Book Description
Top Jesus scholars Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan join together to reveal a radical and little-known Jesus. As both authors reacted to and responded to questions about Mel Gibson's blockbuster The Passion of the Christ, they discovered that many Christians are unclear on the details of events during the week leading up to Jesus's crucifixion.
Using the gospel of Mark as their guide, Borg and Crossan present a day-by-day account of Jesus's final week of life. They begin their story on Palm Sunday with two triumphal entries into Jerusalem. The first entry, that of Roman governor Pontius Pilate leading Roman soldiers into the city, symbolized military strength. The second heralded a new kind of moral hero who was praised by the people as he rode in on a humble donkey. The Jesus introduced by Borg and Crossan is this new moral hero, a more dangerous Jesus than the one enshrined in the church's traditional teachings.
The Last Week depicts Jesus giving up his life to protest power without justice and to condemn the rich who lack concern for the poor. In this vein, at the end of the week Jesus marches up Calvary, offering himself as a model for others to do the same when they are confronted by similar issues. Informed, challenged, and inspired, we not only meet the historical Jesus, but meet a new Jesus who engages us and invites us to follow him.
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"
Top Jesus scholars Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan join together to reveal a radical and little-known Jesus. As both authors reacted to and responded to questions about Mel Gibson's blockbuster The Passion of the Christ, they discovered that many Christians are unclear on the details of events during the week leading up to Jesus's crucifixion.
Using the gospel of Mark as their guide, Borg and Crossan present a day-by-day account of Jesus's final week of life. They begin their story on Palm Sunday with two triumphal entries into Jerusalem. The first entry, that of Roman governor Pontius Pilate leading Roman soldiers into the city, symbolized military strength. The second heralded a new kind of moral hero who was praised by the people as he rode in on a humble donkey. The Jesus introduced by Borg and Crossan is this new moral hero, a more dangerous Jesus than the one enshrined in the church's traditional teachings.
The Last Week depicts Jesus giving up his life to protest power without justice and to condemn the rich who lack concern for the poor. In this vein, at the end of the week Jesus marches up Calvary, offering himself as a model for others to do the same when they are confronted by similar issues. Informed, challenged, and inspired, we not only meet the historical Jesus, but meet a new Jesus who engages us and invites us to follow him.
"
Customer Reviews:
Not be confused with the facts..........2007-05-28
My main objection: The authors first adopt an idea and then reconstruct their story to fit that idea. I am aware that we are dealing with a popular, NOT an academic book, but still I consider that unfair, since most of us are learning from such books.The authors made several contradictions, assumptions, false statements and omissions. They contradict themselves by writing in the preface that they will use Mark's Gospel only and they present good reasons for it. However, in the subtitle it is printed: "What the Gospels REALLY Teach About Jesus'...".This contradiction allows them to use other Gospels when the authors can support their objectives. What is worse, they omit the passages in Mark which do not support their objectives. Throughout the book Pilate is described as a sovereign ruler having the Jewish hierarchy under his control. However, even from the authors' quotes taken from the Mark's Gospel the Pilate's questions to Jesus are NOT what one would expect from a supreme commander. Furthermore if Pilate were convinced about Jesus' role as a leader of an actual political insurgency, he would have executed at least some of his disciples. Among the farfetched assumptions: :"Two processions entered Jerusalem on a spring day in the year 30". However, Mark's gospel says NOTHING about this coincidence or a planned thing. Moreover, there is NO support elsewhere that it happened the same day. Among the false statements I would classify the authors' conclusion that Jesus had to be executed since he was a revolutionary, although a non violent one. It is well established truth from the other reliable historical documents that the Romans were rather tolerant occupants with regards to the religious beliefs; they even accepted Greek gods. Therefore one can assume that only violent uprisings were recognized and considered dangerous for the Romans. The itinerant rabbis proclaiming nonviolent utopias were probably taken for "religious cranks" and posed no danger to the Romans.Indeed such a view was taken by Pilate at the beggining of the trial, as recorded by all four Gospels.
