Book Description
A controversial author brilliantly reclaims the Bible from the literal interpretation of fundamentalists
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"John Shelby Spong was the Episcopal Bishop of Newark for twenty-four years before his retirement in 2000; he remains one of the leading spokespersons for progressive Christianity. He is the author or co-author of some twenty books, including the bestselling Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture; Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes; Born of a Woman: A Bishop Rethinks the Virgin Birth and the Role of Women in a Male-Dominated Church; Resurrection: Myth or Reality?: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Easter; Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers in Exile; and A New Christianity for a New World: Why Traditional Faith Is Dying and How a New Faith Is Being Born. Please visit www.bishopspong.com. Don't miss the next book by your favorite author. Sign up now for AuthorTracker by visiting www.AuthorTracker.com."
Customer Reviews:
Sometimes scholarly, sometimes atheistic.......2007-01-10
Spong has some valid points in this book. He accurately notes discrepancies between what literalists of the bible quote and what they ignore. This part of the book is an eye opener and provides food for thought. After establishing himself as an expert at picking the bible apart, however, Spong makes some claims that have little or no scholarly basis. For example, after establishing inconsistencies in the written text of the bible, he then completely discounts all of the miracles of in the bible claiming that they are not "scientific" enough. The tendency for some people reading this (and the danger therein) is that once readers accept Spong as an authority on scripture, they will accept anything he says, including statements he makes in a blanket fashion without supporting evidence. I, personally, agree that his concerns with taking everything from the bible literally are valid, yet I see no reason to think that every single miracle listed in the bible is therefore a lie.
RESCUING AMERICA FROM FUNDAMENTALISM!.......2006-12-12
This book is the antidote for the groundless claims of fundamentalists and other Biblical literalists who wish to enforce their Biblical interpretations on the rest of us via political pressure without even first questioning their own simplistic faith assumptions and presuppositions. Or doing the necessary study to explore the intelligent alternatives. Simple, direct, and brief, this marvelous little volume by Bishop Spong delivers broadside after broadside to the fundamentalist claims about the Bible. It takes the dogma of an "infallible bible" and exposes it for the fantasy that it is.
This is extremely important in today's world where an ever-growing angry mob of Biblical literalists seek to chase science out of our classrooms and replace it with fundamentalist religion under the guise of "intelligent design" or "scientific creationism."
Having once been a fundamentalist minister of the Evangelical Church Alliance, I know how fundamentalists think and what their agenda really is. For those of you who feel safe that fundamentalists will never succeed in their sociopolitical agenda, think again. They have already succeeded at the grassroots level. They have already convinced eighty percent of the American public that humans are the special creation of their God, and have thereby persuaded the American public to reject the scientific method and it's findings. Just as Biblical literalists did in the time of Galileo, they force science to take a back seat to faith in the empty unproven assertions of religious dogma. They have even succeeded in electing a fundamentalist to the presidency for two terms. Biblical literalists are now the majority on most school boards across the country. I would call that very successful, and something to be concerned about if you value your rights in our pluralistic and progressive society.
Most Christian fundamentalists follow a theology that until recently was called "Dominion theology." Just as the creationists tried to camouflage what they were really up to by changing the name of their pseudo science to "intelligent design," those same people wish to hide what Dominion Theology is all about by re-labeling it "Christian Reconstructionism" as well as other labels. Dominion theology is a fundamentalist manifesto, a call to bring all the people of the world under bondage to the barbaric laws of the Old Testament. Not content to inflict their religion simply upon themselves, fundamentalists believe they are divinely called and chosen to inflict their religion upon everyone. Unbalanced extremists such as Pat Robertson (who was a presidential candidate not that long ago) are delighted at the prospect of power. Power to imprison you or otherwise curtail and eliminate your Constitutional rights in the name of Jesus Christ. Such fundamentalists are actually the Borg: "Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated."
Fundamentalists will not rest until they have once again subsumed the world into the superstitious darkness of pre-Enlightenment credulity and ignorance. Are you, the reader, aware of what the world was like the last time civil government was in the hands of Christian "authorities?" We call that horrendously violent, ignorant, and superstitious period in Western history the Dark Ages. A very large and politically active segment of American fundamentalists wish to plunge the Western world back into those charming times. A time when any statement or belief that couldn't be backed up by a Biblical quotation was a "heresy" and brought arrest, confiscation of property, torture, and Christian execution upon the "heretic." To think that fundamentalist religion no longer breeds extremism, violence and corruption is to simply ignore reality, a reality that is played out daily on our television screens as well as in magazines and newspapers.
Rescuing the Bible From Fundamentalism lets the hot air out of the balloon of Bible nonsense these folks keep launching our way. If you are harassed and oppressed by a fundamentalist co-worker, family member, neighbor, or local school board, you need this book to shed the light of reality upon their fairy tale claims about the Bible. Bishop Spong supplies you with all the Biblical quotations you need to conclusively demonstrate the Bible is neither inerrant nor infallible. You will discover instead that the Bible is quite often primitive, savage, and self-contradictory. Christian fundamentalists have been strongly influenced by these large portions of primitive savage material in the Bible. One need only recall the murders of gays by Christian fundamentalists, their angry chants of "God hates fags!", the abortion clinics they have bombed, and the doctors and nurses they've murdered over the abortion issue. Bishop Spong demonstrates, using book, chapter, and verse from the Bible, why a literal interpretation of the Bible breeds racism, anger, fear, hatred, violence, and many other serious social ills that we see all around us.
For all their talk of "Jesus loves you" and "Have a nice eternity" these people are nonetheless as potentially dangerous as their Muslim counterparts, given the right "sinful" social conditions. Just ask Bishop Spong, who has had his life threatened many times by Christian fundamentalists for writing his books. If we moderns give up, surrender, and let Bible fundamentalists take over, we can kiss our Constitutional rights and modern world goodbye.
Use this book to effectively arm yourself so you can expose as groundless nonsense the claim that the Bible is inerrant and infallible. Inoculate your children against the mental virus of fundamentalism, whether Christian or Jewish. Rescuing The Bible From Fundamentalism should be in every home in the United States of America. It should be left in every motel and hotel room across this great nation of ours, right next to the very Bible it exposes.
JEHOVAH UNMASKED, which is a five-star read, should be there as well, finally destroying all vestiges of the fundamentalist delusion.
An Important Study. .......2006-08-25
It is interesting that many Churches place much emphasis on the strict and literal interpretation of the Bible. Isaac Asimov pointed out that the whole reason Jesus clashed with the Jewish authorities was because while they placed strict emphasis on keeping with the strict letter of the law, Jesus' mentality was that it was alright to deviate from the written law if it meant doing a greater good. EXAMPLE: In the Gospel According to John, a woman is going to be stoned for adultery. "Levitivus" 20:10 and "Deuteronomy" 22:22 clearly state death as the punishment for adultery. And Jesus of course told them anyone who was without sin could begin the execution: "...He that is without sin amongst you, let him first cast a stone at her" (John 8:7). (None of them could.) Paul even warns us about taking the Bible too literally in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians: "...the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life" (2nd Corinthians 3:6). While Bishop Spong explains that the differences between the 4 Gospels often frustrate people, he explains that it shouldn't. The reason is that the 4 Gospels were written for different audiences. Mark basically wrote his Gospel based on the teachings of Peter. Matthew wrote his Gospel in a way that compared Jesus to Moses. He was writing for the Jewish populations, and he wanted to emphasize that Christianity was the fulfillment of Judaism. Matthew also liked to dramatize things. Luke wrote in a memorable and beautiful way. His goal was to make peace with the Jews who became followers of Christ and the Gentiles who became followers of Christ. John's Gospel is on the hostile side. This is because at the time John wrote, many of the followers of Christ were being expelled from the Jewish places of worship. And John wrote in a hostile manner to show the early Christians that God would not be angry at them for leaving their former places of worship. All in all, this is a great book that belongs in the library of any Christian.
