5 comments about Athena and Kain: The True Meaning of Greek Myth.

1. This book explains Greek mythology from a new perspective - the book of Genesis. It makes clear why the Greek gods behaved the way they did. I will now always consider ancient religions and the works of the artists and poets relating to those religions in a new light as a result of this work.
   I believe the most important point made is that when a people, like the Greeks, have no real creator God such as the God of Genesis, they have nothing left to exalt but themselves, nature, and their progenitors. I believe the author makes this case convincingly. This is a real insight, and it explains much, even to this day.



2. I don't profess to know enough about Greek history or archaeology to say that the author is right on target; HOWEVER, his theory does fit the facts of Greek mythology and Biblical revelation.
   
   The author's premise is that Greek mythology is really the story of Creation, the Fall of Man, and the Great Deluge, except told from the side of Evil. There are a lot of photos of various aspects of Greek art to back up his theory, and he does a good job of explaining it in terms a novice can grasp. This work has piqued my interest and I'm going to have to do a lot of further reading.
   
   One thing the author didn't point out, but which I've theorized for years, is that the portions of Greek myth typically referred to as "The Clash of the Titans," was a perversion of the true story of Lucifer/Satan being cast out of heaven. I'd like to see Mr. Johnson chase that rabbit in the future.



3. I had already believed to a certain extent that ancient cultures mythology was based on even more ancient actual living persons.. and that later cultures borrowed from earlier cultures, but this book does a great job showing that all the myths are based on the ancients described in the Bible but from the perspective of the line of Kain versus the line of Seth.
   
   A must read!



4. I would advise readers to disregard the previous negative comments. One must be able to think outside the box and not simply rely upon the opinions expressed by the vested interests of "the credentialed" or any so-called "peer reviews". Their agenda seems to rely mainly on attempting to discredit honest scholarship while glorifying the censored views of our academic "flat-earth" society. Credentials do not a scholar make. Johnson gets 10 stars!



5. Rather than being a popular, innovative work for the general reader, this book is misleading. Mr. Johnson is quite creative, but his ideas lack any firm basis in classical studies or biblical studies. Instead of revealing secrets of Greek myth, he is instead creating new myths from whole cloth. Apart from having no apparent credentials or practical experience in classics and no peer-reviewed publications in the field, Mr. Johnson formulates what are effectively conspiracy theories that lack logical integrity; I am a non-professional, but even my avid amateur pursuit of ancient mythology and archaelogoy reveal the serious flaws in his books. I apologize to anyone who has been deceived by his work. In their place, I would respectfully recommend works like Mary Beard's excellent work for general readers "The Parthenon" or the somewhat denser "The Nature of Greek Myths" by G.S. Kirk.

2 comments about Japanese Mandalas: Representations of Sacred Geography.

1. Art History or Religious Studies? General audience or specialists? "Japanese Mandalas" has its cake and eats it too, for it is wonderfully written to appeal to both the curious beginner and the enthusiastic initiate. And as a book it is both a detailed and well thought-out discussion of Japan's amazingly complex diagrams of sacred geometry and geography as art objects--categories and types, materials and media, aesthetic value and cultural importance--AND a carefully-researched and thought-provoking exploration of their religious symbolism, ritual significance, and spiritual depth. The overall tone is also appropriately scholarly and objective without being reductive or dry and pedantic, and a precarious balance is deftly maintained between generality and specificity--and believe me, when it comes to mandalas it's easy to lose the forest for the trees and vice versa.
   
   The author aptly divides mandalas in Japan into three categories: Esoteric, Pure Land, and the Kami-Worshiping tradition (avoiding the anachronistic term "Shinto"). This includes the Taizokai and Kongokai Mandalas of Shingon and Tendai Buddhism as well as variants focusing on specific deities or sets of deities, works depicting Amida's Pure Land like the Taima Mandala, and sprawling landscapes depicting the Kasuga and Kumano Shrines and their complex weave of what might seem to us like disparate religious traditions. This in itself is impressive, but Grotenhuis also convincingly and counter-intuitively demonstrates how these three varieties are interrelated and even inter-referential. Highly innovative and insightful considerations of the Indian and Chinese antecedents for the mandalas are also given and elaborated with properly nuanced caution and reserve, and the author's freshly original look at concepts of sacred geography, social ranking, and city-planning in pre-Buddhist China as these inform the design and imagery of all three mandala types is eye-opening and very much as believable as it is unorthodox.
   
