General Books - Page 6

Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire

Rita Nakashima Brock, Rebecca Ann Parker

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

When Rita Brock and Rebecca Parker began traveling the Mediterranean world in search of art depicting the dead, crucified Jesus, they discovered something that traditional histories of Christianity and Christian art had underplayed or sought to explain away: it took Jesus Christ a thousand years to die.

During their first millennium, Christians filled their sanctuaries with images of Christ as a living presence in a vibrant world. He appears as a shepherd, a teacher, a healer, an enthroned god; he is an infant, a youth, and a bearded elder. But he is never dead. When he appears with the cross, he stands in front of it, serene, resurrected. The world around him is ablaze with beauty. These are images of paradise—paradise in this world, permeated and blessed by the presence of God.

But once Jesus perished, dying was virtually all he seemed able to do.

Saving Paradise offers a fascinating new lens on the history of Christianity, from its first centuries to the present day, and asks how its early vision of beauty evolved into one of torture. In tracing the changes in society and theology that marked the medieval emergence of images of Christ crucified, Saving Paradise exposes the imperial strategies embedded in theologies of redemptive violence and sheds new light on Christianity's turn to holy war. It reveals how the New World, established through Christian conquest and colonization, is haunted by the loss of a spiritual understanding of paradise here and now.

Brock and Parker reconstruct the idea that salvation is paradise in this world and in this life, and they offer a bold new theology for saving paradise. They ground justice and peace for humanity in love for the earth and open a new future for Christianity through a theology of redemptive beauty.

"Only rarely is a single book an event. This book is such a rarity. Rita Brock and Rebecca Parker show that solid scholarship can be expressed with passion and literary grace as they recover the beauty of an earth-loving Christianity lost for a thousand years beneath dry creeds and formulae and poisonous myths of sacralized violence."
—Professor Daniel C. Maguire, author of A Moral Creed For All Christians

"Every Christian theologian and preacher should read this book and be profoundly challenged."
—Professor James H. Cone, author of Malcolm & Martin & America

"Saving Paradise challenges us to recover an ancient world view which is life transforming and earth affirming. It reminds us of a biblical perspective which does not reserve paradise for the dead, but invites the living to find grace, justice, peace and compassion--here and now--amid the jangling discords of violence and war. It may mark the beginning of a paradigm shift in contemporary Christian understanding and interfaith dialogue."
—Reverend James A. Forbes, Jr., President and Founder of the Healing of the Nations Foundation, Senior Minister Emeritus of the Riverside Church of New York City

"The message of Early Christian art is about God's miraculous intervention in the daily lives of Christian believers. How then did Christianity become a religion of finitude and guilt rather than one of promise and celebration? Brock and Parker ran with the evidence, showing us the importance of art, ritual, devotional practices, and liturgical space for early Christians. This tangible past transformed their research and led them to see that paradise in this world lies at the heart of Christianity."
—Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, author of Dictionary of Christian Art

"This powerful, unprecedented, and compelling book brings real Christianity out of the shadows. It lights up the religious roots of American society at a time when progressives need to challenge conservative politicians who use Christianity as a false prop for their ideology."
—George Lakoff, author of Don't Think of an Elephant!

God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now

John Dominic Crossan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

At the heart of the Bible is a moral and ethical call to fight unjust superpowers, whether they are Babylon, Rome, or even America.

From the divine punishment and promise found in Genesis through the revolutionary messages of Jesus and Paul, John Dominic Crossan reveals what the Bible has to say about land and economy, violence and retribution, justice and peace, and, ultimately, redemption. In contrast to the oppressive Roman military occupation of the first century, he examines the meaning of the non-violent Kingdom of God prophesized by Jesus and the equality advocated by Paul to the early Christian churches. Crossan contrasts these messages of peace with the misinterpreted apocalyptic vision from the Book of Revelation, which has been misrepresented by modern right-wing theologians and televangelists to justify U.S. military actions in the Middle East.

In God and Empire Crossan surveys the Bible from Genesis to Apocalypse, or the Book of Revelation, and discovers a hopeful message that cannot be ignored in these turbulent times. The first-century Pax Romana, Crossan points out, was in fact a "peace" won through violent military action. Jesus preached a different kind of peace—a peace that surpasses all understanding—and a kingdom not of Caesar but of God.

The Romans executed Jesus because he preached this Kingdom of God, a kingdom based on peace and justice, over the empire of Rome, which ruled by violence and force. For Jesus and Paul, Crossan explains, peace cannot be won the Roman way, through military victory, but only through justice and fair and equal treatment of all people.