Lots of truth in this little book.......2006-07-23
Bishop Spong does a great job in this book leading the reader out of blind faith fundamentalism into a more educated and thoughtful truth. He discusses the impact the Apostle Paul had on the Christian Myth, how each of the 4 gospels was written for a a specific purpose and the the real origins of Easter and Christmas and how Chrisitianity was made to fit into them. This is one of the main books that finaly lead me out of 10 years of ignorant Christian Fundamentalism. I highly recommend reading this book if you would like to know the true value of the Bible with out the mythology.
THIS BOOK IS THE ANTIDOTE!.......2006-03-08
This book is the antidote for the groundless claims of fundamentalists and other Biblical literalists who wish to enforce their Biblical interpretations on the rest of us via political pressure without even first questioning their own simplistic faith assumptions and presuppositions. Or doing the necessary study to explore the intelligent alternatives. Simple, direct, and brief, this marvelous little volume by Bishop Spong delivers broadside after broadside to the fundamentalist claims about the Bible. It takes the dogma of an "infallible bible" and exposes it for the fantasy that it is.
This is extremely important in today's world where an ever-growing angry mob of Biblical literalists seek to chase science out of our classrooms and replace it with fundamentalist religion under the guise of "intelligent design" or "scientific creationism."
Having once been a fundamentalist minister of the Evangelical Church Alliance, I know how fundamentalists think and what their agenda really is. For those of you who feel safe that fundamentalists will never succeed in their sociopolitical agenda, think again. They have already succeeded at the grassroots level. They have already convinced eighty percent of the American public that humans are the special creation of their God, and have thereby persuaded the American public to reject the scientific method and it's findings. Just as Biblical literalists did in the time of Galileo, they force science to take a back seat to faith in the empty unproven assertions of religious dogma. They have even succeeded in electing a fundamentalist to the presidency for two terms. Biblical literalists are now the majority on most school boards across the country. I would call that very successful, and something to be concerned about if you value your rights in our pluralistic and progressive society.
Most Christian fundamentalists follow a theology that until recently was called "Dominion theology." Just as the creationists tried to camouflage what they were really up to by changing the name of their pseudo science to "intelligent design," those same people wish to hide what Dominion Theology is all about by re-labeling it "Christian Reconstructionism" as well as other labels. Dominion theology is a fundamentalist manifesto, a call to bring all the people of the world under bondage to the barbaric laws of the Old Testament. Not content to inflict their religion simply upon themselves, fundamentalists believe they are divinely called and chosen to inflict their religion upon everyone. Unbalanced extremists such as Pat Robertson (who was a presidential candidate not that long ago) are delighted at the prospect of power. Power to imprison you or otherwise curtail and eliminate your Constitutional rights in the name of Jesus Christ. Such fundamentalists are actually the Borg: "Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated."
Fundamentalists will not rest until they have once again subsumed the world into the superstitious darkness of pre-Enlightenment credulity and ignorance. Are you, the reader, aware of what the world was like the last time civil government was in the hands of Christian "authorities?" We call that horrendously violent, ignorant, and superstitious period in Western history the Dark Ages. A very large and politically active segment of American fundamentalists wish to plunge the Western world back into those charming times. A time when any statement or belief that couldn't be backed up by a Biblical quotation was a "heresy" and brought arrest, confiscation of property, torture, and Christian execution upon the "heretic." To think that fundamentalist religion no longer breeds extremism, violence and corruption is to simply ignore reality, a reality that is played out on our television screens as well as in magazines and newspapers.
Rescuing the Bible From Fundamentalism lets the hot air out of the balloon of Bible nonsense these folks keep launching our way. If you are harassed and oppressed by a fundamentalist co-worker, family member, neighbor, or local school board, you need this book to shed the light of reality upon their fairy tale claims about the Bible. Bishop Spong supplies you with all the Biblical quotations you need to conclusively demonstrate the Bible is neither inerrant nor infallible. You will discover instead that the Bible is quite often primitive, savage, and self-contradictory. Christian fundamentalists have been strongly influenced by these large portions of primitive savage material in the Bible. One need only recall the murders of gays by Christian fundamentalists, their angry chants of "God hates fags!", the abortion clinics they have bombed, and the doctors and nurses they've murdered over the abortion issue. Bishop Spong demonstrates, using book, chapter, and verse from the Bible, why a literal interpretation of the Bible breeds racism, anger, fear, hatred, violence, and many other serious social ills that we see all around us.
For all their talk of "Jesus loves you" and "Have a nice eternity" these people are nonetheless as potentially dangerous as their Muslim counterparts, given the right "sinful" social conditions. Just ask Bishop Spong, who has had his life threatened many times by Christian fundamentalists for writing his books. If we moderns give up, surrender, and let Bible fundamentalists take over, we can kiss our Constitutional rights and modern world goodbye.
Use this book to effectively arm yourself so you can expose as groundless nonsense the claim that the Bible is inerrant and infallible. Inoculate your children against the mental virus of fundamentalism, whether Christian or Jewish. Rescuing The Bible From Fundamentalism should be in every home in the United States of America. It should be left in every motel and hotel room across this great nation of ours, right next to the very Bible it exposes.
Read I WAS A TEENAGE JEHOVAH'S WITNESS and JEHOVAH UNMASKED for two of the wildest rides ever!
Book Description
Is celibacy the only moral alternative to marriage? Should the widowed be allowed to form intimate relationships without remarrying? Should the church receive homosexuals into its community and support committed gay and lesbian relationships? Should congregations publicly and liturgically witness and affirm divorces? Should the church's moral standards continue to be set by patriarchal males? Should women be consecrated bishops? Bishop Spong proposes a pastoral response based on scripture and history to the changing realities of the modern world. He calls for a moral vision to empower the church with inclusive teaching about equal, loving, nonexploitative relationships.
Customer Reviews:
Living in Sin?: A Bishop Rethinks Human Sexuality.......2007-01-29
Very insightful. The author has a great way of connecting common sense to life. Bishop Spong enables one to see the Bible from a historical perspective and bring new light to the scriptures.
Not making any sense.......2007-01-18
This is not a Christian teaching book, if it was written by some atheist I will give the book five stars, but to be written by some one proclaiming himself a priest and Christian I should give it zero star if I have this choice.The identity of the author is not clear, his ideas does not make any sense with the reality, There is a big difference between Love and sex but the author ignored this fact to deceive people with no religion or to the people who don't have a real background about Christianity, the Christianity never been anti women actually there are too many Christians praise Virgin Mary more than any body else, this is false teaching. The Christianity is against any kind of sex outside marriage including homosexuality so what is his point?, this is false teaching, and not representing Christianity at any level, again his identity is not clear the same as the serpent who deceived Eve with the familiar story we all know, if I compare I don't see much difference.
Thoughtful book.......2007-01-04
I think the book is beautifully written and intelligent.It is brave and to the point of the matter. I have enjoyed it very much indeed. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in realistic 21st century issues related to human sexuality. Very enlightening!!
Interesting critique of Christian ideas about sex.......2006-10-14
I think in the present time, one of the hardest issues the Christian world (and the world's religions in general) is grappling with is human sexuality.
I certainly would agree with many of Spong's points on regards to the extreme hatred towards homosexuals and women which has sadly, infected the monotheistic faiths especially. I certainly agree with him theologies which contain hatred towards gay people, women, or those who have sex outside of marriage, have no place in the postmodern world.
Reform is certainly necessary but also very divisive for many Christians. Certainly these issues are explosive for many since they seem to cut to the deepest issues about who we are as human beings. It also goes to the heart of classical theological mysteries such as sin, evil, redemption, God, marriage, and others.
