5 comments about The Song of Bernadette.

1. Many people have not studied the Supernatural Catholic Church. These are not religious "beliefs" they are provable. Saint Bernadette is an incorruptible Catholic saint whose body never decayed after her death. She was NOT MUMMIFIED! Do your research and forget religion! Saint Catherine Laboay who saw the Virgin Mary in 1830 never decayed as well. Do your research! And Yasinta who saw the Virgin Mary at Fatima did not decay. These women were Not Mummified by the Catholic Church! There is the book "The incorruptibles" by Joan Carol Cruz that proved these things. Also the images are on line. Look. The book "Meet the Whitenesses" about Fatima proves scientifically that 100,000 people saw the miracle of the son at Fatima. This book here is ridiculous. Foget about "religion" and do your scientific research and you will realize that the Virgin Mary is not a belief but is scientifically real. It is very sad that "Catholics" know nothing about this stuff but psychics and the esoterics do. Do your reserch for at least a year!



2. At first this book annoyed me. The reason was that, being cast in the form of a novel, the author has been obliged to invent conversations, thoughts, motives, situations, and details of personality.
   
   Furthermore, he has probably introduced a fictitious minor character now and then. Specifically, he has cast Sister Vauzous, who was Bernadette's novice master when she later entered the convent at Nevers, as her unsympathetic school teacher in Lourdes.
   
   Several scenes are set in the schoolroom, yet I suspect Bernadette never went to school. The only language she spoke before entering the convent was Gascon, and visitors from Paris who wished to interview her needed an interpreter. Had she gone to school, she would have been able to speak at least a modicum of French.
   
   In spite of these initial misgivings, the sweep of the story and the vividness of the writing eventually drew me in, and I frequently found myself very moved by it. The story of the apparitions and of the stir they created locally and nationally is convincingly told, and the simplicity of Bernadette's character is beautifully presented. Furthermore, it is astonishing that the author, who was not a Catholic or even a Christian, has been able to enter so successfully both the spiritual and political worlds of Catholicism.
   
   I recommend the book highly. Catholic readers will find their faith deepened by it, but others will still find it a compelling story well told.



3. This book should be THE standard for religious fiction. Rarely have I read a book in which the subject is so excellently handled. The story is interesting and very moving, without being melodramatic. It begins with Bernadette in a sort of wide focus. The narrator does not make the claim that Bernadette's visions are authentic,but rather allows the story itself to slowly show the truth of the situation. As the plot progresses, the focus narrows, and we see just who and what Bernadette really is. By the end of the book, we, the reader are convinced (without being forced) that Bernadette is an authentic visionary of the Blessed Virgin. This is probably the finest novel that I have ever read, and I am a prolific and avid reader. One caveat- the historical details in this book are not 100% accurate. If one wants to find a more historically accurate account of Saint Bernadette, read Bernadette Speaks, which is also a brilliant book.



4. My title of this review, "I recommend this book to *you*" may seem rather bold; after all, I don't know who may or may not come along and read this review.
   
   But I stand by that title. Whoever you are, gentle reader, I recommend this book to you. It is one of those universal classics that powerfully, skillfully, and with thoroughgoing integrity, addresses a truly universal phenomenon: the encounter of mortal, corporeal, limited human beings with the numinous.
   
   That's something we all share, no matter our language or religion. One day we are walking along, leading our workaday lives, and -- something happens. Something that just does not fit in what we can conceive of as real. We have a dream, we see, however fleetingly, a ghost, we know something we should not have known.
   
   How do we respond? What is the proper response?
   
   A related question: Human suffering. Why? What is God *thinking*? Or, isn't human suffering proof that there is no God?
   
   Franz Werfel's "Song of Bernadette" takes up these questions, questions that every sentient creature must ponder at least once in his or her lifetime. And Werfel does a bang-up job.
   
   Werfel himself was no stranger to either phenomenon. He knew suffering, and he knew the numinous. He had previously written of the Armenian genocide. He was a Jew escaping from Hitler when he, inspired by a trip to Lourdes in his escape, undertook to complete a vow and write something that would honor what he experienced there.
   
   I was wary of this book. Mindful of the Jennifer Jones - Vincent Price movie (what a combo), I expected a spongy, pious, icky book. Boy, was I wrong.
   
   From the start, the reader realizes that no matter what else he is, Werfel was an excellent writer. Born in Prague, he was a peer of Franz Kafka and had an established reputation before he began "Song," having been voted the most popular author in the German language in 1926, and having won the Grillparzer Prize, the Schiller Prize, and the Czechoslovakian State Prize, among others.
   
