Amazon.com
The savvy, chatty author of The Courage of Their Convictions brings us a scholarly reckoning of the 200-plus years of decisions made by the highest court in the land. Not surprisingly (and justifiably, given his erudite arguments), Peter H. Irons represents the court's work as a never-ending appeal of the powerless to the powerful: of the just over 100 supreme justices who have sat on the court, all but two have been white, all but two have been men, and all but seven have been Christian, whereas the supplicants to our nation's highest bar are typically racial minorities, women, and deviants in some way from the religious and social mainstream.
Taking a representative (if not comprehensive) accounting of the Supreme Court's most significant decisions, Irons puts cultural and political context--and a human face--to the parties involved, painting an absorbing and involving picture of landmark cases that readers are likely to recall but not fully understand. Whether he's explicating the tortuous history of freedom-seeking slave Dred Scott or explaining the "a Jap's a Jap" reasoning behind the legal exculpation of World War II internment camps, Irons reminds us of the court's spotted history while still conveying the deep affection he has for it. (Includes a thoughtful appendix with the complete text of the Constitution and suggestions for further reading.) --Paul Hughes
Book Description
Recent changes in the Supreme Court have placed the venerable institution at the forefront of current affairs, making this comprehensive and engaging work as timely as ever. In the tradition of Howard ZinnÂ's classic A PeopleÂ's History of the United States, Peter Irons chronicles the decisions that have influenced virtually every aspect of our society, from the debates over judicial power to controversial rulings in the past regarding slavery, racial segregation, and abortion, as well as more current cases about school prayer, the Bush/Gore election results, and “enemy combatants.” A comprehensive history of the people and cases that have changed history, this is the definitive account of the nationÂ's highest court. BACKCOVER: It is such good reading that we allow the author to lead us places in history that we might not have expected to travel. (The Boston Globe)
Customer Reviews:
A Difficult Read.......2007-04-17
I think that most of the reviewers of this book must be lawyers who are accustomed to over developed and complicated sentence structure. This is a writing technique well practiced by the legal profession and insurance policy writers.
Slogging through this book is just plain tortuous. It is very detailed and is probably a good book for pre-law or first year law students. Anyone else will find it to be painful.
The author is definitely a lefty but presents his viewpoints honestly and very well. The subject matter is fascinating but the execution is excruciating.
Interesting read.......2007-03-12
Although it drags a little at the beginning, once you get to the
history and the cases, it gets interesting. It's writtin in plain
english, except for the legal terms which are usually explained.
Someone not interested in the Supreme court probably would find
it rather boring, but then why would they be reading it? Author
writes with a pro-civil rights anti-business sentiment which
is most often justified (considering past civil rights abuses),
but it is not too overly done.
Just be ready for this slant on the cases (an opposing opinion
is not presented). All in all I enjoyed the book and think it is
well written.
Kudos.......2006-11-10
As a retired Judicial Officer I was very pleased with the presentation by Professor Irons. The book is written in a manner that regardless of your understanding of the law and Supreme Court decisions it will hold your interest. Since that reading I have bought his other books and even a course of his on DVD through The Teaching Company.
We are not only presented with crucial decisions but the reasons, good or bad, for that conclusion. This occurs with the additional reward of what social and poltical forces help shape these decisions.
The book is easily readible and extremely informative. I suggest this for those interested in quality writing, history, sociology and the law..
I wish this was required reading for all high school students.......
If you like others to think for you, this is your book!.......2006-11-04
Irons does a decent job of relating the history of the U.S. Supreme Court in an "easy to understand" manner. What this means is that he tries to paint a folksy picture of the people and issues surrounding the major court decisions of the past two centuries--he basically summarizes the major decisions, briefly explains why they're important, and then tells you his opinion and why it is correct. The book gives the reader nothing that your standard constitutional law reader does not--in fact, it gives less historical substance, compared with Kutler's book--but the appeal of this book is that it reads more like a novel and less like a history. Apparently some people like others to do their thinking for them. I do not, so I only found this book to be of minimal use. I wish that someone would have warned me about the book before I wasted my time on it, so hopefully I can prevent similar disappointment to someone else.
Good for history, bad for legal analysis.......2006-09-29
I give the author credit for explicitly revealing his biases in the book's opening pages. The author is a war protesting, left-leaning, liberal, and is a proponent of a "living Constitution" that conforms to his own ideas of a perfect society, rather than a view that treats the Constitution as a legal text. I strongly disagree with his views, but because he does not present his biases as fact, but instead openly warns the reader, I was able to continue reading.
The book's best feature is its compelling and detailed treatment of the Supreme Court's history. The author undoubtedly spent many hours parsing through obscure legal and historical materials to present the reader with a view of the factual circumstances surrounding the major legal developments of the past 200 years. As someone not very well-versed in American history, I appreciated the author's sensitive treatment of that subject.
Perhaps because of the author's biases, the first half of the book reads better than the latter half. I got the impression that I was reading a fairly objective account of the Constitution's framing and of the Civil War era. However, when discussing more recent developments, the author does not resist his urge to launch into juvenile tirades against those who have viewpoints diverse from his.
His legal analysis is generally flawed, and suffers from overt biases. He argues that it is a "dubious proposition" that the 14th amendment only applies to state action. This is strange, given that that amendment plainly states, "No *state* shall..." Scholars on both sides of the ideological debate understand that the 14th amendment was passed to bar only states from denying persons the equal protection of the law, but the author is not happy about that. Thus, he explodes into a meaningless rant about how anyone who thinks that that amendment is limited to state (as opposed to federal action as well) is a deceptive liar. As the book progresses to speak of the more controversial issues of the day, the author's biases speak louder and louder; I found myself skimming the last 150 pages, not trusting a single word that was coming out of his mouth.
That being said, I am quite happy that I read the book. It is not a great book, but it is well worth reading for its extensive historical analysis. And when the author does not launch into attacks against conservatives, he does add considerable insight to an important subject.
Three stars.
Book Description
No book has been more pored over, has been the subject of more commentary and controversy, or had more influence not only on our religious beliefs but also on our culture and language than the Bible. And certainly no book has been as widely read. But how did the Bible become the book we know it to be?