I personally feel sex is a sacred gift and an essential part of our nature. However Spong seems to me to often have an unrealistically optimistic view of human sexuality and sexual relationships. By rejecting the idea of sin he also really ignores the power of sin to warp and destroy all of our human relationships, including intimate ones. Unfortunately people with an legalistic understanding of sin tie it too much to black and white interpretations of the commandments and the bible, when in fact sin is also very much about the choices we make and the effects these choices have on the people who are connected to us. Sin isn't only just about approaching the alter in the wrong way or doing this and not doing that, it is also about how we hurt others through our own selfishness and our shortcomings.
There is certainly a danger and Spong is right to attack the Phariseeism you see so often in fanatics and fundamentalists who try and settle every complicated moral issue, not by thinking and reflecting critically but by throwing down the Bible and saying 'God says so, in the bible.' But on the other hand, we can't eliminate sin from the sphere of the sexual since sexuality is central to human life but sadly all human life in this world is permeated by suffering, evil, and self-centeredness, as well as goodness, joy, happiness and love. Free love is wonderful until you get someone pregnant and then you must face the responsibility of bringing up a child; to be Godly is also to be good and virtuous and to always consider the consequences of your actions.
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
Bringing religion into the 21st century........2006-01-22
I grew up going to church and believing in God, but somewhere along the way, the anti-female and anti-sex attitude, along with the intolerance of anyone who is or thinks differently from the established doctrine, put me off. I quit going as soon as I was old enough to make the decision, and on my best days, might consider myself an agnostic primarily because you can't prove a negative.
However, if there were more religions or even pastors with attitude like Spong's, I might still be going to church. He takes the Bible and the church's attitudes towards sex and sexuality of all kinds (heterosexual, homosexual, pre-marital, post-marital) and puts it into a framework that someone with a working brain can tolerate. He points out the context in which the Bible was written and the attitudes towards sex and women were formed - and says why they are not applicable and ought to be re-thought today.
Particularly interesting to me were the ideas of reviving the idea of betrothal, and of a church ceremony for divorce. The latter chapter almost made me cry - having witnessed painful divorces of family members and been through very painful breakups myself, the idea of having a ceremony to mark the end of the relationship surrounded by friends, friends who are then given a chance to remain friends with both halves of the couple, was very moving and appealing.
However, if you are a traditionalist, for this book to make an impact, you have to be open looking at things from a different viewpoint for a little while. You have to be ready to let go of a little security and prejudice and get to the compassion that is supposed to be the heart of Christianity. This isn't a human sexuality textbook - it is about humanizing religion and bringing the old attitudes into line with modern knowledge and reality. It takes courage to look at beliefs you hold dear and evaluate them objectively, and not a lot of people have the strength to do it. Spong does - do you?
Book Description
The banner in Rafe Esquith’s classroom at Hobart Elementary School reads: “There are no shortcuts.” And his students are a testament to the power of that philosophy. These are kids who speak English as a second language, fourth--and fifth--graders who go to school in a part of Los Angeles where violence and despair are the norms of the neighborhood.
But the statistics are not what you’d expect: Esquith’s students score in the country’s top 10 percent on standardized tests and go on to colleges such as Harvard, Princeton, University of Chicago, Swarthmore, Stanford, and UCLA. How do they do it?
Esquith’s view—that learning isn’t easy and that it shouldn’t be—is an increasingly unusual take among educators. Success, he believes, comes from a strong work ethic and from dedication and perseverance on the part of children, teachers, and parents alike. But such ideas prove to be a hard sell to those who believe that hard work and fun must be mutually exclusive. On the other hand, visitors from all over the world have made a pilgrimage to this astonishing classroom.
Esquith’s students work hard. They are in the classroom at 6:30 a.m. and stay until 5:00 p.m. They come to school during their vacations. Each year the Hobart Shakespeareans, as Esquith’s students are known, perform one of the Bard’s plays—Sir Ian McKellen and Hal Holbrook are passionate patrons. These Renaissance children are outstanding mathematicians and scientists; they read Steinbeck and Malcolm X; they are artists; they play classical music and blistering rock 'n' roll. Above all, they are recognized for their impeccable manners, which serve them well as Esquith accompanies them all over the United States. They are, as many observers have commented, the gold standard in American education.
His former students in middle and high school return on Saturdays, where they read Ibsen, Chekhov, and eight Shakespeare plays a year. In their “Wake Up with Will” program, these eager youngsters travel the world with Esquith and his wife, from London to Paris to colleges all over the country. It’s a classroom where the American Dream really does come true.
There have been no shortcuts for Rafe Esquith, either. He had to learn the hard way: dealing with bureaucratic administrators, antagonistic colleagues, and his own impetuous and occasionally tactless, even confrontational, nature. But his history, peppered with funny and painful incidents, and a gallery of incisive portraits--Miss Mothball, Miss Busy-As-a-Bee, Mr. Incompetent--explains his extraordinary success as a teacher.
His scathing yet loving view from the front lines is the most trenchant look at American education to appear
in many years. It’s a full-alert warning signal, an inspiration, and a guide for teachers, parents, and all the rest of us who care about our country’s children.
Customer Reviews:
Must read!.......2007-08-27
Anyone who has children, cares about how we educate them, proposes to teach, MUST meet Rafe Esquith. Achieving his level of dedication may be impossible for most, hut he can inspire us all to greater performance. His imaginative insights to helping fifth graders to new levels of self-esteem and real accomplishment is astonishing. Unafraid of bureaucracy, indeed scornful of it, he has managed to do things most classroom teachers only dream of. In addition to breaking old molds, he offers considerable hope, as he clearly tells us that the fault is not in the children, but in ourselves.
motivating?.......2007-08-15
I wasn't as motivated as I thought I would be after reading this book. This book left me empty and feeling sorry for Rafe's wife and family.
Teacher Helps.......2007-08-13
This is a must read for any classroom teacher. Mr. Esquith has many insights and ideas that help the classroom teacher. Some of it you may have heard before but it is a good reminder of what great teachers do or can do for their students.
Big on image, low on facts.......2007-08-03
Yes, this man is a dedicated teacher. No, his methods are not the wave of the future for educational reform or methods that would often work elsewhere. The writer skews the perspective of this book (which is very self-serving and slanted towards his own ego) by describing his inner-city school as "The Jungle" (ooh, scary) and his students as underprivileged inner city kids. Actually they are mostly Asian and Latino immigrant students. As a successful teacher of underprivileged children myself, I can tell you that it is relatively easy to teach students from immigrant families, even those just barely learning English, because their families came to this country for more opportunity and are usually highly motivated to succeed. The true underprivileged and most challenging students are those whose impoverished families have lived in American housing projects for generations, have little faith left in the system and are often unmotivated as students and parents. Families from this demographic are conspicuously absent from this model teacher's class. This is an important distinction to make, because when when the author touts himself as a "hero" and portrays himself as an expert on inner-city education, all too often people with less knowledge about the educational system will be awestruck and believe everything he says. There are many dedicated teachers in this country who use more sustainable methods of instruction and who are valiantly struggling with much more challenging students than the ones in this book.
Get Ron Clark's Essential 55 instead........2007-07-08
I felt that from the moment i started reading this book, it should have been named "All About Rafe". He makes mention at the beginning of this book how he wanted to be known as the best teacher whenever he walks down the street. His wife-to-be lets him know eventually that it's really moronic to think that way. Although he says this changed him, from the cover to the end of the book, it's obvious that his original mission never really changed.
As a new teacher, that disgusts me. In the 3 years I have taught, I have cultivated very successful readers and outstanding citizens in my own "jungle"(Newark, NJ). I have had my share of losses as well, that's life. However, whenever teachers/administrators compliment me on my classroom management or test scores, I give all the credit to my kids(they WANT to do well, and behave well, I just steer them the proper way by giving a consistent, caring adult to believe in.) All I've ever asked of them in return is to focus on becoming the best they can be.
