5 comments about I Give You My Life.

1. I have read all of Ayya Khemas other books and many of her Dhamma talks on Buddhanet.net but this book is written from the heart of Ayya Khema descibing her and her family's incredible journey from Nazi Germany to Shanghai, to US then to South America and finally her journey to the far east and back to Germany where she established Buddha Haus. This is such a well written book that I simply could not put it down and felt her genuine sense wanting to give us her life on every page. I felt connected to sister Khema from the first to last page. I highly recommend it. Floyd in Idaho



2. Ilse Kussel's, life covers over half of this autobiographical book, the remainder is the life of Ayya Khema; both lives are well worth reading.
   
   The 'death' of Ilse (and the birth of Ayya Khema and the love for the children) is connected with letting go of her two children. She writes beautifully:
   
   "My love for them did not depend on their being alive; on their living the way I wanted them to; on from their side, feeling connected to me, on their being grateful to me, or on their being 'well-behaved'. All that no longer mattered."
   
   This for me is the highlight in the book; what follows in the life of Ayya with her teaching and with the establishment of various monasteries and centres was made possible by this kind of detatchment.



3. Ayya Khema (1923-1997)played an important role in the ongoing revival of Western interest in Buddhism. Her autobiography "I give you my Life" (1997), completed just before her death, tells the story of the development of her commitment to Buddhism and spirituality and of her decision at age 55 to become a Buddhist nun. Each chapter in her brief book is introduced by a verse from the Dhammapada, a seminal Buddhist scriptural text consisting of short poems, which illuminates in a telling way the portion of her life under discussion.

   Ayya Khema ("Ayya" is an honorific title for Buddhist nuns while "Khema" was the name of a nun during the Buddha's lifetime) was born Ilse Kussel in 1923 in Berlin to a prosperous, assimilated Jewish family. The family fled Germany before the Holocaust and Ilse, as a teenager, travelled by steamer to Glasgow, Scotland before joining her family shortly thereafter in Shanghai. She married in her late teens and travelled to California with her husband where she worked in a bank, had two children, and appeared settled into an American middle-class life. As a result, she tells us, of a deepening sense of spiritual unrest, she divorced her husband and married a childhood acquaintance named Gerd, whose family had also fled the Holocaust. She and Gern lived a wandering type of life in South America and Asia, where her husband was an engineer. The couple ultimately settled in Australia, bought a farm and raised shetland ponies. This marriage too ended with Ilse's, continued search for spiritual wisdom and her growing interest in meditation. Ilse became a Buddhist nun at the age of 55, helped establish three Buddhist convents in Sri Lanka, Australia, and Germany, became a meditation master, worked ceaselessly to revive the Buddhist order of nuns, and wrote prolifically about Buddhism.

   Ayya Khema lived an inspiring and full life on many levels and she tells her story well. Apart from her decision to become a nun, I learned a great deal from her willingness to make a radical change in mid-life. It is important to see how people may change and develop throughout their lives, and I was moved to see this realized in Ayya Khema's story.

   In many ways, Ayya Khema's autobiography radiates sincerity and purpose and fulfills its goal of speaking directly to the reader. This is especially true in her introduction and in the sections of her book following her ordination where she explains what the Buddhist path has meant to her. The final pages of the book, written when Ayya Khema knew she would soon die, have a rare immediacy and poignancy.

   Most autobiographies conceal as much about their subject as they reveal, and Ayya Khema's autobiography is no exception. The book gives a good picture of the externals of Ilse Kussel's life but, I thought, too little of what was going on inside. I found myself wanting to know more about Ilse's two marriages and the reasons for their failures. There is a brief discussion of Ilse's attempt to recover her spirituality through Judaism, and I would have liked to hear more. Beyond references to the suffering of life and to the inevitability of change, I would have liked more detail of Ilse's early study of spiritual texts. And I would have liked more details on the course she pursued during her meditation retreats and on what it was she learned from the Indian and Buddhist masters she reveres as her teachers.

   This autobiography shows effectively Ilse Kussel's transformation into Ayya Khema. It shows what was important to Ayya Khema when she became a nun and how she worked to realize herself as a Buddhist nun. We see Ilse Kussel/Ayya Khema througout her life as an intelligent strong-willed and determined woman. I still do not fully understand, after reading this inspiring story, the internal process by which Isle Kussel became transformed into Ayya Khema.




