4 comments about Diary of God's Generals: Excerpts from the Miracle Ministry of John G. Lake (Charismatic Classics).

1. This is a small, easy to read glimpse into a life that was mightily used of God. The testimonies shared in this tiny power packed book were inspiring.



2. Having previously read everything I could find on this man of God, I found this book to be an excellent synopsis of the miraculous highlights of his ministry. Between him and Smith Wigglesworth, we Christians can be encouraged in the knowledge of how God, our Father, will use any of us that dare to believe that He will ever be true to His Word. This little book shows us how Holy Spirit filled believers can bring Jesus to the world.



3. John Lake came to Zion,IL. , very successful business man and the Lord called him into service and he gave all of his money away and was sent to Africa. His whole life and Ministry was one continous Maricle, his calling was from God for sure. Reading this book caused my spirit to jump within me and to say it was exciting reading will not do the book justice.



4. This was a man who affected two continents amazingly. He affected Africa through starting revival there and through healing crusades. He affected the USA and the International Community through the over 100,000 healings that occoured through his ministry in the spokane Washington area.
   
   He was often a workaholic but he got tremendous results. He even had Doctors and scientists on stage with him many times so that their would be verifiable evidence of the healings.
   
   When he was young his wife was healed by John Alexander Dowie.

5 comments about Reinventing Paul.

1. John Gager and his colleagues have done a service in removing the image of Paul being the father of anti-semitism, and helps foster improved Jewish-Christian relations. However, he misses the major theme in Paul's letters - the centrality of Christ and the cross in his theology of the Word.
   
   Gager proposes the two-way theory, that the law is the means of salvation for the Jews, and Christ is the way of salvation for Gentiles. However, he is quite selective in his use of quotations, and ignores the 2000-year history of the expectancy of Israel for the Messiah. Paul and the Gospel writers assert that Jesus is the Messiah, that salvation for both Jew and Greek is Jesus Christ [Galatians 3:26-29, Romans 10:10-12, 10:17].
   
   What I find most troubling is that Gager is reading the Holy Bible to make a socio-political statement, rather than reading the Bible for inspiration and spirituality. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, recommends we read the Bible with the hermeneutics of faith. The Gospel brings the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes in Jesus Christ.
   But then, perhaps that is to be expected, as he styles himself a non-believing Christian. Gager missing this central point leaves one questioning his every statement.



2. "Reinventing Paul" is John Gager's attempt to solve one of the most vexing problems of New Testament scholarship: Saint Paul's seeming anti-Judaism, if not outright anti-Semitism. The view that Paul (and God!) turned against his own people had been considered self-evident to a long line of scholars and theologians stretching back at least to St. Augustine. But the history of the 20th century, soaked copiously with the blood of innocent Jews, made many New Testament scholars hope that a less Jew-hating Paul could be salvaged from Paul's writing.
   
   Gager reviews the roots of traditional view of Paul -- the "obvious" view discerned by the casual modern reader of the New Testament. Saul/Paul in this view is an observant Jew who is converted to Christianity by a miraculous experience of the Risen Christ, and who then proceeds to condemn his own people based on their "rejection" of Jesus as the promised Messiah. Gager re-examines this view in the light of new scholarship and new attitudes since the Shoah. How can Paul, he asks, "convert" to a faith that does not yet exist? Paul's conversion is an event that is "read back" into his story based on the post-70 CE split of Judaism and Christianity. Paul, whose Damascus Road experience dates to the years immediately following Christ's crucifixion in 30 CE, would not have thought of his experience as a conversion *from* Judaism, but at most from one expression of Judaism to another.
   
   But what of Paul's seeming citations against Jews and Judaism? Gager's thesis is that Paul's enemies were not Christ-denying Jews, but Christ-*affirming* Jews within the Jesus movement. To Paul, these Jewish-born Christians misunderstood the meaning of Christ's death, which to Paul was the way that God extended salvation from the Jews to the Gentiles. Read in this light, a citation like "The Jew has no advantage and circumcision is of no value" (Romans 3:1) does not signal God's rejection of Jews, but that Gentiles need not become Jews to gain salvation.
   
   Gager's thesis is sound and based on a sensible reading of the New Testament. However, Gager works too hard to show how much better his thesis is than that of his predecessors. The book is also much too long, repeating the same points ad nauseum. In spite of these faults, I found "Reinventing Paul" to be a valuable contribution that makes Paul's thinking not only tolerable but even laudatory.