All teachers should be selfless. We are cultivating the next generation of this Earth, not attempting to break into Hollywood. I'm disappointed that a teacher the caliber of Mr. Esquith is such a narcissist.
Book Description
This book is a powerful reminder that there's more than one solution to every creative problem. Author Mark Wasserman has created a unique experiment in design that is much like the process of remixing music. Top designers were given the source files to one of 37 original designs and asked to reinterpret the original art into new creations. Ultimately, the project was not about making a design better, but about different visual approaches. Besides being a visual treat, these remixes can also serve as a creative jolt for those inevitable times when designers need a little extra inspiration.
Each section starts with an original design and detailed Q&A-style captions that explain the concept and process behind the design. The following redesigns--ranging from wild freeform creations to more subtle changes--are paired with insightful interviews that give readers a rare glimpse into the creative thought process.
In all, the book features 160 designers, from 20 countries around the world. Designers involved include such notables as Stefan Sagmeister, Dave Eggers, eBoy, KINSEYvisual, Joshua Davis (PrayStation), Modern Dog, The Heads of State, WeWorkForThem, Jemma Gura, UPSO, Aesthetic Apparatus, Brent Rollins (Ego Trip), Plinko, Deanne Cheuk (neomu), 2Advanced, Nonconceptual, Jon Santos, HONEST, kozyndan, Milky Elephant, Patent Pending (SubPop), Mr. Jago, and many many more.
With page after page full of never-before-seen artwork, this book is equally at home in a designer's bookshelf, and a non-designer's coffee table.
Customer Reviews:
Exercise for the Creative Imagination.......2007-06-08
This collection of original ads and the subsequent exercise done by at least 4 different design firms is a very interesting approach to an art book. I enjoyed the accompanying "interview" with each designer so you could align the feeling you got from the rework with their explanation of the approach.
So far so good..........2007-05-07
I work as a designer myself in an advertising agency and have only had this book for a short time, but really enjoy looking and reading through it. It has givien me inspiration and motivation in my own work. Also it has been a good way of seeing how other designers and artist percieve the same idea or concept. This book is great for anyone who wants to see or learn how other designers work, it's a good motivational tool.
Inspirational!.......2007-02-09
Right when I opened this book I already knew that I would be hooked. The idea that certain design work would be redesigned by other designers helps me to see that there is never one way to solving a problem. If you want a new perspective on a project you are on, perhaps this book will help!
Una guia para entender que siempre hay recursos.......2006-09-02
Quizás lo que aprendí en este libro es que cuando estamos trancados en un diseño, es mejor empezar desde cero, como si nunca hubieramos trabajado alguna idea sobre el mismo desde el comienzo.
Totally reinvents the 'redesign' genre of design books.......2004-09-30
If design books have one general fault, it is failing to keep up with the curve, the leading edge of graphic design. Things change so quickly. The subgenre of redesign books has been among the worst offenders in this area. That's because many have been content to take 15 year old designs and reconfigure them for today, in the process inadvertently passing off more or less standard results as special work. This book is a total break with this lazy tradition of contrasting your father's design and your own generation's. It does that by picking relatively recent designs for "what if" rethinking. The results play out as mind-blowing re-envisionings of already edgy design. To me that's what sets this book apart: the pieces being redesigned aren't ancient, they aren't the least bit stodgy. In most cases, the originals up for redesign could probably themselves have appeared in fairly recent design annuals, and may have, in many instances.
Rethink Redesign Reconstruct is a fresh, exciting book that stands out in a genre of the design book field that has settled into a comfortable rut. I would call it a definite must have among current design books.
Amazon.com
Applying concepts of quantum and chaos thinking to the working world, consultant and educator Danah Zohar's Rewiring the Corporate Brain: Using the New Science to Rethink How We Structure and Lead Organizations offers revolutionary advice for achieving workplace change. Businesses should be operated like brains, she argues, utilizing all of the mental, emotional, and spiritual stimuli at their disposal. Ordinarily, however, most ignore the latter two and rely solely on just one-third of their "corporate brains"--a shortcoming Zohar shows how to correct so that truly effective responses can be crafted for myriad predicaments.
Book Description
It is argued that we stand now at the end of the age of enlightenment--the reason-based network of social, political, and business relationships and understandings that have guided the Western world (as well as much of the East) for nearly 400 years. Bestselling author Danah Zohar has her finger on the pulse of this moment in history and brings her extraordinary intelligence to bear on how we are changing, what is required for positive change, and how this change plays a role in the evolution of business, organizations, and management.
Corporations have been a world of Newtonian organization, thriving on certainty and predictability. They are hierarchical, with power emanating from the top, and control exercised at every level. Heavily bureaucratic and rule-bound, they are necessarily inflexible and are managed as though the part organizes the whole.
Rewiring the Corporate Brain argues that we are moving away from a Newtonian to a complexity-based system and offers a new conceptual structure for a fundamental transformation in corporate thinking and leadership, together with suggestions for practical, structural implementation. Zohar, a noted author and speaker, writes with skill and breadth about the implications of new science, and remarkably brings her insights home in ways that are practical and applicable to the science and practice of organizational behavior and management. Rewring the Corporate Brain relates quantum and chaos thinking directly to organizational problems and challenges facing corporate leaders. It offers the human brain and its various thinking structures as the primary model for exercising the full creative capacities of the corporate brain.
Rewiring the Corporate Brain offers a genuinely new conceptual structure for a fundamental transformation in corporate thinking and leadership, along with suggestions for practical, structural implementation. Beautifully written, passionately and clearly argued, Rewiring the Corporate Brain makes new paradigm scientific thinking accessible, practical and inspiring to business readers.
Customer Reviews:
Open your mind.....think differently.......2001-05-28
The new science, quantum theory, and related branches of physics are clearly defined and related to business structures and people within "Rewiring the Corporate Brain"
To some, the whole notion of "The New Science", let alone it's relation to the business world may seem like a bunch of new age babble. We (in the US especially) are used to thinking in terms of action-reaction, events, actions, and people, as individual and isolated. We make distinctions and often-strict divisions between work and the rest of our lives. We thrive on predictability, being able to determine outcomes, and control environments, which can inhibit the ability to quickly adapt to and accept change.
"Rewiring the Corporate Brain" recognizes this, and uses quantum theory to illustrate that we might be missing something. The author demonstrates the shortcomings of the common, rigid Newtonian thinking and organization that permeates so many companies and minds, yet also recognizes that a pure quantum approach is not a cure all. The author presents a hybrid model that recognizes the importance of managing and living to obtain certain objectives, while allowing and encouraging the creativity, exploration, and openness to continually grow and adapt to the torrid pace of change. Not only does the application of quantum thinking make sense for the development and management of organizations, but also when trying to bring the separate parts of ones' life together into a more holistic, satisfying existence.
The book refers to a few related "new science" books, which may be of interest to the reader. It also draws on some early Fast Company articles from the good ol' days before Fast Company became the useless waste of paper it is today.
This book is not technical or difficult to read. You'll be able to polish it off within a few hours. If you liked this book, and would like to read more on the "New Physics", or would simply like to explore it ("New Physics") w/o the business context, pick up a copy of:
"The Dancing Wu Li Masters : An Overview of the New Physics"
A Solid Effort!.......2001-03-23
If you're looking for a philosophical, out-of-the-mainstream approach to restructuring your company, author Danah Zohar offers it. She presents an exhaustive, if at times repetitive, case for replacing inflexible, old-line companies with more agile, quantum organizations. Problematically, Zohar devotes too many words to theory and not enough to practical steps for restructuring, and her book is light on examples of companies that have successfully used quantum theory to reorganize. Still, her underlying case is strong. Anyone stuck in a staid bureaucracy would prefer a company where assumptions are actively questioned. To her credit, Zohar offers a starting point for the difficult task of streamlining stodgy organizations. We [...] recommend her ideas to any manager seeking an unusual and thoughtful look at corporate restructuring.