   One of Werfel's great gifts is that he doesn't try to sell you anything that you don't want to buy. He uses his literary skill to recreate a humble peasant's life for you, to drag you into a grim dwelling where an ordinary peasant girl is doing her chores, and coughing asthmatically. Believe me; this is not a child you feel any temptation to worship. She could be anyone, anyone. From these particulars, Werfel creates a universal tale.
   
   Now, the tough part. Werfel, of course, is writing about GOD. That topic that makes people get crazy with each other. And he's writing about a miracle, an event that, by its definition, defies human belief.
   
   I'll be frank. I'm a lifelong Catholic. And *I* find Bernadette Soubirous' story hard to believe. Were I sick, I would not seek healing at Lourdes; I'd go to a medical doctor.
   
   This is where Werfel's skill as a writer really shines. He does not even attempt to describe the miracles in a believable way. Rather, he describes the *reactions* of observers in a way that I found completely believable. I believe that average people, when confronted with the numinous, would react exactly as the characters in Werfel's book are described as reacting.
   
   Werfel never converted to Catholicism. After reading his masterful book, I, a Catholic, have more questions than answers about what really happened - and about what really continues to happen - at Lourdes. Indeed, those not at all Catholic, but interested in the power of the mind to heal the body, have included Lourdes on their research itineraries.
   
   It was Werfel who first gave me pause about Bernadette, and about Lourdes. Without having read his book, I think I would have dismissed Bernadette, had I given her any thought at all, as a hoaxer, or as someone with some mental disability. Isn't that how we usually respond when confronted with the numinous, but at a distance? Werfel provides us with portraits of people who respond exactly that way, and others who have to handle the numinous when confronted with it at first hand. The contrasts are wonderfully drawn, as are the occasional conversions.
   
   As Werfel so wonderfully says, "for those who believe, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not believe, no explanation is possible."
   
   We all, at some moment or another, wrestle with ourselves to discover on what side of that line we take our stand. At such moments, we could do worse than pick up Werfel's "Song of Bernadette."



5. The Jewish author Franz Werfel wrote this novel after stopping at Lourdes on his way out of Nazi-occupied Europe. Impressed by what he observed at the famous shrine, he vowed that if he ever reached "the saving shores of America", he would do his best to "sing the song of Bernadette". As his wish was granted, his vow was honored. Interestingly, during the course of the novel, published at a time of extreme religious intolerance in Europe, we learn that Protestants as well as Jews also make pilgrimages to Lourdes.
   The story is about the life of Bernadette Soubirous, an asthmatic fourteen-year-old peasant girl whose family have fallen on hard times. Noteworthy is the fact that Bernadette's mother, Louise, had a gift for healing the sick as other women of the Saint's matrilineal line.
   The first apparition takes place on February 11, 1858 after her father has a lamentable day doing menial labor, and she, her sister, Marie, and friend, Jeanne Abadie are sent to collect firewood for their home. The ailing Bernadette stays on one side of the freezing pond water to prevent her asthma from becoming worse while the other go ahead, and in a frightening, tense moment, she is greeted by a pixie-like lady with a white veil,a white gown, dark hair, blue eyes, and a blue sash with a gold rose on each foot who smiles consistently.
   In the days and weeks that follow, Bernadette's friends and foes align themselves either in her favor or against her. But miracles in the grotto take place when a blinded stonecutter and an ailing infant are among the first to be healed by water from the spring that the Lady told Bernadette to dig. However, moments of vindication for Bernadette come slowly. Eventually, she even wins the approval of the Empress Eugenie, who dispatches her son's governess to get some of the water to help heal him.
   With the words "I am the Immaculate Conception", the Apparition of 1858 also answered the issue about how the Mother of Christ had to be conceived without sin at a time when the Catholic Church had begun to discuss that topic at length.
   The Lady promises Bernadette that she will not be granted happiness in this life, but only in the next. Indeed, the story follows Bernadette through the 13 years she spent in the Convent of Nevers (where her incorrupt remains are on display to this day), being tormented by a jealous nun, and helping to nurse soldiers during the Franco-Prussian War. The ailing soldiers called for her more than any other nurse.
   After dealing with many ailments and tragedies(her mother died shortly after she entered the convent in 1866), Bernadette, who never loses her sense of humour through it all, dies of tuberculosis at the age of 35 in 1879. She was canonized in 1933 and is one of the favorite modern Saints of the Catholic Church.
   When Franz Werfel's own story becomes intertwined with Bernadette's, we realize that we are presented with two stories about moments of grace; that of a humble peasant girl's priviledge of seeing the Mother of God face to face, and of a non-Christian's finding solace in the Visionary's native village, and ultimately escaping his persecutors.
   Werfel, in fulfillment of his vow to write about the young Seeress if his own mortal life was saved from the Nazis, has done Bernadette great justice, exposing more people to her life story in an entertaining and engaging way.

