Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--And Doesn't

Book Description

The United States is one of the most religious places on earth, but it is also a nation of shocking religious illiteracy.

Only 10 percent of American teenagers can name all five major world religions and 15 percent cannot name any.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that the Bible holds the answers to all or most of life's basic questions, yet only half of American adults can name even one of the four gospels and most Americans cannot name the first book of the Bible.

Despite this lack of basic knowledge, politicians and pundits continue to root public policy arguments in religious rhetoric whose meanings are missed—or misinterpreted—by the vast majority of Americans.

"We have a major civic problem on our hands," says religion scholar Stephen Prothero. He makes the provocative case that to remedy this problem, we should return to teaching religion in the public schools. Alongside "reading, writing, and arithmetic," religion ought to become the "Fourth R" of American education.

Many believe that America's descent into religious illiteracy was the doing of activist judges and secularists hell-bent on banishing religion from the public square. Prothero reveals that this is a profound misunderstanding. "In one of the great ironies of American religious history," Prothero writes, "it was the nation's most fervent people of faith who steered us down the road to religious illiteracy. Just how that happened is one of the stories this book has to tell."

Prothero avoids the trap of religious relativism by addressing both the core tenets of the world's major religions and the real differences among them. Complete with a dictionary of the key beliefs, characters, and stories of Christianity, Islam, and other religions, Religious Literacy reveals what every American needs to know in order to confront the domestic and foreign challenges facing this country today.

Customer Reviews:

A misleading book, should have been titled "Christian Literacy".......2007-10-08

I was so upset with this book. Even the cover is misleading. The first half of this work is basically a history of Christianity in AMERICA (and often you feel that the author is waxing nalstalgic for the good 'ol days of "Christian" America) and then the second half is a mediocre dictionary of Religion. Money would be better spend on a cheap dictionary of Eastern or world religion. If this book had been marketed as "Religious Literacy for Christians" I would understand the direction of the book. As it is, I felt like this book was marketed as an attempt to pull in the reader (such as myself) who is interested in expanding their comprehension of WORLD religions, but once having your attention it tries to convice you that we are living in a Christian country and that it has always been so.

Makes the case but never tells us *what* we need to know.......2007-09-27

Despite the lack of religion taught in public schools or the anti-relgion impressions given by the media, America is a very religious nation. It was founded by religious people and it's history is entwined with religon. Even today, politicians frequently invoke religion and cite scriptural references and most Americans will report that they regularly attend religious services and pray. The problem is that not many of those people actually have much religious knowledge (an assertion supported by a just-released Sept 2007 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center). Few can name all Ten Commandments or any Apostles, not to mention even cursory knowledge about Eastern religions. Contrast this with Europeans, who have broad religious knowledge but don't attend church or pray. Mr. Prothero explains how religion factored in early American life, the affects of secularism and how America shifted away from valuing religious knowledge, and clears up the confusion over the legalities of teaching religion. He also makes a case for the need for greater religious literacy without showing any favoritism.

The problem is that the title is terribly misleading: "Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know - and Doesn't" infers that this book will tell us what we NEED to know. It doesn't. It sounds like I know more about scriptures and my own church than most people do about theirs, but I know very little about other churches. I would like to learn some basics about Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Christian religions such as the Catholics, Protestants, and Evangelicals and was hoping for summaries to help me better understand. All the book has to offer is a "dictionary" that was nice, but not really what I was hoping for. I already agree with the author that knowledge of religion is lacking - myself included - but the book doesn't really take the next step. Mr. Prothero complains that even many churches today teach only broad "touchy-feely" concepts like "love" and "Jesus" but fail to impart a deeper understanding, but he's guilty of the same sin.

The discussions of religion in Colonial America and how we became a secular nation was interesting, but I think most people who pick up this book will also agree with the author, and as such it ends up being little more than preaching to the choir.

disguised argument.... .......2007-09-13

The title is misleading. I expected to be educated regarding the myriad religions in the world, many of them with a substantial presence in the United States. Instead, the author works to convince the reader The Bible should be required study in America's public schools. The author did place much of the blame for religious illiteracy on religion itself and not so much on secularism. He also did not mention America's woeful failing regarding science literacy, but then this is a book whose emphasis is religion.

Americans most certainly are ignorant regarding religion, even their own, but this book does not live up to the goal stated in its title. The title should have been "My argument for Bible Study in public schools."

Teach ABOUT Religion instead of Teaching Religion ..........2007-09-02

A persuasive argument for teaching about religion, not proselytizing. Author Stephen Prothero traces the degradation in religious knowledge, not necessarily observance, in the United States over the past 150 years.

Nowadays, the gods of Political Correctness must be appeased. People are reluctant to bring up or discuss the topic of religion. As a result, it has largely left the school system. He offers some salient examples of illiteracy and ignorance with regard to basic religious concepts (for example, some people believe that the epistles were the wives of the apostles!!).

Prothero spends more time making his argument than advancing solutions, the chief example of which is restoring education about religion in the public schools and beyond. He makes a salient point and differentiation between teaching about religion and pushing religious beliefs on to people. It is a persuasive case and timely, since so many modern conflicts and foreign-policy issues are shaped by religious belief.

The majority of the book is comprised of a glossary of religious concepts and terms. This alone provides a valuable reference. There is also a quiz in the Appendix so that readers can gauge their own degree of religious literacy.

A thought-provoking and persuasive book!

Important yes -- but a Fourth R?.......2007-09-01

The Professor of Religion effectively proves that we need more religious education. Yes, his department of religion should be more important but is there not a crying need for the more basic Three Rs to be taken care of first before we divert resources?
And what about the lack of Financial Literacy? Not knowing about Whahhabism could certainly hurt us again, but not understanding the dangers to borrowers and the economy contained in the fine print in sub-prime real estate loans could, it turns out, drive us into recession (some economists think recession will hit us next year) and that could even hurt us more.
The application of limited educational resources should be well balanced. It comes down to a question of priorities. And the author of this fine book is overstating the priority of his department and career field.

Mugglenet.Com's What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Falls in Love and How Will the Adventure Finally End

Average customer rating:

The right and wrong answers
No point in buying it now
Must Read!!
very pratical
Well Researched Book

Mugglenet.Com's What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Falls in Love and How Will the Adventure Finally End
Ben Schoen , Emerson Spartz , Andy Gordon , Gretchen Stull , and Jamie Lawrence
Manufacturer: Ulysses Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1569755833

Book Description

As anticipation of the final Harry Potter book intensifies, a debate is raging among fans about what’s in store for Harry and the rest of the gang at Hogwart's. In this book, the experts at MuggleNet.com present a wide range of hard facts and bold predictions about the most popular storylines, favorite characters, and final outcome of the Harry Potter saga. Drawing on their intimate knowledge of the previous six books, as well as tips and suggestions made by millions of MuggleNet.com fans (not to mention a personal interview with J.K. Rowling), the authors offer answers to the burning questions of Harry Potter readers everywhere: Will Hogwart's School be open for Harry’s final year and will Harry even be in attendance? Will Harry’s quest for the remaining Horcruxes be rewarded? Where do Severus Snape’s true loyalties lie? And, most importantly, will Harry survive the final battle with Lord Voldemort?

Customer Reviews:

The right and wrong answers.......2007-09-03

Though admittedly few people see much point in reading this book now that the final istalment of Harry Potter has already been read and is now safely tucked in our book-shelves, I beg to differ. I read Deathly Hallows before reading this book, and so knew all the answers to (most) questions, what drove me to buy the book was my uncontrollable curiosity. Being a fan of the website, I thought I'd help them out by buying the book, but what intrested me the most was the arguments. I don't care whether they guessed right or wrong, but how they came to those conclusions! 9/10 times the right answer doesn't matter, as long as you can back it up with sound reason and judgment, which is why I liked this book, and would still recommend it.

No point in buying it now.......2007-08-30

Not only were the predictions incorrect, Now that book 7 is out who would want to read this?