4. i've read some of her other instructional books and have always found them to be very helpful . that sort of piqued my interest in the person itself , which is why i bought this book .

   i hadn't quite expected to read about someone with such a florid history . i half expected her to be someone with a dreary life bordering on the mundane . she's really compressed a great deal into that life of hers .

   more importantly , she speaks of herself in a matter of fact manner . it is this detached manner that i found enlightening . i recommend this book to others because i think its inspirational . which one of us doesn't need some inspiration every now and then .




5. Easy to read and clearly written autobiography of a woman, who's life led here from nazi prosecution during the second world war through many intermediate states to finally becoming a buddhist nun of theravada buddhism. The english translation of the german original does not seem (to me) to be as good as it could be, but this should not be a reason not to read it. One might like to know, that half of the book describes Khema's regular life and that spiritual features are only showing up rather late. After she described so many details of her regular life, I was missing more information about her spiritual struggles after she became buddhist up to the point when she gained deeper meditative insights. The entire story is written from a very detached point of view. Maybe a buddhist ideal, but rather caused by Khema's experiences during the war. Nevertheless, the book is a great reading and one learns a lot about her times, herself and how a spiritual life can turn regular life upside down.

1 comments about Memoirs of a Courtesan in Nineteenth-Century Paris (European Women Writers).

1. If you are searching for an inside look into the world of courtesans, you will be disappointed. A courtesan is a high priced prostitute, but I am still waiting for any mention of any sex act. The title implies that these are memoirs of her experiences as a courtesan, not her life outside of her chosen profession.
   
   The story is pretty good in itself, but it doesn't get into depth on the professions of these women at all. Instead, this woman talks about growing up and meeting people. There's really nothing indicating she's a courtesan beside the fact that she just says so.
   
   It is beyond me why this book was condemned because of "immoral and unsuitable for public consumption". I am still waiting for anything remotely showing that such a phrase fits at all. She seems more like a courtesan wannabe than a real one.

1 comments about Dolly Parton.

1. This wonderful coffe-table book' s focus is the photos in it. The photos are wonderful. These photographs tell Dolly's life story in their own right. However the wrter Judith Mahoney has written in a book report style. Much of her writing is filled with factual errors about Dolly's life. Also Judith seems to use much of Dolly's autobiography for her writings and this makes a boring read, if you have already read Dolly's book. I gave it a 10 because the photos are excellent. Without the photos it would have gotten a 5.

3 comments about In the Shade of Spring Leaves: The Life of Higuchi Ichiyo, with Nine of Her Best Short Stories.

1. Higuchi Ichiyo lived the classic tragic writer's life-- poverty, a struggle for success, death by tuberculosis at 23. She is considered to be the first professional female writer in Japan. She is an extremely popular literary figure in Japan-- her popularity due to both the quality of her work and her all too short life.
   
   This book contains a critical biography written by the late Robert Lyons Danly. He also translated and anthologized nine of her short stories in the volume. The critical biography is concise and informative, if a little bit on the dry side. The biography is spiced with little bits of her journals.
   
   The selection of stories spans the career of the writer, moving from her most unformed and derivative work to her more mature stories of the floating world. Some of the stories are stunning (particularly "Child's Play"). It is difficult not to wish that Higuchi Ichiy could have survived to a more advanced age and a more developed voice.
   
   Recommended reading for those with an interest in Japanese literature.



2. After celebrating a golden age that was hundreds of years ahead of other civilized nations, women in Japan quickly fell from the cultural vanguard they had enjoyed during the Heian and were silent throughout the succession of bakufu governments that ended with the Meiji restoration in 1868. Ichiyo is widely credited as one of the first female voices to re-emerge after this extended silence. Though her career was cut short by her early death, several of her short stories are still in wide circulation in Japan and elsewhere. The beauty of this book is that it not only includes her own writings but also a rather deftly crafted biography. It has been my experience that non-Japanophiles tend to shy away from Japanese literature for lack of understanding the culture. The inclusion of the biography in this work makes it more approachable for those wishing to delve into the world of Japanese literature without undertaking a study of Japan's history and culture.



3. Deservedly, this 19th century's woman's writings are considered some of the greatest in the world. Robert Danly has done a wonderful job of bringing Ichiyo to us. Out of a different time and world, he has still managed to make her accessible to an English reader.