In this superbly written history, Jaroslav Pelikan takes the reader through the good bookÂ's evolution from its earliest incarnation as oral tales to its modern existence in various iterations, translations, and languages. From the earliest Hebrew texts and the BibleÂ's appearance in Greek, then Latin, Pelikan explores the canonization of different Bibles and why certain books were adopted by certain religions and sects, as well as the development of the printing press, the translation into modern languages, and varying schools of critical scholarship.
Both an enduring work of scholarship and a fascinating read, Whose Bible Is It? will be eagerly welcomed by the many fans of Elaine PagelsÂ's books and Adam NicolsonÂ's GodÂ's Secretaries.
Download Description
Jaroslav Pelikan, widely regarded as one of the most distinguished historians of our day, now provides a clear and engaging account of the Bible's journey from oral narrative to Hebrew and Greek text to today's countless editions. Pelikan explores the evolution of the Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic versions and the development of the printing press and its effect on the Reformation, the translation into modern languages, and varying schools of critical scholarship. Whose Bible Is It? is a triumph of scholarship that is also a pleasure to read.
Customer Reviews:
BERN iN HeLL.......2007-06-29
BBERN IN HELL FOR READING AND RIGHTIN THIS BOOK! YOU'LL BE SORRY!!!
I am over the age of 13.
celebrating the nature and function of Scripture.......2007-01-18
Reading any book by Jaroslav Pelikan is a rare privilege and pleasure, not to mention an occasion for envy and humility by lesser mortals who fancy themselves as scholars. Magisterial, meticulous, encyclopedic, prolific, and prodigious, Pelikan is the Sterling Professor Emeritus of History at Yale University where he served on the faculty from 1962-96, the past president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2004 the recipient of the Library of Congress's annual John W. Kluge Prize in the Human Sciences (the $1 million award focuses on academic disciplines not covered by the Nobel prizes). Most in his guild would consider him the greatest historian of Christian thought in his generation.
Now in his early eighties, Pelikan has written a wonderfully accessible book about the nature and role of the Bible in its worshipping communities that follows as a sequel to his Jesus Through the Centuries (1985) and Mary Through the Centuries (1996). The Biblical documents are decidedly historical documents, not gold tablets dropped from heaven and kept "pure" from human time and place. The thirty-nine books of the Hebrew Scriptures, for example, were written across about 1,000 years. The twenty-seven books of the Christian New Testament, he observes, are hardly a single book but rather a sort of mini-library of early believers. As documents embedded in human history, Pelikan reviews how these Scriptures were first written, then transmitted, formed into a single rule or canon in a way that excluded other noteworthy candidates, translated into other languages, hand-copied and then commercially-printed, and variously and often divergently interpreted. Along the way he demonstrates how the Scriptures impacted and were impacted by art, architecture, hymnody, classical music, liturgy, economics and politics.
However historical, though, believing readers rightly approach the Scriptures as more than ancient artifacts that require, even deserve, scholarly scrutiny, for in them we encounter the God who speaks and acts. Pelikan clearly loves "the Good Book" that he has studied so assiduously for sixty-plus years (both his grandfather and father were Lutheran pastors), and he always has one eye on the ordinary believer in the local church or synagogue. In their personal piety and corporate worship believers encounter "the power of the Bible to change lives" (p. 133). We can and must analyze and scrutinize the text with all the tools of the historical sciences, but ultimately, Pelikan reminds us, "I am not the subject but the object in my encounter with the word of the Bible...The historical or philological desire to comprehend what it says has been and is vastly less important than the religious need to understand it in order to obey it" (pp. 249-250). This is because "to the eyes and heart of faith," the Bible is, "after all, a love letter, one long love letter." Pelikan's ultimate intention, then, in this book about the Book, is "not to undermine its authority but to celebrate its message" (pp. 201, 231).
Interesting and well organized history.......2007-01-12
If you have a large study bible with many features, you probably have a diagram in the back that looks like the "family tree" of various bible translations--who went back to the Hebrew texts, who to the Vulgate, etc. I always found this interesting, as it helped explain why some versions of scripture were so markedly different, as well as giving the year of translation which helps understand the historical and cultural climate.
Pelikan's "Whose Bible Is It?" is like that diagram--only more dynamic, more interesting, more informative and more complete. He gives you the cultural, political, and social climate throughout the evolution of the Scriptures as we have them today; in addition, he touches on important historical and cultural events that were impacted by Scriptural translations, or influenced the actual translations or transcriptions.
I found this book to be interesting and informative. It is at times challenging to read--not something to read piece-meal, or while you are half asleep, as Pelikan's sentences are longer than the Apostle Paul's, and his train of thought rather convoluted at times. He weaves history and his commentary together in a very readable way, highlighting major figures and events not like a textbook, but as someone who is so well aquainted with the whole story and all of the details that he is chosing to share only the juiciest, most relevent and interesting sections with his readers.
This is not a book to fortify one's faith as a Christian, it is not a book to put on the shelf next to books by Lewis, or Packer, or Vieth, or Pless. In particular, it seems to deliberately try to discount the notion of the innerrancy of scripture and even the one-way-to-salvation held by the Christian faith. Pelikan was Christian (Lutheran then Orthodox), but seems to be trying so hard to be "fair" or "PC" or "well rounded" that he does not push Christianity as "the way"; maybe it is that he did not let his personal religious convictions mingle with academic objectivity, but this is not a book that promotes Christianity above Judaism or even Islam. It is also apparent that Pelikan was at least something of a proponent of the "higher critical" way of thinking; he does discuss this aspect of the history of scripture in interesting detail.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. When I opened it for Christmas, my brother in law saw the title and said "when you finish reading it, let us know [whose bible it really is]". I don't think there is a good answer to that question--which ambiguity seems to be even what Pelikan intended.
A brilliant history of the formation and use of the Bible through the ages.......2006-12-29
Jaroslav Pelikan's wide-ranging book follows the origins of the Bible from oral tradition and early writing, the gathering of the canon, translations from the Septuagint to modern missionary translations, the impact of the Reformation on use of the Bible and historical-critical study and the ways in which this has changed our view of Scripture.