3. Gager could perhaps be starting a quest similar in intent if not in form to that of the Jesus Seminar, namely, the search for the 'real' Paul, or at least the 'real meaning' of Paul. Paul has been reinterpreted and recast in many ways over the past 2000 years, for denominational and sociological reasons. To build upon Schweitzer's observations about the changing images of Jesus, just as each age reinterprets Jesus to, in one way or another, recast Jesus in the image of that age, so too does Paul undergo a similar change. What Gager is doing, however, is not merely reinterpreting the meaning of Paul -- he is offering a new way of asking the interpretative questions, offering a paradigm shift that casts doubts upon traditional interpretations and offers a new way of thinking about the texts. Once we begin to question not just specific texts or issues within that paradigm, but the paradigm itself, nothing in the old model makes sense. (Gager, p. 145)

   The Traditional View
   Gager specifically does not want to start a 'Quest for the Historical Paul' a la the Jesus Seminar model, but does feel that re-examination is necessary to shift emphasis away from traditionally-held views of Paul. Even if such a search for the 'real' Paul is not undertaken, due to the lack of 'reality' in such a search, this does not mean that there are not bad interpretations, even wrong ones when it comes to examining Pauline literature for intent, background, and context. (Gager, pp. vii-viii)

   Traditionally, Paul is turned into a sort of universal preacher; the particular advice and conversations he has in his letters to specific communities made into universally applicable principles and precepts. Gager disputes the authority of each of these assumptions, and puts forward arguments against each of these assumptions within the framework of his new paradigm.

   The New View
   Gager sees the fundamental mis-understanding of Paul (a mis-understanding of centuries-long standing) to be primarily focussed upon the context of audience of Paul. Working from scholars who in various ways began to challenge basic assumptions (albeit, incompletely, Gager would argue) such as Kirster Stendahl, Lloyd Gaston, and E.P. Sanders, Gager sets up criteria which must be kept in mind when examining any passage or writing of Paul's. These include the realisation that Paul remained a Jew throughout his life, adhering to the context of traditional Jewish thought; Paul's 'conversion' was not from one religion to another (for, arguably, Christianity as a separate religion could be said not to have existed at this point) but rather a transformation of thought fully within the framework of the same religion (namely, Judaism); and primarily, that Paul must be seen as the apostle to the Gentiles, with specific intent to speak to the Gentiles in a way that would make sense to them. Paul was not concerned with Jews or Jewish-Jesus movement people (except insofar as they impacted and/or interfered with his own ministries). Even when Paul speaks in the synagogues, this speaking was primarily intended for the Gentile audience. Gentiles frequented synagogues throughout the Greco-Roman world. (Gager, p. 51)

   This argues against the universality of Paul's messages as is held in the traditional view. If one takes the context of speaking to Jews, or of speaking to all of humanity which includes Jews, out of the paradigm, and concentrates on the message for Gentiles, and read as such, many (but not all) of Paul's apparent contradictions fall away. Likewise, a Paul who is seen to have remained completely within the framework of Judaism, with honour and respect for the Torah as it applies to the Jews, can be seen as less the fountainhead of Christian anti-Judaism. Christian readers no longer feel compelled to insulate Paul from Judaism, while Jewish readers no longer strive to protect Judaism from Paul. (Gager, p. 57)

   A Lingering Doubt
   Gager claims a certain theological purity -- my fundamental concern is historical and that my primary goal is to get it right, Gager claims. (Gager, p. 18) He claims that he doesn't have the specific intent of proving any particular denominational or theological viewpoint correct. This may or may not be correct. Clearly as Gager speaks of the reasons why a reinterpretation of Paul might be needed -- the Nazi Holocaust, together with the founding of the state of Israel, account for the possibility of reading Paul in a new way -- he has an agenda which is he is trying to promote, however subtle that promotion may be. This is, of course, an agenda which would be welcomed at this seminary, with its strong emphasis on Jewish-Christian dialogue and relationship.

   But is this reinterpretation really a reinvention? Is this so much a radical shift of paradigm (as Gager likes to think it is), or more of a logical next-step in the progression of modern studies as the underlying assumptions of most everything (from physics to medicine to history to mathematics to art and music and much more) have come under scrutiny in the modern (and, as some like to say, post-modern) era? While Gager's insights and analyses are welcome, perhaps they are not quite the sound-barrier-breaking ideas that he wishes they were.

   And what of the traditional views? Even if thoroughly discounted and discredited in Gager's paradigm, we again run into a similar as the Jesus Seminar and its critics. How can we state the Holy Spirit has had charge of the image of Jesus through two millenniums, and thus it is the traditional Jesus who is most 'real', but, on the other hand, the traditional Paul cannot be most 'real'? Where was the Holy Spirit in this regard? Can the Holy Spirit only take charge of one?




4. Gager's text, "Reinventing Paul" is perhaps mislabeled, as he does less re-inventing than "recovering." With the sort of exasperation characteristic of E.P. Sanders' in "Paul and Palestinian Judaism" Gager dismantles, by way of a thorough review of recent Pauline scholarship, the age-old distortions of Paul and first century Judaism that have plagued Christianity from the outset.