In conclusion one can say that the authors by focusing on the Jewish high-priestly collaboration with Roman imperial control lead us to regard Jesus as an earthly revolutionary, although a non-violent one. This is in my view a dishonest simplification and selling Jesus short. It is well known that according to the MARXIST philosophy we were born into two certain antagonist social ranks, rich and poor and the history is progressing through this irreconcilable class struggle. However, Jesus gave us an example NOT to follow so called "history necessity", but to "die to ourselves", to be "born again" and that way to transcend that class awareness and to build the "Kingdom of God " regardless of the class, race, nationality AND religious differences.
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Useful for Bible teaching, preaching.......2007-05-13
A scholarly, but accessible treatment of the biblical account of Holy Week. Well worth it: either to read straight through, or to use it as a reference book.
A Loving account by non-believers.......2007-05-07
Two deep friends and New Testament scholars combine to review this last week of Jesus. Both have previously written extensive scholarly works clarifying their non-belief in the supernatural story of Jesus. In this work they are not challenging the main account in Mark, but adding simply written expansions of what happened. While denying the divinity of Jesus, they clearly love the man and are advocates for his intent to establish "The Kingdom" on earth--a wish for fairness and justice.
Interactive Christianity: transcendence through service and justice.......2007-04-08
"The Last Week" by Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan address several problem areas in the traditional interpretations of the Passion of Jesus Christ and the events of Easter Week. Rather than seeing his teachings and purposeful orchestration of his last week as metaphor, most Christians have come to accept Jesus himself as metaphor. His suffering, death and resurrection have become a "passion" sacrifice or atonement for the failings of humankind. Crossan and Borg re-examine this metaphor. These authors describe the passion as an intensely and profoundly fundamental belief that the current, normal societal norm of political and economic dominance of government (legitimized by religious authority) be challenged and replaced. What Jesus offers in its place is human compassion and human service -- resulting in a transcendence of humanity itself. It is a solution that replaces man's kingdom and priorities with those of God and his kingdom, stressing that the work is not done by Jesus alone, but by Jesus as he inspires and transforms others to be him. As transformed, humans recognize "the dominant life of human normalcy versus the servant life of human transcendence." Focusing on Mark as the earliest and "cleanest" version (before the elaborations added by Matthew, Luke and John), Crossan and Borg stress a second theme: to quote St. Augustine, "We without God cannot, and God without us will not." The key to the mystery of Easter Week is identification of God as within humans and the acceptance of responsibility by humans to take on Jesus' role. No doubt, this is a radical interpretation and one that requires the most of our time and effort on this earth. The one drawback of the text (why it rates a four and not a five star standing) is that points made are often repeated. Perhaps, however, they need to be restated to bring full attention to them.
Jesus's last eight days.......2007-03-15
In this simple exposition written for a general audience, two leading New Testament scholars use the Gospel of Mark to explain what happened to Jesus during his final week. They use Mark because most scholars consider it the earliest of the four Gospels, the primary source for Matthew and Luke, and because when you read carefully you see that Mark details the last eight days of Holy Week, from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday. He even specifies "morning" and "evening" for three of these days:
Palm Sunday: "When they were approaching Jerusalem" (11:1)
Monday: "On the following day" (11:12)
Tuesday: "In the morning" (11:20)
Wednesday: "It was two days before the Passover" (14:1)
Maundy Thursday: "On the first day of Unleavened Bread" (14:12)
Good Friday: "As soon as it was morning" (15:1)
Holy Saturday: "The Sabbath" (15:42, 16:1)
Easter Sunday: "Very early on the first day of the week" (16:2).
Mark even describes what happened at five three-hour intervals on Good Friday (pp. ix-x). The book, then, consists of eight chapters, one for each day of Holy Week.
For Borg and Crossan the gospels are not records of straightforward historical facts remembered by the author, but stylized interpretations of the believing community. There's an element of truth in this, of course; you could say the same about nearly all written history. But I'm sometimes dubious about historical reconstructions two millennia after the events that claim to know more and to know better than the first witnesses, or that do not give compelling explanations about how and why the first recorders got things so badly wrong and yet attracted the allegiance of so many converts (who must have known they were "wrong" about the literal facts).