Servant Leadership : A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness

Robert K. Greenleaf

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

It's only communication if the message is received 3 out of 5 stars.
7 of 9 people found this review helpful.

I found the ideas in this book rather interesting. However, it's a tough book to get through. Greenleaf's writing style is difficult to follow, this is not an easy read. I would not recommend Servant Leadership to someone who is looking for quick practical advise on honing their leadership skills. In my opinion, this book is better suited to those who have an academic interest in the subject. Additionally, it's been ~30 years since this book was published, many of Greenleaf's ideas have filtered into more contemporary texts. I compare it to the music of Jimi Hendrix. While he is the brilliant innovator of a genre of music, 30 years later today's broad audience doesn't understand the context of his work, but can find and enjoy his influence in the music they relate to today.

Editorial Review:

Twenty-five years ago Robert Greenleaf published these prophetic essays on what he coined servant leadership, a practical philosophy that replaces traditional autocratic leadership with a holistic, ethical approach. This highly influential book has been embraced by cutting edge management everywhere. Yet in these days of Enron and what VISA CEO Dee Hock calls our "era of massive institutional failure," Greenleaf's seminal work must reach the mainstream now more than ever. Servant Leadership helps leaders find their true power and moral authority to lead. It helps those served become healthier, wiser, freer, and more autonomous. This book encourages collaboration, trust, listening, and empowerment. It offers long-lasting change, not a temporary fix and extends beyond business for leaders of all types of groups.

Epic: The Story God Is Telling

John Eldredge

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Epic: A book worth sharing 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Someone who heard of my searchings regularily advised me to try reading some of Eldridge's books... boy were they on the ball!

I read Desire first, then Epic and I'm now about to Wake the Dead... but I believe that Epic is the book that composes of Eldridge's World View.

A part of me wishes it was longer - but as a manifesto, its a good length and a book that is easy to lend around.

Taking the cue from Josesph Cambell's theory of the hero's journey, Eldridge shows us that behind our desires is the God who is the knightly king on the white horse. The hero, the king, the saviour, even the king in disguise. Our longing for adventure, trials and triumph are the call to join into this massive tale of paradise lost, found and restored.

Being a novice writer and budding theologian, I loved the story of existance and how it fits with the God in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

When someone really wants to know where my own faith journey is right now - I can use this book to tell them.

Fantastic at any price!

Editorial Review:

In Epic, a retelling of the gospel in four acts, John Eldredge invites us to revisit the drama of life, viewing God not only as the author but also as the lead actor, exploring His motives and His heart. Eldredge examines the power of story, the universal longing for a "plot" that makes sense deep inside us, our desire for a meaningful role to play, our love of books and movies, and how all of this points us to the gospel itself.

The Abolition of Man

C. S. Lewis

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 83 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

How to fix what is broken 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book is a series of three talks where Lewis illustrates the breakdown of education , from a system which embraces natural law, truth, and virtue, to one which embraces much of nothing and feeds back nothing. It is perhaps a bit dated now as teaching methods have moved on (though not necessarily in positive directions), but yet it still has much to say as we contemplate the inadequacy of our present systems and what we need to reclaim to restore them.

Biased, religious, and logically flawed. 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 6 people found this review helpful.

While this is a great piece if you want to step inside a virtue theorist's mind, as an actual philosophical text it is rather poor.
While it is obviously religiously biased, it is Lewis' own circular paradoxes that lead to a flawed system of logic that can not support itself.

Value Galore and Remedial for every epoch 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I was struck with amazement as I read this most beneficial and interesting book! There are so many books to choose from these days for inquiry or answers to the brokenness in our modern day populace, but this one proved to be top-notch in this writer's opinion. The writer's skill conveys keen insights into the mind to understand mankind's condition, including interpersonal relationships from the intellect. Dead hypothesis that would try to excoriate the common sense displayed here in this wonderful little treatise would no doubt fall by the wayside. Can we see the signs of the times from the author's wisdom? Where is the world headed anyway? Read this little book for some answers. I've got a much better perspective on life now due to the dulcet manner of the author; the way he draws on the treasures intrinsic in all of us to begin with. Doubtless you will not find anything insipid within the two covers. A very powerful book indeed! Lewis displays a virtuoso's flair for observing absolutes unequivocally. I will keep one of the copies of two I purchased for my book shelf and the other one for a gift. The Den of IniquityC.S. Lewis: The Signature Classics Audio Collection: The Problem of Pain, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, Mere Christianity

Editorial Review:

C. S. Lewis sets out to persuade his audience of the importance and relevance of universal values such as courage and honor in contemporary society.