   His dismay is easily understood as he makes plain the way that Paul, the "Apostle to the Gentiles" was forced into the role of "Paul, critic of all that is Jewish." (my phrase) Indeed, the only regret that I had as I read his book was that he seemed unaware of the groundbreaking work of Mark Nanos' "The Mystery of Romans." Nanos' work would only have bolstered Gager's conclusions, but from a Jewish perspective.

   It is no longer excusable for Christian students of the New Testament to set Paul up as an opponent of the "straw man" of Pharisaic Judaism created in the late 19th century and utterly discredited by Sanders, George Foote Moore, and Charlotte Klein. In concise form, Gager has catalogued the breaches in the dam of tradition that will, one hopes, lead to its imminent collapse. The hope, however, falters briefly when one reads critiques of Gager's book that seek to cite brief passages from Romans or Galatians once again as support for Paul's rejection of the meaningfulness of Torah for Jews of his day. Still the misrepresentations of the Judaism of that day raise their misshapen heads to perpetuate the abuses of the past.

   His analysis of Romans and Galatians, while hardly exhaustive, give us an exciting taste of the benefits of real rhetorical analysis of Paul's letters, without weighing the reader down with excessive jargon. Perhaps the most wonderful bits of the whole book are the footnotes, which lead the reader from his tight digest to a variety of authors whose works explore the questions in much greater detail.

   One hopes that Gager's text will become a staple in the teaching establishments of the Church. It would be a shame if any student graduated from a seminary in the next ten years without having read it.




5. John Gager's book "Reinventing Paul" is a long overdue summation of the latest insights into Paul's beliefs and his mission to the Gentiles. Gager and the others are helping to clear away 2,000 years of Christian perversion of Paul's thinking and activity. Here Gager shows that Paul was very much a Jew and remained anchored within the Jewish tradition. He did not repudiate the law of Moses, he did not argue that God had rejected Israel, his enemies were not Jews outside his movement, but opponents within, and he did not expect Jews to abandon the Law and find salvation through Jesus the Christ.

   Gager goes to great lengths to show that the debate over circumcision, or whether Gentiles needed to "become" Jewish and themselves followers of the Law, was at the center of the great controversy. Ultimately, of course, Paul said, "No." Paul believed that a spiritual Christ had arrived and could be experienced through faith as the End Time was near. This has happened as a result of God's promise to Abraham that the Gentiles will also be saved. Faith in Christ is the Gentile's way to salvation, while the Jews retain their Law and covenant with God. Paul's doctrine, in other words, is one of inclusion, not exclusion.

   Gager does a solid job of proving his points and his reinventing of Paul is long overdue, but the author leaves a few loose ends. He does not go into Paul's vision of the Son and what implications this has for Christianity. If Paul held that the saving experience is "faith" in God's righteousness and justice as manifest through a spiritual Christ, and that Jews can be saved even without the belief in Christ, what does this say of the Christian belief that a living Jesus walked the earth and performed a redemptive act to save mankind? Paul obviously never believed in it! Yet, Gager is silent on these issues. A sound book, in other words, as far as it goes, but it answers only half the questions concerning Paul and his vision. But, this is an important book that needs to be read.

5 comments about The Summer of the Great-Grandmother (Crosswicks Journal, Book 2).

1. Madeleine L'Engle was publishing memoir before most writers had mastered how to pronounce the word; The Crosswicks Journal--Book 1 (A Circle of Quiet) was first published in 1972. I have to honestly say that Book 1 saved my life, coming at a time when I, like L'engle at one point in her life, had just about given up on my writing career. L'engle's honesty about her own broken heart gave me the courage to continue going forward. In the same way, Book 2 (The Summer of the Great-Grandmother) has given me courage in dealing with the decline of my own mother, who turns 90 this summer. I have always viewed Madeleine L'engle as a writer's writer; her honest words are meant to encourage us to keep believing in ourselves, in working to perfect our craft. But this book is more about the stuff of life that can oppress us, and how to find triumph in daily tribulation. Those who love Madeleine as an authentic individual will love this book.



2. This book spoke to me years ago.... when I read it a few months after the loss of my mother. I've bought another copy to give a good friend who lost her mother several weeks ago. I think it will be a comfort to her, as it was to me. It was great, reminding me to celebrate the life of the person without actually saying that.



3. As a reader who adores the likes of Wendell Berry, I have never minded books where "nothing really happens." L'Engle's second Crosswick's installment here, while circling around the death of her mother, is such a book: a meandering chronicle of a summer where, aside from her mother's death, not much really "happens." The fact that nothing happens is not what made me dislike this book, though, but the delivery which is so absolutely stultifyingly dull, trite, candy-coated and aggravatingly sermonizing and patronizing, certainly was. What a missed opportunity for a writer of obvious talent and skill to have failed to either charm or endear her readers. This book lacks all magic and enchantment; there is not one memorable character aside from the overbearing narrator (and author).
   