5 comments about Memories of God: Theological Reflections on a Life.

1. The book Memories of God, written by Roberta C. Bondi, is about a female professor who wrote a memoir to fully understand her own thoughts about her life and her faith. She faced many challenges of being a female in a male dominated home life, school life and work life. This memoir examines her relationships that she has and helps her to gain a better understanding of her relationship with God.
   
   This memoir is a great book to read to get a better understanding of how culture shapes are lives and our beliefs. Bondi referenced the early monastic father's articles which helped her see a different side of God that her own images she learned from her controlling father. Anyone who reads this book can grasp new images of God as our Father. This book has been helpful for my particular ministerial context in that it reminds me that not all people have the same view of God. I particularly have a great relationship with my father but can use this book to reference other relationships in view of my perception of God.



2. In Memories of God Theological Reflections on a Life, Roberta Bondi shares her life story relating her search for a relationship with God that was true to her life experience. Growing up with a harsh father, fire and brimstone southern Baptist preaching, and a male dominated culture, Bondi struggles to reconcile all the parts of who she is - being a female with an intellect, being up-happy and unable to truly please anyone, with what she perceives as people's and God's expectations of her. Through intense and painful prayer and reflection, and encountering a view of a loving and forgiving God through experiences of beauty, adult unconditional love, and in the writings of the early church, Bondi comes to see herself as beloved by God in who she is.
   
   Storytelling, questioning, and prayerful reflection are highlighted in Bondi's book as the means to truly understand self and our relationship with God. Without these processes our relationship remains at best, an intellectual impersonal assent. Opening ourselves through probing our deepest fears, feelings and beliefs brings the joy of self knowledge and of our belovedness before God.



3. I would recommend Ms. Bondi's book, Memories of God, to anyone who has struggled with disconnections between their experiences and the accepted wisdom of society and traditional Christianity's view of God. This book will be especially meaningful to women who grew up in the 1950's and 60's, when women's dependence on men was no longer biological, i.e. due to physical strength or the need for a strong defender of the home, but was necessary for societal order. During this time in American society, it was the "natural" order of society to redirect women's gifts to the home, lady's social clubs and volunteer work. Underlying this societal necessity of the authority of men were culturally supportive messages not only from society, but also from churches in the way God was portrayed. Ms. Bondi heard these societal messages and tried to live them but never was at ease with them. This book investigates how one can take off society's and traditional Christianity's "lens" of what it means to be a woman in the late 20th century and find a healthy way to connect women's experiences and belief in God.
   
   Ms. Bondi explores sin, prayer, God as Father, the cross, sacrifice, and salvation and creates a paradigm shift in her faith life through theological reflection, by connecting her experiences with great Christine doctrines. Her courage in writing this memoir is evident considering her career as a professor in areas connected to religious thought. I am thankful for her courage and for what her book offers to all who have faced similar issues and have searched for healing.



4. Assigned to me to be read as before a spirituality seminar, I really enjoyed looking at the theological reflections of this past generation through the eyes of a theologian who is a woman. I was able to relate so much of what she said to experiences I have had with other women who have had a great influence on my own growth of thinking about God in these years.



5. I tried to like this book but I just couldn't get past the number of accounts Bondi gave to her horrid upbringing. I realize this wasn't her intent but just when I thought she'd celebrate her success in working through her own theological beliefs- Boom! Back she went to retell the sources for her misguided theology from youth.
   
   It is truly remarkable that she had the will to seek answers; I was just hoping she'd give more attention to the life she now leads.

5 comments about Faith and the Presidency: From George Washington to George W. Bush.

1. Even though tomes have been written on the American presidents, Dr. Smith manages to bring fresh insight as a result of painstaking research. ( It could serve as a model for any student looking to document his research) The book is not "light" reading....but the author writes with clarity and with as much impartiality as humanly possible. I found his distinction between the ways that these presidents' faith shaped their policies to be thought-provoking. This book provides a strong framework from which to examine the coming election season.



2. I encourage you to set aside a block of time each day as you loose yourself in the history and faith of each of these men. It is full of interesting faith facts that just a history of these presidents would never touch. I must confess it took me time to read and digest this book, but well worth the time. I look forward to reareading this book in order to grasp new facts that I did not glean from the first read. I would love to see it used in school class rooms everywhere. The research, notes and excellent writing of this work is outstanding!



3. A first-rate work in which eleven presidents are analyzed in terms of their religious beliefs and their actions. Solid framework of analysis. The work brims with new details, broad understandings, and sound and judicious conclusions. Impressive, varied bibliography. The copious notes, alone, are worth a close read. Sparkling writing and sound organization make this a page-turner.



