CCEL Classics CD: works by Saint Augustine, John Calvin, John Donne, Julian of Norwich, Brother Lawrence, Martin Luther, Saint Teresa of Avila, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas a Kempis, John Wesley, and more!

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The most important spiritual writings of Christian history are available on this Classics CD by the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) at Calvin College. It contains 118 Christian classics, including three versions of the Bible, several commentaries, Bible dictionaries, readings, spiritual guides, sermons, poems and journals -- all in a convenient, searchable form. Books are available in HTML and PDF formats. The easy-to-use CCEL Desktop software powering the CD enables users to browse and print books and install additional books from the Web. The top-of-class search engine can search for words or phrases in books, in authors works or in the whole library. In addition, it can search for dictionary definitions of words and commentary or references to scripture passages. The interface is a Web browser. The CD is compatible with Windows 2000+, Macintosh 10.3+, and most Linux versions.

Religion and the Order of Nature (Cadbury Lectures)

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Intriguing, but flawed

Religion and the Order of Nature (Cadbury Lectures)
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0195102746

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The current ecological crisis is a matter of urgent global concern, with solutions being sought on many fronts. In this book, Seyyed Hossein Nasr argues that the devastation of our world has been exacerbated, if not actually caused, by the reductionist view of nature that has been advanced by modern secular science. What is needed, he believes, is the recovery of the truth to which the great, enduring religions all attest; namely that nature is sacred. Nasr traces the historical process through which Western civilization moved away from the idea of nature as sacred and embraced a world view which sees humans as alienated from nature and nature itself as a machine to be dominated and manipulated by humans. His goal is to negate the totalitarian claims of modern science and to re-open the way to the religious view of the order of nature, developed over centuries in the cosmologies and sacred sciences of the great traditions. Each tradition, Nasr shows, has a wealth of knowledge and experience concerning the order of nature. The resuscitation of this knowledge, he argues, would allow religions all over the globe to enrich each other and cooperate to heal the wounds inflicted upon the Earth.

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Intriguing, but flawed.......2005-05-13

Nasr's basic premise in this book is that the current ecological crisis stems from the fact that, about the time of the Renaissance, a large portion of humanity abandoned its traditional religion-based view of nature as a living and sacred creation of God, in favor of the view that nature is a dead machine that humans may manipulate however they choose.

Already, at this point, the reader may feel a bit uneasy--justifiably so, in my opinion. Nasr's reductionism leaves him reluctant to point out the substantial differences in the views of nature held by what he considers traditional religions. His stance is that all these religions (such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism) sprang from a common source and were appropriate for those times and places in which they manifested themselves. He believes that only by a mass return to the perennial philosophy embodied in these religions can the planet be saved. Not surprisingly, although he displays a broad and thorough knowledge of many of these traditions, his favorite is his own, Islam, which he considers superior.

Anyway . . .Nasr has some sound notions about ecology and philosophy, but his prejudices are pretty evident. His work is made a little less accessible than it might be for me personally by his references to himself as one of the top authorities in his field, and by his consistent use of the editorial "we" and "our" to refer to himself and his work. (Or is that the royal "we"? With him, it's a little hard to tell . . .)

Contra Marcellum: Marcellus of Ancyra and Fourth-Century Theology

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Contra Marcellum: Marcellus of Ancyra and Fourth-Century Theology
Joseph T. Lienhard
Manufacturer: Catholic University of America Press
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Binding: Hardcover

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Marcellus of Ancyra (ca. 285-374) was a controversial figure in the Trinitarian debate after Nicaea. He has often been written off as the odd heretic who misunderstood the teaching of the Council of Nicaea and taught that the Godhead temporarily expanded into a Dyad, and then into a Triad, but would, at the end of time, contract once again to a Monad. In other words, he supposedly taught that the Trinity was a temporary phenomenon. But, according to the author of this volume, Marcellus was not primarily concerned with speculation on the Trinity; rather his concern was with monotheism, and with the full humanity of Christ.

Here, Joseph T. Lienhard, S.J., studies the so-called Arian controversy of the fourth century from one well-defined angle: Marcellus and his influence. The book shows that Marcellus, far from being isolated, was part of a larger theological tendency. Among those who sympathized with him were Athanasius of Alexandria, much of the western church, and bishops in Asia Minor and Egypt.

Lienhard begins by studying Marcellus's life and the history of modern scholarship on Marcellus. He then examines the Arian controversy in terms of two theological systems in conflict, called "miahypostatic theology" and "dyohypostatic theology," depending on whether a system held that God is best called one hypostasis or two. Lienhard provides a complete analysis of Marcellus's theology, using only the certainly authentic works of his that survive, and traces the reactions to his teaching-from those who remained sympathetic to him, to those who rejected his theology outright, and finally to those who partially accepted his theses.