   L'Engle fails to realize that some readers actually enjoy pure anecdote and resent being led to conclusions and emotional responses by an over-present author. This title was brought to our book club by someone whose opinion I respect and enjoy, however, I absolutely detested this book.



4. Having read and loved "A Circle of Quiet" (the first of four in the Crosswicks Journals) I had high hopes for this second volume. Curiously, though, this book made me reconsider continuing with the series. L'engle's accounts of her extended family read like historical revisionism -- does any extended family function as well as she claims? I would think a creative and brilliant group of people probably clash more than this book would suggest.

   As with "A Circle of Quiet" there are little gems along the way -- L'engle is a gifted writer, and reading her thoughts is a privledge. Overall, though, I found her style dispassionate and erudite, not what I would have expected from a personal memoir.




5. I'm a big fan of Madeleine L'Engle's non-fiction (regrettably, I have not yet read any of her fiction); I began with Walking on Water, and then moved on to A Circle of Quiet, from which I arrived here, at The Summer of the Great-Grandmother. There are themes that carry over from Walking and Circle, but for the most part, Summer is a different animal altogether.

   Like A Circle of Quiet, the book is autobiographical and takes place at "Crosswicks," the L'Engle/Franklin home in Connecticut. As the title indicates, L'Engle's mother, freshly a great-grandmother, is living with them, and her health and cognitive ability is swiftly declining. Throughout the book--really, like A Circle of Quiet, a collection of journal entries--the author deals with losing the mother that she used to know to senility and incontinence, as well as the effects and ramifications of death.

   I've never had anyone close to me die, so I can't relate to this book as much as I could to A Circle of Quiet or Walking on Water, but it's superbly written (L'Engle's words always seem to be alive and breathing), and I imagine that it would be a great comfort to those who are dealing with death.

5 comments about The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent).

1. This is the second book in the series The Swans are Not Silent. Like the other books in the series, it contains three of Piper's biographical sermons on historical Christians. In this case, those featured are John Bunyan, William Cowper and David Brainerd, three men who endured great suffering during their lives, and whose suffering bore fruit, both in their own times and onward through history to the present day. Piper's purpose in telling the stories of these men's lives and expounding on them is so that the story of "how they suffered, how they endured, and how it bore fruit will inspire in [the reader] that same radical Christian life, God-centered worship, and Christ-exalting mission."
   
   The first section is on the life of John Bunyan, best known for writing The Pilgrim's Progress, one of the best-selling books of all times, although he wrote at least fifty-seven other books. Bunyan was a "brasyer", a tinker who became a nonconformist preacher. He suffered in many ways throughout his life, including spending 12 years in jail away from his wife and children for refusing to stop preaching. Bunyan's imprisonment drove him to God's word, and developed in him a keen sense of the presence of Christ. Hie suffering and what he wrote about suffering in the life of the Christian can teach us much about following Christ in difficult times.
   
   Next up is William Cowper, who suffered from from depression and insanity, and yet left behind marvelous hymns of God's goodness that we still sing two hundred years later. He is proof of the truth of one of his most famous hymns, God Moves in a Mysterious Way His Wonders to Perform.
   
   And then there's David Brainerd. Brainerd was a young missionary to the Indians in the 1700s who died at aged 29 of tuberculosis, following several years of illness. We remember him because of his journal, which has inspired many others to missionary service, including William Carey and Jim Elliot.
   
   The lives of these three men, Piper says, are like pebbles dropped into a pond: "God has breathed on the waters and made their ripple into waves. And now the parched places of our lives are watered with the memories of sustaining grace."
   
   This is a wonderfully inspirational book. It's not a long book, and I expected to finish it in a snap, but things didn't work out that way because of the richness of the stories. Don't take this to mean that The Hidden Smile of God is a difficult book. I'd call it an easy read, but one worth pondering as it's read.



2. This book is a great encouragement, especially for any depressed or discouraged Christian. It's good to be reminded that God causes all things to work together for good for those that love Him... and that He can work through us, even through depression. "Hallelujah! What a Savior! Hallelujah! What a Friend"



3. In the second part of Piper's eulogies to great men of the Faith, in 'The Swans Are Not Silent' series, we get to meet Bunyan, Cowper (pronounced Cooper) and Brainerd.
   
   The introduction to the book brings us to an important theological aspect in the Christian life: the fruit of affliction. It is by these means of trials and tests, that God shapes the character of the lives of men and women, who lay claim to being Christ's. The cost of discipleship is ravaging, demanding, painful and yet, brings much glory to God, only if we continue to see His good in our circumstances.
   