4. If you are looking for fresh information about the role of faith and religion in the lives of some of America's greatest presidents then I highly recommend purchasing Faith and the Presidency.
   The author, Gary Smith has done his homework. His research is very thorough and his style of writing is clear and free of technical jargon.
   I thought the book presented a balanced view of democrat and republican presidents; and the author covers each president's religious affiliation without bias. After reading this book I finally understand why religion is such a hot topic during every presidential election.
   Reading about Abraham Lincoln and how his faith helped him address the crises of the civil war is the best I have read to date.
   Students, teachers of history, religious leaders and those with a love of presidential history need this book to complete their library. A must read for 2007!



5. Gary Scott Smith's Faith and the Presidency is fascinating to read and weighty in substance. Full of personal details drawn from the lives of various presidents as well as important observations about public policy and religious impulses, Smith hits the sweet spot between bold, exciting claims and strong supporting evidence.
   
   I was particularly persuaded by the book's observation that the foreign policy of presidents more readily reveals their philosophical commitments because the U.S. presidency has greater latitude abroad than at home.
   
   This is a book worth reading from cover to cover. Smith hits a home run with this exceptional book. A tour de force!

1 comments about The Confessions of Saint Augustine.

1. Garry Wills' translation of Saint Augustine's "Confessions" brings this work to life. Wills has rendered Augustine's Latin into beautifully flowing contemporary English. It is commendable that he was able to do this while preserving the personal character of this saint's life story and demonstrating the complexity and depth of Augustine's thought.
   
   While reading this book, I often felt amazed that this work, despite being written so long ago, appears to be so contemporary. Augustine's life and ideas really transcend time and are insightful reflections on the basic human condition. If you would like to read a good translation of the "Confessions" written in contemporary English, I highly recommend this edition to you.

1 comments about Life Lessons from the Hiding Place: Discovering the Heart of Corrie Ten Boom.

1. Speaking from the authority of someone who lived and traveled with Corrie ten Boom, Pamela Rosewell Moore dived into archived papers and her own dear memories of Tante Corrie to provide this new work. At the heart of the material is 'how is Corrie relevant to today's Christian?' and how can I as an author show that to my readers? The depth of Pamela's experience with Brother Andrew and with Corrie ten Boom makes her a cherished author for every Christian reader.

5 comments about Paul: The Mind of the Apostle.

1. Since the Catholic church declared "The year of Saint Paul" commencing in July, 2008, a lot of people will be wondering whether to buy this book. I say yes - with some caveats.
   
   Wilson is an engaging writer and makes a lot of illuminating observations. For example, describing the Temple as an "abattoir" sounds disrespectful at first glance, until you consider just what was happening to all those doves, lambs, goats, and heifers people brought in. This is an easily read book that is hard to put down.
   
   But far too often Wilson builds his arguments on decidedly shaky foundations. On one page he will openly speculate and 20 pages later he treats that speculation as proven truth. And this happens again and again. This habit constitutes a major flaw of the book.
   
   Surprisingly, Wilson seems most comfortable analyzing the theology of the "authentic" letters. And, while he is sceptical of Jesus' divinity, he can not help but wonder how a "simple Galilean exorcist and faith healer" exerted such an influence on his countrymen.
   
   Perhaps this is best read from the library or as a used book.



2. All I wanted was a closer understanding of who Saul was. What I got was a harsh doubting editorial. Wilson continuously unfocuses his train of historical narritive to cast shadows upon Saul, Jesus, and Christianity' roots.....Book Quotes: "Paul was to develop into a richly imaginative, but confused, religious genius" pg27. Luke's gospel is "a rather strange introduction" pg 67. "Luke is a ham-fisted historian who attempts to put a shape on recalcitrant material" pg 67. Regarding feeding the five thousand; "We do not even know whether these events took place" pg 64. Regarding Stephen's martydom "It is hard to know how much of this story to believe" pg 64. Wilson calls Saul's conversion "Christian Mythology" pg61. Are you sitting? Hardy little Wlison goes onto attack the New Testament "the absurdity that bodies really come to life or float through the clouds" pg 73. Brothers and sisters he then turns upon you. "The modern Christian who bravely continues to believe in a real star of Bethlehem or an actual Garden Tomb in Jerusalem from which Jesus rose is making the same mistake....as Finding Homer's Troy" pg73. In one bold sentence Wilson slashes the reader, the resurrection and reduces Christianity to a myth. Doubtings and accusations fill this supposed biography. Page 205 "We can now guess" about Peter and Paul. Do you think that Wilson forgot to chip away at the Christian church? On page 163 he compares it to a "club" or "Freemason's lodge". He accuses the church as being "incorrigbly misgynistic" pg 143....... A biography is exactly that; a related culture bound experience. This fixated psychotic book does no justice to the indexes of 'biography'. It reduces early Christianity to the notion of a fantasy and Christ as a myth. This virulent editorial's ambition is raging gauze covered Christ bashing. Looking for history I was frustrated. Reading as a Christian I was exasperated.