Disappointment With God (Large Print Edition)

Philip Yancey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 77 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

If you think God is unfair, hidden, or silent, then you need to read this book 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The death rate for humans is 100%. The rate of suffering is 100%. In fact, if you are fortunate enough to live to an old age, you will have probably endured much pain and suffering in your lifetime and you may very well suffer some more as you approach physical death. Why is that? Why did God design the world this way? Isn't this unfair? These were some of the questions I asked after watching my father endure a debilitating stroke which took away the life as he knew it, even though he survived the stroke.

I was really happy to see Philip Yancey's book in the Kindle edition because Yancey is my favorite author. I knew he would apply sound thinking and Biblical understanding. And indeed, Yancey does not disappoint (no pun intended). He attempts to answer three basic questions: 1) Is God unfair? 2) Is God hidden? 3) Is God silent?
Yancey thoughtfully addresses these issues through interviews with others and his own dedicated study of the nature of God throughout the Bible. Job plays a prominent role here. Even though Job loses everything and is angry with God and confronts God, he never loses faith. One of Yancey's interviewees, who has gone through more than his fair share of suffering says, "Life may be unfair, but God is not." He says that he has learned to see beyond the present physical reality and toward the spiritual reality. Life was not fair to Jesus -- here was the best and most righteous man in history who was summarily tortured and executed, suffering a horrible death. Yet justice ultimately prevailed through the triumph of the resurrection.

This is just a little hint of what Yancey has to say about this age-old subject. It certainly helped me think through these issues in my life.

Editorial Review:

This insightful and deeply personal book tackles the questions caused by a God who doesn't always do what we think He's supposed to do. Yancey answers these questions with piercing honesty and biblical certainty. He takes us beyond the things that make for disillusionment to a deeper faith, a certitude of God's love, and a thirst to reach not just for what God gives, but for who He is. Large Print edition of the CBA best-seller.

The Three Battlegrounds: An In-Depth View of the Three Arenas of Spiritual Warfare: The Mind, the Church and the Heavenly Places

Francis Frangipane

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 48 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The Three Battlegrounds 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This was an excellent book which answered a lot of questions. Very concise and to the point. Would recommend it as a "must read: for all Christians. Excellent.

A Sensible Approach to Spiritiual Warfare 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

In clear and concise terms, Frangipane explains the basics of spiritual warfare. Not as entertaining as The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, but as cognizant of the human vulnerabilities that make us want to blame the Enemy for what our own thoughts and attitudes prevoke. Pithy, not wordy. Will make you think, and possibly make some changes.

Spiritual Warfare 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

For the intercessor who is fresh on the scene this is a must read. This book is very informative and presents the scenario that the prayer warrior has to face in serious intercession. It is so full of information you want to read it and read it again. Each time you get deeper tidbits of great tips for life in the spiritual warfare arena.

Editorial Review:

This is the revised edition of the original Three Battlegrounds book. Along with some slight text changes, it has an additional chapter.

This book explores the three arenas of spiritual warfare that the maturing Christian will face: the mind, the church and the heavenly places. It provides a foundation of insight, wisdom and discernment on the nature of the battle and the keys to victory.

Science of Mind

Ernest Holmes

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Total reviews: 62 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This is a book for the ages.In precise and powerful prose it lays out the blueprint for the remaking of the mind and the reenchantment of the world. --Jean Houston, Ph.D., from her introduction In the early part of the twentieth century, a visionary named Ernest Holmes began a journey of exploration and research that profoundly affected thinkers throughout America. His work, based on the teachings of the great philosophers, the sacred wisdom of both Eastern and Western traditions, and the empirical nature of science, offers a philosophy of religion and psychology emphasizing the limitless potential of the human mind. Now, for the first time, The Science of Mind appears in paperback to coincide with the seventieth anniversary of Ernest Holmes's founding of the Religious Science movement. This book contains the fundamentals of Holmes's teachings and is a primary resource used by teaching centers and spiritual healers worldwide. Its universal principles apply to people of all spiritual backgrounds as they describe a higher level of existence attainable through the use of Nature's forces and the power of God. While imparting an unrivaled technique for living, Dr. Holmes's classic guide speaks clearly to a complex world caught in transition and searching for guidance.

Beyond Opinion: Living the Faith We Defend

Ravi Zacharias

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Reaching head and heart 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is a collection of essays by members of the Ravi Zacharias International Ministries team. Except for two Oxford Professors - Alister McGrath and John Lennox - all the other authors are part of RZIM, working fulltime in various places around the globe.