Borg and Crossan do a wonderful job of illuminating the religious background of first century Judaism and especially the centrality of the temple, and the cultural and political background of the Roman empire, showing how the Biblical texts and these two contexts interact. If you've read any of Borg's many books, it will come as no surprise that the authors understand the "passion" of Jesus not as a sacrifice or substitution (as it has been understood by much if not most of Christendom), but as an incarnation of God's justice which subverts the status quo of political oppression, economic exploitation, and religious legitimation. The 2007 edition of this book has the sensational sub-title What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem.
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- Final Account
- This is where it gets really good
- A perfect balance of character and plot development
- I like Robinson and this is one of his better mysteries
- Inspector Banks Comes of Age
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Final Account
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ASIN: 0060502169
Release Date: 2004-09-28 |
Book Description
There's more than blood and bone beneath the skin ...
The victim, a nondescript "numbers cruncher," died horribly just yards away from his terrified wife and daughter, murdered by men who clearly enjoyed their work. The crime scene is one that could chill the blood of even the most seasoned police officer. But the strange revelations about an ordinary accountant's extraordinary secret life are what truly set Chief Inspector Alan Banks off -- as lies breed further deceptions and blood begets blood, unleashing a policeman's dark passions ... and a violent rage that, when freed, might be impossible to control.
Customer Reviews:
Final Account.......2007-01-15
Item received in a timely manner and as described. Great and easy shopping.
This is where it gets really good.......2006-08-25
I made the mistake of reading these books in the middle: I started with In a Dry Season and worked my way through Piece of My Heart. Then I went backwards chronologically to Gallows View, the very first Inspector Banks series. The ride has been different but very very interesting.
Peter Robinson has a very easy writing style, he has a very distinct way of describing police procedures and a way with describing the dales and Yorkshire. Most of the stories in this series are interesting, in fact I would recommend most of them. But there are certin ones: In a Dry Season, Aftermath, A Strange Affair where Robinson goes out of his way to write some amzing soliloqueys/psychological core dumps/confessions. It is in these moments of revelation that one really get enamored with the series and the main character: Inspector Alan Banks.
In this particular story, the main thread winding around the plot is the dual life of a middle aged accountant. A presumably dull and lifeless man is murdered ruthlessly in a gangland style murder. As Banks, Richmond, Susan Gay et. al. peels back the curtains oscuring the truth, the reader is transported to many places where they don't exactly expect. In addition to all that, the psyche of the victim, as a seemingly innocuous man moving in locked step with his disciplined routines are revealed. The more interesting part is what this victim's life is doing to Banks, he is of the same age and is living somewhat the same life as the victim. The book slowly reveals the similarities and how Banks deals with this parallel psyche.
This is one of the gems in the series. read it and enjoy. I also agree with the previous reviewr: reading the series in chronological order is probaly much more satisfying, but the stories are self contained enough to be good stand alone murder mysteries.
A perfect balance of character and plot development.......2006-04-02
First off I disagree with the reviewer(s?) who say that the series needs to be read in order. I first enjoyed the Banks series by reading In a Dry Season, so I went back and started from the beginning with Gallows View which I also enjoyed. But in the books between that and Final Account I found that the character development, which I normally enjoy, slowed down the plot.
This book has the perfect balance of characterization and plot. Everything that happens in Final Account makes perfect sense (very rare in a thriller!) because you learn just enough about the main characters to make it so.
Highly recommended.
I like Robinson and this is one of his better mysteries.......2005-02-15
Peter Robinson is a Canadian who writes English mysteries, set for the most part in Yorkshire. His detective, Inspector Banks, is a police homicide detective who has a working class background, a love of classical music, and (in this book), a deteriorating marriage because he spends so little time at home.