Must Read!!.......2007-08-27

After reading the final installment of Harry Potter I would def. say this a must read. First, it is a quick summary and primer of important info in the past six books. Plus, unless you are super obsessed or a literary genius there are bound to be a few things you learn in the book.

very pratical.......2007-08-23

it really does help to understand some questions you could have or did not
remember why this is there. Good to have before reading Vol.7

Well Researched Book.......2007-07-31

I bought this book just before Book 7 came out and really enjoyed it. While many of the assumptions in this book turned out to be false once I had read Book 7, it was nonetheless a well-researched book. The arguments for each stance they took - both pro and con - were plausible and quite believable and convincing. You could tell the authors had done their homework and really knew the world of Harry Potter. I think I may go back and read it again now that I know what really happens to see where they were spoton and where their ideas missed the mark. In any case, it is a great resource whether you have been a Harry Potter fan or are just discovering his world.

The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next

Average customer rating:

Cuts through the hype
A superb overview of the state of theoretical physics.
Scientific progress is never cut and dried
physics from many angles
A mixed bag

The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next
Lee Smolin
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory And the Search for Unity in Physical Law
The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe
Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions
The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design
Many Worlds in One: The Search for Other Universes

ASIN: 0618551050

Book Description

In this groundbreaking book, the renowned theoretical physicist Lee Smolin argues that physicsâ€”the basis for all other scienceâ€”has lost its way. The problem is string theory, an ambitious attempt to formulate "a theory of everything" that explains all the forces and particles of nature and how the universe came to be. With its exotic new particles and parallel universes, string theory has captured the public"s imagination and seduced many physicists. But as Smolin reveals, there"s a deep flaw in the theory: no part of it has been proven, and no one knows how to prove it. As a scientific theory, it has been a colossal failure. And because it has soaked up the lion's share of funding, attracted some of the best minds, and penalized young physicists for pursuing other avenues, it is dragging the rest of physics down with it. With clarity, passion, and authority, Smolin charts the rise and fall of string theory and takes a fascinating look at what will replace it. A group of young theorists has begun to develop exciting new ideas that are, unlike string theory, testable. Smolin tells us who and what to watch for in the coming years and how we can find the next Einstein. This is a wake-up call, and Lee Smolinâ€”a former string theorist himselfâ€” is the perfect person to deliver it.

Customer Reviews:

Cuts through the hype.......2007-10-13

This is an excellently written book, very easy to read,and with only one typo that I noticed. It starts with an excellent overview of physics from a technical point of view, without getting too technical,but a good basic understanding of physics is really needed to grasp what he is writing about, and shows the authors grasp of the technical issues, and then gets into a philosophical view of the state of physics and science generally. As an interested observer of science I have certainly noticed the lack of really big discoveries in the last twenty years or so, and this book confirms my view. Also being more of a creative thinker,rather than a conformist, a 'seer' as the author describes it,I can totally relate to the problems faced by people seeking a career in science, and the need to conform to currently popular programs and research where economic imperitives take precedence over original thinking,or even fundamental work, and where universities operate to build an image to attract students based on hype over substance. Its what put me off a career in science, and a university education, as I'm not interested in doing what others want in return for money,career,etc. The authors comment about some of the best scientists of the past being wealthy enough to support themselves in doing as they pleased is a very important point in showing that creative people are wasted if forced to do the work others want done in order to survive. Which basically leaves only those who want to conform and have an easy life and easy career path, who want to be technical experts rather than big thinkers or explorers of new concepts. It excludes most risk takers and entrepreneurs from a career in science,as you would end up bitter and unsatisfied. This book really just confirmed alot of what I thought, what should be common sense. And it makes an important point that only a few people think creatively,so it would not cost alot to employ these people and take a risk on them, in the hope that long term they will produce big things, while delivering very little of measurable worth in the short term. The book also goes into the sociology of science and scientists. Something I realised along time ago to my suprise was that scientists suffer from all the normal human flaws of bias and blindness, tribalism,etc that average people do,and often end up in religious type devoutness to their beliefs or tribe. I would have thought science would not attract such people, but it does,as the authors experience shows in confirming what I beleived just from watching science shows on TV,etc. Science would be an excellent career if not for the fact it suffers from the same B.S. that afflicts most human organisations and puts people like myself right off getting involved at all. The author is smart enough to realise that science must attract talent and compete with others for it,and his criticisms are done out of love for science and physics,not hate. It is interesting to see how carefully he treads in crisicising others, which just goes to show how religion-like science had become, and how risky it is to be a heretic, which so goes against what science should stand for,like open debate, constant questioning of all beleifs,etc, when ego's start getting in the way you might as well do something else, as its no better than any other politics or belief system. If you care about science this book raises many important points ,although I suspect it will find an audience with those that sympathise with its views and have no effect on those that need to learn from it most,as they will have closed minds and take all criticism as an attack to be defended against.A very enjoyable read.

A superb overview of the state of theoretical physics........2007-10-12

What a superb book. Lee Smolin starts by sketching our progress towards a unified theory, and then critically examines the claims of string theory to be the best contender for that throne. Having demolished our fuzzy belief that string theory has been somehow "proven," he then weighs in on the other candidates for a unified theory, namely quantum gravity and its cousins. These turn out to be little better supported by experimental evidence. The technical concepts are clearly presented, sans equations, as developments in a story peopled with fascinating characters: the great theoretical physicists of the last 50 years. As a non-math person, I found this narrative a positive pleasure to read. In comparison to other authors of books on physics for the lay public, Smolin really knows how to tell a story, without skimping the science.

The real depth of "The Trouble With Physics" becomes apparent when Smolin pulls back to focus on physics itself. Facing the fact that the academy is a human enterprise like any other, he subjects it to the same bold criticism that he applies to scientific concepts. Here are eyeopening revelations about the culture of conferences, recommendations, networks, and above all, the economic pressures that subtly favor "craftspeople" at the expense of "seers." It's a sorry indictment of our universities, the triumph of self-interest over vision, and Smolin explicitly includes himself in the great mass of insincere careerists who choose a safe research program over a risky one, to the detriment of scientific progress. One gets the sense that this book is, for the author, an atonement for having shortchanged his own creativity as a younger man.

But we the readers are the beneficiaries of Smolin's decision to lay all bare. I have read literally dozens of books on physics and cosmology, and this is the first one that has presented the human side of the story as a CONTEXT, rather than in a series of postage-stamp portraits. Smolin shows that tribalism and rent-seeking do as much to shape science as any ideas. It is a lesson that will lend an extra savor, and a much-needed depth of perspective, to every science book I read in the future.

Scientific progress is never cut and dried.......2007-10-08

Lee Smolin presents a harsh critique of the last 30 years in theoretical physics, written by one of its practitioners. He makes the excellent point that science is a human activity like anything else. Progress is always hard to predict; scientists can and do get caught up in dead ends. Smolin thinks string theory is one such dead end, and makes a good case for it.

I think that, if anything, Smolin is a little too gentle on the field. The development of the atomic and hydrogen bombs left a tremendous impression that big money put into physics would bring big results. In recent years that hasn't happened. There are so many unanswered questions out there in science, so many important fields where solutions are desperately needed. When I consider the construction and operation of particle accelerators and other high-tech equipment, I can't help but think of the huge cost. The same amount of cash invested elsewhere might have brought much more in the way of useful results.

I am the mother of a 10-year-old boy attending public school. His instruction sometimes seems to me like a mishmash of well-meaning educational reforms that have been implemented with little or no testing to see if they worked or not. I am frankly disgusted by the quality of most research in the area of education--sample sizes too small, no proper controls, subjects followed for too short a time, etc. The cost of operating a single particle accelerator for six weeks probably exceeds all the funding for educational research around the world for the entire year. Yet which has the most potential for making major progress? Maybe it's time to back off on funding big physics projects for a while.

I would also like to point out that the building and use of instrumentation for high-energy physics is highly dependent on cheap fossil fuels. The future supply of such fuels is by no means guaranteed. The peak oil problem appears to be largely ignored by high-energy physicists today, but has the potential to significantly affect their ability to conduct experiments.