   The first half of the book is devoted to biographical material about Japan's unique and memorable real-life heroine. The second half presents nine of her short stories in translation. Each story its own literary jewel.

   I've read thousands of books and this is one of my most treasured.

2 comments about The Richest Girl in the World: Athina Onassis Roussel : The Onassis Family Legacy.

1. I enjoyed reading this book; I think I read it in four, five hours. It was a good book, but since Athina has been shielded from the public for most of her life, there really isn't much to write about her life. The majority of the book is about Aristotle and his empire.



2. This is a great book on the heiress Athina Onassis and the Onassis family.We all wish you well!!

5 comments about Plague And I (Common Reader Editions).

1. I found this book (a first edition) in the dusty corner of a library in New York. The title intrigued me, so I had to check it out. I honestly do not think I have ever read a more enjoyable memoir....and about such a subject. There is absolutely no other book out there that describes a patients stay at a TB sanatorium. Sure, there is the Magic Mountain and various others that are tiresome and not REALLY and simply about a stay in a sanatorium....interesting, because so many people had that experience-and no, not everyone died. This is the only book of its kind and I am thrilled and honored to have accidentally discovered it. I was even more shocked to find out that she was Mrs. Piggle Wiggle...hey, I grew up with her!



2. as "The Egg and I"--her statement in that book that "I do not like Indians and I think we did a good thing in coming over and taking this beautiful country away from them." made my part-Cherokee blood boil--could write another that was so UNracist. While the author does use terms like 'colored' and 'Negro', those were (one can understand) the accepted terms in the 1930s, and while she records the racist attudes of some of the patients and staff, she apparently does not agree with them. She formed a close attachment with a Japanese patient--whom she later urges to go to college--and when an African-American (to use the accepted term of today) patient tells her that she doesn't mind being in isolation because the white patients don't want her as a roommate anyway, she thinks this absurd.
   
   It is difficult for us today to understand how very scary TB was back then. While TB is not unknown today, if caught early it is easily treated with appropriate medications; not so, then. The only treatment was a rest-cure with pallitive measures; many people recovered, but many did not. There were some surgical treatments (collapsed lung), but they were painful and not terribly effective. It was known to be contageous, although not nearly as contageous as many people thought it was. The nearest modern equivalent might be HIV/AIDS, except that the latter is always fatal.
   
   As other authors have mentioned, one hardly thinks that such a story would be funny, but BMacD is able to find humor in any situation. I've read all four of her books for adults and enjoyed them very much--even 'Egg'. That she was able to be discharged from the sanitarium after only about a year shows that laughter is, indeed, the best medicine.



3. If there's anything good about a disiplinarian TB institution in the 30s (not 40s), it's the opportunity to meet so many different kinds of people. Macdonald is an observer and nailer of people's quirks on a level with Dickens (both of them, Charles and Monica). I love this book. There's one thing I would like explained, though. American readers talk as if Macdonald's "racism" was an understood and obvious thing. I see no racism in this book. OK, she calls somebody "coloured" and another girl "black". She also mentions that her roommate is Japanese and her workmate an Eskimo. Is she racist for not using today's PC terminology? She praises the institution for accepting everybody and mixing them together. She quotes some racist comments from other patients, but doesn't say she condones them, in fact "Betty" in the book answers back and disagrees. Please, please, somebody tell me why it is currently PC to say Macdonald is racist?



4. I read this book long ago, have forgotten a lot of it, but just about every December I find myself singing "Deck the Halls in Old Crepe Paper, fa la la" etc. Used to confuse my kids no end. For those who haven't read it yet, look for the scenes of holiday celebrations in the old TB sanitaruims-- sad & funny.



5. This book is filled with an off beat sence of humor. It isn't the slap you in the face kind of humor but rather the kind of humor that hits you later. For example, I found myself smilingat something I read earlier in the day while cooking dinner. At the end of this book you feel like you know each of the people personally. I wanted a follow up to find out what happened to each person. It's that good.

   Basically this book is about Betty MacDonalds stay in a sanitorium while she had TB. She can take such a serious topic that could be pretty morose and turn it into something interesting and funny.

5 comments about Wesley and the Men Who Followed.

1. John Wesley's legacy stands today through the large selection of hymns, writings, sermons and even the continuation of Methodism, the sect of Christian pietists that originated with Wesley. However, whenever I drive by a Methodist church I have often wondered what Wesley was really like and what happened.
   