   Of this school, John Bunyan was an unchallenged leader. Most probably the most famous of Puritan preachers and pastors, the Bedford tinker grew in stature and favor with the English folk, which extends right to this day. Those that say Bunyan only had to agree to not preaching without a licence, at no other cost was his gaol term enforced, fail to know those days. As Piper explains, they were the Non-Conformists, who refused to bow the knee to the Church of England with her popish traditions and catholic conventions. If you read Bunyan's sermons, you will readily see the sort of principle he disagreed with. For example, that they had a Common Prayer Book, and for every circumstance, Holy Day, or gathering, they were required to pray from it word-for-word. NO! says Bunyan, for 'I will pray by the Spirit and by my understanding!' 1 Cor 14:15
   
   What really touched my heart was that Bunyan confessed he loved his oldest daughter most. Born blind from birth, she was his weak spot. During the twelve years imprisonment when she had occasion to visit with his second wife, he claims that it was extremely hard to part with her. A fathers heart! If ever he needed an excuse to conform and be released from prison, she was there. Yet God graciously supplied in His means of grace to Bunyan.
   
   Quote: 'Let me beg of thee, that thou wilt not be offended either with God, or men, if the cross is laid heavy upon thee. Not with God, for He doth nothing without a cause, nor with men, for...they are the servants of God to thee for good. Take therefore what comes to thee from God by them, thankfully.'
   
   It were as if Bunyan saw Christ in his tormentors, and heard Christ plead with him to transfer their guilt, their actions, onto Christ, and thus be free to love them.
   
   Bunyan is with reason well-loved.
   
   Cowper was a hymnist and could rise above his melancholy to deliver the most beautiful odes of praise to God. Suffering from depression, he regularly had to keep the foes of darkness at bay, and dug deeply from the wells of grace to bring forth his fruit, much of which is still well-known and in use today.
   
   Brainerd was made public by Jonathan Edwards, the great American theologian. Brainerd was a missionary who lived in the most depriving of conditions amongst the Indians he was doing missionary work to. He also had ailments and was ill for most of the time, yet continued to thank God for every breath and word he was able to bring. God sustained him and then He mercifully took him away, at a relatively young age. Missionaries who are pitted against tests, deaths of various kinds, always refer to Brainerd's work for exhortation.
   
   This is a remarkable book in the sense that these men were principled and knew not the easy way out. They continued to live out their witness, knowing that it was the Holy Spirit at work in their life's calling, despite the odds being stacked against them. So in good times and tough, God was sovereignly ruling in their lives.
   
   Solemn and awe-inspiring.



4. If you are reading this, you really need to read this book. Have you suffered affliction? There is JOY in this book. As I read about David Brainerd, I couldn't help praying "Lord change me." There is a sense of healing in this book as God really undertands our suffering and loves us.This book left the image in my mind of David Brainerd riding his horse in the rain through the woods, throwing up blood from TB in a mission to share the gospel to the Indians. He was rejected by the seminary. There was nothing easy about his life. This is a book to read over and over. It will bring healing and joy to you in your affliction.



5. The second of Piper's The Swans are Not Silent series, this book was the most difficult to read because of the subject it dealt with - suffering. Piper selected three great men of the faith, known for their devotion to the Lord and their godly walk and let the reader peak behind the curtains of their lives - and the suffering, depression, attempted suicide and struggles of these three men was very distressing. Yet, even as Bunyan face his twelve years in prison for preaching the gospel, he saw his struggles actually ordained and orchestrated by God for His own glory; a view that both Cowper and Brainerd shared regarding their own hardships and turmoil.
   
   In a country where suffering is avoided at all costs and seen by many as spiritual weakness, the lives of Bunyan, Cowper and Brainerd shout a different story about the sovereign hand of God in the lives of His children. 1 Peter chapter 4 tells us that we should not consider suffering strange, but rather as a sign that the Lord truly is in control and that He is working out our salvation for His own glory through our hardships. Looking back at the lives of these three saints, it is easy to see how God has been glorified in their struggles - from the writings of Bunyan to the poems and hymns of Cowper to the effectual call to ministry that the life of Brainerd has had on hundreds if not thousands who followed him. While these three struggled greatly, many have tasted the fruit of eternal peace from their hardships.
   
   All four books of this series are outstanding - highly recommended for all Christians to read. Piper introduces us to some great men of the faith and challenges us with their lives to walk in a manner worthy of our calling as those who went before us have done.

1 comments about Mohandas Gandhi: Essential Writings (Modern Spiritual Masters Series).

1. We are very fortunate to have available this compilation of Gandhi's word collected by the Jsuit Father John Dear in this excellent publication by the longstanding and highly qualified Catholic Publishing House Orbis Books, an organ of the MAryknoll MIssionary Society, for whom my uncle served as priest overseas forty yaers until a debilitating stroke struck him down five years ago.
   