I really enjoyed Smolin's chapters on looking for seers rather than technicians in science. I especially liked his description of how unconventional scientists have built a career without a university job. Smolin points out that a typical professor spends a majority of his week on teaching, grant proposals, administrative tasks, and the like, leaving a surprisingly small amount of time available for actual research. Having a day job outside the field is not as big a hurdle as it might seem.

I tend to agree with Smolin that the big advances of the future are likely to come from completely unexpected directions. I can't wait to see what they are.

physics from many angles.......2007-10-05

This book provided several discussions pf physics and quantum theory. its good because the author speaks of the history the the originators of physics theory and the current champions of thought.

A mixed bag.......2007-10-04

At the moment, string theory appears to have many (possibly an infinite number) of "metastable vacua", each of which would allow for a universe with its own laws of physics. (For a brief, comic, yet essentially correct summary of the history of this idea, see Peter Shor's review here. For those who don't know, Shor is a celebrated quantum-information theorist.) According to the (far from established) inflationary model of cosmology, there is a vast collection of universes (the "multiverse") with diverse laws of physics. Which universe we find ourselves in is a matter of random selection, but of course we must be in a "biofriendly" universe, one whose laws of physics allow for the appearance of intelligent life.

The core argument of this book is presented on page 164-165 (US hardcover edition), where Smolin writes, "when it comes to the biofriendliness of our universe, we have at least three possibilities:

"1. Ours is one of a vast collection of universes with random laws.

"2. There was an intelligent designer.

"3. There is a so-far-unknown mechanism that will both explain the biofriendliness of our universe and make testable predictions by which it can be confirmed or falsified.

"Given that the first two possibilities are untestable in principle, it is most rational to hold out for the third possibility. Indeed, that is the only possibility we should consider as scientists, because accepting either of the first two would mean the end of our field."

I find this to be an astonishing argument. First of all, I don't know what "most rational" is supposed to mean. More importantly, to reject a scientific hypothesis for purely personal reasons (it "would mean the end of our field") is at best novel, and at worst absurd.

Very few string theorists are happy that #1 seems, at this point, to be the most likely outcome of string theory, and many hope that #3 will somehow eventually emerge. But to throw out the whole framework, simply because we don't like the result, cannot be said to be a scientific attitude.

One thing you won't learn in this book (unless you read it very carefully, and between the lines) is that the other approaches to quantum gravity advocated by Smolin have not come any closer to predicting specific experimental results than string theory has. Smolin talks about possible violations of special relativity, but these are not (as he admits on page 237) a definite prediction of loop quantum gravity. He has said (on Peter Woit's blog) that any quantum field theory in any number of dimensions is compatible with loop quantum gravity. If true, this would make loop quantum gravity even less capable than string theory of picking out our particular laws of physics.

Smolin also discusses issues of sociology in physics. On page 335-336, he asserts that the all the truly negative characterizations of job candidates that he has ever heard have had a component of racism and/or sexism. I am on the faculty of the physics department of a research university, and I can only say that my experience has been entirely different. I have simply never heard a racist or sexist denigration of one scientist by another, nor have I ever felt that anyone was being evaluated by criteria other than merit. I think that there are definitely issues of culture and how we can construct scientific communities that have broader appeal, and that there are physicists who are not as sensitive to these issues as they might be, but I cannot accept Smolin's claim that the relatively small percentage of women and blacks in physics is due to "blatant prejudice".

Finally, Smolin discusses the issues of "seers" vs "craftspeople" in science, and argues that we should be supporting more "seers". Among the existing seers, he lists some (such as Roger Penrose and Gerard 't Hooft) who made their reputations primarily as craftspeople ('t Hooft received the Nobel Prize for his work on the renormalization of gauge theories, and Penrose did celebrated work on the singularity theorems of general relativity). Their record as seers has been less successful; none of their recent ideas on modifications of quantum mechanics have panned out as yet. Smolin laments the fact that more attention is not paid to these forays into alternatives to quantum mechanics. But 't Hooft and Penrose do not agree on what modifications are needed. Other seers identified by Smolin propose violations of special relativity, rather than (or in addition to) violations of quantum mechanics. Perhaps this is all deep thought, but there is little to decide, at this point, which if any of these avenues should be pursued. Most physicists have therefore sensibly adopted a "wait and see" attitude.

Even if we accept Smolin's argument that we need new seers, how are we to find them? Smolin writes (page 353) that in order to discover "the visionaries who ignore the mainstream and follow their own ambitious programs", we should "find at least one accomplished person in the candidate's field who is deeply excited about what the candidate is trying to do". So, the candidate's program had better not be *too* far off the mainstream; there has to be at least one "accomplished person" who is "deeply excited" about it. But if one deeply excited professional is good, wouldn't more be better? Wouldn't that up the odds that the program was, indeed, worthwhile? Oh wait, that would be just what we have now ... a system where there is constant debate, emergent consensus on the most promising approaches, and distribution of research funds primarily (but by no means exclusively!) to those approaches that appear, in the consensus view, to be most promising. To paraphrase Winston Churchill on democracy, this system for distributing funds for science may be the worst ever devised, except for all the others.

So, should you buy the book? I feel that it gives a distorted picture, by emphasizing the weak points of string theory while ignoring the (many more, in my view) weak points of the alternatives. It seems to me that the essence of the book's argument against string theory is captured by the excerpts above, and by Shor's review. Then there is a lot of discussion of groupthink in scientific culture. For me, it doesn't add up to an appealing package, but your mileage may vary.

Average customer rating:

Interesting Introduction to Pauline Thought
Would not recommend this book
What Paul Meant
An excellent companion volume to Wills's WHAT JESUS MEANT
What I Think as Opposed to What God Said

What Paul Meant
Garry Wills
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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What Jesus Meant
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ASIN: 0670037931

Book Description

A brilliant synthesis of the Apostle PaulÂ's thought and influence, written by a Â“foremost Catholic intellectualÂ” (Chicago Tribune)

All through history, Christians have debated PaulÂ's influence on the church. Though revered, Paul has also been a stone on which many stumble. Apocryphal writings by Peter and James charge Paul, in the second century, with being a tool of Satan. In later centuries Paul became a target of ridicule for writers such as Thomas Jefferson (Â“the first corruptor Â”), George Bernard Shaw (Â“a monstrous impositionÂ”), and Nietzsche (Â“the DysangelistÂ”). However, as Garry Wills argues eloquently in this masterly analysis, what Paul meant was not something contrary to what Jesus meant. Rather, the best way to know Jesus is to discover Paul. Unlike the Gospel writers, who carefully shaped their narratives many decades after JesusÂ' life, Paul wrote in the heat of the moment, managing controversy, and sometimes contradicting himself, but at the same time offering the best reflection of those early times.

What Paul Meant is a stellar interpretation of PaulÂ's writing, examining his tremendous influence on the first explosion of Christian belief and chronicling the controversy surrounding Paul through the centuries. WillsÂ's many readers and those interested in the Christian tradition will warmly welcome this penetrating discussion of perhaps the most fascinating church father.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting Introduction to Pauline Thought.......2007-10-13

St. Paul has been a center of controversy probably since the day he first encountered the Risen Lord and began to change the course of history. He sparred with St. Peter over the issue of circumcision and the relationship of Gentiles and Jews. Later on, his words would be used as a cornerstone of the Protestant Reformation. In modern times, he has been accused of starting a religion that Jesus never intended and has been attacked for his bias against women.

Garry Wills in "What Paul Meant" seeks to rehabilitate St. Paul's reputation and get to the bottom of what he actually wanted to convey. Of the thirteen letters attributed to Paul in the New Testament, Biblical scholars today only accept seven as certainly by him: the 1st Letter to the Thessalonians, Letter to the Galatians, Letter to the Philippians, Letter to Philemon, 1st and 2nd Letter to the Corinthians, and the Letter to the Romans. Wills relies only on those letters to form his picture of Paul.