   This is why I was excited to find out that Banner of Truth put out a biography of Wesley by Iain Murray. I was curious to open this book and see how a Reformed guy like Murray would portray the life of a noted Arminian like John Wesley. I was impressed with Murray's attention to the facts and seemingly balanced interaction with Wesly's life.
   
   Wesley was indeed no friend of Calvinism. In fact he said of the Reformed theology, "Calvinism is the enemy." And even further, that Calvinism was "thrown our way by Satan." Murray helpfully points out that it was John's mother, Susanna, who really helped forge his theological views. It was Susanna who repeatedly corresponded with her son articulating her resistance to the doctrines of grace.
   
   Wesley took to the open fields as a response to the dissatisfaction of the church of England. He had traveled to America as a missionary to the Indians. It was during this trip that Wesley believed that he was converted. This season in 1738 is repeatedly referred to by Wesley as his conversion time.
   
   During his younger years George Whitfield spent a considerable time with Wesley. Their relationship was extremely close and this was exemplified by the care with which they corresponded by letter. Their differences lied primarily in the doctrines of grace, and each of them, Whitfield and Wesley became somewhat of a public spokesman for their respective views. The differences between Wesley and Whitfield (and others such as Augustus Toplady) are extremely interesting to read.
   
   Murray also provides a detailed chapter on Wesley's views on Justification, Sanctification, and the relationship between the Holy Spirit and Scripture.
   
   At the end of the day you have to acknowledge Wesley's seemingly good motives to promote the gospel to the ends of the earth. However, it is instructive to note that the movement was not built primarily on sound biblical interpretation and application but rather leaned heavily on subjectivity. I recommend reading this book to see the necessity to contend for clarity with the gospel and to ensure that we are grounded in and on the unchanging Word of God.



2. Iain Murray is one of the best Christian historians and writers being published today. He's also a died-in-the-wool Calvinist, so his praise of Wesley is that much more impressive. This book offers an inspiring portrait of the zealous faith of Wesleyan pioneers. (As for the reviewer here who suggests Murray betrays Reformed theology, anyone familiar with the work of the Banner of Truth Trust will know such a contention deserves a raspberry.)



3. Iain H. Murray, a prolific author and excellent historian who has given us substantial biographies on four great Evangelical Calvinists - Jonathan Edwards (Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography), D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (The First Forty Years and The Fight of Faith), Arthur W. Pink (The Life of Arthur W. Pink), and John Murray (The Life of John Murray), as well as two books on the theology of Charles Haddon Spurgeon (The Forgotten Spurgeon and Spurgeon v. Hyper-Calvinism), three books on revival (The Puritan Hope, Revival and Revivalism, and Pentecost Today?), and two on Christian history (Australian Christian Life from 1788: An Introduction & An Anthology and Evangelicalism Divided) - now turns his hand towards the great Evangelical Arminian and founder of what eventually became the Methodist church, John Wesley. As with his earlier writings, this book is not mere historiography. It is a critical, yet kind, reflection on the life and labors, piety and theology, of the man who, along with George Whitefield, was the primary human instrument used of God in the Evangelical Great Awakening of the eighteenth century.
   
   Murray's book is divided into four parts. Part one addresses Wesley himself in five chapters which cover the main movements of his life and the primary features of his thought and ministry. Chapter one, "From Oxford Don to Open-Air Preacher," chronicles the story of Wesley's conversion and explores the various influences upon Wesley's religious thought. Murray tracks Wesley's spiritual journey from his birth in 1703 to his ordination as a deacon in the Church of England in 1725, then his unfruitful missionary labors among the Indians in North America in 1735, on to the decisive Aldersgate experience in 1738 where Wesley heard someone read Luther's Preface to the Epistle of Romans and felt his heart "strangely warmed" and came to "trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation" (8). "From this point," writes Murray, "Wesley was a changed man" (9) - and the change evidenced itself in Wesley's preaching, prayer and praise (9-12). Murray then explores the various religious influences in Wesley's life, including the Puritan heritage of his family, Bishop Jeremy Taylor (one of Wesley's favorite authors), the writings of mystics such as William Law and Thomas a'Kempis, and finally the Moravians, "devout emigrants and missionaries from the evangelical settlements led by Count Zinzendorf and others in Germany" (19), whose witness in route to Savannah, Georgia was so instrumental in leading Wesley to evangelical faith. This first chapter ends by focusing on the consequences, both in his family and his ministry, which followed the great change in Wesley's life.
   