A new paradigm for leadership and organization........2000-09-05
"We live largely in a world of Newtonian organizations. These are organizations that thrive on certainty and predictability. They are hierarchical; power emanates from the top, and control is vital at every level. So, often, is fear. They are heavily bureaucratic and rule-bound, and hence inflexible. They stress the single point of view, the one best way forward. They are managed as though the part organizes the whole. Newtonian organizations do not respond well to change. Their primary value is efficiency. Human beings work and live in such organizations, but we often feel like passive units of production. Our lives serve the organizations, but the organizations serve only our utilitarian needs, and that only so long as we conform to the organization's purposes and are vital to the organization itself. The emphasis on control isolates these organizations from their environments. They don't interact with or respect those environments, including the people who work within them. It is my purpose here to describe a wholly different kind of organization. I hope to offer a new model for structure, leadership, and learning within organizations that can thrive on uncertainty, can deal creatively with rapid change, and can release the full potential of the human beings who lead and work or live within them. Such organizations, like the human brain, have the potential for self-organizing creativity just waiting to be unleashed within them. This new model is based on the thinking, ideas, language, and imagery of the new science-quantum physics, chaos and complexity, and the latest brain science. I believe that understanding the philosophical basis of these sciences, understanding the new paradigm from which they emerge, is critical to rewiring the corporate brain" (from the Introduction).
In this context, Danah Zohar divides this invaluable book into two parts:
I- Using the New Science to Rewire Corporate Thinking. In this part, she basically:
* describes the uses and limitations of traditional paradigms in business activities and other life contexts.
* focuses on three kinds of thinking (serial thinking, associative thinking, and quantum thinking) that the human brain can do, and discusses their advantages and disadvantages.
* contrasts eight key ideas from Newtonian science/old paradigm, and their effects on business thinking, with eight key ideas from quantum science/new paradigm and their application to new thinking about leadership, and thus constructs a management-leadership chart that puts the features of these two contrasting paradigms as follows:
- N.certainty, Q.uncertainty
- N.predictability, Q.rapid change; unpredictability
- N.hierarchy, Q.nonhierarchical networks
- N.division of labor or function fragmentation, Q.multifunctional and holistic (integrated effort)
- N.power emanates from top or center, Q.power emanates from many interacting centers
- N.employees are passive units of production, Q.employees are cocreative partners
- N. single viewpoint; one best way, Q.many view points; many ways of getting things done
- N.competition, Q.cooperation
- N.inflexible structures; heavy on bureaucratic control, Q.responsive and flexible structures; hands-off supervision
- N.efficiency, Q.meaningful service and relationships
- N.top-down (reactive) operation, Q.bottom-up (experimental) operation
II- Structure and Leadership of the Rewired Corporation. In this part, she basically:
* discusses Western/Newtonian and Eastern/Networked models of the self/person and organization, and then attempts to reach a Quantum model of self and organization drawn from the thinking of the new science. And she shows the features of these three models as follows:
- W.conflict and control, E.cooperation, Q.dialogue
- W.self (the personal) wholly excluded and isolated; interactions grounded in universal principles, E.self wholly embedded and contextual; no universal principles, Q.self embedded and contextual with universal dimension
- W.stability achieved through excluding the self and the emotions, and organizing only the predictable and controllable aspects of relationships, E.stability achieved through reinforced familiarity and discipline of the self, Q.stability balanced with instability
- W.rigid boundaries, E.ambiguous boundaries, Q.flexible boundaries
- W.dictatorial leadership, E.consensual leadership, Q.leader relies on trust and feel for situation
- W.rule-bound, E.habit-bound, Q.no set framework from rules or habits
- W.mechanical, E.organic, Q.both naturally unfolding (organic) and that which can be made from it (mechanical)
- W+E.rely on stability, Q.open to change
- W+E.weak in dealing with unexpected change, Q.open to change
- W+E.seek to dampen down or exclude the unexpected, Q.thrives on unexpected
* argues that servant leadership is the essence of quantum thinking and quantum leadership, and then presents a new model of servant leadership.
Finally, she writes, "much of the book contrasts the Newtonian and new sciene, or quantum, approaches to leadership. But this is not to convey a message of either-or. All the fundamental thinking of the new science is about both-and. The new science incorporates the old. Quantum physics does not invalidate Newtonian physics. It just shows that Newton's laws are restricted to one band of reality. But they are still necessary to corporate leadership as the new paradigm, quantum thinking. The core competence I hope to convey in this book is about 'managing at the edge' - that is, becoming aware that there are different paradigms and cultivating the judgement to know when to use one or another, or when to remain at the edge between the two."
I higly recommend this unique study.
A psuedo form of scientific plagiarism!.......1999-07-23
...she doesn't quite steal ideas as her own, but then doesn't quite acknowledge her sources either. The book has no footnotes, which doesn't please a technical reader like myself. She quotes passages out of books which don't appear either in the index or in her bibliography. She talks of the new science of chaos and complexity but doesn't seem to know the difference between the two. She throws in the popular images emanating out of the complexity academy without acknowledging who coined these terms, or even bothering to define them. The "edge of chaos" is an example. Overall, her message is in line with the latest fad of applying the new science thinking to business problems, but is largely derivative, and not well researched. I liked Danah before she was drawn into the commercial world, very disappointing!
Linear thinking will stagnate your systems and your people........1999-03-25
I have read Rewiring the Corporate Brain and it doesn't take a genius to realize that linear thinking will stagnate corporate business and yourself. Open yourself up to see the possibilities and don't let the left side of the brain see all the work. As an entrepenaur it is possibly easier to see these insights. Danah Zohar has put some hard facts, hard science facts, that prove to any doubters that rewiring our brains is what this country needs. We can do it and we're worth it. Facts are there; she proves it. Make life simple; read it, do it, prove it to yourself.
Book Description
Standing at the intersection of metaphysics, epistemology, and moral and political philosophy, the self is a pivotal philosophical topic. This collection of new papers by leading feminists addresses issues of sexual violence and the self, the social self and autonomy, the narrative self and integrity, self-ownership and the body, forgetting yourself and your race, group membership and personal identity, grief and gender, sympathy and women's diversity, emotion and emancipatory epistemology, and dependency and justice. LONG DESCRIPTION BEGINS HERE
Book Description
John Shelby Spong, bestselling author and Episcopal bishop of Newark, NJ, challenges the doctrine of the virgin birth, tracing its development in the early Christian church and revealing its legacy in our contemporary attitudes toward women and female sexuality.
Customer Reviews:
Scholarly, Provocative, and Informative.......2006-08-08
John Shelby Spong's 1992 book is subtitled "A Bishop rethinks the birth of Jesus" and in it he hopes to concentrate exclusively on the birth of Jesus. Needless to say the good bishop manages to devote only about 50% of the book to the issue of Jesus' birth, but don't let that detract from the value of the book. Spong's discussion of the gospels in general and the resurrection in particular only add to the value of the book.
The book is divided into 5 basic parts. Chapters 1 and 2 are general in nature and discuss biblical scholarship. Chapters 3 to 5 discuss the Pauline and pre Gospel traditions. Chapters 6 to 10 are devoted to Matthew and Luke. Chapter 11 deals with Mark and John, and the remaining chapters discuss the two Marys. The notes are limited, as is the bibliography.
Throughout the book Spong continues to hammer his point that the gospels are neither history nor biography, and must be understood within their theological and symbolic contexts. Spong is right in this regard, although his own context is relatively narrow and he rarely discusses the broader issues (e.g., the astronomical background to much of the gospel texts, the influence of mystery religions, the roman/jewish interface, etc.). He can rarely be faulted for what he does say, although one might have wished that he perused some areas in more detail.