He writes with a wonderfully light touch, adding occasional flashes of humour and referring to history and scholarship within the Jewish, Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox traditions as well as commenting on the Qur'an. His chapter which outlines the books and message of the Old Testament (Hebrew Tanakh) is masterful and there are many other highlights of the book which offered new insights into how modern Christians see this amazing piece of literature that has so shaped our western culture in the last 3000 years. This is the best book that I have read on the history of the Bible and it is a wonderful resource as well as a fascinating read.
Good Overview of Pelikan's Study.......2006-12-18
Jaroslav Pelikan is a Kluge Prize-winning historian and author. In this short book he traces what he says as the evolution of the Jewish and Christian Bibles from early Hebrew, Greek and Latin texts to the modern versions. He also examines the formation of the New Testament, influences of the Renaissance and Protestant Reformation.
The author is respectful and this work will appeal to a broad audience. He does correctly affirm the role of the Bible as the Word of God. Pointing out that the Bible has been through many revisions and was once a body of oral tradition. The author seems to mainly be summarizing his knowledge on the history of the Bible with broad-brush strokes as we follow its history over the centuries. But he does state the obvious, which I agree with, that it is important to study the Bible in the original languages. I suggest you take your time reading this book in order to gain the most benefit from it.
Book Description
This inspiring book gives you a splendid example of how to live as a Christian in a secular environment that can be indifferent or hostile to your Faith. For Elisabeth Leseur had two great loves: God and her husband Felix, who was an atheist. Felix loved Elisabeth as well; yet to their mutual sorrow, he couldn't share the life of the Spirit that Elisabeth cherished.
Occasionally the happiness of their life together in upper-class Parisian society was shattered by Felix's frustration and impatience. How could such an intelligent woman waste her time, as he saw it, with ignorant superstitions? Sometimes he and his friends would even ridicule and mock her faith.
But Elisabeth loved Felix too much to allow their home to degenerate into an emotional war zone. She realized that confrontations and arguments were useless; she chose instead to keep quiet and pray for Felix. In her secret diary she recorded how she used his efforts to destroy her faith as means to grow in love for him and for God.
Throughout their life together, it grieved Elisabeth to think that Felix might be separated from her for all eternity because of his rejection of God.
For her, life in Heaven wouldn't be happy without him. Yet when she died prematurely, Felix was still an unbeliever.
The story doesn't end there. When Felix found this diary, he discovered how Elisabeth's whole life bore witness to the truth of the God she loved.
In time, Felix was transformed by the diary and his memories of Elisabeth. He became a Christian and, later, a priest. Now she may even be declared a saint. Elisabeth's diary and spiritual writings (all included in this one volume) map out for you a path to marital harmony and greater love for God — especially if you love someone who stands outside the Faith. Let Elisabeth's two great loves, and her faith and perseverance, inspire you now.
Customer Reviews:
The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur.......2003-03-22
'My Spirit Rejoices'& 'Light in the Darkness'
or 'The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur' - Sophia Institute Press
It is not often that one finds a book of such vital import that it changes one's life. But the journal kept by Elisabeth Leseur is surely one of the most compelling books I have read in many years. It ranks with the great works of the Carmelite Saints: St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and St. Therese of Lisieux.
For many years now I have kept Elisabeth as my companion during Lent; a great Spiritual Director in an age of darkness. She holds the light of Eternal Truth and points out the way with calm assurance.
Elisabeth experienced an extreme degree of spiritual isolation owing to the timbre of her times in Paris high society. Her husband was aggressively atheist, as were many of his friends and associates. She kept the love of God deep in her heart, and it was to the Heart of Jesus to whom she turned for daily solace.
At Elisabeth's death her husband, Felix, found her secret journal; and as he read the pages of the journal, his heart turning to remorse, the last vestige of his hatred for the Catholic Church was swept away in the tide of his beloved wife's counsel. Reconciling to the Church, Felix Leseur entered a seminary and became a Catholic priest. Elisabeth's cause for Canonization is now open at the Vatican.
Book Description
Whose Art Is It? is the story of sculptor John Ahearn, a white artist in a black and Hispanic neighborhood of the South Bronx, and of the people he cast for a series of public sculptures commissioned for an intersection outside a police station. Jane Kramer, telling this story, raises one of the most urgent questions of our time: How do we live in a society we share with people who are, often by their own definitions, "different?" Ahearn’s subjects were "not the best of the neighborhood." They were a junkie, a hustler, and a street kid. Their images sparked a controversy throughout the communityâand New York itselfâover issues of white representations of people of color and the appropriateness of particular images as civic art. The sculptures, cast in bronze and painted, were up for only five days before Ahearn removed them.
This compelling narrative raises questions about community and public art policies, about stereotypes and multiculturalism. With wit, drama, sympathy, and circumspection, Kramer draws the reader into the multicultural debate, challenging our assumptions about art, image, and their relation to community. Her portrait of the South Bronx takes the argument to its grass rootsâprovocative, surprising in its contradictions and complexities and not at all easy to resolve.
Accompanied by an introduction by Catharine R. Stimpson exploring the issues of artistic freedom, "political correctness," and multiculturalism, Whose Art Is It? is a lively and accessible introduction to the ongoing debate on representation and private expression in the public sphere.
Book Description
Many historians of religion now recognize that Christianity is a global faith whose most vibrant expression and growth are found today in the non-Western world. But no one explores this reality and its implications for modern life with the depth of learning and personal insight of Lamin Sanneh.
This book is unique in the literature of world Christianity, not least for its novel structure. Sanneh's engaging narrative takes the form of a self-interview in which he asks questions about the cross-cultural expansion of Christianity and provides insightful answers and meaningful predictions about the future. This technique also allows Sanneh to track developments in world Christianity even while giving attention to the responses and involvement of indigenous peoples around the world.
Sanneh's own background and lifelong involvement with non-Western cultures bring a richness of perspective not found in any other book on world Christianity. For example, Sanneh highlights what is distinctive about Christianity as a world religion, and he offers a timely comparison of Christianity with Islam's own missionary tradition. The book also gives pride of place to the recipients of the Christian message rather than to the missionaries themselves. Indeed, Sanneh argues here that the gospel is not owned by the West and that the future of the tradition lies in its "world" character.
Literate, relevant, and highly original, "Whose Religion Is Christianity?" presents a stimulating new outlook on faith and culture that will interest a wide range of readers.