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Is there a cosmic blueprint?.......2006-07-15

This (2004 edition) is an updated re-publication of Davies' 1988 book. In the new preface, Davies (mathematical physicist, prolific writer, recipient of the Faraday Prize, the Kelvin Medal, and the Templeton Prize) suggests the possibility of something quite outlandish--that if humanity can somehow survive the full future of the universe, that upon the universe's thermodynamic and quantum demise, our descendants might scramble into a new universe of their own manufacture. The assertion brings several thoughts to mind, we might begin with, well, let's say, idea-heisting [I'll not say plagiar_sm, that would be a bit harsh]. (Frank Tipler famously envisioned this kind of scenario in a universe headed for a "big crunch." The big crunch has currently fallen out of favor with astronomers and theorists, and Davies' invented universe envisions the currently favored thermodynamic "big fade away" scenario.) It also might strike us as unrealistic or even arrogant; but, foolish or not, Davies' reason for such 'optimism' is unveiled in the following 200 pages.

What follows is a fast-paced and critical tour-de-force of the state of current and emerging scientific theories and prospects (promising and otherwise) for the future. There are many outstanding discussions, one centered on the mathematics of self-similar scaling -- the "Mandelbrot set" being a famous example. Davies believes that, in principle, science will one day explain, comprehensively, how the world works. Don't hold your breath, we're not exactly close to that day just yet. In some significant areas, notably the deepest theoretical understandings of biological and mind sciences, there seems to have been rather little progress at all. From popular treatments [like glossy spreads in National Geographic magazine, or Discovery Channel shows], one might be led to believe that great insights have been gained into how biological evolution proceeds and how life arises spontaneously from non-life. Davies surveys the competing claims and theories in these disciplines and exposes them as being starkly impotent to date. (There is a popular myth that only religious fundamentalists are skeptical of the neo-Darwinian story line -- but many of the most penetrating minds of modern theoretical science and mathematics, including Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, John von Neumann, and Kurt Godel, among others, have found the Darwinian story to be non-compelling at best, and on some points glaringly wrong. As Davies points out, a world in which 'natural selection' was The Great Generative Engine, supporting only reproductive advantages, many life forms that we observe, like elephants [low birth rate, long gestation period, etc], could not have been 'selected' into existence. It does no good to protest that elephants should not and could not reproduce like bunnies -- in a truly Darwinian world there simply should not be elephants [or humans: striving to discern whether the universe might be headed toward a 'big crunch' or a 'heat death' can offer no reproductive advantage for beings given to contemplating such things!]. One thinks of many Darwin-confuters in the plant kingdom. A world built by Darwinian mechanisms would be populated only by masters of mitosis, and perhaps sex-maniacs that mated like bunnies, although sex itself, a comparatively inefficient means of reproduction [obviously when compared to mitotic reproduction], is another intractable problem for the Darwinian story.) Davies, like many noted physicists, is well studied and articulate in theoretical biology, and finds the state of neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory to be mostly a patched-up, just-so story that is easy fodder for skepticism. He does, however, believe that Stuart Kaufmann's ideas concerning holistic approaches to understanding complexity may be more fruitful. However I give a wrong impression if I seem to suggest that the book is largely about biological evolution, it is not. This is but one of several illuminating discussions, most of which understandably center on mathematical physics.

Davies, an epistemological optimist at any rate, expects that theoretical biology and mind science will one day succumb to our advancing knowledge, and that we will know, exhaustively, how the world works. But to know how the world works is not to know why the world works. Even if science should attain a reductionistic "theory of everything" and a stunning cadre of holistic theories explaining all features of 'emergence' and 'complexity', the big Why question(s) will remain, and any answers will remain as matters of faith, not strict science. Science speaks to "how," but why should this be so? Why should there be an explainable world and why should it contain world-explainers? One can deny teleological inference and many materialists insist [religiously] on doing so, but the denial is one of personal choice, not actual science. The world IS 'up to something,' and this fact IS fundamentally written into the new physics. The mysterious profundity of "why" always remains. In the day that Davies foresees, when physical science has achieved its final triumph, it will not have dispensed with God and it will not have written purpose out of the world.

Well, that's the book in a nutshell, but there's much more to it. I've read something like ten of Davies' books; most of them being either 'good' or 'very good' (with one notable exception) and this volume fits either category, except, perhaps, for that wild assertion in the new preface.