   Chapter two, "Kingdoms on a Blaze," gives attention to Wesley's role in the revival and spiritual awakening of the 1740s. Murray recounts how Wesley preached to vast numbers of people (an estimated fifty thousand in one open-air meeting in London!), how the "constant theme" of his preaching was salvation by grace through faith, and how John Nelson came to faith under his preaching, eventually becoming one of Wesley's first assistants. Murray appropriately reminds us that the real impetus behind the awakening was the power of the Holy Spirit. He includes a quotation from Wesley which I found surprising and encouraging:
   
   "Supposing a man be now void of faith and hope and love, he cannot effect any degree of them in himself by any possible exertion of his understanding, and of any or all of his other natural faculties, though he should enjoy them to the utmost perfection. A distinct power from God, not implied in any of these, is indispensably necessary before it is possible he should arrive at the very least degree of Christian faith, or hope, or love. In order to his having any of these (which on this very consideration I suppose St Paul terms 'the fruits of the Spirit') he must be created anew, throughly and inwardly changed by the operation of the Spirit of God, by a power equivalent to that which raises the dead, and which calls things which are not as though they were" (33).
   
   But the revival was accompanied by trouble - in relationships with both the Moravians and George Whitefield, and among the societies Wesley established, each of which Murray also discusses.
   
   The next chapter attempts to help us in "Understanding Wesley's Thought." Several things come into play in this chapter, including Wesley's impatience with theoretical, as opposed to practical, Christianity, his views on baptism and prevenient grace, his tendencies towards asceticism (seen not least in his negative attitude towards marriage), his unique teaching on "Christian perfection" or "entire sanctification," and his views on conversion and assurance. Murray's primary criticism is that Wesley allowed his experience (and the experiences of others) to shape his theology, a fact which is adduced by charting the changes in Wesley's theology over the years and probable reasons for those changes. A prime example of this is Wesley's own re-evaluation of the Aldersgate experience, which he eventually came to view not as his conversion, but as the receiving of assurance of his pardon.
   
   "The Collision with Calvinism" is the focus of the fourth chapter, where the tensions between Wesley and George Whitefield are discussed. "The reason for the breach with Whitefield is essential to any understanding of John Wesley" (56). The division happened in 1740-41, and "thereafter the two men were seldom able to work long together" (56). Differing personalities surely played a part in the conflict, but their different theologies lay at the root. "What has to be recognized is that from the outset the two men meant different things by `Calvinism.' For Whitefield - if he used the word at all - it meant the evangelical theology of the Reformation; for Wesley it meant the imposition on Christianity of a form of belief that had brought decadence on the churches" (56-57). Wesley, who followed the theology of his mother, associated Whitefield with the hyper-calvinism which characterized many dissenting churches. Yet even if Wesley misunderstood Whitefield, the difference between them was real. Wesley truly thought that "predestinarian" belief was a threat to true evangelical Christianity. He also though that antinomianism was "a direct consequence of Calvinistic belief" (65). Interestingly, many of the early Methodists followed the theology of Whitefield rather than Wesley. Murray quotes Wesley's biographer Luke Tyreman who comments `that in the year 1766, `Wesley stood almost alone, with the exception of his friend Fletcher'" (70). Yet Wesley remained steadfast to the end in his opposition to any form of Calvinism. Despite Wesley's opposition, Whitefield could say, "Mr Wesley I think is wrong in some things; yet I believe . . . Mr Wesley, and others, with whom we do not agree in all things, will shine bright in glory" (71). In his conclusion to the chapter, Murray (whose theological sympathies are obviously with Whitefield, not Wesley) asks, "If Wesley's theology was confused, why, some might ask, should we value his memory today? The answer is that it is not in his theology that his real legacy lies. Christian leaders are raised up for different purposes. The eighteenth-century evangelicals were primarily men of action, and, in that role, John Wesley did and said much which was to the lasting benefit of thousands" (79). He then quotes J. C. Ryle who said, "That Wesley would have done better if he could have thrown off his Arminianism, I have not the least doubt; but that he preached the gospel, honoured Christ, and did extensive good, I no more doubt that I doubt my own existence" (79).
   