Wills spends much time comparing and contrasting Paul's versions of events with the version provided by Luke in the "Acts of the Apostles." Wills refers to Luke as a "theological artist. He creates for a purpose, and the purpose can shift from one part of the story to the next." As a result, his words are not necessarily historically accurate although they were used to illustrate theological truth.

"What Paul Meant" explores Paul's travels, his relationship with Peter and the other brothers in Jerusalem, his feelings on women (which really weren't all bad), and what he was trying to accomplish with his letters. It makes for interesting reading and a good introduction to the life and times of Saint Paul. The appendix of the book on "translating Paul" is especially enlightening, showing how words which Paul used have been translated into terms that he would never have considered using, such as "Christians, Church, Gospel, etc.) because they didn't exist yet.

Someone interested in finding out all about Paul would probably want to do further reading in order to get a more balanced portrayal of his thought, but it is always good to get some new insights and this book does provide them.

Would not recommend this book.......2007-10-06

This book was recommended to me by someone I respect, so I began it with high expectations. There were some interesting historical points, but I got tired of the repetition and the constant attack on the author Acts (clearly the author does not believe in Divine inspiration). In the end I managed to plow through it, but just barely.

Wanting another opinion; I loaned it to an orthodox Catholic friend. He put it down after just 3 chapters.

What Paul Meant.......2007-09-08

Garry Wills is a scholar who does not hesitate to cut against the grain. I have enjoyed each of his books.

An excellent companion volume to Wills's WHAT JESUS MEANT.......2007-07-24

I have long loved Garry Wills's books, whether he was writing on Nixon or the Constitution or Reagan or John Wayne or Henry Adams or the Federalist Papers or Jefferson or Lincoln or the papacy or any other subject he has chosen to take up. Wills's perspective is definitely not a narrow one, but informed by a broad acquaintance with a very large body of knowledge. He is a generalist rather than a specialist. I previously was a big fan of his book WHAT JESUS MEANT. In that book he managed to summarize in popular but extremely intelligent fashion the message of Jesus. Here he does the same for Paul.

Paul rarely gets the respect he deserves from educated Christians. His words are often used as bludgeons for enforcing some exceedingly repressive or even evil practices. Or just plain dumb. A number of more conservative evangelical denominations have used Paul to ban the wearing of make up by women or the cutting of women's hair. (I still remember the astonishing beehives of some Nazarene women I went to high school with in Little Rock, Arkansas.) He has been used to justify the persecution of Jews and to insist that women should not be allowed to preach. Wills seeks to defend Paul from such nonsense while also providing keys to correctly understanding his letters.

Before Wills became one of the leading constitutional and presidential historians in America he was a teacher of Greek and it is clear that he has spent a great deal of time reading the New Testament in the original. He is not a Biblical scholar, but he is clearly a serious student at a very high level. He is willing to use contemporary scholarship, but not being a scholar he is able to use the body of literature concerning Paul in a practical way to illumine his subject, while at the same time avoid getting bogged down in somewhat arcane academic debates.

Many have been fans of Jesus but critics of Paul. Wills will have none of this and correctly gives Paul his due as the person from whom we have by far the earliest glimpses not only of the earliest days of the spreading of the revelation concerning Jesus but the earliest accounts of the message of Jesus. Many treat the Gospels as primary and Paul's epistles as secondary, but in fact Paul wrote several decades than the earliest of the Gospels. Given that Jesus knew and sought out hundreds of people who knew Jesus personally, his account is unusually rich and informed.

Much of the book is devoted to various topics in Paul's writings. Wills correctly points out that the heart of Paul's message is the teaching of Jesus as resurrected from the death who is the Messiah who fulfills the law of the Old Testament. I've had little patience in recent decades with writers on Jesus or Christianity who somehow imagine that the resurrection is a detachable part of Christian belief. Wills correctly points out that it is at the heart of the Pauline message and later of the Gospels. It isn't just a minor point to be argued about Jesus. It is if anything the main point. Wills does a great job also of providing the context for Paul's other teachings, most importantly perhaps that Paul never saw himself as leaving Judaism or as anything other than a Jew. For Paul the Church did not exist and he was unfamiliar with anything called Christianity. Wills stresses that "Christ" was not for Paul a proper name as it is for us, but a descriptive title that identifies Jesus as anointed, as the Messiah. Wills therefore chooses to translate all passages about "Jesus Christ" or "Christ" as "Jesus Messiah" or "Messiah." He strives to break us out of our normal complaisance in hearing the word "Christ."

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Combined with his book on Jesus, Wills has provided a wonderful two-volume introduction to Christian belief. I will add that although Wills is a Catholic, I suspect that Protestants will find more value in the books. My own experience has been that the vast majority of Catholics have little or no direct knowledge of the Bible. The reading of the Bible simply does not play the central role that it does for Protestants. In this regard, Wills, whose knowledge of the Bible is remarkable, more closely resembles a Protestant. He also refuses to be hemmed in by Catholic doctrine in reading the New Testament. I've been exasperated in talking to some Catholics who are shocked to hear that Peter had a wife and are unaware that it is explicitly referred to in the NT. Wills clearly has an understanding of Peter and his early role much closer to a Baptist than most Catholics. I haven't read his book WHY I AM A CATHOLIC but would very much like to do so. I frankly cannot see why he is. Regardless of denominational affiliation, this is a wonderful book. Along with the book on Jesus, I strongly recommend it to anyone who would better understand the Christian message.

What I Think as Opposed to What God Said.......2007-07-11

Very readable book containing current thought on Paul.
I have to admit that Paul was my hero since I was 10.
He seemed to be a great advernturer.
When I was in my 20s, Paul kept me out of seminary with the image of a minister who worked at a trade, studied and ministered to others without the limitations of being a priest.
Now, I am in my late middle years and I sat down over coffee with my minister friend and went off on a rant on why Paul is the most important part of the church that holds me to the Christian faith (as reflected in my title for this review).
My minister of mid-middle years said this was the first time a parshioner wanted to discuss Paul or any other biblical author with him. Most of his contact was organizational or counseling people who wanted to know if Jesus would mind if they cheated on their diet or spouse just a little bit.
Point being that we have so little opportunity to discuss "What Paul Meant". Even those of us who are churched and I would think less so of those who do not hear the weekly readings via awful church sound systems.
Thanks so much to Mr. Wills
But, now I must read his other books to find out why he remains a Catholic.

What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America

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don't have to read the book
don't waste your money
The Land of Oz
thought-provoking, albeit hackneyed, look at America's Third Estate
Well-written, entertaining but fails to live up to the title

What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America
Thomas Frank
Manufacturer: Holt Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives
Moral Politics : How Liberals and Conservatives Think
White House to Your House: Media and Politics in Virtual America
God's Politics LP
The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track (Institutions of American Democracy)

ASIN: 080507774X
Release Date: 2005-04-14

Amazon.com

The largely blue collar citizens of Kansas can be counted upon to be a "red" state in any election, voting solidly Republican and possessing a deep animosity toward the left. This, according to author Thomas Frank, is a pretty self-defeating phenomenon, given that the policies of the Republican Party benefit the wealthy and powerful at the great expense of the average worker. According to Frank, the conservative establishment has tricked Kansans, playing up the emotional touchstones of conservatism and perpetuating a sense of a vast liberal empire out to crush traditional values while barely ever discussing the Republicans' actual economic policies and what they mean to the working class. Thus the pro-life Kansas factory worker who listens to Rush Limbaugh will repeatedly vote for the party that is less likely to protect his safety, less likely to protect his job, and less likely to benefit him economically. To much of America, Kansas is an abstract, "where Dorothy wants to return. Where Superman grew up." But Frank, a native Kansan, separates reality from myth in What's the Matter with Kansas and tells the state's socio-political history from its early days as a hotbed of leftist activism to a state so entrenched in conservatism that the only political division remaining is between the moderate and more-extreme right wings of the same party. Frank, the founding editor of The Baffler and a contributor to Harper's and The Nation, knows the state and its people. He even includes his own history as a young conservative idealist turned disenchanted college Republican, and his first-hand experience, combined with a sharp wit and thorough reasoning, makes his book more credible than the elites of either the left and right who claim to understand Kansas. --John Moe