Analytical, informative and creative..........2005-10-11

Davies has the unique ability to integrate various scientific ideas into a cohesive whole. Rather than dodging questions, he addresses them directly. There is a resistance to many of his ideas partly because some scientists are fearful that creationists will use his arguments to denigrate contemporary science.

I hope Davies will continue to do what he does best-- analyze, synthesize and share his ideas.

The Cosmic Blueprint.......2003-05-28

In 1987, James Gleick released Chaos, which was regarded as a seminal work in the subject, but in the same year, a much less popularised book by Paul Davies - The Cosmic Blueprint was also released - a vastly wider-ranging and advanced introduction to the theory of Complexity, as chaos came to be known.

Davies' book clearly explains the fundamental concepts and ties them all in - emergence, nonlinearity, the second law, self-organization, stochastic structures, complex and dynamic systems, darwinism and creativity - in all their cosmological and terrestial implications, with excellent philosophy to back it.

This is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in contemporary science. It still stands as a classic explication of an emerging new scientific paradigm which is now in full swing, and which Davies called and contextualized years ahead of his time.

If you read one science book in your life, this should be it.

The Cosmic Blueprint.......2003-05-28

If you read one science book in your life, this should be it.

IT CANNOT BE LEGO!.......2000-07-31

Besides being, like many others of Davies' books, a little masterpiece of scientific vulgarization, this is a deeply honest enterprise under a strict, intellectual standpoint. But one which, while clinging to a crystalline sense of science's autonomy, aims at promoting a persuasion: reductionism (something called by the less merciful critics "this ritual nothingbuttery") is no more viable as a means of convincing explanation for natural phenomena, especially for those of a higher, more complex order, like living systems, human beings and, on top of all, human conscience and intelligence, both as individual and social processes.

The book strikes a perfect balance - not in the sense of compromise at all costs but in that, more useful and enlightening, of creative dialectical synthesis - between a steady faith in the capacity of science to investigate and eventually unveiling natural truths and a sort of rational and humane optimism which makes one feel that our universe is a formidable work-in-progress with a built-in, but not mechanistic inclination at producing new principles and meaning.

Mystery and freedom (and that flavour of "philosophic poetry" associated with them!) are preserved in the frame of a non-deterministic worldview, because no precise and mandatory evolutionary path seems to have been established at the "beginning", which Davies assumes, like the majority of today's cosmologists, to have been the Big Bang, the "moment" at which all - space, time, matter and energy - broke into being. Rather a potentiality for progress which in the course of billions of years has reached and will reach numerous transition points, from where the universe can branch out into a wide choice of meaningful possibilities. The only "constraint" being represented by a sort of tacit, maternal invitation to follow the route to self-consciousness as if the universe was sketched in such a way as to eventually reach this fundamental stage. For this reason Davies appears to believe, but never in a fixed, dogmatic sense, that just something like a loose cosmic blueprint, whence the book's title, lies hidden at the very core of creation, secretly fostering the growth of that substance we call, with still a bit of approximation, Intelligence.

I think that, like any truly important book, this one was written to revisit old questions and pose new ones rather than to provide standard ready-made answers, because, Davies seems to imply, no definite and irreversible answer is written on the giant cosmic page before us. That's to say: open arguments, for open minds!

During his exposition Davies touches many of the issues on which the debate and the contrasts between reductionism and holism are more vivid and intellectually productive. And he affirms that a new turn towards holism is gaining momentum among the scientific communities the world over as the lego-like philosophy of reductionism shows all its conceptual inadequacy to provide convincing prospects for the advancement of our understanding of complexity and significance.

Such rich notions as Jung's principle of synchronicity and Elsasser's "biotonic laws" are discussed, as well as that nice and inevitable philosophical animal known under the name of Schroedinger's cat, which as every well-read scientific layman already knows implies a plunge into the spectral world of quantum-mechanics. These and many other ideas and hypotheses are presented in a fascinating review of the more suggestive attempts to forge new visions of the universe and its destiny.

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"An eloquent, important plea for a total rethinking of our relationship to the animal world. Mason analyzes the West's 'dominionist' worldview, which exalts humans as overlords and owners of other life.... His powerfully argued manifesto will change many readers' attitudes toward hamburgers, animal experimentation, hunting, and circuses." -Publishers Weekly First published by Simon & Schuster in 1993 and then by Continuum in 1998, Jim Mason's An Unnatural Order has become a classic. Now in a new Lantern edition, the book explores, from an anthropological, sociocultural, and holistic perspective, how and why we have cut ourselves off from other animals and the natural world, and the toll this has taken on our consciousness, our ability to steward nature wisely, and the will to control our own tendencies Jim Mason is an attorney, journalist, lecturer, and coauthor (with Peter Singer) of Animal Factories (1990) and The Ethics of What We Eat (2005).