3. Full disclosure up-front: I am not a Christian though I was raised in a semi-Christian household by a Catholic mother and Lutheran father. I knew the stories but they were never forced on me. I was never asked to believe anything, religious or otherwise, without testing it out first for myself.
   
   It is probably for this reason that "Paul: The Mind of the Apostle" appeals to me so strongly. Wilson admits right up front that there are no extant non-biblical references to Paul which makes his task as biographer extremely difficult. Nevertheless, there is a fair amount of non-biblical historical data of the era and a great amount of literary scholarship of the past 1900 years that he utilizes to paint an incredibly detailed picture of the eastern Mediterranean of the first century. Within that framework, he creates as definite a portrait of the wandering tent-maker as he can without grossly overstepping the boundaries of speculation (or at least qualifying those few occasions as speculative).
   
   Other reviews on this page cite him for picking and choosing his sources, agreeing with parts of Acts and discounting others, crediting certain sources above others, etc. This is true. However it is accompanied by an explanation of why he is doing this that is always well researched and well justified. Numerous times he pulls out the original Greek of the text he is critiquing and demonstrates how the original word has been corrupted by translation and what the original actually means. His critique of Acts is specifically along the lines of comparing the fiery temperament of Paul in his Epistles to the Rome-appeaser portrayed by Luke in his pseudo-history.
   
   In the end, it is a compelling and entertaining read that walks a road considered dangerous - even blasphemous by one reviewer - by those who blindly accept traditional biblical history. For those who are interested in the process of searching for the actual story - and even some suggestions as to what "The Way" might have been had orthodox doctrine not taken it over - I have yet to find a better read.



4. The first tip that we are in the realm of the skeptic is the blurb by Karen Armstrong on the back of the hardcover. Then as we read the first chapter we find the author's aside that although first century Christians probably did not deliberately start the fires in Rome that Nero used as a pretext to slaughter them, maybe there might be some truth to the mad Emperor's claim as the fire may have accidentally started in a Christian's home. Then a few pages later we read that although Nero's immolation of Christians and feeding them to wild animals was cruel, certainly later Christian Church endorsed acts such as the persecution of the Albigensians were more terrible in scope and nature. Hmm, if one were reading a book that touched incidentally on the Cambodian genocide or the Holocaust and one read sentences like "Perhaps the Cambodian victims inadvertently brought their persecution upon them by their dedicated adherence to a foreign culture..." or "Although the Holocaust was terrible, later acts of oppression and apartheid by the Israeli state were far worse..." one would think one was reading the work of a kook with an axe to grind. That is about the scope of what we are looking at in A.N. Wilson's book. He has a marked distaste for Christianity as an irrational peasant religion (Gibbon is quoted frequently and admiringly) and feels Jesus was an ordinary preacher whose death created a synergy with the messianic and apocalyptic mood of the times to offer a ready-made myth that was developed and expounded into a more universal religion by Paul and others.
   
   No matter what one makes of Wilson's premise, the tools of his analysis are clumsy and ill-wielded. The only evidence we have of the preaching of Jesus and Paul's life and career come from Scripture. Wilson postulates the entire New Testament is inaccurate propaganda written long after the event that occurred and is mostly fictional, intended to justify certain ideological conclusions that the actual events did not necessarily ratify. The problem then is that if every piece of evidence offered is tainted and flawed, how can you use it to argue any position let alone a contrarian one? That is Wilson's dilemma, and he cannot fulfill this impossible mission. He selectively cuts and pastes texts, opposes Gospel to Acts, Acts to Epistles, Epistles to Gospels and sometimes finds one source convincing and other times the other source, based on, you guessed it, whether or not that particular source agrees with his thesis. So some parts of Acts are good, others bad, some parts of the Gospels useful, others unreliable, etc. He also completely ignores the Gospel of John, saying it is entirely propaganda and not at all truthful, which is necessary for Wilson's premise as some elements in John (Jesus' claims of divinity and ministry to Gentiles) completely sink Wilson's main ideas.
   
   The extreme arbitrariness of Wilson's judgment and overt manipulation of relevant texts suggests to the reader that his argument is not to be taken seriously. Basically Wilson says don't listen to the Christian interpretation of the Bible, listen to his instead. I see no reason why we ought to do that, as his jumbled argument and cavalier attitude towards his main sources would be unacceptable in a college freshman's research paper. The Biblical story as presented and interpreted by mainstream Christian thought is far more persuasive, compelling, and logical than anything Wilson offers in opposition.
   