   The book is also profusely illustrated, as is of course warranted by the subject matter. The twenty-two color plates, besides being intrinsically beautiful, are clarity itself. The 104 black & white illustrations also get the job done for the most part. Yes, for the most part. That said, it must be remembered that many of these mandala are large, expansive works filled to the brim with a profusion of delicately fine details; most of them are also centuries-old and more or less worn down and abraded here and there if not everywhere. Reducing these in size is bad enough but a necessary evil, but then reproducing them in shades of gray sometimes makes it really hard to see what the heck's going on in the picture even if you have reasonably good eyesight and kind of already know what you're looking for (two assumptions the publishers shouldn't be taking for granted, at that). Then again, printing every illustration in color would shoot the price of this book through the roof, so it's hard to say what the solution is exactly. One way Grotenhuis gets around this problem is the inclusion of detailed close-ups, but she tends to make less and less use of these as we get to the shrine mandalas--and this is about where you'd want them the most, maddeningly enough. In a few cases one gets a guided tour of millimeter-sized dark gray blurs against a slightly darker gray background. Whew. Still, I don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill. In the final analysis this is an excellent book both textually and visually and it should greatly appeal and be of use to anyone interested in Japanese Religions, Asian Art History, and/or Iconography, Geometry and Geography in Sacred Art as a whole.



2. Professor ten Grotenhuis' book deserves a wide audience. Anyone interested in religious art will be delighted to find images of exceptional beauty illustrating a readable yet authoritative introduction to the worlds of the Japanese mandala. Specialists will be equally delighted to find that ten Grotenhuis offers engaging, fruitful new ways of thinking about these pictures, for instance by placing Buddhist images in the context of pre-Buddhist Chinese texts.

No comments about Draw 50 People from the Bible: The Step-by-Step Way to Draw Noah, Moses, Delilah, Jesus, Saint Peter, Mary, and Many More....

No comments about Image and Spirit: Finding Meaning in Visual Art.

1 comments about Ethiopian Art: The Walters Art Museum.

1. This is a fascinatinating book that is at once interesting as it is beautiful in imagery. The Walters Art Musuem boasts the largest Ethiopin art outside of Ethiopia alongside a permanent collection of Byzantium and Russian art. The Ethiopian collection in the City of Baltimore is only one part of a museum that builds it's strengths on the art of the eastern Orthodox world. The collective authors give a brief but satisfying history of Ethiopia and its significance in the ancient world along the Mediterrenean trade route. There is also an overview of daily life and religious practices, art history and the role of the Cross, illuminated manuscripts and painted icons that rivalved some of the best in the Orthodox world. The written word is essential to understanding the magnificent art that is displayed. If you are interested in icon art you will love this book with it's unique representations. I also found the older wood work to be exceptionally beautiful and intricate in craftsmanship. The results are some of the most beautiful processional crosses you will probabaly ever see. Later these crosses were made to be more permanent using bronze. Probably equally has impressive are the icon painting and hand made illuminated books that were used for ritualistic purposes in Ethiopion culture. The plates in the book come from the museum catalogue and date from the 4th to the 18th century. The religious nature of the works reflect a combination of African roots and Christian influence. Jesus, Mary and all the saints are painted with distinctively non- Western features. It is unfortunate that there is no cover art availbale on this page otherwise you would be able to see the painting of baby Jesus and the Archangels with small afros as he sits in the arms of Mary.Much of the art is uncredited and the artist is lost in antiquity and known only as an annonymous painter. The Christian kingdoms art of Ethiopia gets its deserved recognition alongside the art of Russia and Byzantium in this book. The book features some of the most colorful unique Christian art imagineable. There is also a good bibliography featuring a list of over fifty books for further scholarship. This is the first time this magnificent collection is available in publication and will surely satisfy those interested in icon painting and the art of the Orthodox world.

No comments about Signs of Grace: Religion and American Art in the Gilded Age.

1 comments about City, Temple, Stage: Eschatological Architecture And Liturgical Theatrics In New Spain.