   Father JOhn DEar is best known for not only his actions for peace, including as the head of Pax Christi and the Fellowship of REconciliation, but also for the many works he has written, including Disarming the Heart: Towards a Vow Of Non-Violence (which for a Christian shoudl be redundant anyways!). In this ADvent season we do well to contemplate his Mary of Nazareth: Prophet of Peace. And in the midst of all this activity he found time to compile the writings of Gandhi, in the year 2002 when surely he felt the call to more direct actions.
   
   What more lasting and direct action for peace and Christian love could he possibly take than this collection of Gandhi? Now at this discount how can we afford in this fallen day and age not to take it to heart?
   
   Please take advantage of the excellent amazon Search Inside feature to study at least the Table of Contents and you will find everything you have wanted to know. Not only does he provide an excellent summary of the life and impact of Gandhi, but then develops along the essential themes his thought and prayer. There is of course and obviously to many the parallels with the Sermon on the Mount which helps us CAtholics the more to understand our call as Catholics to peaceful action in this violent world.
   
   Especially important to us as Americans as our nation sinks under its exponentially increasing inequities brought on by the current administration is the pages devoted to "Steadfast Resistance", in particular the chapter entitled, "Obeying the Divine Law, Resisting Unjust Laws (pages 152 ff.)" which find echo sixty years later in the COnciliar document Gaudium et Spes, which describes why no Catholic can support our Iraqi involvement directly nor indirectly:
   
   Gaudium et spes gives the specific admonition:
   
   "Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and humanity, which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation."
   
   Thus must we Catholics condemn absolutely our war against Iraq which goes back though the long war of attrition to papa Bush in 1990, which has caused over a million Iraqi deaths, women and children in their bloodied beds, and carpet bombing wiping out the ancient city of Fallujah, etc. all for profiteering privateering petroleum piracy.
   
   Further Gaudium et spes states unequivocally:
   "If civil authorities legislate or allow anything that is contrary to the will of God, neither the law made nor the authorization granted can be binding on the conscience of the citizens since God has more right to be obeyed than man."
   
   God commands: Thou shalt not kill.
   
   We cannot kill a million Iraqi citizens, women and children in their beds, for the sake of privateering petroleum piracy. We cannot be involved in this genocide in any way shape or form. We in fact are obligated to work and speak strongly against it. Pope John PAul II was first in condemning the aggressive invasion of Iraq.
   
   I cannot urge you enough to consider this substantial volume for your spiritual and Catholic library, as the Reverend Father John Dear so well and intelligently and spiritually interprets for us directly from the primary sources the life and philosophy, the love and non-violent action of this Great Soul. I can think of no finer book on Gandhi available today. I can think of no more crucial message for us today, who have grown deaf and blind by the brilliance of the Sermon on the Mount and need to see it through refractions from a similar source to find our own Faith and grace-filled Action.
   
   Do unto others what you want them to do to you.
   Sounds like something you never have to think about while it is all you need to think about.

5 comments about My Land and My People: The Original Autobiography of His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet.

1. This book is a wonderful, simple, and quick read. Of course the subject matter does get unpleasant, but it's good to know the facts from the perspective of His Holiness at the time that he wrote it in 1962.
   
   The book tells the story which everyone knows: how the Chinese invaded Tibet and the Dalai Lama was forced to feel to India. But this book goes in to detail and as a reader, it was great to finally get the "real" details of that story, again from his perspective. Prior to reading this, I only knew the story based on films and summaries in guide books, etc.
   
   I highly recommend this book, and I would suggest reading this one prior to reading his second autobiography, "Freedom in Exile" from the early 1990's.



2. Even if you already know the life story of His Holiness, this is a great read. Written in the Dalai Lama's usual clear and forthright style, the story is deeply moving. Recommended for students of both Buddhism and history.



3. Having long been a fan of the Dalai Lama and his other books, I was anxious to read his autobiography. It is an amazing story that he has to tell. We should hope that our world had evolved beyond invasions after World War II, but that proved not to be true when China invaded Tibet and eventually ousted the ruling party in 1959.
   
   Having been previously familiar with the story of the exile of the Dalai Lama to some degree, I was anxious to learn about it in more detail. Truly the people of Tibet are and continue to be victims of China. China crept into Tibet saying only that it would help to modernize the "backwards" people of Tibet. After numerous broken promises the Dalai Lama exited just ahead of the first morter blasts that rocked his palace. China's only real goal was to take possession of the land at any cost.
   
   Few religions place a greater emphasis on peace than the Tibetan form of Buddism. While the author gives readers some of the basic principles of the faith, the language should not be confusing to those not familiar with Buddism. This amazing story, though it ends with the Dalai Lama's arrival in India, is still fresh and eye-opening today.