   Strengths of the book? Wilson appears to like Paul more than he thought he might. As a result, he does a bit to clear Paul of the slanders made against him by post-Enlightenment secular culture. Paul's attitudes to women, homosexuality, and oppressive political authority are justified in Wilson's view because of the eschatological mindset of the apostle and the intellectual and cultural background he was raised in. (It is a sad sign of the state of scholarship in our times where an author recognizing such obvious points is unusual, but I will give praise where it is due.) Besides this relative and limited open-mindedness, Wilson has done much research into the ancient world, and his knowledge of the history and culture of ancient Rome is impressive, although again very selectively presented and interpreted so as to buttress his conclusions. He is a witty writer, and very entertaining at times, and his willingness to speculate wildly can occasionally produce some interesting insight, like in his chapter on Paul in Arabia. Overall though, much of Wilson's narrative is utter speculation and not in the least well-grounded in any objective historical evidence.
   
   I am hard pressed to define an audience for this book. Devout Christians will find Wilson's condescension, anti-Christian bias, and utter skepticism to be off-putting, if not actually blasphemous. Open-minded believers willing to at least listen to secular interpretations of the Biblical world will be disappointed as the wild-eyed manufacture of radical theory and overt heavy-handed arrangement of history and Scripture into a tortured knot that supports the radical premises is paradigmatic of bad scholarship, an exercise in futility that makes "The Da Vinci Code" seem realistic and nuanced in comparison. Atheists who could care less about Christianity won't want to waste time on this odd little diatribe when they could be reading that new book by Dawkins instead, and anti-Christians will be annoyed by Wilson finding anything good to say about that "nasty paternalistic homophobe", Paul.
   
   In conclusion, this book's overly partisan mindset and flawed historical and text analysis methodologies leave much to be desired. Wilson wants to twist the evidence to suit his idea of what Christianity is and how it started, and unless you agree with his every premise and will turn a blind eye to his dishonest and biased mishandling of the historical record, you will find this book to be a dead end. Occasional moments of wit and generally good writing cannot justify a wrong-headed intellectual premise and inept literary execution.



5. Wow!!!!Unbelievable garbage...I guess the author never read the Didache...I can't believe the 5 star reviews praising his scholarship...Notice they are by people with an ax to grind against Christians.......One even suggested the movie" The Last Temptation Of Christ." as a companion to this worthless garbage....
   
   No research.Just the author's own suppositions..A great read for those with narrow minds and limited I.Q.'S...

5 comments about Edith Stein: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

1. This is an easy to read beginners biography on Edith Stein: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. It tells her life story and how she freely offered herself for the conversion of others. She grew up Jewish and became Catholic after searching for the truth, and then finally coming across the truth, when she read St. Teresa of Avila's Autobiography. You will truly come to know Edith Stein and feel close to her after reading this book.



2. This book is a wonderful introduction to the life of Catholic and Jewish martyr, philosopher, professor, nun, feminist, and saint who died in the gas chambers at Auschwitz. Scaperlanda does a great job of introducing the reader to her philosophy, personality, background, and amazing faith. If you enjoy this book, I reccomend "Knowledge and Faith" and "Life in a Jewish Family", both by Edith Stein.



3. This is story of a simple and devoted Carmelite nun. It is a wonderful story that not only gives biographical information it also incorporates a lot of Edith Stein's (Saint Teresa Benedicta a Cruce (Latin)personal philosophy and her feelings on femininism in society. It also shares her exceptional faith and devotion to God, even in the face of death. The book tells of her life, her entry into the Carmelite cloister and then her death in the Nazi camp, Auschwitz, Poland. It is a truly inspiraional and beautifully written book of one woman's courage and devotion.



4. I really like how this author has woven a story out of the several strands - of Edith's own writings - of others who have written about her - of the history of the Jews in Germany - and of the life and times of Adolf Hitler as it affected Edith's life and that of millions of Jews and Christians. The author has braided together some wonderful connections that set Edith's life in the context of her times and of our times. I found special joy in these connections because I have read almost all of the sources - primary and secondary - separately - and it is good to see them woven together with spiritual meanings. This book now holds a place of prominece on my Edith Stein shelf of books.



5. Maria Scaperlanda's book on Edith Stein provides those unfamilar with this fascinating, modern Saint with a great introduction to her life and thought. The reader will be able to follow Edith Stein on her passionate life journey, sustained by her desire to find truth, first pursued in philosophy and finally completed in her embrace of Catholicism and life as a contemplative, Carmelite religious. Although there are various books about Edith Stein on the market, Maria Scaperlanda's work is the best work to provide the reader with an introduction to Edith Stein and guide the reader on to further works on the Saint with an excellent bibliography. Edith Stein's life and work should be studied by all those who seek meaning and truth (not only Catholics), especially in our current post-modern, relativistic culture that so vehemently denies absolute truth. This book is also an excellent choice as spiritual reading for Christians desiring to study the life of a contemporary Saint.