Customer Reviews:
New Models of Faith and Community.......2007-10-18
We are in a time of extraordinary growth in Christianity fueled primarily, as Sanneh writes, by "several factors: the end of colonial rule; the effect of mother tongue development and Bible translation; indigenous cultural renewal and local agency; and the theological stimulation of the Christian adoption of the African names of God." (41-42) Sanneh provides new perspective in the study of the expansion of Christianity, which complements my prior reading of Latourette's seven volumes on the Expansion of Christianity. Sanneh suggests the missionary should give "priority to indigenous response and local appropriation over against missionary transmission and direction." In other words, the notion that the gospel has been "from the West to the Rest" has been a false view of the expansion of Christianity. Sanneh, a Gambian born former-Muslim adherent, provides a reversed perspective highlighting the "indigenous discovery of Christianity rather than the Christian discovery of indigenous societies." (10)
WHAT IS SANNEH'S CENTRAL PURPOSE FOR THE BOOK?
What was Sanneh's central purposes in writing this book?
It appears that Sanneh's purpose was to assist the Post-Christian Western Church to make "live contact" with Post-Western Christianity. To accomplish this, Sanneh explains this shift of the Church to the Majority world outside the West, including the
One of Sanneh's key points is that "local renewal takes place without global orchestration." Sanneh makes a distinction between "world" and "global" as they relate to Christianity on the grounds that "world Christianity has nothing of the global structures of power and economics that global Christianity presumes." (78) Because new communities have embraced Christianity, mostly without Western orchestration, Sanneh calls for a "fresh understanding of the gospel in world history." (14) That fresh understanding should be a simple as if a child were in our midst as we explained it; after all, that is the model Jesus gave as he explained the kingdom of God. Sanneh reminds us, "Jesus measured spiritual deafness, not literacy."
The Western Christian world is caught in what Sanneh calls a "Western debilitating guilt complex." While much of the Western Christian world predicted a decline in Christian numbers, Christian expansion continued to gather momentum in Asia and Africa. John R. Mott told the delegates of the ecumenical conference at Edinburgh 1910 "to expect Africa to be taken over by Islam." However, Sanneh offers hope: "A post-Christian West is not so far gone that it cannot make live contact with a post-Western Christianity." (80) "The West should get over its Christendom guilt complex about Christianity as colonialism by accepting that Christianity has survived its European political habits and is thriving today in its post-Western phase among non-Western populations, sometimes because of, and in spite of, Western missionaries." (74)
The Western worldview may need adjustment in order for such contact and revitalization of the Church in the West to take place. "In spite of its impregnable roots in secular autonomy, individualism will likely be modified by the communicative realities of cross-cultural encounter." (7)
There is a fresh theological advantage to societies where the recent large-scale conversion followed the adoption of indigenous names of God. These names of God are basic to the structure of traditional societies, forming and regulating their cultures. "It's therefore hard to think of viable social systems without the name of God, but easy to envision societies that have become vulnerable because they lost the name or the sense of the transcendent. (Maybe there is a lesson for a post-Christian West here.)" (31)
My case study paper has been informed greatly by Sanneh's perspective of indigenous theological advantage coupled with the growing new reality of a global Church, which celebrates difference while experiencing a greater unity in the Body of Christ globally. Sanneh writes, "The world is becoming one, not from the synthesis of all cultures into one, or from the discovery of a common genetic pool, but from the accelerating pressure to acknowledge and celebrate difference when that is no longer remote. That is the deep movement of the spirit in our time."
HOW DOES SANNEH DESCRIBE CONVERSION?
Conversion, it should be easily agreed, is "the turning of ourselves to God, and that means all of ourselves without leaving anything behind or outside." (43) I recall a meeting in India where a well-known Sri Lankan Christian leader in dialogue was asking the urgent question of conversion at the gathering. Conversion is confusion in India, besides being illegal. My response to the "dialogue" was to say conversion is like adoption, being taken into another family. This Sri Lankan leader, whose name I withhold, stopped the dialogue and began to preach in a way that exhibited a stark disagreement with the only white guy in the crowd, me. Because conversion is such a volatile subject, especially in India, I appreciate the clarity and simplicity with which Sanneh approaches the subject.
SUMMARY.
This book challenges us to look for new models of faith and community. Sanneh describes how, in the current expansion of World Christianity, "fishing nets in the form of religious vocations, formation, and apostolic structures will be needed to avert disarray and disenchantment." He writes, "Growth requires the expansion of both physical buildings and horizons to make room for new models of truth and community." (40)
Some reviews misunderstand the author's goal.......2007-09-19
The author is at pains early in the book to differentiate between "Global Chrisianity" (i.e. Christianity imposed on cultures by European colonial efforts (e.g. South America)) and "World Christianity" (aras where Christianity develops more as a result of genuine faith experience than colonization efforts). Understanding this distinction, it is reasonable that the majority of the book focuses on Africa. On the other hand, this is not the only locus for World Christianity and, to my knowledge, the author, having come from Gambia, fails to acknowledge his bias towards Africa.
The discussion itself is worthwhile with solid points throughout. The "interview format", however, detracts from the presentation of the information. The author has a very 'academic" writing style, which better lends itself to continuous reading rather than the "stop and go" approach of an interview. One can scarcely imagine the "answers" he provides being adequate for an interview with someone such as Larry King or Terry Gross. This vehicle costs the book a great deal for those engaged in academic study as the "jerkiness" of the format makes it difficult to get into a reading rhythm. While perhaps handy for bathroom reading (i.e. pick it up and read 2-3 questions and answers) it is poorly suited to reading many pages in one sitting.
This is the type of book that you struggle through the first time (because of the interview style) but reference with some frequency afterwards (oddly enough, because of the quick, succinct presentation of information provided by the interview style).
I give it 4 stars for the treatment of the subject matter and 2 for the presentation. Average = 3 stars. Worth the price, but no more...
This author needs an editor!.......2007-03-06
Is Christianity a white man's religion that should be rejected by native peoples? Is Christianity a tool of cultural oppression of the Third World by Western imperialists? Is Bible translation a subtle way to sway indigenous peoples into rejecting their own culture? The author says that the answer to these questions is "no". Unfortunately, it took considerable effort from me to come to those conclusions from this text.