4. I enjoyed this narrative, my first experience with the writing of H.H. Dalai Lama. He writes so well. It's clear, descriptive, and engaging from the first sentence to the last. Suitable for all ages, the earlier the better. It has really sparked my interest in this country,, or at least how it once was. It has been almost two generations since this tragedy and I doubt things will ever be the same. Well, at least the chinese have thier railroad at the expense of an entire nation. Oh, but the writing isn't bitter at all. Just me.



5. I am a college student who has studied China extensively in school. I can speak Chinese and have traveled to China several times and to Tibet once. While I have never agreed with many of the Chinese governments policies in the areas of religion, personal freedom, Tibet, and Taiwan, I think this book could have done more for its cause.

   I decided to read this book after I spent 2.5 weeks in Tibet last year while studying in China. Tibet was one of the most fascinating places I have been to and I really wanted to know more about what happened there after China invaded. This book tells the Dalai Lama's story very well. Up until the last 15 pages or so, I really loved the book. However, before closing, the Dalai Lama makes several accusations about Chinese human rights abuses in Tibet (beatings, child abductions and the like) but provides no evidence of their existence.

   While I personally feel Tibet was and still is a sovereign country and what China has done is wrong in many ways, the charges made in the last few pages don't belong in this book. While the Dalai Lama's story of his life and last days in Tibet are very powerful, I really think it would have been even better had the those last parting shots been omitted. Charges of human rights abuses such as these are very important and would be better served in a book of their own.

   I think most Americans will enjoy this book but not share the same reaction I had to the last few pages. I have studied China for several years now and have heard accusations from both China and the world on countless occasions on a wide range of issues. Maybe this is why I get turned off when I don't see concrete evidence included when someone makes a charge such as the Dalai Lama does at the end of his book. I still think the Dalai Lama is a wonderful man and has an important story to tell, but feel this one could have come across a little better.

No comments about Desmond Tutu: Rabble-Rouser for Peace: The Authorized Biography.

5 comments about Refined by Fire: a family's triumph of love and faith.

1. This is a very encouraging book about courage and faith in the face of a devastating terrorist incident. I was moved by LTC Bidwell and his wife's faith in God and each other as they fought their way back from the brink of death, after he was burned over more than 60% of his body on 9/11. One of my battle buddies was just badly burned by a bomb blast in Kabul, Afghanistan and is currently making this same recovery. Reading this book encouraged me about my friend's prospective future, after recovery.



2. This book is one of the most amazing faith filled stories I have read in a long time.
   What Mel and Brian Birdwell went through after the tragedy of 9/11 and how it made them grow in the Chrisitan faith never giving in to others negativity is a true testimony of how God does work miracles. Brian Birdwell is a walking miracle.
   This was the best of all the books I have read about people who have survived 9/11. This is one book once you read it, you will never forget it!



3. Brian is a friend of my son and his family and while visiting with my son, I was fortunate enough to meet Brian and his wife. They are a very loving sincere couple who have had their faith tested and have come out of this stronger than ever. I have recommended this book to others and am giving the books to friend and family because I think it tells a great story of love, devotion and faith.



4. This book is an amazing testimony of God's mercy, love and faithfulness to those who call upon His name. As Brian and Mel Birdwell share their experiences from the Pentagon attack and aftermath, the reader gets a vivid mental picture of much of what they went through. They share their pain and suffering, but they also share their hope and trust in the Lord which is ultimately what gets them through such an appalling tragedy. God is clearly glorified in this story!



5. Refined by Fire is an autobiography of a couple's experience of faith, endurance, and love of God. It evokes all human emotion.

4 comments about A Holy Life: The Writings of St. Bernadette of Lourdes.

1. This book is very revealing. I had thought it likely that I would find out more about Bernadette's life as a nun from her writings; but she was little concerned with her material life, and almost completely concerned with her spiritual life. She constantly sought to be as saintly as possible, making a conscious attempt to be worthy of the sainthood which she suspected was her destiny. She cultivated within herself humility, altruism, patience, and love for and dedication to God. She also turned out to be very sensitive, and sought emotional support by corresponding frequently with her family. In her letters, she was very loving toward them. After reading the book, I believe that Bernadette achieved her goal of being worthy of sainthood.



2. In the initial account of the apparitions Dr. McEachern uses the method of drawing lines from various different accounts given by the Saint over several different years in order to present one comprehensive report. If you accept this methodology as valid, you will draw much from this book. I felt a bit uncomfortable realizing I was reading a mosaic of shards shattered and shorn from so many different sources and presented as her complete account, but perhaps such textual criticism does not present a problem to other readers. I would prefer to read the accounts in their entirety, including to the various ecclesial and legal authorities who questioned her, in chronological order, and piece together a conclusive report from that entirety. Here this work has been done for us, leaving only the golden threads from among the whole cloth. I would hope one day to see the fullest tapestry.
   