5 comments about Holy Hunger: A Woman's Journey from Food Addiction to Spiritual Fulfillment.

1. I read Holy Hunger because I have a friend who is struggling with an eating disorder and because I had the pleasure of meeting Bullitt-Jonas at a conference. I was glad I did. Bullitt-Jonas is an Episcopal priest, writer, environmental activist, retreat leader, Harvard PhD, marathon runner, and spiritual director. She was also a food addict who writes to share the lessons she learned about compulsive overeating.
   
   Bullitt-Jonas began binge eating in the tenth grade. By the time she was thirty food controlled her body, mind and spirit. She describes her late night forays to the grocery store where she would furtively buy her "drug of choice." Sometimes she would inhale an entire box of donuts in the car. Other times she would wait until she returned home to consume an entire pie at her kitchen counter. In one four day period she gained eleven pounds; on another occasion she did not eat anything for ten days. In one of many turning points, the pleasant lies told at the funeral of a colleague who had committed suicide outraged her. How could the family lie so badly about what had happened?
   
   And then the penny dropped. Much of Bullitt-Jonas's book is about unearthing her family archaeology of enormous wealth but deep dysfunction. Her grandparents' home was lined with paintings of Picasso, Matisse, and Gaugin. Boarding school in Switzerland and Maryland was followed by Russian studies at Stanford and then Harvard. Her parents were polar opposites. Her mother was taciturn, private, and emotionally distant. Her father, a Harvard professor, was a volatile and verbal alcoholic who loved to sail his boat directly into a storm. In between were the people-pleasing, the peace-making, the perfectionisms that were pleas for love, and the emotional starvation not for food but for human affirmation. Over it all was an unspoken compact of silence: "we didn't do feelings in my house." The wealth could not cloak the deep emotional, psychological and spiritual poverty of everyone involved.
   
   Eventually Bullitt-Jonas connected with Overeaters Anonymous and Adult Children of Alcoholics. She took an acting class, enrolled in Buddhist meditation, met the man she eventually married, and even rejoined her church community, all of which helped her to listen to her own voices, to discover her personal identity apart from her family, and to begin writing a new story. In the end, she construes her story as a memoir about desire, "the desire beyond all desire," as she puts it. Her words reminded me of the opening sentences of Augustine's Confessions, that "God has made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee." There are no victims or villains here, no shaming and blaming, either of herself or of her family. Rather, Bullitt-Jonas has written a beautiful story of redemption that combines courageous truth-telling with tender compassion. I hope she will write a sequel.



2. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas has written a compelling account of her addiction to binge eating and the arduous process of recovery through a 12 steps program. She describes with great insight the poison of family secrets, based on her years growing up in a cold household where feelings were buried and everyone ignored her father's destructive alcoholism. During her own recovery, Bullitt-Jonas connects with a deep Christian faith, which is the subject of another book one hopes she will write one day. Bullitt-Jonas provides powerful descriptions and insight into the nature of addiction. This is a beautiful book, well written and filled with memorable stories about family secrets, a daughter's complex relationship with her mom and dad, and her deep need for connection and acceptance.



3. It angers me that a couple of smug and snippy reviewers may have prevented this beautiful story from getting to all the people it could help. In my own twelve-step struggle, Margaret Bullitt-Jonas has become a strong companion on the uphill climb.



4. I could not put this book down. As a person who struggles with compulsive overeating and I have joined Overeater's Anonymous and found the program most effective. The author of this book has also benefitted from the life-saving work of OA and the help of God. A truly beautiful book, it should be read by all women! But especially those struggling with any eating disorder.



5. I don't have much to add to the positive reviews below, but I do want to underscore the quality of the writing, as well as the insight offered in this book. This is a narrative, rather than a 'how-to,' where the author really opens herself up, using her journey as a model for the journey so many of us must take. She is a wonderful example, expressing her life through her excellent writing.

1 comments about A Dynamic God: Living an Unconventional Catholic Faith.

1. The ten remarkable essays of A Dynamic God continue the interior journey Nancy Mairs began in her spiritual memoir, Ordinary Time: Cycles in Marriage, Faith, and Renewal (1993). In that book, Mairs introduced us to her understanding of belief, faith, conversion, and social conscience, maturing within the context of family history (both she and her husband were conventional Protestants) and continuing medical catastrophes. (She has multiple sclerosis; her husband George has had multiple melanomas.) This one-disaster-after-another life, which might have led a less hardy soul to despair, has graced Mairs with both wisdom and a wise uncertainty. "I now know that I now know less about God than I did to being with," she says in A Dynamic God. "I have discarded as many fixed ideas as possible about the God I inherited, and I'm unlearning more every day."
   