I eagerly anticipated reading this book but I am sad to say that it was a complete disappointment. I would not recommend it because the author's premises were consistently obscure and poorly stated. It appears to be written for academics by an academic all of whom might appreciate writing that is abstruse but it just frustrated me. My initial clue that this might be a difficult read was when I saw that there was only the introduction and two chapters in the 130 pages of the book.
The question and answer format did not help either. I felt like I had come in late to a conversation between two people who knew each other very well; so well that one could finish the other's sentences. Unfortunately, I did not know either of them so while the two in the conversation knew what the other was saying, I, as the reader, felt completely left out of the discussion.
A good editor would have anticipated the questions that a reader would ask and would have forced the author to go back and answer them. The topic is important and it deserved better than the Eerdmann's editors gave it.
yale theologian's global purview.......2007-01-18
Employing a question and answer rhetorical device, Lamin Sanneh, a native of Gambia who teaches at Yale Divinity School, creates an imaginary dialogue between a representative of the secular, post-Christian West, and himself, an advocate for and scholar of what he calls post-Western Christianity. "World" Christianity, as he understands it, must be distinguished from "Global Christianity." The latter is really just a version of European Christendom, the sad "cultural captivity of faith" no matter how exotic its location. World Christianity, on the other hand, as it has emerged with explosive force in the last several decades, is made up of previously non-Christian societies and cultures who have accepted and adopted the Gospel in and through their own unique idioms. Thus, Sanneh prefers to speak of indigenous cultures discovering Christianity rather than of Christianity (read: the post-Christian West) discovering indigenous societies. For the most part, this resurgence of World Christianity has proceeded since the post-colonial period began, and "without Western organizational structures, including academic recognition, and ...amidst widespread political instability and the collapse of public institutions" (p. 3). In the last third of the book he examines the revolutionary impact of Bible translations in these indigenous movements. Christianity, in fact, "seems unique in being the only world religion that is transmitted without the language or originating culture of its founder" (p. 98). Along the way, he explores ways in which the post-Christian West, so long accustomed to understanding itself as the spiritual creditor to the entire world, might now benefit and learn from World Christianity as its debtor (pp. 57, 74). Except for a few brief remarks about China, Sanneh focuses on his native Africa.
Modern Handbook.......2006-03-03
Lamin Sanneh's work sketches the relationship between East and West in the development of Christianity as a Global phenomenom. His work, in terms of content, closely resembles Phillip Jenkins work - The Next Christendom. However, where Jenkins looks to statistics and trends to analyze and predict (which is unbecoming a historian) the direction of contemporary Christianity, Sanneh goes beyond statistical analysis and insightfully relates issues of aculturation and indigenization. Jenkins' work seems shallow in comparison. Sanneh uses a dialogue style in order to adequately present the intricacies of question concerning the development of Christianity outside a Western context. Sanneh's prior work on translation and his current work on African religious traditions influence the examples that Sanneh uses, but the book is not limited to these topics. In its conciseness and intellectual rigor, this book represents a helpful handbook for understanding the new face of the global church and how we can effectively discuss the subtleties of Global Christianity.
Book Description
Jaroslav Pelikan, widely regarded as one of the most distinguished historians of our day, now provides a clear and engaging account of the BibleÂ's journey from oral narrative to Hebrew and Greek text to todayÂ's countless editions. Pelikan explores the evolution of the Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic versions and the development of the printing press and its effect on the Reformation, the translation into modern languages, and varying schools of critical scholarship. Whose Bible Is It? is a triumph of scholarship that is also a pleasure to read.
“An engaging and highly readable survey of biblical scholarship that tells a fascinating and complex story.” —The Wall Street Journal
“A crisp, remarkably succinct history of the Bible as preserved, interpreted, translated and canonized by the various faiths that believe in it.” —Los Angeles Times
“Engaging . . . an excellent overview.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Outstanding . . . Pelikan takes the reader through the process of scripture building with a fluency and ease that is both accessible and understandable.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Masterly . . . Pelikan weaves a tapestry of the power of the Word to mold religious communities, nations, and culture. . . . Engaging, concise, and highly readable.” —The Christian Science Monitor
Customer Reviews:
Purely honest, deliciously readable, short history of the most influential and #1 printed book in western culture and the world.......2007-01-15
INTRODUCTION:
It is unfortunate that most Christians in the US are clueless of how the Bible (Old Testament + New Testament) came to be compiled or made into the canon that we have today. Pelikan's short history (that spans 256 pages) of Bible's origins, translations, transmission, re-discovery, preservation, and publication is one of the most readable and accurate book in this topic of the history of the Bible.
Unlike the subtitle, the title question spurs the reader to search for the answer. In its introduction, it seems the answer is ... it belongs "to all the people that believe" (the Jews and Christians) ... but the real answer is revealed in no uncertain terms at the very end, in the Afterwards chapter.
AUTHOR:
Recently deceased Dr. Pelikan, former Yale professor, Lutheran believer progressing towards and adopting Orthodoxy, is one of the best historical theologian America has ever had. For a man who jokingly said recently that he would be "dying without an unpublished thought" and with over 30 scholarly books written, he is best known for his magnum opus 5 volumes "The Christian Tradition - a History of the Development of Doctrine", "Jesus Through the Centuries", "Mary Through the Centuries", and "Creedo."
CONTENT:
As someone who loves history and for whom the Bible is not a strange topic, there was lots of things to underline and notes to write in "Whose Bible Is It?" Too much to even list here. What I will say is that the mystery behind such terms as Septuagint or TaNaKh have been demystified. Also, as a result of this read I know better how to discuss with Muslims about the Jewish and Christian Bible. The most insightful chapter, I have to say, has been "The Strange New World within the Bible" (the one before
the Afterwords chapter.
CONCLUSION:
* Have you ever read a book and said, wow!?!
* Do you wish you had an appetite for reading or studying the Bible?
* Do you wonder how this complex book called the Bible (Jewish and Christian ones) came into being and how it was read throughout the centuries?