The section on Matthew covers several issues:
- On the four (sinful, foreign) women, Spong believes that "irregular sexual activity initiated by the action of the Spirit [that] enabled the promise of Israel to move forward" is what unites these women's stories and links them to Mary.
- He believes that Matthew's midrash tradition of prophesy was mistaken by later Christians to be literalized.
- The story of the star and the magi is thoroughly researched by Spong, who identifies the Old Testament as well as contemporary events that contributed to these passages.
Luke's section begins with an excellent discussion about who "Luke" was and presents sound arguments for the fact that the same writers did not pen Luke and Acts. It's a minority position, but one I subscribe to as well. He also points out that Luke's gospel is presented in the format of a play, and other authors have theorized that Luke's gospel was drawn from a pre-existing early Christian play. Spong then proceeds to block out the gospel in play form, and this is an amazing exercise that is truly instructive.
Some of the interesting elements from Spong's discussion of Luke include:
- John the Baptist's father's name is Zechariah, the name of the next to last of the minor prophets in the Old Testament. Zechariah preceded Malaci (the messanger), possibly a clue to the naming. John's mother's name, Elizabeth, is only found in the Old Testament in Aaron's wife (Aaron was the brother of Moses), and Aaron's sister's name was Mary. Hence Elizabeth and Mary were related and their children would have been cousins. Intriguing stuff!
- Spong raises the interesting question of why Mary says "I have no husband " (Luke 1:34) when in fact, by Jewish law and customs, as a betrothed woman Joseph was her husband.
In his brief section on Mark and John, and in his discussion of the likelihood that Jesus and Mary were married, Spong continues his ability to critically examine the gospel texts. Some of the interesting findings here are:
- Angels appeared and Mary said she was crying because "they have taken away my Lord..." These words were spoken before anyone knew that Jesus had risen, and hence he was still merely a dead prophet, not the risen Lord. Yet Mary called him "lord", a term commonly used by first Century Jewish women to speak about their husbands.
- When the gardener appears, Mary claims the body ("I will take him away"), an act only the nearest of kin could perform.
- Mary addresses Jesus as "Rabboni" (an affectionate term) and then tries to embrace him. Jesus cautions: "Do not touch me..." Yet in First Century Jewish society, only a wife (or mother) was permitted to touch a man.
The final two chapters discuss Mary Magdalene and the continuing image of Jesus' mother Mary. Although not directly involved in the birth issues, both these chapters are excellent supplements.
This is not a perfect book. Spong makes several errors. For example:
- He claims in Luke 3 that "John the Baptist was engaged in a conversation with his Jewish detractors on the meaning of one's origins (p. 126)" when in fact the comments are made to the people he is baptizing, not his distractors.
- He claims Luke's authorship when in fact, many parts of the Gopspel of Luke are simply copies from other people's works (e.g., Josephus, Judges, 1 Samuel, etc).
- He makes the common error of concluding that Mark 3:20 refers to Jesus' relatives wanting to seize him and thinking he is mad (the original reference is to the disciples, not the family).
- He claims that Jesus reference in the Gospel of John to the adulteress (8:10) and his mother by the same name "woman" (2:4, 9:26) is significant. However, Jesus also addresses the Samaritan by the well as "woman" (4:21), a fact not mentioned by Sprong, which substantially lessens the significance of the usage he identifies.
These errors are few and far in between. Bottom line, this is a provocative, informative, scholarly account of Jesus' birth, and probably the best single source on the subject available. It will appeal to beginning students as well as the most advanced scholars.
Very thought-provoking.......2005-03-11
This book was very enlightening without being too like a catechism, giving all the answers. Spong makes no pretense that he has all the answers; many of his conclusions are unpretentiously hypothetical. One should read the entire book with an open mind before judging it. The subject matter is certainly challenging, not to mention his verbose style, but it is refreshing to read the opinions and conclusions of a true intellectual, an all too uncommon thing in this day and age.
3 Stars for Engagement; But Seriously Flawed Thesis 1 Star.......2004-06-23
Retired Bishop John Shelby Spong's book is written extremely well with his usual flare and accessible reading style - too bad the scholarship is average at best and he resorts to his broad swipes and tired polemics. Spong often says things like, "Indeed, the concept of virgin birth itself...is today quickly dismissed in scholarly circles." (p.45) Repeating phrases like this does not make it so - while many scholars do consider the virgin birth narratives to be either false, a myth, or something of the kind, many other scholars do not. Spong must know this, but like his previous works, only seems to throw the name scholar around based on naturalistic presuppositions.
While there are passages in the Bible that many fundamentalists and other Christians often do not wrestle with because of the apparent contradictions or other dilemmas, Spong uses many such passages without placing them in the proper context because many of these contradictions have been answered by other theologians and philosophers. Further, he forgets, or more than likely, intentionally hides the fact that some passages in scripture are used with an anthropomorphic idiom such as Joshua's sun stopping in the sky. Spong claims this cannot be true because the sun does not evolve around the earth, demonstrating here that the Bible is incorrect because a divine book got the structure of the universe wrong. I wonder if he is this hard on our modern weather man or woman who nightly, all across Western Civilization, provides the times the sun will set and raise each day. His analyses of Greek mythical writing infused with early Hebrew writing is spurious at best and has been handled elsewhere by more competent scholars than Spong and so I refer one to Ronald Nash's book on the "Greeks and the Gospels" here at Amazon to show the true influence and lack there of in regards to the New Testament.
Further, Spong either received a poor graduate education in theology or is distorting the historic and current development of doctrine. For example, he asserts that earliest interpretations of the Christ death in purely an Anselmian doctrine when stating that "God send his emissary, and through the son's divine sacrifice the justice of God had been satisfied (p. 36)." But this is just false; the righteousness/justice of God was developed in the 12th Century by St. Anselm in his famous "Why God Became Man" (this writing can also be bought by Amazon with "The Selected Writings of Saint Anselm" by Brian Davies) as an apologetic. The early Church had many different interpretations on Christ death (atonement/ransom/victory,etc).
Lastly, to keep this review short, it must be stated that Spong is unconvincing in trying to convince the reader that the gospels are midrash; they are not, but instead economian (biographic style writing popular at the time) writings and in addition, the gospels added to the worth of women, not their degradation. Women are considered equal witness to Christ resurrection (one could argue superior witnesses than to the apostles) as are men. The Catholic and Orthodox Churches have held Mary, the Theotokos (Barer of God or Mother of God), to such high esteem, that she is the model of obedience and holiness for the entire human race. I wish I could answer in this small format all the false propagnada Spong assert, but space limits us here. Spong once again is just wrong, but entertainingly so.
It keeps getting better and better.......2004-01-06
Spong's book and perspective on the virgin birth is just way to good. I never read any of his books without being skeptical to what he says, but the fact is, I can't find any other legitimate way around it. By presenting hard-fact evidence about the virgin birth and considering the society's male-dominated ego driven in the lifetime of Jesus, one just throws the all-comforting traditional idea of Mary being a virgin and the like. This book makes the reader face the Virgin birth in its logical sense, while on the side refuting the traditional nonsense taught by the christian churches for centuries.
APOSTASY IN A BOOK.......2003-12-22
Apostasy is a word that comes from the Greek, "apostasia", meaning a falling away from what is established.
Bishop Spong is entitled to his beliefs as much as any other person is. But he is mistaken in trying to couch those beliefs as Christian because they are clearly not. It's not a matter of
fundamentalist Biblical interpretation versus his Biblical interpretation, but a matter of sound reasoning and scholarship.
The New Testament record tells us that Jesus was Divinely conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit. And that she was a virgin when she gave him birth. Bishop Spong would have us believe that these accounts of Jesus' conception and birth are metaphors or allegories. And that the writers of these stories were giving us a "midrash" interpretation of events.