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As a Biologist, I Had my Head Turned around by this Book.......2005-11-22

This book influenced me more than any book I've read in the last several years. It profoundly changed the way I understand our culture's treatment of animals and our alienation from nature. As a biologist and a writer, I've spent my life thinking and writing about nature and animals. But Mason caused me to reflect differently on many of the experiences I had at universities, caused me to understand differently the detachment that many science professionals practice when studying their subject animals, even in relatively humane ways.

Mason examines the origins of the myths that sustain our need to dominate and control nature, and our separation from nature. Before I read this book, I regarded Americans' abuse of animals as a self-contained problem. Now I understand it to be just one facet of our estrangement from our own basic needs, and from nature, that has led not only to the grossest mistreatment of animals, but to racism and misogyny. Mason pulls it all together in a brilliant cohesive portrait of perhaps our most serious modern dilemma.

An Unnatural Order should be required reading in highschool........2005-06-10

Jim Mason is a intellectual visionary - ahead of his time.

Very rarely does a book come along, you read it and then think - wow this single book really could make a difference if enough people read it.

Unnatural Order analyzes the West's dominionist world view which exalts humans as overlords and the rightful owners of all other life on our planet.

Through very astute analyst, Mr. Mason explains how our society came up with this "might is right / bullying" attitude and how this same archaic and selfish mindset is not only adversely effecting every living thing on this planet but the very planet itself.

I would suggest that if you're a high school teacher and you really want to "make a difference" to some young minds buy a copy for each of your students to read and discuss. This is that powerful of a book.

Without being preachy, Mr. Mason has shown a keen insight into some very challenging problems we as a species are now facing and how we can address those challenges for a better future.

Brilliant..........2004-06-08

Buy a copy of this book for everyone you know!!!

A roadmap for the 21st Century.......2000-08-25

In 1892, Henry Salt published the book Animals' Rights. While it was not totally ignored, it took nearly another century for the modern "Animal Rights" movement to begin, after the appearance of Peter Singer's Animal Liberation in 1975.

When reading An Unnatural Order it will be difficult to not get the impression that Jim Mason is a visionary, on par with Henry Salt. We are privileged to have Mason as a contemporary. Years from now people could easily look back on him as the spark that helped reverse the course of destruction humans were on at the end of the 20th Century. Unfortunately, as with the ideas in it-and like Salt's work-An Unnatural Order has been largely ignored. Like a great movie that no one has seen, the fault for this must lay with lack of promotion. This review is appearing several years after the book's publication. This is unfortunate. An Unnatural Order is an important book.

"This book is written in hope and celebration. My hope is that we have the strength to rid ourselves of the destructive strands in Western culture," Mason begins. These destructive strands manifest themselves in the "Nature Question." Grossly simplified, the Nature Question is the intellectual belief that somewhere in our evolutionary past our ancestors broke their bonds with the living earth and put Homo sapiens above all other life on the planet, resulting in our species having no sense of kinship with other life nor any sense of belonging. The earth is beneath us; we are alienated from nature.

Mason continues "It is now time to bring this question into popular discussion, and I hope this book is a start." The roots of our alienation are deep-and deeply explored. Thirty pages are devoted to identifying dominionism. A picture of the world before agriculture-the seed of dominionism-is painted. Using current research and extensive references, a vivid portrait results that is as believable as any anthropologist's.

An all-things-are-connected web is spun, touching animal-human history and relationships; the crossover to agriculture; misogyny and misothery (the author's invention for "an attitude of hatred and contempt for animals and nature"); racism, colonialism, and dominionism. The breadth of his discussion is extensive and not every reader will agree with all of Mason's personal viewpoints. It irrelevant. In the long run one will feel certain that the book hits the mark of verity.

The final chapter brings it all together and offers Mason's broad outline for what needs to be done to turn dominionism around. He shows how the awareness of our social and environmental problems is widely known, citing the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, quoting political leaders and scholars, and referencing a who's who list of environmental writers, who he concludes all have the same message: "Humanity needs fundamental changes in its relationship with nature."

Supplying the missing piece, Mason states: "All having laid down such strong rhetoric, however, the movers and shakers, with rare exceptions, stop dead in their tracks when they approach the Animal Question. The Animal Question is regarded as illegitimate, silly, peripheral." To address the Animal Question reduces ones credibility. Driving home the point, Mason ponders how Christopher Stone's landmark 1972 article "Should Trees Have Standing?" would have been received had he written "Should Chimpanzees Have Standing?" He concludes that the Animal Question "is the very heart" of the Nature Question. The two cannot be separated. In order to make any progress toward healing our dominionist worldview, this gap must be bridged.