   In chapter five, Murray lays aside the controversial issues and examines John Wesley, "The Leader." Acknowledging that Wesley's "biographers have portrayed [his] character in as many as twenty different versions" Murray begins stating that "in any remotely authentic account of [Wesley's] life one thing should stand out: the unifying principle was his commitment to the Bible" (80). Wesley himself exhorted a preacher to "enjoin nothing that the Bible does not clearly enjoin. Forbid nothing that it does not clearly forbid" (80-81). It was his devotion to Scripture which birthed his passion for God and for souls and kept his disciplined piety and evangelistic intensity steady throughout his life. "What stands out in Wesley is the way the endeavour [to make Christ known] was maintained and never seemed to flag" (81). "His prayer was granted, `Lord, let me never live to be useless'" (83). Wesley was an excellent leader as the organization of the Methodist societies and his mentoring of Methodist preachers (or "Assistants") shows. Wesley the leader attracted high caliber men to his work. And his description of his first helpers is stirring: "poor, ignorant men, without experience, learning or art; but simple of heart, devoted to God, full of faith and zeal, seeking no honour profit, no pleasure, no ease, but merely to save souls; fearing neither want, pain, persecution, nor whatever man could do unto them" (87). The chapter goes on to recount some of Wesley's exhortations to these men, describe some features of the societies, consider the contrasts and complexities in Wesley's make-up, and ends with a brief evaluation of the legacy of Wesley and the Evangelical Revival.
   
   The second part of the book, "Men Who Followed," is made up of three chapters which consider three Methodist leaders (William Bramwell, Gideon Ouseley, and Thomas Collins) who carried on the legacy of John Wesley and through whom the Lord caused Methodism to rise to its height in the early nineteenth century. In my own reading of the book, I looked forward to this section the least but actually enjoyed it the most. Murray draws heavily from out-of-print biographies of these three men and his account of the conversion and ministry of each (and of the revival which attended their ministries) is heart-enriching and soul-stirring. I found the excerpts from the journals of these men and the stories of spiritual awakening among their hearers especially edifying. Perhaps I can best describe the effect of these chapters with the words which someone once said of William Bramwell: "I never left him without a determination to live nearer to God" (136).
   
   Part three of the book, "Against Unquestioning Following," takes up two problem areas in Wesley's doctrine: justification (chapter nine) and Christian Perfection (chapter ten). With the first, Murray attempts to understand the development in Wesley's understanding of justification and come to terms with what he actually thought. The task is not simple, for Wesley sometimes contradicted himself and his semantics are sometimes misleading. As one critic of Wesley once said, "He is an eel; take him where you will, he will slip through your fingers" (225)! Murray's conclusion is that Wesley did, in point of fact, veer away from the evangelicalism of the Reformation; but his criticism is always so charitable that the reader really feels that Murray has tried hard to understand and assume the best of Wesley. "Christian perfection was probably the most controversial topic in Wesley's teaching" (232) and Murray is helpful in sorting out just what Wesley thought. He begins by underlining what is not controversial in Wesley's teaching. Then he takes on the areas in which he believes Wesley erred, and discusses the long-term damage this doctrine caused, especially through the perfectionism teaching of the nineteenth century, into which it evolved.
   
   The fourth and final part of the book, "Methodism, with and without the Holy Spirit," is comprised of only one chapter which seeks for a true explanation behind the phenomenon of the Methodist movement. One explanation which fails is attributing the movement to Wesley's personality and personal influence. "If Wesley's leadership was the secret, then the success would have been greatest in his lifetime. The opposite was the case, Methodism spread further and faster after his death" (252). Murray concludes that the true explanation for the spiritual success of Methodism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is the powerful work of the Holy Spirit of God, worked out in the lives of the early Methodists in their fidelity to Scripture, with faith and discipline as the essential ingredients to their piety. "The power in the old Methodist preaching is not a fairy story, and it was bound up with the conviction that honouring Scripture and honouring the Holy Spirit cannot be separated. The preachers carried a message that was not their own and it put an awe upon them" (260). The sharp decline in loyalty to God's Word among Methodists of the twentieth century accounts for the spiritual poverty which now characterizes so much of modern Methodism. But "apostasy is not the end of the story" (262) and Murray ends the book on a hopeful note. "Once-honoured names and organizations may change, churches may lose their candlesticks, but the great lesson of Wesley and the Evangelical Revival is that sin and unbelief are not in control of history. Millions now in heaven attest that truth . . . God's love for the world remains the same. Jesus is the Saviour `high over all' who lives to give repentance and forgiveness. Not on the basis of what the church deserves, but on account of what Christ has done, the Spirit is sent to convict of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. And whenever and wherever that work grace is found, men and women will cry [in the words of Wesley], `O give me that book! At any price, give me the book of God'" (263).