Midrash is a Hebrew word that means study or more accurately "interpretation". In Rabbinic Judaism it is used to mean an on-going exposition and ever evolving commentary on the Hebrew Scriptures that particularly examines the meaning of
difficult to understand passages.
That's all fine and well. But there are problems with applying this interpretative method to the New Testament. Midrash is an invention of Jewish Rabbis for use on the "Tanakh"-the Hebrew Old Testament - not the New Testament. Additionally, Hebrew is a picture language and midrash is much better suited for it than it is for the koine Greek of the New Testament.
The Greek language is built on lexical roots. It provides a much larger vocabulary and has greater accuracy and precision in it's word meanings than Hebrew does. There is very little ambiguity to be found in it. If anything, Greek gives more insight into what is being said than perhaps any other language on the planet. Believe it, Greek is that unique! And midrash is not suited for it.
Case and Point:
The prophet Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah of the World would be born of a Virgin. (Isaiah 7:14). The original Hebrew uses the word "almah" that can mean but does not necessarily imply "virgin". When the 72 scholars translated the original Hebrew of Isaiah into the Greek of the Septuagint, occurring long BEFORE Christ's birth, they all used the Greek word "parthenos" for this passage. Parthenos most definitely
means virgin. After Christ's life on earth, the Jews abandoned the use of the Septuagint. And the Old Testament was re-translated from Hebrew and Aramaic into Greek. Aquila who made one of these translations, used the Greek word "neanis" in
Isaiah 7:14 meaning young woman or girl to blunt the point of Christian prophecy pertaining to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.
It is a mistake to believe that the Septuagint scholars were themselves not inspired by God when they translated Isaiah from Hebrew into Greek. They most assuredly were.
Could a man conceived by sperm and an egg and having the propensity to sin like the rest of us; take the punishment of billions of people and bring them redemption like Jesus and the apostles alleged? (Mat 20:28; I John 2:2) Common sense tells us that, NO MERE MORTAL was/is good enough to do that. No matter how ethically or morally good they are. How can one possibly redeem billions through their death and resurrection? It can ONLY happen if that ONE was/is God the Son himself in human form - the Supernatural Christ of all Eternity. And that is EXACTLY who Jesus claimed to be again and again . (John 17:5)
Jesus' apostles who were eyewitnesses to his life, freely gave their lives for the Gospel message, proving their faith and conviction that their master was who he said he was - God the Son in human form. And if he was God in human form, he came from
above and thus could not have been conceived by a sperm and an egg but by the Holy Spirit in a virgin. Just as the Scriptures say. But if Mary wasn't a virgin, when she conceived and gave birth to Jesus; it would mean that he was conceived by a sperm
and egg. And if Jesus was conceived by a sperm and egg it would mean that he was not the Creator but a Creation like the rest of us. And if he was a creation rather than the Creator in
human form; then he cannot be the Redeemer of the world. Because only God would be good enough to take the punishment for all of humanity's sins. Only God could have been good enough to pay the price and wipe the slate clean for all sinners.
Not according to Bishop Spong's work however.
Think about it. What makes more sense; the traditional Christian view or Bishop Spong's ideas?
Christianity demands that it be accepted or rejected on ITS TERMS, as it has been laid out for us from its beginning by Jesus, his apostles and the Old Testament prophecies that Christ fulfilled. Take it or leave it. It's not a pick and choose at the bargain basement. What Bishop Spong has done with this book is re-write central Christian doctrines into illogical and unscholarly nonsense.
My humble advice, Read F.F. Bruce instead.
Customer Reviews:
Not Entirely Convincing.......2007-09-27
I liked the book, it was a quick easy read. But it's not a keeper. I really feel passionate on the issue of contraception for the Christian couple. I feel this book was more like an idea than a teaching. It seemed the authors were trying to avoid stepping on anyones toes by rather just giving you something to think about rather than share their honest opinions. If I wasn't already letting God control my fertility, this book wouldn't convince me.
This way lies madness. .......2006-08-24
For the novice, a couple things need to be definitively stated here: Firstly, the Bible says exactly *nothing* about Birth Control, neither pro nor con. Everyone's opinion on the subject, from the Pope on down to John Q. Believer of *any* sect of Christianity is voicing just that: opinion. That's fine, one is allowed to have their own opinion, but they shouldn't mask it as "God's Law," or attempt to apologize it in as "What God meant, but didn't actually say." (For that matter, there's no condemnation of masterbation in the bible either, and the Catholic obsession over the subject stems from a willful misreading of the story of Onan).
The basic concept of Protestantism was to free Christianity from the excesses, corruption, and stifling traditions of Catholicism, and on a functional level, the idea was to only "Speak on those subjects the Bible speaks on, and to be silent where the Bible is silent." The point is, quite simply, that a protestant is to behave in accordance with the things the Bible specifically says, and on subjects that the bible doesn't mention, it's up to your own discression, so long as it is not otherwise immoral. Illicit sex outside of marriage is condemned, so obviously that's bad, as is witchcraft and homosexuality: there's no getting around those if you're Protestant. However, there's no mention of flying in airplanes, voting libertarian, or living in North America, and so all of those things are, therefore, a matter of taste, and not a matter of Divine Command, no matter what the individual may say to the contrary.
My problem with this book is that it asks the reader to take upon him/herself more burden than God Himself requires of them, and it disingenuously presents it in an apologetic fashion, trying to dupe impressionable readers into thinking "This is what God really meant." I have a problem with any "Christian" book that misrepresents the bible, as should anyone who (like me) calls themselves a Christian. It implies that people who do more than is asked of them in this regard will have a more full, rewarding life than 'weaker' people who actually want to have sex with their spouses just because - hey, let's face it: sex is fun - and it implies that people who actually want to have sex are somehow inferior or less in love than those who hold out. This, despite the fact that the Bible clearly says husbands and wives are not to deny themselves to each other.
This book represents a maddening new kind of Fundamentalism in which the Bible itself has only talismanic value, to be quoted only when it confirms preconceived notions (Wether good or bad) that the individual has, and to be misrepresented when it says otherwise, or simply used to bludgeon someone over the head with, knowing that few people - even Christians - have a good working knowledge of the book anyway.
Speaking as a life-long Protestant, I find this book to be disturbing.
Closed Embrace: A Greek Orthodox Couple Rethinks Contraception - Again.......2006-07-03
Four years after writing this book, the Torodes have changed their mind on natural family planning. Why? It's apparently too difficult and causes too much guilt to the husband in a married relationship (...huh?). They no longer advocate NFP, and instead condone certain forms of contraception (google "Open Embrace" - one of the top hits is an essay that rejects the principles set forth in this book). This may or may not have any bearing, but they've also joined the Greek Orthodox church - as such, I'm not exactly sure if there's any part of the book's title that's actually true for the authors any more. Do some homework on the Torodes before you purchase this book to see if it's worthwhile to buy it; this doesn't mean that I'm necessarily condemning or endorsing it, but ask yourself whether you'd want to take the advice of a couple who have recanted their position a mere four years after publication.
From a slightly more cynical perspective, I can't help but wonder why the Torodes are still allowing the book to be sold if they no longer agree with what they've written in it. While they might be embarassed with the book's contents, I'm sure they're not embarassed about spending the royalties.
Never mind...........2006-04-28
It's important for anyone considering this book to know that a mere five years later the authors now disagree with the main argument of the book (though I'm sure they'd love for you to buy one anyway). Now that they've laid a guilt trip on their readers, the Torodes have apparently changed their minds about NFP [...]. They now think that "NFP often lays an unfair burden of guilt on men" and "it's a theological attack on women to always require that abstinence during the time of the wife's peak sexual desire" (a less passive and more honest way of stating this would be to say that "Sam and Bethany Torode have laid an unfair burden of guilt..." and "Sam and Bethany Torode have launched a theological attack on women..."). One would hope that next time Eerdmans will be more cautious about giving a hearing to such inexperienced authors, and that the hastily offered opinions of the Torodes not be taken very seriously in whatever other books they write.