1. This oversized book is a most interesting and scholarly examination of the role of architecture and theater as tools that the sixteenth century Spanish missionaries used to convert the Mesoamerican natives to Christianity. The original missionaries; twelve Franciscans in 1524, twelve Dominicans in 1526 and seven Augustinians in 1533; noted the similarities between European Christian thought of the time and the Aztec beliefs they found in New Spain. Although fundamentally different, coincidental similarities abounded: both cultures thought the world was about to end; both used architecture for rituals and pageantry, both loved theatrical presentations using large casts of people. The early missionaries took the notion of building a New Jerusalem literally and the mendicant compounds were built with the plans of the ancient Temple of Jerusalem in mind. These complexes included open altar areas and architectural details such as a short tower or a row of three arches that could symbolize Jerusalem. Drama became a catechetical tool and the missionaries knew the natives responded favorable to the sights and sounds on the altar, be it the liturgy of the mass or a religious play. Both cultures loved crosses and Aztec crosses would include an obsidian mirror at the center, reflecting the sun. This sunlight could be linked to Jesus, the light of the world, or to the Canticle of the Sun of St. Francis. Likewise, the Aztec blood sacrifices seemed to make possible a fundamental acceptance of the life-giving sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. A culture familiar with rituals of cutting out a sacrificial victim's heart might embrace the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This book is very scholarly with 50 pages of notes and a 29 page bibliography, but it is not only for the scholar. It is oversized, beautifully designed and richly illustrated with hundreds of color examples of Aztec relics, early missionary buildings, rare manuscript pages and remarkable building decorations, many photographed by the author on site. A superb demonstration of how the mendicant friars "changed the root metaphor and Christianized a continent."

No comments about I Will Wake the Dawn: Illuminated Psalms.

No comments about Fra Angelico.

4 comments about Saints of the Southwest.

1. I found this book at a small shop in Ann Arbor Michiganand and fell in love with it. There are beautiful photographs of altars, shrines, saints, Mother Mary, and more. The inside of the front has an amazing photo of a private chapel devoted to the saints which actualy served as the inspiration for ma to create a similar chapel for myself. This book is truly worth the price and has so much to offer. Dont let this one get away.



2. Featuring twenty one saints, six "Mary's", three angels and one manifestaion of the Christ child this book is a bit of misnomer. However the book is beautiful in it's presentation with short one page explanations of the significance of each holy representation. I received this book as a gift and cherish it 's brevity yet immenesly powerful imagery and accompanying stories on the origins of each person. The photographs are taken from various locations including such diverse places as churches and roadside shrines. Their are several wood carved bultos and retablos that are of particular interest to those interested in the folkloric arts of the southwest. A fantastic little gem for those moments of reflection to be enjoyed over and over. The antiqutiy of some of the art pieces is amazing and deserves more than a second look. If you want you could whip through this in less than hour but really it should be read and enjoyed numerous times. If you know someone who likes the religious arts of the southwest this is a good choice to give as a gift. I found the section on Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha particularly interesting, the first native American on her way to to becoming a saint in the Catholic Church. I would recommend giving this book to someone or treating yourself if you love the arts of the southwest.



3. Jim Griffith's book is a beautiful departure from the more academic work on southwestern culture that he has produced over the last few decades. This is a wonderful gift book for anyone interested in catholic saints, folk arts or the southwest.

   Again, a beautiful book.




4. Jim Griffith's Saints of the Southwest is a beautiful gift book that combines photographs of images or representations of thirty-one saints with very short essays that summarize the life of each saint and describe his/her following in Northern Mexico, Arizona, or New Mexico. The saints range from the obvious - San Martín de Porres, la Virgen de Guadalupe, el Santo Niño de Atocha - to the more obscure, like San Ramón Nonato and San Pascual Bailón. Many of the images themselves are exquisite, reflecting some of the artistic traditions of the Southwest. That they are located in a variety of places - from roadside shrines commemorating accidents to private chapels to churches open to the public - attests to how deeply these saints resonate in the region's consciousness. Griffith's descriptions of how and when the veneration (and representation) of the saints developed tell us a lot about the popular religiosity and cultural history of the region. This book will appeal to many readers, whether they are aficianados of Southwest culture and art, faithful Catholics, religion buffs, or folklorists.