   This "deconstructive process"--trading conventional notions of God for radical understandings of the Sacred--is traced in a variety of ways throughour the essays. In "Left at the Altar," about communion and community, she reminds us that the central purpose of the Eucharist is to take God in "in preparation for living God out," and that absent the outreach to others, communion has little significance. In "A Calling," she wonders what her life purpose can be, bound to a wheelchair: "My doing days are done," she says. "Wanting some task carried out, God can do better than look to me." But being has a purpose that far transcends mere doing. We have to help God be God, she says, echoing Etty Hillesum, in An Interrupted Life. I am who God is. God is who I am. It is a theological, moral, and ethical statement of profound significance, and it colors all of Mairs' beliefs and actions.
   
   Many parts of this book will be uncomfortable for conventional Christians. Rejecting belief in a personal salvation gained by taking Christ as a personal savior (she doesn't believe in hell, either, or the virgin birth or the resurrection--literally, at least), she insists that we are not in this world for the purpose of being personally "saved." We are here to be God, to love others as ourselves: "If we take care of one another, we are saved." Her profound faith in a God that is the Whole of It expresses itself in her moral and ethical life: the choice that she and her husband have made to live modestly and simply, their protests against war, their visits to the sick and imprisoned and gifts to the poor--acts of charity described with a refreshing humility. "Believing as I do . . . that our every atom bears God into being, I cannot experience myself as truly apart," she writes. "Between you and me there is no Between."
   
   But while Mairs' doing days may be done, she is still writing, and it is her wry, witty candor and fierce, unflinching honesty that draws me to her work, over and over again. As an agnostic, I find her radical doubt energizing and inspiring. I am moved by the unconventional questions she asks and by her embrace of the best of Catholicism, Buddhism, and Judaism, to seek radical answers for myself. Mobile and more or less able-bodied, I am challenged by her courageous refusal to allow her immobility to define the direction and dimensions of her moral and spiritual growth.
   
   A Dynamic God is rich, risky, and startling. It is a remarkable book. Read it.
   
   --Susan Wittig Albert is the author of Writing From Life: Telling the Soul's Story. This review is also published on the website of the Story Circle Network Book Reviews.

2 comments about William Sloane Coffin Jr.: A Holy Impatience.

1. This is the third biography I've read about a person whom I know well, and I must say that of the three, it succeeds the most at bringing its subject to life. It reads like a long visit with this extraordinary man, and it's filled with much detail about the rich life he's lived.
   
   I have one major issue with this book. WSC's decade as Senior Minister of Riverside Church in New York was perhaps the high point of his life. His life-affirming and thought-provoking preachng reached its widest audience from Riverside's pulpit. As pastor and friend, to me and many others, he had a great and wide-reaching influence. Twenty years later I still quote him and talk about him. In the course of his tenure there, Bill met and worked with perhaps the most diverse and challenging group of people he'd ever dealt with in his life, in the congregation, among the lay leadership, and on the large staff. I admired his enthusiastic response to this challenge: he embraced it wholeheartedly and fearlessly, always willing to stretch his mind and heart, while maintaining his integrity as a person committed to some very controversial causes, with which some people at Riverside most decidedly did NOT agree.
   
   In spite of this, the author seems to give this rich period of Bill's life only a quick once over. It's as if by this point in the book he lost interest in his subject and distanced himself from the project. As a result, he gives only a bare-bones picture of what this most important period in William's life was like, and how Bill responded to it. What's worse, he seems to have used only ONE person as a source for information about WSC's tenure at Riverside, thereby cheating the reader of seeing how, in his 50s and 60s, a very strong-minded individual was able to embrace and nurture new ideas and people with experiences vastly different than his own. As a "classic" baby boomer suspicious of persons of Bill's generation, and one from a decidedly non-privileged background, I was constantly delighted by his openness, lack of rigidity, his completely uncensored sense of humor and by his real gift for friendship, which to my mind, along with his musicality, was (and is) his greatest gift.



2. In one of Paul's letters (I think it's Timothy), Paul speaks of "fighting the good fight"-- and Coffin has fought the good fight his entire life. Coffin's passion, courage, empathy and ability to inspire are cherished by all who have had the privilege of knowing him (as I have). For those old enough to remember the 1960s, this book will rekindle the embers of your idealism; for those too young, it will provide a primer in how to speak truth to power and translate faith into action. This is essential reading for all who seek to keep alive the tradition of dissent that holds our government accountable to the principles it was founded on, and deliver a thunderous "No" to both injustice at home and the ongoing horror in Iraq.