The book gets off to a breathless start with the arrival of police to investigate a murder -- the body is in the barn of the victim's Yorkshire "farm" (this isn't a working farm). Two masked men had tied up the man's wife and daughter, taken the man to the barn, and shot him in the back of his head with a shotgun -- leaving a grisly scene. But this is not a particularly gruesome book -- most of the time is spent trying to find out who killed the man and why.
Although there are lots of twists and turns, I can't say I was surprised very much by the ending (that twist had crossed my mind) -- but the book was so well written I could hardly wait to get back to it.
If you like "English" mysteries (the kind P.D. James writes), you will enjoy this mystery and others in the series.
Inspector Banks Comes of Age.......2004-11-22
I'm a huge fan of the Scottish writer Ian Rankin, so when I heard him favourably compared to Peter Robinson, I had to check the latter out. Of course I started with the first of the Inspector Banks series and was surprised to find no similarity to the Rankin books at all. The Robinson novel was a modern variation of the cozy English village police procedural made famous by so many other writers. Where was the grit of Rankin, the complicated psychology? Well here it is, finally, in Robinson's sixth Banks mystery, recently reissued. This is a fine piece of work, masterfully written, with a truly surprising ending. Now I know why reviewers have mentioned Rankin (a must read) and Robinson in the same breath. And I'll definitely be reading more.
Book Description
Anna Politkovskaya, one of Russia’s most fearless journalists, was gunned down in a contract killing in Moscow in the fall of 2006. Just before her death, Politkovskaya completed this searing, intimate record of life in Russia from the parliamentary elections of December 2003 to the grim summer of 2005, when the nation was still reeling from the horrors of the Beslan school siege. In A Russian Diary, Politkovskaya dares to tell the truth about the devastation of Russia under Vladimir Putin–a truth all the more urgent since her tragic death.
Writing with unflinching clarity, Politkovskaya depicts a society strangled by cynicism and corruption. As the Russian elections draw near, Politkovskaya describes how Putin neutralizes or jails his opponents, muzzles the press, shamelessly lies to the public–and then secures a sham landslide that plunges the populace into mass depression. In Moscow, oligarchs blow thousands of rubles on nights of partying while Russian soldiers freeze to death. Terrorist attacks become almost commonplace events. Basic freedoms dwindle daily.
And then, in September 2004, armed terrorists take more than twelve hundred hostages in the Beslan school, and a different kind of madness descends.
In prose incandescent with outrage, Politkovskaya captures both the horror and the absurdity of life in Putin’s Russia: She fearlessly interviews a deranged Chechen warlord in his fortified lair. She records the numb grief of a mother who lost a child in the Beslan siege and yet clings to the delusion that her son will return home someday. The staggering ostentation of the new rich, the glimmer of hope that comes with the organization of the Party of Soldiers’ Mothers, the mounting police brutality, the fathomless public apathy–all are woven into Politkovskaya’s devastating portrait of Russia today.
“If anybody thinks they can take comfort from the ‘optimistic’ forecast, let them do so,” Politkovskaya writes. “It is certainly the easier way, but it is also a death sentence for our grandchildren.”
A Russian Diary is testament to Politkovskaya’s ferocious refusal to take the easier way–and the terrible price she paid for it. It is a brilliant, uncompromising exposé of a deteriorating society by one of the world’s bravest writers.
Praise for Anna Politkovskaya
“Anna Politkovskaya defined the human conscience. Her relentless pursuit of the truth in the face of danger and darkness testifies to her distinguished place in journalism–and humanity. This book deserves to be widely read.”
–Christiane Amanpour, chief international correspondent, CNN
“Like all great investigative reporters, Anna Politkovskaya brought forward human truths that rewrote the official story. We will continue to read her, and learn from her, for years.”
–Salman Rushdie
“Suppression of freedom of speech, of expression, reaches its savage ultimate in the murder of a writer. Anna Politkovskaya refused to lie, in her work; her murder is a ghastly act, and an attack on world literature.”
–Nadine Gordimer
“Beyond mourning her, it would be more seemly to remember her by taking note of what she wrote.”