"Whose Bible is it?" provides more than answers to these questions. This book provides a delectable account of the history of the book Jews and Christians revere so much and call the "revealed word of God" - a great short history geared for everybody: Jew, Christian, and Muslim; for believer and non-believer; for the curious, the timid, and also the devout ones; for the liberal, the fundamentalist, and the moderate ones; for the novice and scholars; for the young and old.
Enjoy your re-discovery of the historical and literary beauty of the Bible !
Scholarship and Readibility.......2006-11-03
Jaroslav Pelikan is a well-known religious scholar who writes for us laypersons in "Whose Bible Is It?" Solid scholarship as well as readibility (and it is not a huge tome) make it a useful tool for those of us who lead Bible-related discussion groups.
A capstone for an amazing life of scholarship.......2006-08-21
Pelikan's death this May drew my attention to his life and work. Til then, I hadn't been aware of this book. It's a wonderful review of biblical scholarship -- accessible yet in no way condescending. Pelikan was a student and thinker of the highest order. This book shows his deep respect for his subject and for his readers. That he never quite answers his title's question is no drawback for me. On the contrary, I'm grateful that he has given me great tools to use as I struggle with the question myself.
An excellent survey.......2006-08-07
This is an introduction to the History of the Bible, but even readers who are already familiar with the outline of the subject will, I think, discover many details that are new to them in this very well told story.
The first half of the book deals with the establishment of the Jewish and Christian Canons. The summary of what is in the books of the Old and the New Testament is perhaps a little pedestrian, but I found the discussion of the Septuagint and its importance interesting.
In the second half of the book, Pelikan discusses how the Bible was used, revised and interpreted from the Middle Ages to the present time. It includes, for instance, a discussion how Christians squared the making of sacred images in illuminated manuscripts or icons with the prohibition against such a practice in the Old Testament; a section on the Qur'an's relationship to the two parts of the Bible; one on new translations of the Bible during the Renaissance following the revival of Hebrew, Greek and classical Latin; and one on the hugely important role the Bible played during the Reformation. He discusses `lower criticism' - the clearing up of linguistic problems presented by the texts - and `higher criticism' - the work done from the 17th century onwards which examined the Bible as one might examine a text attributed to, say, Homer: as a patchwork put together by human beings of human writings produced at different times, rather than, as in the case of the Five Books of Moses, being the text by one author working under divine inspiration. Other challenges to the literary truth of the Bible were to come from historical, archaeological, anthropological, and finally of course scientific disciplines, starting with a critique of the Pentateuch but eventually reaching the figure of Jesus himself. Pelikan suggests interestingly that the Roman Catholic understanding of the Bible was slightly less vulnerable to these developments, since the medieval Catholic Church had long taught that the Bible could be understood on four different levels: the literal, the allegorical, the moral and the eschatological, whereas the Protestant beliefs had based themselves firmly on the literal meaning of the Bible. Even so, it was Protestant scholars who were most active in Higher Criticism.
None of this, Pelikan points out, affected the increased circulation of the Bible. In English the Authorized Version has been followed in recent times by a flood of revised versions in more modern English. In 1986 the American Bible Society distributed nearly 290 million bibles. There has been an explosion of bibles in Africa (Pelikan gives a charming extract from a Masai creed in which `Jesus was always on safari doing good').
The last chapter and the Epilogue are Pelikan's own eloquent meditations on the eternal value of the Bible to him, to our culture, but first and foremost to the Jewish and Christian communities, `neither of whom would be anything without it'.
I regret the absence of an index, and having the source notes at the end of the book rather than at the bottom of the relevant page is a minor inconvenience; but it does not detract from the value of this scholarly, sensitive and thoughtful book, a fitting memorial to a distinguished author who sadly died in May this year.
N. Ravitch, I am laughing at you............2006-02-21
Rarely is one's ignorance and arrogance so boldly posted! Prof. Pelikan is an emeritus Yale professor and is critically applauded by reputable institutions. Anyone with his credentials has much to offer. Maybe he isn't always right (who is?), but did you read what other (more reputable) readers have said? YOU lack credibility in the extreme. Be more humble in your reviews - or, better yet, don't review.
Book Description
"More dramtatic than fiction...THE GUNS OF AUGUST is a magnificent narrative--beautifully organized, elegantly phrased, skillfully paced and sustained....The product of painstaking and sophisticated research."
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Tuchman has brought to life again the people and events that led up to Worl War I. With attention to fascinating detail, and an intense knowledge of her subject and its characters, Ms. Tuchman reveals, for the first time, just how the war started, why, and why it could have been stopped but wasn't. A classic historical survey of a time and a people we all need to know more about, THE GUNS OF AUGUST will not be forgotten.
Customer Reviews:
The Guns of August.......2007-09-15
If you have any interest in World War I the Guns of August is a must read. This book has been sitting on my bookshelf for years--I know this because the price on the jacket is under $20.00. I was always concerned that the book would be a slow and plodding work with too much time invested in describing the strategies of the various battles.. Yes, there are varied descriptions of the various August 1914 battles, but they read like a novel, are essential in understanding the futility of the War and the superficial understanding of the world that England, France, Russia, and even the United States had in 1914.
Barbara Tuchman is an excellent writer--it is know accident that she won the Pulitzer Price for this book. Surprisingly, this is a quick read and the 400 pages (hard cover) go very quickly. One develops a keen understanding of the mindset of the French, English, and Germans before and during the war. Tuchman gives fair treatment to the French, English, and Germans. It is not surprising that the war aims of the Germans do not seem to differ much between WWI and WWII. . Tuchman paints a portrait of pre war Europe with its artificial entangling alliances as a powder keg ready to explode. As you read the story of the first month of the War you are struck with the overarching theme, which I think is true of most wars, that while the powers sough an early overwhelmingly decisive battle you feel the foreboding by those in the know that if timetables are not met this will be a long and stalemated conflict. August of 1914 certainly sets the stage for the remainder of 20th century history. This is a great book. I do not know why I waited so long to take it off my shelf
Guns of August.......2007-09-12
Super account of the first days and campaigns of WWI.
"Guns of August" is particularly good in its ability to capture the mindsets of generals on both sides. The account of the violation of Belgian neutrality and the civilians' taking up arms to defend their nation at all costs was especially effective (and well-researched).