Book Description

With a New Afterword by the Author

The New York Times bestseller, praised as "hilariously funny . . . the only way to understand why so many Americans have decided to vote against their own economic and political interests" (Molly Ivins)

Hailed as "dazzlingly insightful and wonderfully sardonic" (Chicago Tribune), "very funny and very painful" (San Francisco Chronicle), and "in a different league from most political books" (The New York Observer), What's the Matter with Kansas? unravels the great political mystery of our day: Why do so many Americans vote against their economic and social interests? With his acclaimed wit and acuity, Thomas Frank answers the riddle by examining his home state, Kansas-a place once famous for its radicalism that now ranks among the nation's most eager participants in the culture wars. Charting what he calls the "thirty-year backlash"-the popular revolt against a supposedly liberal establishment-Frank reveals how conservatism, once a marker of class privilege, became the creed of millions of ordinary Americans.

A brilliant analysis-and funny to boot-What's the Matter with Kansas? is a vivid portrait of an upside-down world where blue-collar patriots recite the Pledge while they strangle their life chances; where small farmers cast their votes for a Wall Street order that will eventually push them off their land; and where a group of frat boys, lawyers, and CEOs has managed to convince the country that it speaks on behalf of the People.

Customer Reviews:

don't have to read the book.......2007-10-09

I don't care what state you live in, a democratic agenda (modern) is the most economically disadvantaged direction you can choose anywhere in the USA. Therefore I do not need to read the book to know that even with the sad state of the republican party today, it is preferable to the democratic party. However i plan on reading this book to understand what can possibly make the author write such a book directed at a state. (know your enemy)

don't waste your money.......2007-09-20

Do not buy this book. I came prepared to love it, I was really looking forward to an insightful, informed, inside view of this remarkable political 180 of our times. That is simply not this book. It may be well researched, but it is so poorly written that it is nearly impossible to find out. Negative, back-biting, harsh, judgemental, bad-mouthing, blame-the-other-guy psuedo "politics" IF you can call it "policits". Politically themed finger pointing is more like it.

The Land of Oz.......2007-09-15

The author writes a somewhat satirical look at middle America 's political affliations. He has two major thesis. The first being that by the Democrats trying to copy Republicans-and money interests have turned their backs on blue collar workers. These workers have only the social issues to make their political choices. The second part of the thesis ,is that the money interests of the backlash movement (as he calls conservative Republicans) have just payed lip service to ending abortion and gay marriage etc.

So the effect of this is to have a reverse French Revolution in which the common man votes Republican and against his/her economic interests. So farming communities shrivel up,unions die,people go without health care.

Frank a native Kansan explores with humor and interviews peeople of the backlash movement.He bemoans the fact that populism -a left wing philospohy born in the mid west is dead. William Jennings Bryan a fundamentalist Christion was a liberal Democratic Senator from Nebraska.He explores this transformation and his diagnosis would make Clinton supportors and free market libertarians both angry. Since he offend both ends of the sprecta his observations should be taken seriously.

Certainly their are flaws in his thesis. if the Republican party is only paying lip service to social issues ,why are Democrats so afraid of their Supreme Court picks. If Clinton was in the pay of moneyied interests why was the right so moblized against Hillary's health care plan ?

This is a provacative book that explains Red and White state differences and the psycholgy of political self delusion (Blue collar people voting for big moneu interests)

thought-provoking, albeit hackneyed, look at America's Third Estate.......2007-08-02

Looking at Kansas today, it seems hard to believe that the archetypal American Heartland was once a hotbed of left-wing populism. "What's the Matter With Kansas?" shows us a bizarre socio-political landscape where a rural-suburban proletariat ardently defends corporate privilege in hopes that there will be an abortion ban or flag-burning amendment in it for them somewhere down the line.
Given Thomas Frank is a native Kansan, the detached tone he takes in his survey is disappointing. At many points, he comes across as preachy and high-minded to the point that you almost understand why the people of Kansas are so wary of "liberal elites". Rather than focusing on the lack of corporate accountability and excess that bring about the layoffs and cutbacks that hurt working class Americans, Frank takes swings at NAFTA and the many other trade policies that helped make the economic salad years of the 1990s possible.
While it becomes clear that in many cases the white Protestant gun-owning Average Joe is making a mistake when he votes Republican, Frank makes a grave mistake when he turns his nose up at the social and religious values this stratum of society holds so dear. He overlooks the fact that liberals are guilty of this same indulgence of principles. If it's so irrational for a churchgoing factory worker in Kansas to vote for a Republican corporate shill in order to protect his Second Amendment rights, why does it make any more sense for a Harvard-educated six-figure-earning professional to vote Democratic and have his taxes hiked up for the sake of protecting the Roe v. Wade decision?
Frank also overlooks the fact that Kansas was reliably Republican for years before the conservative backlash of the 1980s. Kansas was a Red State back when the GOP was still the party of Dwight Eisenhower, Nelson Rockefeller and Gerald Ford (and the people who would eventually make up the neo-conservative Republican coalition were still Conservative Democrats).
As a moderate Republican who happens to support affordable higher education, I was particularly offended by Frank's portrayal of Kansas' "Mod Squad" as arrogant corporatists. All in all, Thomas Frank has raised a lot of important questions, but his survey of the state he grew up in seems sadly detached and out-of-touch.

Well-written, entertaining but fails to live up to the title.......2007-07-08

Thomas Frank stated purpose is to tell how Conservative won the hearts of the working class, the middle class and the rich all at the same time. His answer is that rich, Republican elites throw up red herring issues (abortion and gay marriage are two that he mentions frequently) that bamboozle the working poor and the middle class into supporting them and their greater cause of Free Market Capitalism and International Free Trade even though Capitalism and treaties such as NAFTA inevitably beat the little guy into a pulp (his thought, not mine).

Yep. That's about it, although Mr. Frank says it much better than I just did. He also never goes into detail about why Capitalism and Free Trade are both evil (he just assumes you agree, I suppose), although he is very critical of Bill Clinton for supporting NAFTA throughout the book. Big business, especially Wal-Mart, are also to blame for de-populating the Kansas countryside. Apparantly, Wal-Mart has some larger agenda in which they plan to drive their customers away from the stores they build in the country...

Seriously, the book would have been helped by further explanation as to why Mr. Frank is such an opponent of Capitalism. He has another book on just that subject, according to a tiny bit of research on my part. It might be a help if readers read that book first, especially in light of Mr. Frank's view that all politics is based in economics: "Most of us think of politics as a Machiavellian drama in which actors make alliances and take practical steps to advance their material interests." (p. 121)

Mr. Frank's fails to properly tell us "How conservatives wone the heart of America" because he does not really believe, deep down, that people will vote in ways that he sees that are economically disadvantageous (Free Trade, etc.) unless they are tricked into doing so. People really believing in other issues and voting for them are foreign to his way of thinking.

This teacher gives it a C-. Thomas Frank really fails to adaquately address the thesis of the book, as expressed by the title. Interesting readiing, nonetheless.

The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem

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What the Gospels Really Say About Holy Week
Contradictions, Assumtions, False Statements, Omissions..
A Holy Week Reader
Excellent Book
Jesus is reduced to a Jewish Che Guevara

The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem
Marcus J. Borg , and John Dominic Crossan
Manufacturer: HarperOne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary
God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now
Living the Heart of Christianity: A Guide to Putting Your Faith into Action
The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith
The Last Week: A Day-by-Day Account of Jesus's Final Week in Jerusalem

ASIN: 0060872608
Release Date: 2007-01-30

Book Description

Bestselling authors and Jesus experts John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg come together to explore the last seven days of Jesus's life. Using the best of biblical and historical scholarship, they rediscover a new way of understanding the Passion Week and its monumental events. True to form, they turn the traditional understaning of Passion Week on its head to reveal its true significance in history and for faith.

