current day creatures were descendants of his. And yet interest in the ancients has survived, perhaps for that very reason. For one of the big differences is how sexuality and homosexuality are viewed. That the ancients had different ideas is a reminder that the notions conventional culture takes are time-bound and arbitrary. And that's good news for people dealing with the misunderstandings of modern, Christian-influenced society. Puterbaugh presents a wealth of quotes and references and does a creditable job of explaining them in context. That homosexuality isn't such a new thing is not surprising. But understanding what that means in context often remains elusive. Things were just so different back then.

Geoff Puterbaugh helps make it all make sense. The book is interesting, informative, and readable. And it's a nice addition to the library of books about the historical bases of gay consciousness.

This review originally appeared in White Crane Journal...

Did the Jews kill Jesus?: And The myth of the resurrection,
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Did the Jews kill Jesus?: And The myth of the resurrection,
William A Campbell
Manufacturer: Peter Eckler Pub. Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B000877DBO

Fleetwoods Life of Christ Universal History Birth Crucifixion Resurrection and Ascension Together with the Lives, Transactions and Sufferings of the Apostles and Evangelists Which Is Added Cont.of the History of the Jews in the Present Time
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Fleetwoods Life of Christ Universal History Birth Crucifixion Resurrection and Ascension Together with the Lives, Transactions and Sufferings of the Apostles and Evangelists Which Is Added Cont.of the History of the Jews in the Present Time
Rev John Fleetwood D D
Manufacturer: Gay Brothers and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OKNVQQ

Product Description

No date listed in book but Gay Brothers started around this time publishing

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Jesus, the crucified Jew
Max Hunterberg
Manufacturer: Bloch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B00086CEIM

Jewish Responsibility for the Death of Jesus in Luke-Acts (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament)

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Jewish Responsibility for the Death of Jesus in Luke-Acts (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament)
Jon A. Weatherly
Manufacturer: Sheffield Academic Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Judaism | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

The life of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: Containing a full, accurate, and universal history from his taking upon himself our nature to his crucifixion, ... to which is added the history of the Jews

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The life of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: Containing a full, accurate, and universal history from his taking upon himself our nature to his crucifixion, ... to which is added the history of the Jews
John Fleetwood
Manufacturer: Nathan Whiting
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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