4. A previous reviewer said:
   
   "With all this in mind, it is important to view Murray's book as an apologetic work, not solely of John Wesley or his preachers, but of Evangelical Arminianism."
   
   Such a comment makes one wonder if this reviewer actually read the work! Murray, far from offering an apologetic for Wesley, offers us a wonder critique of Wesley's misunderstanding of Calvinism. At the end of the day, if you want to call this book an "apologetic" as opposed to a "history", you have to conclude that it is an apologetic for Calvinism!
   
   Murray writes in his chapter on Wesley's conflict with Calvinism, that Wesley critiqued Calvinism as being against both holy living and evangelism. Murray goes on to show how Calvinism believes in both holy living and evangelism - exposeing Wesley's misunderstanding.
   
   That said, Murray is very charitable toward Wesley at certain points. He makes it clear that Wesley, although mistaken on Perfectionism and on assurance (among other things), he was a champion of grace and the doctrine of justification by faith alone. So, while Wesley's theology has great weaknesses, we can - and should - be able to appreciate his vehement efforts to evangelize the lost. Wesley as preacher was at his best, certainly better than Wesley as theologian.
   
   Read this book, its the best out there on an important historical figure from a Reformed perspective.



5. Perhaps no figure since Jacobus Arminius has polarized the church as much as the subject of Ian Murray's recent portrait: John Wesley (1703-1791). Murray introduces Wesley in the spiritually impoverished landscape of 18th century British Anglicanism. Starting from his early days of study at Oxford University, Wesley is portrayed as navigating a hostile terrain of contemporary religious indifference. Towards that end, the book spends more time defending Wesley and his followers, than of clearly explaining the message of Methodism. Indeed, the book from beginning to end in seeking to preserve Wesley for evangelical Christianity turns a blind eye to much of his heretical doctrine and apostasy. The emotionally charged portrait of Wesley and his preachers is so captivating, that the reader is tempted time and again to overlook the historical reality and embrace the fictitious man of piety who is horribly confused and misunderstood.

   With all this in mind, it is important to view Murray's book as an apologetic work, not solely of John Wesley or his preachers, but of Evangelical Arminianism. Why else would so much ink be employed in the defense of one who said that Calvinism was his enemy? Towards that goal, Murray excuses Wesley time and again as a sincere victim of his environment. When Wesley calls predestination `a doctrine full of blasphemy' and the God of predestination `as worse than the devil; more false, more cruel, more unjust' this is excused as a well-meaning response to the hyper-Calvinism of his day . In similar fashion his erroneous view of Christian `perfectionism' is practically excused by Murray as a heartfelt attempt to counterbalance the false teaching of antinomianism . Indeed `Wesley and Men who Followed' does much to promote the lie that the church today needs a little bit of both Wesley and Whitefield in order to achieve proper `balance'. The book, therefore, misses a good opportunity to (Romans 16:17) to mark one whose writings have continued to plague the church with division and false doctrine.

   Murray's revisionist portrait also extends to Wesley's blasphemous view of Justification. Wesley held to a theory of justification that is virtually indistinguishable to that of sanctification. He openly taught that Justification is not merely forensic (a legal declaration), but that it depends on the `moment to moment' obedience of the believer. Murray trivializes the issue and defends Wesley from criticism by suggesting that his inconsistencies on the subject were due to working `too fast and with too much indifference to strict consistency.' Yet Wesley himself noted that his own position on the subject was `a hair's breadth' from `salvation by works.' His doctrine can perhaps be best summarized by his favorite writer, William Law who wrote, `We can not have security of our salvation but by doing our utmost to deserve it.' This concept of `deserving it' is a major theme within Wesley's sermons and one could hardly be blamed for mistaking them as a byproduct of the Roman Catholic Council of Trent. Wesley clearly affiliated himself with a conditional gospel of works when he insisted that election is based on the future works and faith of men. Wesley comments:

   This decree, whereby whom God did foreknow, he did predestinate, was indeed from everlasting; this, whereby all who suffer (allow) Christ to make them alive are elect according to the foreknowledge of God.