Jesus's kingdom message was revolutionary in that it questioned people's basic loyalties at a time when those loyalties were jealously guarded by the Roman Empire. Jesus knowingly entered his last week knowing he'd be directly challenging the Romans. For example, the first day of the last week of Jesus's life (Palm Sunday), there were two triumphal entrance parades that occurred. One was a peasant rabbi with a revolutionary message, the second an imperial Roman army escorting the Roman governor to Jerusalem to oversee the holiday festivities. This initiated a week of growing tension in which people were asked to chose which way they would follow – the current Roman empire, or Jesus's revolutionary way of love, forgiveness, and grace.

These brilliant authors reveal the moving story of someone who dared to face imperial wrath to bring a new way of life.

Customer Reviews:

What the Gospels Really Say About Holy Week.......2007-07-06

Borg and Crossan, in this slim readable volume, set out a simple proposition: to understand Jesus and what was important to him, it is vital to understand the week leading up to his crucifixion and resurrection. And the only way to really understand that week is to read what the Gospels actually say, not what we've been told they ought to say.

In some ways Borg and Crossan are biblical literalists. They try to sweep away traditional interpretations that have accrued to the Bible stories and instead try to read them in the context for which they were written. To do this they bring to bear a knowledge of biblical history that makes clear some parts of the Gospel story, which appear opaque to modern readers who don't know the milieu. Especially when Jesus is preaching in the temple, this explication really helps clear up common misunderstandings associated with Christian teaching.

There are times when the authors veer from the strictly literal, however. This is most apparent when they write about the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter. Since the Gospels slide over that day with only a fleeting mention, the authors fall back on legends of the Harrowing of Hell. There's nothing wrong with this in principle, but when the authors bring in references to the Gospel of Peter, which is little more than a late anti-Semitic forgery, they risk descending into silliness.

Also, many readers may object to the strongly political aspect of this book. Though the authors don't blow their noses on the spiritual importance of Jesus and his teachings, their emphasis in this writing lies on his anti-imperial politics. Some readers may balk and think the authors are devaluing the spiritual teachings; I think the authors are just shining a spotlight on a theme they believe has been neglected.

On balance this book is, for the most part, eye-opening. By peeling away later doctrine to couch the Holy Week story in its historical context, this book makes it possible to cast a clear eye on the spiritual and the social importance of Holy Week. For instance, I've never had anybody previously explain that Jesus' peaceful entry into Jerusalem on a donkey was a deliberate contrast to Pilate's military entry on the same day from the other direction. But I have seen many preachers who wrongly think the worshipful crowd on Palm Sunday is the same bloody-minded crowd on Good Friday.

This book is not without its flaws. The authors sometimes get caught up in trivia and lose sight of their central thread. And the authors' liberal politics may put off some potential members of their audience. But this book is definitely worth reading for both clergy and a lay audience. Not only is it a concise overview of Christian theology, it is also helpful to peel back the myth and obfuscation that has fallen over what the Gospels really say about Holy Week.

Contradictions, Assumtions, False Statements, Omissions.........2007-05-27

Here is my main objection: The authors first adopt an idea and then reconstruct their story to fit that idea. I divided the authors' "misdeeds" into four classes: Contradictions, Assumptions, False statements and Omissions.
A) Contradictions:
1)In preface pVIII we read: ..."We intend [a much simpler task:] to tell and explain, against the background of Jewish high-priestly collaboration with Roman imperial control, the last week of Jesus's life on earth as given in the Gospel According to Mark.
1a) However in a subtitle is printed: "What the Gospels REALLY Teach About Jesus' Final Days in Jerusalem".This "deceit" allows them to use other Gospels when the authors can support their claims. But it is worse, when they omit the passages in Mark which do not support their claims.
2)Throughout the book Pilate is described as a sovereign ruler having the Jewish hierarchy
under his control.
2a) However in Mk15:9 we read: "Pilate answered, " "Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?"" and in v.12 "... Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?" These perplexed questions are NOT what one would expect from a supreme commander...
2b) 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.
B) Assumptions:
On p.2 we read :"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
On p.4 authors write about "...a planned political demonstration."
The only scientific support is the following sentence: "As one of our professors in graduate school said about forty years ago,.."
C) False statements:

1) p.144 reads "Both Barabbas and Jesus are revolutionaries. Both defied authority. But the first
advocated violent revolution and the second advocated nonviolence."
1a) From the other reliable historical documents we learned that Romans were rather tolerant
occupants with regards to the religious beliefs; they even accepted Greek gods. Therefore
we 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 to the Romans posed no danger.
D) Omissions:
1) Mk 14 chapter tells the story about Jesus being anointed by an unknown woman, about apostles complaints of wasting money. But Jesus answered in Mk 14:7 (p.85)."....For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me..."
We ought to agree that Jesus's answer deserves a deeper analysis.
2)On p.150-151 the authors regard imperial centurion's words "Truly this man was God's Son"
simply as an "empire testifying against itself"..
2a) However, this centurion entrusted to lead the execution squad must have had a very
deep spiritual awakening besides a simple change of political view.
3) p.154 "It is common to refer to Martin Luther King, Jr., Mohandas Gandi , Oscar Romeo, and
Dietrich Bonhoffer as sacrificing their lives for the causes they were devoted ."
3a) Ignoring the heroes fighting the "domination system" of communism is more than a
simple omission.

Conclusion: The authors proposed to discuss the last Jesus's week according to Mark's Gospel. However, by focusing on the Jewish high-priestly collaboration with Roman imperial control they lead us to see Jesus mainly as an earthly revolutionary, although a non-violent one. This is in my view a dishonest simplification and selling Jesus short. We know 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.

A Holy Week Reader.......2007-04-09

I just finished reading The Last Week as a daily reader during Holy Week. Unlike some readers, I really did not find it to be great. Borg and Crossan do a great job in unearthing the political tensions behind the events of Holy Week. This sheds a new light on Jesus' final week in Jerusalem. However, I kept wondering why a rebel against the Roman authority should be the center of our Christian belief. In overemphasizing the political Jesus, I really felt that Borg and Crossan de-emphasized the spiritual Jesus to too great a degree. If Jesus was no more than he is made out to be in The Last Week, he is not worth following.

I am glad to have a deeper understanding of the political Jesus, but am equally glad to experience the spiritual Jesus in the services of Holy Week - Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, the great Easter Vigil and finally Easter Sunday. These act as a counterweight to The Last Week.

The book is worth reading, but it is limited by the fact that it only speaks to a part of What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem (the subtitle of the book).

Excellent Book.......2007-04-06

The authors bring a new light to the Gospel of Mark. What did the Gospel of Mark say to the people in 90 C.E.? Jesus' story becomes even more powerful when studied in the time period it occurred.

Jesus is reduced to a Jewish Che Guevara.......2007-04-03

I am in full agreement with the main premise of this book:
Jesus' last week was laden with the tension between 'The Kingdom of God' and Empire's Domination System.
On this point, the book is a good one. What is most disappointing about it is the writers' aversion to the miraculous.

The multi-dimensional Jesus is flattened out in order to fit their political-historical-rational mindset:
Jesus is reduced to being no more than a Jewish Che Guevara.

Jesus did/does embody the full spectrum of being-human, and that includes
his opposition and resistance to power-over-the-other; be it political, religious or personal.
By stoping there, the book falls short;
there is a lot more to this story and thus it is lamentable
that so much of that is left out or just simplistically explained away!

Good history, weak theology, nothing mystical.

For the whole story of the 'Politics of the Cross':
Jacques Ellul (The Politics of God & The Politics of Man) and William Stringfellow (Conscience & Obedience);
Dorothee Soelle (The Silent Cry) and John Howard Yoder (The Politics of Jesus);
Richard Rohr (Hope Against Darkness) and Walter Brueggemann (Peace);
Simone Weil (Gravity and Grace) and Christopher Blumhardt (Salt and Light), to name just a few.