A great start.......2007-09-12
For those of you just beginning to explore the Great War and it's causes this book is the place to start. Tuchman's ability to weave together the all to human story of the mistakes and blunders committed by egotistical, naive, and often downright stupid leaders, still resonates clearly today. This book should be required reading for all politicians and State Department officials.
Strong anti-German bias.......2007-08-27
This book has excellent military analysis and I can see why it has many admirers. However, I purchased it in order to learn more about the origins of World War I and was profoundly disappointed. The analysis is quite limited and dominated by a heavy anti-German bias. Of course all works of history will show the author's bias to some degree, but parts of this book read like a melodrama, with Germany as the villain and Belgium as the hero.
Studying the start of World War I gives us an opportunity to learn better ways of preventing future catastrophic wars. When the analysis of German war aims relies on "the hatred of a barbaric culture against anything civilized," that opportunity is lost.
An August Book.......2007-08-23
While it's been a while since I read this, I clearly remember that it was superb. Tuchman's ability to bring history to life is unsurpassed.
I'd strongly recommend this book to anyone with the least interest in the subject of WWI. While just using the war's first full month, BT gives us a clear view of that world and its people who became involved in the incredible machine of death that was The Great War.
I would also suggest Keegan's "The First World War" for a fuller description of the war in its entirety.
Customer Reviews:
Political propoganda posing as a homily.......2007-08-30
This book can only be described as political propaganda. The author hides from readers vast amounts of key information necessary for understanding what in reality is a complex conflict. Moreover, the information he selectively does provide is more often than not misleading, or even just false. One review of the book by Dexter Van Zile correctly notes that "the book is a compendium of factual errors, misstatements, omissions and distortions that portray the modern state of Israel in an inaccurate manner."
The review goes on to note that:
"The errors are egregious and numerous. For example:
* Rev. Dr. Burge portrayed an essay by well-known commentator Daniel Pipes as offering a message exactly the opposite of what Daniel Pipes actually wrote.
* Rev. Dr. Burge attributed a quote to David Ben-Gurion that had been exposed as false and fabricated several years before publication of Whose Land? Whose Promise? (The book the author cites as the source for the quote in question - a work book intended for high school-age students - does not include the quote in question.)
* Rev. Dr. Burge falsely stated that Israeli-Arabs are denied membership in Israel's labor movement, when in fact, one of the books he cites reports that Israeli-Arabs had been allowed full membership in Israel's largest union - the Histadrut - since 1959.
* Rev. Dr. Burge falsely reported that Israeli-Arabs are barred from the service in Israel's military.
* Rev. Dr. Burge falsely reported that Israeli-Arabs are prohibited from joining Israel's major political parties.
* Rev. Dr. Burge mis-characterized UN Resolution 242 as requiring Israeli withdrawal to its "pre-1967 borders" when in fact it does not.
* Rev. Dr. Burge portrays Hezbollah as a "resistance organization" when in fact its political agenda and leaders clearly state the organization is dedicated to the destruction of Israel - a fact he omits in his description.
* Rev. Dr. Burge portrays the founding of the PLO as an attempt to resolve the problem of Palestinian refugees created by the 1948 war when in fact its founding was motivated by a desire for the destruction of Israel.
In short, Burge's book is not an honest assessment of Israeli policies, but an inaccurate indictment."
If you want an example of how selective information and distortions can make one side appear evil and another side innocent, than Burge's book will do. But if you are hoping to learn about and understand the Arab-Israeli conflict, you'll have to look elsewhere.
Combustible Mix of Misinformation and Hostile Theology.......2007-08-13
This book is a hostile mix of misinformation and hostile application of both Hebrew and Christian scripture to the modern state of Israel.
Rev. Dr. Burge omits ongoing efforts by Israel to negotiate an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict and Palestinian decisions that have led to continued violence in the region. The book's subtitle (What Christian's Are Not Being Told About Israel and the Palestinians) is no excuse for such distortions.
Rev. Dr. Burge's application of scripture is also deeply troubling. For example, his exposition of John 15:6 states that "The people of Israel cannot claim to be planed as vines in the land; they cannot be rooted in the vineyard unless first they are grafted into Jesus. Branches that attempt living in the land, the vineyard, which refuse to be attached to Jesus will be cast out and burned. ([John] 15:6)."
This passage is a clear message that Jews living in the land of Israel have transgressed boundaries set for them by the New Testament.
Rev. Dr. Burge's primary thesis is that if Israel makes "biblical" claims to the land, it must adhere to a biblical code of conduct. Take a look at Israel's declaration of independence and you will see no reference whatsoever to God's promise to Abraham, but an appeal to the natural right of self-determination of the Jewish people.
The blurb written on the back of this book, written by David Neff, editor of Christianity Today, says it teaches Christians how to love the modern state of Israel "concretely." David Neff has a funny definition of love.
Eye-opener about the Middle East.......2007-08-06
This is a book that you will either love or hate depending on your view of Dispensationalism v. Covenant Theology. Here, Burge--a professor at Wheaton College--shows why Zionism is not biblical, as he utilizes history and the Bible to show his point. The Tim LaHayes of the world will wrench their hands in disgust and say that Burge is missing clear evidnece in the Bible regarding the place for the Jews in the end times. Yet many of these hyper-Dispensationalists need to not take their peripheral view of eschatology so seriously. Yes, end times are important, and yes, I think compasion on the Jews is needed. But as Burge points out, what about human rights for everyone? I just finished reading through Isaiah and Jeremiah, and boy, they sure were tough on "God's people" for their sins. I think it is important to show how a person's heritage should not matter since all people are created equal in God's sight, as Paul mentioned in Galatians that there is neither male nor female and neither Jew nor Greek. To classify an entire people as above the moral law and allow their government to persecute another people in the name of biblical presuppositions is immoral and should be condemned. And Burge explains this side very well.
The book does have some weak points. First, I read it in the summer of 2007, and with so much that has taken place over the course of these last four years, is in bad need of an update. This is especially true with Hussein no longer an issue and Iraq's future much different than when this book was first written. Another criticism is that Burge really does make it look like the Palestinians are completely innocent and have not caused many of their own problems. I was in Israel/Egypt 17 years ago during the Infitada and believe that much of the Palestinian strategy was misguided, which only infuriated the general Israeli public against the Palestinians. And what about all of the bombings of innocent people done in Israel by Palestininans? No mention of this is made by Burge.