–James Meek
Customer Reviews:
"A Small Corner of Hell" .......2007-09-26
A Russian Diary: A Journalists' Final Account of Life, Corruption and Death in Putin's Russia - By Anna Politkovskaya
It's fashionable these days to describe a book as "important.' While most aren't, Anna Politkovskaya's "A Russian Diary" is. As one of Russia's most influential journalists until her assassination, presumably by the KGB, Politovskaya chronicled dissident protests, suspicious fires and "accidents" and other examples of Putin's heavy-handed regime
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Some of her most impassioned writing came from Chechnya, which she characterized as "a small corner of hell." She wrote of the tragedy at Beslan, where dozens of school children were murdered. To this day, some of the victims have not been identified, because the tragedy was not a priority of the regime.
And she documents Putin's systematic retrenchment and repeal of many of the reforms enacted by his predecessors, Gorbachev and Yeltsin. Clearly, in the words of chess champion-turned-politician Kasparov, "Russia is a police state."
She writes: "What speed! The President has already signed the law abolishing the election of governors. It has been our fastest ever passage of a law, and all so that from January 1 Putin should not have to discuss matters with the governors or worry that they might be uncooperative. A Tsar should have serfs, not partners."
Like the KGB defector Alexander Litvenko, who was poisoned in London with radioactive polonium (again presumably by the KGB) , Politikovskaya paid a terrible price for her honesty.
She was murdered in Moscow on October 7, 2006-- Vladimir Putin's birthday.
The Naked Truth........2007-07-19
As a person who has worked in Russia since 1988 till now I have seen many changes and many era's. I have also a Masters Degree in Russian History. The truth is always frightening, what Politskaya writes is the truth and she paid for it with his life, I have witnessed some of what she writes but as my Business is still in Russia it's better to stay quiet. A frightening expose in 2007!! May she live on in memory.
Customer Reviews:
Details, details, endless details...............2007-05-14
For very dedicated civil war buffs only.
Very detailed and drawn-out account of the battles near Appomattox at the of the war. Chamberlain wasn't a Professor of Rhetoric for nothing, and he lives up to the title in this book. I slugged my way through half of the book before giving up. Page after page of flowery decriptions of the heroism and high religious morals, etc., etc. of the fighting men, minute by minute accounts of charges and retreats, which general/commander gave this order, which brigade went this way and that, accounts of who lost their sword and what happenned to the guy's hat, the after-war history of the replacement sword.......it just goes on and on endlessly. It's all so confusing, and there are no good maps included to illustrate the movements of the troops.
Chamberlain was a genuine civil war hero, so we have to forgive him, but he could have used a good editor. If it were pared down to maybe half the length, it would make for an interesting and exciting read. As it is, it's a good cure for insomnia.
A Tough Read..........2007-03-30
There is something inherently compelling about Chamberlain's account of the last couple of weeks of combat between the ANV and Grant's army group. The guy was there, in the middle of the worst fighting, and was probably THE most effective Union field general. He was obviously tough, intelligent, resourceful, clear-headed, and his reputation as a combat leader helped him get the most out of his officers and men. It was probably no accident that he was chosen to receive the formal ANV surrender. Grant knew Chamberlain was reliable and would do the right thing without being told. That he could remember this amount of detail so many decades later is another example of his powerful intellect. He apparently had at least one failing. He did not know how to write a clear narrative. I realize that people of that era wrote in more flowery prose than we are used to, but his style really gets in the way of the story he was trying to convey. If you are into history, this is worth adding to your library, just be prepared for a tough read.
Fascinating View Inside the Closing Days of the War.......2005-01-03
Joshua Chamberlain is probably the most famous 'minor figure' of the American Civil War. While history has remembered an amazing number of Civil War generals (quick, name three generals from America's Revolutionary War), Chamberlain never rose to a position high enough to be generally considered important. Except, that is, for his amazing work on July 2, 1863, when his regiment, the 20th Maine, held the left flank of the Union army against repeated Confederate attacks, culminating with a bayonet charge when the regiment ran out of ammunition. For his actions on that day, Chamberlain received the Medal of Honor.