What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East

Average customer rating:

Good Question; Poor Answer
Finally, a clear-eyed view
The Optimistic Jew
Abysmal
Good look into the Islamic world.

What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East
Bernard Lewis
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

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The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror
The Middle East
Islam: A Mosaic, Not a Monolith
From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting the Middle East
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

ASIN: 0060516054
Release Date: 2003-01-07

Amazon.com

Bernard Lewis is the West's greatest historian and interpreter of the Near East. Books such as The Middle East and The Arabs in History are required reading for anybody who hopes to understand the region and its people. Now Lewis offers What Went Wrong?, a concise and timely survey of how Islamic civilization fell from worldwide leadership in almost every frontier of human knowledge five or six centuries ago to a "poor, weak, and ignorant" backwater that is today dominated by "shabby tyrannies ... modern only in their apparatus of repression and terror." He offers no easy answers, but does provide an engaging chronicle of the Arab encounter with Europe in all its military, economic, and cultural dimensions. The most dramatic reversal, he says, may have occurred in the sciences: "Those who had been disciples now became teachers; those who had been masters became pupils, often reluctant and resentful pupils." Today's Arab governments have blamed their plight on any number of external culprits, from Western imperialism to the Jews. Lewis believes they must instead commit to putting their own houses in order: "If the peoples of Middle East continue on their present path, the suicide bomber may become a metaphor for the whole region, and there will be no escape from a downward spiral of hate and spite, rage and self-pity, [and] poverty and oppression." Anybody who wants to understand the historical backdrop to September 11 would do well to look for it on these pages. --John Miller

Book Description

For centuries, the world of Islam was in the forefront of human achievement -- the foremost military and economic power in the world, the leader in the arts and sciences of civilization. Christian Europe was seen as an outer darkness of barbarism and unbelief from which there was nothing to learn or to fear. And then everything changed. The West won victory after victory, first on the battlefield and then in the marketplace.

In this elegantly written volume, Bernard Lewis, a renowned authority an Islamic affairs, examines the anguished reaction of the Islamic world as it tried to make sense of how it had been overtaken, overshadowed, and dominated by the West. In a fascinating portrait of a culture in turmoil, Lewis shows how the Middle East turned its attention to understanding European weaponry, industry, government, education, and culture. He also describes how some Middle Easterners fastened blame on a series of scapegoats, while others asked not "Who did this to us?" but rather "Where did we go wrong?"

With a new Afterword that addresses September 11 and its aftermath, What Went Wrong? is an urgent, accessible book that no one who is concerned with contemporary affairs will want to miss.

Download Description

The New York Times bestselling history of the encounter between Islam and the West and what happed to Islamic civilization in the modern era.

Customer Reviews:

Good Question; Poor Answer.......2007-10-09

I found this book to be fairly disappointing. Lewis came up with some interesting insights here and there, but most of the book was a comparison of Islam and the West, without actually getting to the question posed in the title. There were only hints and suppositions, but no overarching thematic answer. I was hoping for more than that in an answer to an admittedly complex conundrum.

In the process of not answering, Lewis proposes key differences between civilizations, like the approach to music, and then doesn't get around to elucidating this difference for another two chapters. When he does (looking at how cultural differences in time effect music form), his hypothesis are intriguing, but not exceptionally relevant to the question of the book. And even in this, there are major elements that Lewis simply gets completely wrong- like how music is the one cultural element that had not invaded from the West into the Middle East. Even in 2002, when the book was published, any casual traveler in the Middle East would notice the profound depth of the MTV invasion, not just as an import but now as a form used within the culture. Most children in the Middle East- anyone below the age of thirty- listen to Western styles of music more than Middle Eastern styles. This has been true for awhile, and I can't comprehend how Lewis could have been unaware of this.

Towards the end of the book Lewis describes "the blame game", and again, this hints at a possible answer to what went wrong. But he never follows through on the idea, and only gives it a cursory glance.

This is a book with a lot of promise, but it's all build-up with no satisfaction. There are some good ideas, but you have to be familiar with the discipline to weed through the good from the bad. I don't recommend it for most readers.

Finally, a clear-eyed view.......2007-09-14

Dr. Lewis presents a rather important thesis, albeit not a new one. He suggests, that as long as the bond between religion and state power remains strong, the modern Islamic civilization will be unable to compete with the West. "In the secularization of the West, God was twice dethroned and replaced--as the source of sovereignty by the people, as the source of object of worship by the nation..."

The Optimistic Jew.......2007-08-31

The title is the theme of the book. This is a critique of the culture of victimization of the Arab world in particular - blaming all their problems on the Americans and the Jews instead of cultivating a culture of self-criticism. In my own book "The Optimistic Jew: a Positive Vision for the Jewish People in the 21st Century" I claim it is also a cautionary for the future of Zionism - lest we Zionists desert our tradition of self-criticism and begin blaming our problems on external enemies and internal traitors -- as many on the paranoid Israeli right are already doing. Having the fifth most powerful army in the world and still cultivating a culture of victimization is truly in poor taste.

Abysmal.......2007-08-13

Lewis is supposed to be a major scholar of Islam but this book would probably fail a high school assignment. He may be an expert on the Ottoman Empire but he hasn't set foot in the Middle East for 40 years - and his lack of exposure shows in this book. When you take into account Lewis' neo-Conservative propensities, it becomes easier to understand the context, and more importantly the motivations, behind his work. Deeply disappointing.

Good look into the Islamic world........2007-07-28

A bit difficult to wade through, but, all in all a fascinating look into the Islamic world, a world which remains largely isolated from and unknown to the average American.

Mastering the Rockefeller Habits: What You Must Do to Increase the Value of Your Growing Firm

Average customer rating:

Attend the workshop!
Simple, easy methods to grow your business
John
The habits that will make your business a predictable enterprise for growth
Amazing Book!

Mastering the Rockefeller Habits: What You Must Do to Increase the Value of Your Growing Firm
Verne Harnish
Manufacturer: Select Books (NY)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Strategy & Competition | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1590790154

Book Description

Business guru Verne Harnish's firm Gazelles has brought hundreds of businesses to fast-growth profitability. Now he shares entrepreneurial secrets in this must-read business primer. Harnish has discovered John D. Rockefeller's underlying strategy. Further study uncovered three winning habits:

*Priorities: A few rules remain consistent with a firm's core values and long-term goal. Others change regularly -- what Harnish calls the Top 5 and Top 1 of 5.

*Data: Key metrics should be measured over time (Smart Numbers); short-term metrics provide a tighter focus on an aspect of the business (Critical Numbers).

*Rhythm: A well-organized set of meetings keep everyone aligned and accountable.

In addition to case studies, a bonus chapter co-authored by Rich Russakoff reveals winning tactics to get banks in competition to finance your business venture. MASTERING THE ROCKEFELLER HABITS provides necessary tools for making strategically smart decisions and for keeping everyone aligned and accountable to those decisions.

Customer Reviews:

Attend the workshop! .......2007-10-10

Our executive and management team read the book and attended Verne's Rockefeller Habits workshop. We have implemented everything from the book and workshop and our company has aligned itself, communicating much more effectively, and executing on goals and initiatives. I can't say enough how much the daily huddles have helped our organization break down road blocks faster than we could ever imagine. I recommend this book to anyone interested in growing your company into a 'Gazelle'. Check out Verne's website at: www.gazelles.com. I highly recommend attending the workshop.

Simple, easy methods to grow your business.......2007-09-24

I have read many business books over my career as an entrepreneur having founded two successful companies. Mastering the Rockefeller habits is the simplest best book I have ever read on growing and managing a small to medium business. Verne has a great gift of providing just the simple nuggets that you need to know without all of the other stuff. An addition to Verne's book that I have found enormous value in is defining the values in more detail as outlined in Gregg Lederman's book Achieve Brand Integrity: Ten Truths You Must Know to Enhance Employee Performance and Increase Company Profits. He calls these brand concepts and outlines a great approach to defining the beliefs and behaviors that will make these brand concepts come alive. Between these two books you have an amazing view of how to build a successful company.