In the fourteen essays contained here the authors seek to connect Christian apologetics with Christian living. Subtitled "Living the Faith We Defend", the heart of this book is to show that good apologetics is not just providing the right answers, but is about living a life that reflects the one we seek to defend.

The authors remind us that we are called to defend the faith, by meeting intellectual and worldview challenges. But we are also to be a living example of the faith, and show the reality of a Christ-transformed life. Providing honest answers to honest questions is obviously what apologetics is all about. But as Zacharias reminds us, "the role of the apologists is to win the person, not just the argument".

The various essays featured here cover many important areas. Some of the major topics covered include postmodernism, atheism, Islam, eastern religions, challenges from youth, challenges from science, the problem of evil and suffering, cross-cultural challenges, and the place of doubt.

One of the chapters by Zacharias, on the church's role in apologetics and the development of the mind, is alone worth the price of the book. The task of getting the church of Jesus Christ to actually use its mind for the glory of God is a most pressing need. Indeed, the title of Zacharias's radio show, "Let My People Think" has to be one of the great challenges facing believers today.

He begins the chapter by reminding us of the need to lead well-rounded apologetic lives: "I have little doubt that the single greatest obstacle to the impact of the gospel has not been its inability to provide answers, but the failure on our part to live it out."

He mentions a Hindu friend he had known long ago and his objections to the gospel. He felt Christian conversion was just a move to moral reform, without any supernatural element to it. He asked a question which really troubled Zacharias: "If this conversion is truly supernatural, why is it no more evident in the lives of so many Christians?"

Zacharias says Christians must first be willing to grapple with the difficult questions of the sceptics, and work through them ourselves. Then we must internalise the answers and live out these answers before a hurting and hungry world.

But we must not ignore or downplay the many honest questions which sceptics have. It is vital that we interact with them. "There is an exponential growth of knowledge in our time," says Zacharias, "and it is part of our Christian calling to work hard at understanding as much as we can the themes that must be addressed."

Yet this is rarely happening in the church today. Zacharias takes a dim view of the Christian mind. Walk into any Christian bookstore and the great majority of titles are simply fluff and froth, lacking in any theological or intellectual substance.

And in an age of intellectual mushiness, and a war on truth, Christians more than ever need to stand up for Christianity's absolute truth claims. Says Zacharias, "The first and foremost task of the apologist, then, is to stand for truth and to clarify the claims of the gospel."

Other chapters can be mentioned. L.T. Jeyachandran's article on Hinduism, Buddhism and the New Age Movement is a helpful and concise introduction to the Eastern worldview. Danielle DuRant's piece on idolatry and self-deception provides helpful insights and observations.

Taken together, the different parts of this book make for a powerful whole. They deal with intellectual and ideological issues, but also cover them from a personal and practical point of view. This is the way apologetics should be done: reaching both the head and the heart. This book is a most welcome addition to the apologist's library, and deserves a wide reading.

Editorial Review:

A definitive master work from the world's leading Christian Apologist.

Respected apologist Ravi Zacharias was once sharing his faith with a Hindu when the man asked: "If the Christian faith is truly supernatural, why is it not more evident in the lives of so many Christians I know?" The question hit hard, and this book is an answer. Its purpose is to equip Christians everywhere to simultaneously defend the faith and be transformed by it into people of compassion.

In addition to writing several chapters himself, Ravi Zacharias brings together many of today's leading apologists and Christian teachers, including Alister McGrath and John Lennox, to address topics present in the very future of worldwide Christianity-from the process of spiritual transformation to the challenges posed by militant atheism and a resurgent Islam. Destined to become a classic, Beyond Opinion is a touchstone that will affect Christians around the world.

Preparing for Marriage

David Boehi, Brent Nelson, Jeff Schulte, Lloyd Shadrach

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great tool everyone should buy one! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

My fiance' and I are very pleased with this product. We are looking forward to applying what we've learned being engaged and married.

A Great Conversation Starter..... 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

My husband and I used this book as part of an 8 week Premarital Counseling course. We both found the book to bring up good topics for discussion though most of them we had discussed before. I would not describe myself as a very religious person but more of a spiritual person with strong Christian beliefs. That said, I found some "opinions" in the book to be narrow minded and that some of the bible passages were taken out of context. I do think that it was a good tool as part of our sessions but don't depend completely on this book for your premarital counseling. We also looked at The 5 Love Languages and Dave Ramsey's book Financial Peace Revisited. Those books as well as the insight from our counselors made all the difference.

Editorial Review:

Preparing for Marriage is a dynamic program designed to help couples lay the foundation for a strong, biblical marriage. Six romantic sessions and five projects can be undertaken alone or under the guidance of a mentor.