But while Chamberlain's heroism at Gettysburg was amazing and vitally important to the survival of the United States of America, they were hardly the only important actions Chamberlain took during the war. Chamberlain would go on after Gettysburg to be wounded six times, twice declared dead in The New York Times, and rise to the rank of Brevet Major General and division commander. During his time with the Army of the Potomac, Chamberlain had a front row view of the battles that ended the American Civil War, and he was on the field at Appomattox when Robert E. Lee finally accepted the inevitable and asked Grant for terms of surrender. Chamberlain was then selected to accept the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.
Given those exploits, Chamberlain had quite a bit to report on, and in The Passing of the Armies he offers his views on the final campaign of the war and the disbanding of the Army of the Potomac. Chamberlain's writing is fascinating, although the style is appropriate to the 19th century and can appear a bit cumbersome to the modern reader. It is nonetheless a gripping read as the reader travels with Chamberlain across the last battlefields of the American Civil War, feeling the excitement and horror of the first industrial war in history. Chamberlain's perspective was at once close enough to feel the heat of the battle yet removed enough that he is able to describe the larger picture relative to the battlefield. All the book is really missing is a few better maps; it can be difficult to follow the battles given the limited maps included in the book. But that is a minor point, and the reader will be caught up in the battles even if unable to place them on a map.
Despite all the excellent books written on the Civil War, only those who actually experienced the war can provide a feeling for what it was like to survive the battles. Joshua Chamberlain's memoirs give the reader an opportunity to actually get inside the head of a true American hero. As such, they are invaluable reading for anyone interested in the American Civil War, war in general, or leadership.
Excellent Historical facts.......2003-01-19
Obviously this is different from Shaara's works beacuse this is historical non-fiction and reads more like history vs. Shaara's excellent historical fiction novel which is more like a story then this memoir of civil war hero Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain. If your looking for a novel like Shaara's I wouldn't reccomend this book but if you are looking for facts and more about Chamberlain then I strongly reccomend this novel for you.
The Passing Of The Armies.......2001-12-07
I had always wanted to read this book to discern what took place during the Confederate surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. Needless to say, I wasted my money.
Chamberlain, who richly deserves accolades for bravery during the Civil War shows how not to write a book. This volume is one of the most sophmoric, self effacing volumes ever perpetuated on the reading public. If Chamberlain was paid by the metaphor, he would be wealthier than Bill Gates! When all is said and done, the facts mentioned in this book take no more than 20 pages.
Where some Civil War historians call Chamberlain's writing "sublime" and "melodious," I call "boring" and "mindless."
How bad is this book? Of the approximately 40 books on the Civil War read, it is the ONLY one I threw away.
Customer Reviews:
Insightful overview on Romans. NOT a complete treatment........2006-12-15
`Final Account, Paul's Letter to the Romans' is a very small book by the very distinguished Krister Stendahl, a Professor Emeritus of Divinity at Harvard, whose liturgical affiliation, as one could easily assume from his Scandinavian name, is Lutheran.
In a world filled with big books on Paul in general and on his Epistle to the Romans in particular, this slim volume is a bit of an anomaly. One thing the size tells us is that unlike the tomes by the likes of Ernst Kasemann, Karl Barth, and N. T. Wright, this volume will not be giving us a chapter and verse exegesis of the famous Epistle.
The volume is even smaller when you take into consideration the fact that 25 pages, a full third of the volume, are taken up with a reprint of the RSV translation of the letter. One thing that is important to realize is that this is not gratuitous padding, as it is all part of Bishop Stendahl's big idea.
I can't help but think of Isaiah Berlin's famous comparison of the hedgehog and the fox in reading this book. One may say that while Kasemann and Wright and James Dunn (in `The Theology of Paul the Apostle') deal with many, many ideas, Stendahl, in this volume, brings us no more than a few `big' ideas.