John.......2007-07-30

If you want to make the critical move from planning to executing this book is a MUST read!!

The habits that will make your business a predictable enterprise for growth.......2007-07-08

This is an important resource for salespeople, managers, entrepreneurs and executives alike. Verne Harnish does a great job in breaking down the habits of Mr. Rockefeller, who is as close to a model of business excellence as you can find.

Harnish goes over all the business basics, such as setting priorities, analyzing data and creating the right rhythm for the business. One of my favorite lines from this book is: "Until your people are mocking you, you've not repeated your message enough". This statement is true when it comes to the values, objectives and the methods of implementation of the company.

The message of this book, if practiced, will make your business a predictable enterprise for growth. The book has so many good points that I stopped highlighting after the first chapter, lest I highlight the entire book. Enjoy!

Amazing Book!.......2007-02-27

I read this a few times because it was just
that good. I'd recommend it to anyone.

Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution

Average customer rating:

Not sure whether it wants to be a biography or fashion
what a great read
Queen of Fashion
queen of fashion
Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution

Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution
Caroline Weber
Manufacturer: Henry Holt and Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

History | Fashion | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette

ASIN: 0805079491
Release Date: 2006-09-19

Book Description

Marie Antoinette has always stood as an icon of supreme style, but surprisingly none of her biographers have paid sustained attention to her clothes. In Queen of Fashion, Caroline Weber shows how Marie Antoinette developed her reputation for fashionable excess, and explains through lively, illuminating new research the political controversies that her clothing provoked. Weber surveys Marie Antoinettes "Revolution in Dress," covering each phase of the queens tumultuous life, beginning with the young girl, struggling to survive Versailless rigid traditions of royal glamour (twelve-foot-wide hoopskirts, whalebone corsets that crushed her organs). As queen, Marie Antoinette used stunning, often extreme costumes to project an image of power and wage war against her enemies. Gradually, however, she began to lose her hold on the French when she started to adopt "unqueenly" outfits (the provocative chemise) that, surprisingly, would be adopted by the revolutionaries who executed her. Webers queen is sublime, human, and surprising: a sometimes courageous monarch unwilling to allow others to determine her destiny. The paradox of her tragic story, according to Weber, is that fashion -- the vehicle she used to secure her triumphs -- was also the means of her undoing. Webers book is not only a stylish and original addition to Marie Antoinette scholarship, but also a moving, revelatory reinterpretation of one of historys most controversial figures.

Customer Reviews:

Not sure whether it wants to be a biography or fashion.......2007-08-27

I found queen of fashion to be not enough queen and not enough fashion. It pairs a less than adequate biography of Marie Antionette with a smattering of observations on how her fashion choices both represented her role as well as influenced events around her.

What I found problematic was that the fashion highlights jumped around in terms of time periods. There would be a detailed explanation of a time, then a gap of several years before another touching base. I'm not sure if this was due to a lack of source material for the intervening period, but it made for very choppy reading.

If you've read a lot on Marie Antionette, you can skim this to pick up the fashion pieces. If you haven't read a lot about her, pick up another biography first.

This might have worked better as a series of essays than as an overall biography.

Disappointing -- 2&1/2 stars.

what a great read.......2007-07-26

So I picked this up just because the title intrigued me and what a pleasant suprise! It is very readable, interesting and balanced. You won't regret this purchase.

Queen of Fashion.......2007-06-29

I've found that if you want to get a really good feel for the history of a period, read something like this book that concentrates on some interesting aspect of a major figure. An example (besides this well written book) is A Scented Palace by DeFeydeau, which also has amazing insights and stories that you never read in more biographical type treatments. For instance, an anecdote in this book about how Marie Antionette gave her jeweled fan to a pretty village girl, that I never heard anywhere else, really colors the way I now perceive her. But it's an astonishingly "like-you-are-there" inside look at life at Versailles during a (or the) most interesting period in it's history...

queen of fashion.......2007-06-27

I haven't got a chance to read the entire book yet but it is very good and interesting. It is especially useful if you are a Marie Antoinette fanatic or history buff. This was a package that got lost in shipping and It only took one day to get a replacement one. I was surprised at how fast the costumer service was and very pleased.

Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution.......2007-06-04

This is a well-researched, engaging, and poignant read. When is Weber's next book coming out?! I'll purchase for sure.

The Divided States of America?: What Liberals AND Conservatives are missing in the God-and-country shouting match!

Average customer rating:

Blessed Are The Peacemakers -- If Richard Land Isn't Making Peace, It Isn't His Fault
MUST READ!
Thank you Dr. Land

The Divided States of America?: What Liberals AND Conservatives are missing in the God-and-country shouting match!
Richard Land
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Political Parties | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Church & State | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0849901405

Book Description

A popular look at the separation of church and state: what it is, what it isn't, and why it matters for the future of religion in America.

An alarm-ringing but intelligent and fair-minded revelation of the backlash against traditional moral values, presented in an accessible and practical way using the sports analogy of fair play.
Explains why religiously-informed moral values are under threat in a one-sided interpretation of church and state.
Empowers readers by helping them to clarify confusing viewpoints and motivating them to act on what they believe.

Customer Reviews:

Blessed Are The Peacemakers -- If Richard Land Isn't Making Peace, It Isn't His Fault.......2007-10-05

When it comes to politics (or religion, though that is not the point here), most books come from the point of either why the author's political philosophy is right and/or why those who disagree with the author is wrong. The result is an increase in polarization. Some of the books along that line deserve to be written, but they help only in presenting the problem, not in solving it.

"The Divided States Of America" is written from the point of view of trying to heal the breach, of trying to reconcile Christian brothers that disagree on political issues (or possibly just fellow Americans).

Just as welcome, though, is the fact that Land is not promoting unity at the expense of convictions. Rather, his goal is to help others understand their differences. His success is indicated that Senator Joe Lieberman (D-Conn) wrote the foreward, and praise on the cover is written by former Secretary of State (under Clinton) Madeline Albright.

One major theme in this book is a proper understanding of separation of church and state. Land favors the ana-baptist approach, which is to have a pluralistic country where the state does not mandate a particular belief structure but tolerates all, while maintaining people in office the constitutional freedom to hold and express their religious view. The other view is the Assorted Crazy Loons Unleashed view, which basically is meant to intimidate people into not expressing their religious views, which is an essential part of a person.

Richard Land does an excellent job dealing with the following facts:

1. Persecution of Christians (particularly Baptists) by other Christians, including in American history, leading to the Ana-Baptist and also the constitutional view of Separation of Church And State.

2. There has been religious expression on the part of our government from George Washington on, that it isn't new with Bush, and that it wasn't considered a problem until someone made a mistake of trying to mandate secularalism as the state religion.

3. The militant effort of secularists to eliminate any hints of Christianity in society, which is not promoting religious liberty but hindering it.

Thank you, Rev. Land, for writing this needed book. Hope it succeeds in uniting true Christians in an area that is not an essential to faith.

MUST READ!.......2007-04-12

Dr. Land has done a great job with this book. He maps out a middle ground in the church/state separation debate that is very understandable. Both the novice and the expert will find the book readable, engaging, and thought-provoking. A lady at my church has already read the book and asked me to consider teaching a special six-week Sunday School class based on it. Anyone who wants to know a constitutionally acceptable, faith affirming position on church/state issues must read this book.

Thank you Dr. Land.......2007-04-03

Having been raised in the Southern Baptist church, I have been following Dr. Richard Land for many years & I would like to thank him for this excellent book. There is much too much shouting from the left & the right (although more often from the left)on what role & what kind of role that religion should play in American politics & culture. Anyone wishing to hear a rare & thoughtful balanced look should read this book as soon as possible.

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