As far as the "rocks" he mentions being thrown by Palestinian youth, he makes it sound so innocent. Yet I can attest that the rock throwing can be lethal. Driving through Jerusalem, our tour bus was the target of slingshots, shattering windows as we hit the deck to avoid the shattering glass. Walking through the Old Jersualem streets, we had to dodge slingshotted stones and bb's because, obviously, we were American tourists. Gladly, none of the 40 of us--mostly elderly--were ever hurt during the trip, but I think that attempting to hurt other people (was it for retaliation? how would taking out somebody's eye or going through their arm help the cause?) is not the best strategy. Instead of making the Palestinians into saints, I wish Burge would have been a little less biased in his reporting and reported some of the abuses on the other side.
Overall, though, there is good information here that those with a Premil, Pretrib view ought to consider. Every Christian ought to consider these things before pledging allegiance to the nation of Israel, which is not necessarily the friend of human rights or Christianity, for that matter.
GREAT TRANSACTION.......2007-06-09
Couldn't ask for a better transaction. Fast shipping & book in great condition!
Historically-based, contemporarily relevant, page-turner.......2007-05-01
Whose Land, Whose Promise? What Christians are Not Being Told about Israel and the Palestinians by Gary Burge is as much about how little we know about the Palestinians and Palestinian Christians in particular as it is about how little we know about the modern state of Israel. This book was the most eye-opening accounts I've heard of the history and current situation of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, especially having grown up in a conservative Christian, pro-Israel church and household. Burge not only takes you on a brief journey of the ancient history of the region and its people, but gives an increasingly in depth look as he gets closer to the current situation.
After surveying the history, he takes us through the biblical material related the question of Israeli nationhood, focusing specifically on what God required of his people in order to maintain this gift. The conclusion is that modern Israel has not followed these requirements much as past versions of Israel failed in the same way and was severely punished for it. The evidence for this conclusion occupies the majority of the space in the book, and it is well documented and convincing. This idea is summed up best with a quote.
"A prophetic voice needs to be heard today in the Middle East, not an apocalyptic voice that announces the fulfillment of prophecies and the end times. Israel has strayed, and like an ox that has forgotten its master and its home, Israel has forgotten the voice of God (Isa. 1:3). I am convinced that if Isaiah were in Jerusalem today, his words would be unrelenting and his willingness to unearth Israel's sins would put his well-being in jeopardy. Indeed, those who criticize Israel will undoubtedly be surprised by the reactions - reactions not unlike those received by the Old Testament prophets."
I have certainly seen these reactions all of my life and still see them to this day. But you owe it to yourself to hear a story you probably haven't heard, a story most people don't have a desire to hear. The evidence for this conclusion occupies the majority of the space in the book, and it is well documented and convincing. This evidence is a litany of facts and statistics although these are given their proper place. The bulk of the evidence is stories of real people and families with names and even pictures. That is what makes the book such a page-turner. It is eerie how similar Israel's treatment of the Palestinians during the establishment of their state was to the Nazi treatment of their parents generation just a few years earlier. Now the Palestinians are treated very similar to the way blacks in America were treated before the civil rights movement.
The plight of these Palestinian Christians is the other key focus in the book. We tend to lump all Arabs in the same category, often as Muslim, and at the very best passive supporters of terrorism. Many of us think that opposition to Israel is simply against Christian principles. Boy, was I in for a rude awakening. I am grateful to Gary Burge for bringing to light the situation that the Palestinian Christian find themselves in and for highlighting their stories and their need of our support.
If you are after the truth about what has been going on and continues to go on in Israel, please read this book. We conservative Christians tend to set up a straw man argument for the Palestinian cause so that we can easily knock it down. Those who are not setting up the straw man are buying into it without ever hearing a truly quality argument from a qualified voice in the other perspective. Gary Burge, an evangelical Christian who spent a good deal of his life living, working and studying in the middle east offers us just such a quality perspective. This book is near the top on my all time list. Please pick this one up.
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Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame: Legendary Musicians Whose Art Has Changed the World
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- America's first cutting edge transportation system
- Here's the one you're looking for...
- A fundamental source for D&H information
- Excellent- detailed account of this important railroad
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Delaware & Hudson: The History of an Important Railroad Whose Antecedent Was a Canal Network to Transport Coal
Jim Shaughnessy
Manufacturer: Syracuse University Press
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The Rutland Road
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Customer Reviews:
America's first cutting edge transportation system.......2002-05-17
Delaware & Hudson describes the company that ran the first steam locomotive in this country, and operated the first integrated transportation system in 1828, when it combined the use of a railroad and canal in an audacious scheme to transport Pennsylvania coal to New York City. The D&H first used Roebling's wire cable to operate its gravity railroad, and later used the same cables to build wire suspension aqueduct bridges to carry the canal over two rivers, and did all this years before Roebling would build the Brooklyn Bridge.
The book is filled with photographs, maps and engravings, with images on virtually every page. Although it is a book for railroad fans, it also works as a history of American technology and the history an American company which rode its use of technical inonovations to become one of this country's largest corporations by the middle of the nineteenth century.
Here's the one you're looking for..........2002-05-10
I consider this one my biblical reference of our country's oldest continually operating railroad, the Delaware & Hudson. Jim Shaughnessy has done an excellent job of relating his research, and the photos and maps bring it all together.
A fundamental source for D&H information.......1998-12-22
It's great to see this book back in print. Buy it and read it if you have any interest in canals, coal mining, or the history of one of the US's oldest railroads!
Excellent- detailed account of this important railroad.......1998-09-26
This book is wonderfully researched, chalked full of the details any railroad fan wants. The historical account of the D&H's begining as well as the discussion of the leaders of this great road are most interesting. A must read for those interested in the great railroads of the USA.
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- A Soldier's Life: General Sir Ian Hamilton 1853-1947
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- An Admiral's Yarn (U.S. Naval War College Historical Monograph Series, No. 14.)
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- Before I Forget: preserved memories of one who has lived a full life
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- Blast from the Past: A Novel (Kinky Friedman Novels)
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