Stendahl's most impressive `big' idea is the notion that one should embark on reading Romans with an open mind, devoid of all preconceptions. Therefore, the good Bishop provides us with his preferred translation for studious reading.
Since, as Stendahl points out, Romans has been claimed as the documentary underpinning of every variety of theological point of view from Augustine to the present, it is easy to find oneself with an inadvertent pair of tinted glasses. The Lutheran shade of glasses is, of course, the issue of justification by faith, which every non-Lutheran commentator points out is actually not one of Paul's major themes, as he brings it up only in Romans and Galatians, the Epistles wherein he is arguing against Gentile Christians having to follow Mosaic law.
While Stendahl is a self-confessed Lutheran, he is well aware of this slant and side steps it as deftly as many earlier commentators such as William Wrede and Albert Schweitzer.
One important original idea is usually enough for me to consider a book valuable, but Stendahl has more. Two of the more novel thoughts are in his first lecture, where he says Paul's primary concerns were with his health and with the fate, following the advent of the Messiah, of Israel. The second seems not too novel until you realize, from Stendahl's perspective, that Paul had a genuine concern for the Jews. The first issue is easy to overlook, and tends to get lost with all the more theological issues abounding in Paul's writings. But Paul's letters are filled with puzzlement over why Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle, should be afflicted by such corporeal weaknesses.
While this book offers only some highlights from a very sound source, it's virtue, aside from the value of those insights is the fact that it can be read from cover to cover in an evening.
This may be the best book with which to start on Romans, but it should not be the last. It will certainly set you out in the right direction as you plough your way through more complete exegeses of Paul's Epistle to the Romans.
A delightful account that sees the wood for the trees.......2000-04-04
Stendhal is well-known to New Testament students for his provocative article on 'The Apostle Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West' (1963) and here at last is his book-length reflection on Paul's letter to the Romans, where he works out that article at greater length and tied to the text.
It is succinct (around 80 pages of text) and written with a superb lightness of touch. This is 'the big picture' of Paul at his most excited, guiding the perplexed reader through the tangled maze of the argument with humour and yet a serious concern to grasp the same vision of God which motivated Paul.
If there is a complaint, it is perhaps that Stendahl makes such short work of the intricacies of Romans that one wonders if he is perhaps a little more straightforward than Paul himself. Never the less, he nuances well known positions with clarity (notably rejecting simplistic ideas of '2 covenants' sometimes attributed to him) and he reminds us of just why we ever bothered with the New Testament in the first place.
Highly recommended.
Customer Reviews:
Shatner's Book.......2000-05-12
I think it was/is wonderful! William Shatner is a terrific writer!
A great read on the making of a Star Trek movie........1999-02-26
This book, "Captain's Log: William Shatner's Personal Account on the Making of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" by Lisabeth Shatner (William Shatner's daughter, who was on the film's set & location shoots) is an excellent read on the making of a Star Trek movie. This book details the accounts on what lead star, co-writer, & director of Star Trek V, William Shatner, went through making this movie. Although this fifth movie is best remembered as not one of the best in the Star Trek film series, this book details the process on the making of a feature film. This book also includes details on the originally planned ending that had to be changed. Featuring interviews with the cast & crew, as well as 16 pages of photos, "Captain's Log" is an excellent read. For Star Trek fans as well as anyone interested on the process of filmmaking.
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Product Description
With two narrators, Recorded Books brings Ancient Greece to life with Euthyphro, the Apology, Crito and Phaedo. These dialogues and the not-so-apologetic Apology make enlightening listening. In a smart looking, durable plastic case!
Books:
- The Mysterious West
- The Poetry of Pope John Paul II Roman Triptych Meditations
- The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.)
- The Pursuit of Love & Love in a Cold Climate: Two Novels
- The Restaurant Managers Handbook: How to Set Up, Operate, and Manage a Financially Successful Food Service Operation
- The Seven Silly Eaters
- The Shallow Graves of Rwanda
- The Sight (Warriors: Power of Three, Book 1)
- The Solomon Sisters Wise Up (Red Dress Ink)
- The Successor: A Novel
Books Index
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