Tremendous book!.......2006-03-17
We will start giving this book out at our Catholic parish to the couples on their engaged weekend retreat.
Very informative and well written. Truly inspired.
Average customer rating:
- RE: Coffee Table Book
- RE: Coffee Table Book
- Coffee table photo book
- Photobook at its best...
- INCREDIBLE !!!!
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Rethink: Cause and Consequences of September 11
James Nachtwey ,
Kofi Annan ,
John Berger , and
Zbiegniew Brzezinski
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ASIN: 0970576862 |
Book Description
September 11 was a departure point that will define our future. Consequently, we have all been forced to rethink, an act that requires introspection and reinterpretation of standard thinking.
Rethink, a de.MO project, is a book about history and politics, a book about our lives and about our world and what we are trying to accomplish in it. Rethink confronts our diversity, our stupidity and cleverness, our preoccupations and rage, our laughter and desperate tears, our need for justice and love, our thirst for blood and power, our need to nourish and be nourished, our need to breathe, close our eyes and dream.
The contributors to Rethink had the freedom to create their own voices and were encouraged to respond in a manner that would acknowledge the historical events and causes that brought us to September 11. Their varied responses create a document of great interest at a time when politics and values are in tremendous flux.
In Rethink, we are forced to be open-minded, to review all opinions and issues with the possibility that we might emerge with a new perspective and personal ideology.
Contributors include: Jon Lee Anderson, Kofi Annan, John Berger, Alexandra Boulat, Zbigniew Brzezinski, George W. Bush, Noam Chomsky, Wesley Clark, John Cooley, The Dalai Lama, Robert Fisk, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Thomas L. Friedman, Gunter Grass, Ron Haviv, Christopher Hitchens, Michael Ignatieff, Muzamil Jaleel, Gary Knight, Antonin Kratochvil, Lewis H. Lapham, Matt McAllester, Takis Michas, Christopher Morris, James Nachtwey, Joseph S. Nye, David Rieff, Arundhati Roy, Edward Said, Eyad Sarraj, Uri Savir, Jonathan Schell, William Schultz, Susan Sontag and Admiral Stansfield Turner
Rethink has received the Photo District News Best Book Selection and the Communication Arts Best Book Selection.
Customer Reviews:
RE: Coffee Table Book.......2004-07-16
You know it's sad, like the people below from Chicago illustrate quite well, that some people just don't get the true purpose of a book like this. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, no matter how wrong they are, but there is a point in which it just becomes so mind blowing as to some people's ignorance.
This book's purpose is to open people's eyes up to the brutal and horrific world in which we now all live in. America was awakened by the events of 9-11, but so few realize that this is what people face day in and day out throughout the rest of the world. I would no more call this a coffee table book, than call Schindler's List just your typical movie drama. "Rethink" tells a story, one in which we are still creating & doesn't have a foreseeable end in sight. The key to all history is to know what you've been through, so you don't repeat the same mistakes twice. Pain, suffering, & death isn't something which is solely confined to our immediate surroundings, it's a worldwide plight to try and survive in this ever more demanding and deadly environment. The stakes are higher now and the consequences of our actions are even more so. We all have choices, either to be open and realize that we aren't isolated in the actions & decisions we take & make, or to keep going down a path of self destruction, while ignoring the rest of our earthly inhabitances leading us to a catastrophic ending to this story, which has not yet been written.
As the reader from Chicago so eloquently tries to state, "RETHINK is an overwrought, "full of itself" and pretentious treatment of the post 9/11 terrorism war." Take a closer look at this book and you will come to find out that a lot of these pictures weren't taken around or just after 9-11, but throughout the past decade or two. This is an accumulation of our world's actions along with the results of what we've done leading us into the present. The purpose of this book, is to try & make us "Rethink" what we've done, should've done, and the biggest of them all, what will occur down the line & next if we continue down this rocky path that we're currently on ??
RE: Coffee Table Book.......2004-07-16
You know it's sad, like the people below from Chicago illustrate quite well, that some people just don't get the true purpose of a book like this. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, no matter how wrong they are, but there is a point in which it just becomes so mind blowing as to some people's ignorance.
This book's purpose is to open people's eyes up to the brutal and horrific world in which we now all live in. America was awakened by the events of 9-11, but so few realize that this is what people face day in and day out throughout the rest of the world. I would no more call this a coffee table book, than call Schindler's List just your typical movie drama. "Rethink" tells a story, one in which we are still creating & doesn't have a foreseeable end in sight. The key to all history is to know what you've been through, so you don't repeat the same mistakes twice. Pain, suffering, & death isn't something which is solely confined to our immediate surroundings, it's a worldwide plight to try and survive in this ever more demanding and deadly environment. The stakes are higher now and the consequences of our actions are even more so. We all have choices, either to be open and realize that we aren't isolated in the actions & decisions we take & make, or to keep going down a path of self destruction, while ignoring the rest of our earthly inhabitances leading us to a catastrophic ending to this story, which has not yet been written.
As the reader from Chicago so eloquently tries to state, "RETHINK is an overwrought, "full of itself" and pretentious treatment of the post 9/11 terrorism war." Take a closer look at this book and you will come to find out that a lot of these pictures weren't taken around or just after 9-11, but throughout the past decade or two. This is an accumulation of our world's actions along with the results of what we've done leading us into the present. The purpose of this book, is to try & make us "Rethink" what we've done, should've done, and the biggest of them all, what will occur down the line & next if we continue down this rocky path that we're currently on ??
Coffee table photo book.......2004-05-19
Another elegantly published 600-page photo book world we all easily can live without. RETHINK is an overwrought, "full of itself" and pretentious treatment of the post 9/11 terrorism war. To my husband and me it is the classic example of proverbial "coffee table" book in the endless stream of vanity self publishing.
Granted, this photo album has some great images by Mr. Knight and by few others, nice design touches here and there and the obligatory these days' presence high profile essay contributors.
We expected something different, maybe less predictable form RETINK. The previous reviewer raved about it. But it is my fault -- I should hold to my money and not spend it at Barnes & Noble for the sleek photo book that we opened once. Maybe more luck next time...
Photobook at its best..........2004-01-10
Everyone of us saw the pictures of 9/11 and its post events. But I have never seen the pictures in such an design and order. They make you think again about what happend and why it occured.
This book is indispensable for everyone who is interested about the world we are living in. Two Thumbs Up
INCREDIBLE !!!!.......2003-12-24
I needed time to read all the essays and look at all the photographs ... when done I realized the historical importance of this book. I never before seen anything like this. The editing is superb, the design is just right ... If you are interested in the last 50 years of american foreign policies this a book not to pass. Highly! Highly! Recommended. Great piece of work.
Average customer rating:
- Success as many of us know it is very illusionary and false.
|
Success Trap: Rethink Your Ambitions to Achieve Greater Personal and Professional Fulfillment
Stan Katz , and
Aimee E. Liu
Manufacturer: Ticknor & Fields
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Personal Transformation
| Self-Help
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
Success
| Self-Help
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
Applied Psychology
| Psychology & Counseling
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Psychology & Counseling
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0899198554 |
Customer Reviews:
Success as many of us know it is very illusionary and false........1998-07-19
This book is a wake up call for many Americans in this society. I find it very appalling to know that many of us are drastically killing ourselves over money and materialistic things. It's sad that we place this "stuff" above the human life of others as well as ourselves. Plus given the fact that ignorance breeds ignorance, it's a vicious cycle from generation to generation. Hopefully, many will capture the reality from books such as this one that our American society will rise from its slumber.
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