   After that opening, the compiler of this volume does leave us a fairly representative collection of the Saint's letters, translated. Again I hope one day to see them in the original, including the regional dialect, and in chronological order, as here we find the intriguing and often difficult and treacherous work of translation done for us.
   
   I also found the opening introduction touched by a persistent trait of other reports on this Saint, the disparagement of her family and conditions and education and mind, rather than a charitable embracing and comprehension. I am always uncomfortable to read such judgmental emphasis, yet here find it more balanced and contextualized than in earlier standard texts. The Saint herself suffered this from the first moments she reported the Visions, and for the rest of her life on earth, and accepted this suffering, for reasons she examines in this book, including unmentioned yet infinitely consoling comments by Our Lady herself, who was of similar age and education and conditions. I am not so holy and so feel deeply uncomfortable for the Saint suffering such mistreatment both during and after life, but I must resolve to convert by her very wise and holy and compassionate example, and by her own exhortations shared here in her own, translated hand.
   
   A necessary addition to any Catholic spiritual library, and probably the best we can get for this Saint.



3. In developing my own book on the famous apparitions at Massabielle (Lourdes: Font of Faith, Hope, & Charity, Paulist Press, Sept. 2007), I researched a great number of titles. None of them, however, gave me better insight into the real person of Bernadette Soubirous than A Holy Life. Thanks to Patricia McEachern's careful translation, English-speaking readers can appreciate the oftentimes difficult journey to sainthood through Bernadette's candid letters and journal entries as she lived out her sanctity in the motherhouse at Nevers. A true treasure -- it was like meeting the visionary in person!



4. This book is a wonderful resource for all who want to know Bernadette better. From her writtings one can see the depth of her faith. She saw all that occurred in her life as the will of GOD and she accepted everything that came her way. One learns that Bernadette carried her cross in life with acceptance and love. She suffered greatly and wanted to unite her suffering with Jesus' for the sake of all sinners.

5 comments about The Secret Life of a Satanist: The Authorized Biography of Anton LaVey.

1. i think this was a very good bio into the life of Mr.LaVey. After reading most of his books, this gives a better understanding of who he was and how he came to be the founder of the Church of Satan.



2. Interesting read to say the least. The man portrayed in the book had one of the most interesting lives ever. However, his entire childhood and most of his early adult life until the creation of the Satanic Church was complete fiction. It is ironic though that the man who was the representative of the Father of lies just happened to be an enormous liar.



3. I notice lots of individuals enjoy pointing the Finger On this Devil of a Gentleman on the truthfulness of his life.Lets not forget that one can also say the same about the Life Of Aleister Crowley.For one who talked so much of secret cheifs,HGA,The crimson drips of saints blood on Babalons chalice and union with Ain etc He love to beat on his Scarlet women,lived from his followers purse once his inheritence ran dry,and died in poverty a Herione addict.The late Mr.Lavey has done lots in Both mundane and magical views of approach for one who doesnt like the RHP blah blah of Other Occultnik Viewpoints. HAIL SATAN!



4. I recommend this book to anyone who really would like to know what a true satanist is. It explains the life of Anton LaVey from how be began his life to how he found the Church of Satan. And his erotic involvements with Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. There are alot of interesing things to find out.



5. I never knew Lavey. Sometimes, reading about him, one wonders whether anyone ever really did. If you can read between the lines though (too few can), there are some deeply funny and even profound brushes which can be had with the man.
   
   In choosing to either deify or villify him, both his sycophants and his detractors seem to get it all wrong. Lavey is best evaluated warts and all, but also with an eye to the card hand that his critics desperately hide. A quick survey of the characters (or lack thereof) of his three biggest antagonists (the sources of basically every negative accusation making the rounds) speaks for itself. But to whitewash him of any fault would equally leave an impression unworthy of what his legacy suggests.
   
   Much has been made about the fact that Lavey seems to have invented a large part of his 'past' and I feel, from reading this book that this is evidently true. This is supposed to prove that Lavey was a fake and that any of his ideas are suspect. If this is so, then the works of Andy Warhol, Vladimir Nabokov, Jim Morrison, B. Traven and Orson Welles should all be dismissed as counterfeit.
   
   According to Freud, we all make up our 'personas' and attendant 'pasts' as we go along. However, if this book is any record, we don't all do it with equal skill or taste.
   
   Perhaps Lavey's greatest feat of Black Magic was his ability re-enchant the world by awakening an interest in all that is lost, forgotten or damned by consensus reality. Perhaps... but even if he was nothing more than an endearing curmudgeon with a renaissance grasp of junk culture, all his 'artifacts' would still be worth a million kewpie dolls to those with eyes to see.
   
   Yankee Rose indeed.