In the last few years some headway seems to have been made in this area. For too long the wedge that existed between "animal" and "environmental" groups has done all harm and no good. Since An Unnatural Order's publicatiom, there has been a call for unity as well as a more serious acceptance of the "Animal Question." Peter Singer's 1993 book and continued efforts with The Great Ape Project; the publication of When Elephants Weep by Jeffrey Masson and Susan McCarthy; and E magazine, which, beginning with its September/October 1995 issue, published a three-part series "to promote a dialogue between these two disparate communities," are just a few. Hopefully this is the start of serious progress.

In 1993, Jim Mason's An Unnatural Order appeared. While not totally ignored, there may never be a "modern dominionism" movement. If the message in his book is even remotely accurate, our culture cannot wait 80 years for some as-yet-unborn author to rediscover An Unnatural Order's message.

Joseph Connelly

A 'must read' for anyone who cares about nature and animals.......2000-08-22

Why are we the most violent and destructive species on this planet? In "An Unnatural Order", Jim Mason tells us. He opens with a clarification of the philosophy of 'dominionism' as expounded in most religions, and declares it as the principle at the root of human violence and warfare. He presents the case that there was a time when humans got along rather well with each other and the rest of nature. It was the time of the forager, mistakenly called the time of the hunter/gatherer by those looking through the filter of western philosophy and religion. For many thousands of years, Homo sapiens did not do much meat-eating or hunting, until widespread, organized hunting appears some 20,000 years ago. When foragers became hunters, and hunters became herdsmen, their view of nature changed from one of provider to one of enemy, and the notion of human supremacy was born. The non human animals, once seen as ancestors, neighbors, teachers and kin, began to be thought of as inferior, dangerous and evil, or simply commodities. With the advent of agriculture, and especially animal agriculture, ideas about a hierarchy of being, ownership of property, patriarchy, domination and exploitation begin to take over human culture. The idea of a male god, with man just below, and women, 'primitive' people and the other animals, below men, became the mindset of the "northern tribes." It was eventually sanctified by western religions and remains the dominant worldview today. Mason takes us on a journey through human history, unfettered by human ego, thoroughly explaining our dissociation from nature and animals, and the resulting losses, both pyschologically and spiritually. He probes deep, and finds the origins of warfare, racism, sexism, religionism and colonialism. He challenges the idea that agriculture was a great human achievement, arguing that it gave us repeating cycles of increased production and growth only at the expense of the environment and the animals that we enslaved. The result has not been success for all humans, but actually an increase in human starvation and suffering, caused by the human population explosion and the misuse of resources. Enslavement of non humans and then humans, followed by the introduction of organized warfare, are the results of the hunter / herder mentality that replaced the original cooperative, egalitarian nature of human culture. Mason, does not simply chronicle our mistakes, he seeks out causes, and offers solutions. He does not blame farmers for the disasters of agriculture, nor does he call for an end to religion. Instead he calls for a new approach to farming, and the return to the family farm, by the re-introduction of sustainable, humane farming methods. Likewise, he calls for a re-discovery of the suppressed voices of progressive theologians who have spoken out against dominionism for centuries. He asks us to re-evaluate our ideas of human supremacy and accept our proper role as a part of nature, not something above it. His approach is unique among most writers -- the preservationists, environmentalists or even the deep ecologists -- as he dares to ask "the animal question." When will we admit to the psychological lives of the other animals, and take this into consideration in our dealings with them? Do they exist just for us? Or are they part of our family, deserving every bit as much consideration as those of "our own kind."

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Sacramental Orders (Lex Orandi Series)
Susan K. Wood
Manufacturer: Liturgical Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0814625223

The Nature and Purpose of the Church: A Stage on the Way to a Common Statement (Faith & Order Paper)

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The Nature and Purpose of the Church: A Stage on the Way to a Common Statement (Faith & Order Paper)

Manufacturer: Consul Oecumenique
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ASIN: 282541302X

A Dissertation On The Origin, Nature, Functions And Order Of The Priesthood Of Christ

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A Dissertation On The Origin, Nature, Functions And Order Of The Priesthood Of Christ
John Wilson
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1430454822

Book Description

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

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Divine and Contingent Order
Thomas Forsyth Torrance
Manufacturer: T. & T. Clark Publishers
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Binding: Paperback

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