   Another fatal weakness within the book is the omission of so much incriminating evidence against Wesley. For example, while Murray does briefly touch upon Wesley's belief in baptismal regeneration, he completely overlooks his advocacy of prayers for the dead. Wesley writes 'Prayer for the dead, the faithful de, parted, in the advocacy of which I conceive myself clearly justified'. The book also ignores Wesley's belief that there will be unconverted Moslems and other heathen who will be accepted on the basis of their good works. The words of our Lord in John 3:7 `Ye must be born again' contrast sharply with Wesley's own view that `the merciful God' sees Moslems and `regards the lives and tempers of men more than their ideas .' Also neglected is Wesley's very strange belief in ghosts and fondness for drawing lots.

   Wesley's ecumenical approach toward Romanism is also overlooked and can best be appreciated by Wesley's own correspondence to a Roman Catholic, `Let the points wherein we differ stand aside; here are enough wherein we agree, enough to be the ground of every Christian temper, and of every Christian action. O brethren, let us not still fall out by the way .' In addition, while Murray does hint at Wesley's favorable disposition toward women preachers, he does not provide us with the clarity that we find in Wesley's own writings. Wesley wrote the Manchester Conference in 1787 that we should `give the right hand of fellowship to Sarah Mallet, and have no objection of her being a Preacher in our connexion...'

   In conclusion the target of `Wesley and Men who Followed Him' could hardly be more clear. Murray offers far more critical fire on the Reformed detractors of Wesley than of a man who taught baptismal regeneration, promoted women preachers, maligned the saints of his day and fought against Calvinism his entire life. The target in the cross hair is the uncompromising Calvinist who will not accept Arminianism as a legitimate expression of the Truth. How else could one explain why Wesley's well documented campaign of lies against August Toplady, the defender of sovereign grace, is not even mentioned in the book? Murray's book is all about tolerance and acceptance of the Arminian lie of human sovereignty and seeks to diminish the antithesis between grace and works. Sadly, Murray has failed to offer anything other than a revisionist history that places the blame on everyone and everything surrounding John Wesley in order to preserve him for the modern day evangelical church. One wonders if the book would have been more appropriately entitled `Wesley and Murray who Followed Him'.

No comments about Ojoma's Song: Becoming a Woman Nigerian Style.

5 comments about The Camel Knows the Way.

1. Lorna Kelley's book had a profound effect on my life when I was early in my sobriety. I heard her speaking , and went out and bought this book. She is an inspired speaker and writer and her valuable life lessons and story of transformation make her one of the best authors I have ever encountered. I agree that this book needs to be made into a movie and I think she has to write another soon!



2. Extraordinary spiritual and personal journey. The author brilliantly transported me to a world totally unknown to me and I was hooked. The author allows the reader to witness the loving and nurturing relationship she developed with Mother Theresa.. It was an honor to be a part of the lives of these two woman, if only for a brief time.



3. This is a lovely read of a beautiful journey, one from British schoolgirl to Sotheby's auctioneer to volunteer in Calcutta, India. Her tale puts a face on a spiritual quest for Jesus which is inspiring, uplifting, and encouraging. Great story-telling and a wonderful and rare insight into Mother Theresa and her world. Thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend.



4. This is one of the best books I have read in many years. It was inspiring, sad, funny and has changed my life. What a gift Lorna has given to many.



5. I was very touched by this true story of an intelligent person struggling to come to terms with her past, her family, grief, alcoholism, the material world and all the ills of everyday life. Beautifully and artfully written. The writer is no saint but, after one reads this book, her pure heart in unquestioned. Her sainthood (if I may use the word) is in her humanity and divine inclination to do good. She is like you and I struggling to exist and make a difference in this tragic world. In spite of all the material conforts and easy life, she is the poorer of the poor. I highly recommend this book to anybody looking for a good read to inspire both the heart and the spirit. God bless you Lorna! I just wish there were more books like yours out there!

1 comments about FLY BOY: NAVY WINGS and WILLING WOMEN - WWII.

1. While this book is basically written for men, as it recalls the excitement of learning to fly for Navy in a
   variety of planes and different locations in WWII, ending up in the F4U Corsair fighter on the carrier INTREPID,
   the shore- based romances and the complicated courtship of his wife seem to turn on the women readers!