Wednesday, November 27, 2002
Casca: Panzer Soldier
I've written about the Casca series before. In fact, I've even gotten e-mail messages from a Casca fan who's read my reviews. (It was very scary to discover that people actually read these things.) Anyway, The series is about this Roman soldier, Casca Rufio Longinus, who was one of the soldiers at Christ's crucifixion and was cursed by Jesus to wander the earth as a soldier until He returns. The theology is a bit lame, but I was really intrigued by the idea back in the 80s and bought a number of the books in the series. Of those, I remember Panzer Soldier as being the best. Well, I've just reread this one and now wonder "what was I thinking?" This time I found the book disappointing. It seemed unrealistic. Why I didn't catch it before, I don't know. Maybe it was because I'm more sensitive to the bad theology I mentioned above. Maybe I'm just more mature and can't swallow the Russians as the two dimensional bad guys they are protrayed as in the book. Maybe the old married man can't believe the male-female relationships the way the ignorant young punk once did. Maybe, with the drums of war sounding on the news every day, I can no longer relax and enjoy a tale of men slaughtering each other. God only knows. Anyway, the book is not totally worthless. As always, the character Casca has a streak of nobility in him. It's also a bit inventive to have the hero serve with the World War II German army. In this genre you would have expected him to have served with the Brits or the Yanks. (Of course he did soundly denounce Hitler and the SS.) Finally, in this book Sadler downplayed Casca's immortality, focusing more on the realistic action. So, for those few good points, I'll keep this one dry and rate it as waiting room material.
Labels: BarrySadler, Casca, WaitingRoomMaterial
Sunday, November 24, 2002
Heaven on Earth
This is a little piece of propaganda sent out in the mid-1990's to congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and some Orthodox Church here in the Americas. (The book isn't clear on that and I'm not familiar with the organization of that church body.) It's a collection of anecdotes and spiritual reflections meant to accompany the official reports of dialogues held between the ELCA and the Orthodox church. I picked it up from the Library sale because I have a slight curiosity about the Orthodox church and I figured that a book that contrasts their church and a Lutheran one would be enlightening. It was, to an extent. It didn't give me a handle on the doctrine or practice so I could go out and explain the Orthodox beliefs to anyone. The benefit I received from this book was more in reminding me that my own worldviews are not universal and that sometimes there is another, equally valid way of looking at some aspect of life on this earth. Nothing earth-shattering, but definitely makes great waiting room material.
Labels: WaitingRoomMaterial
Wednesday, November 20, 2002
A Wrinkle in Time
This one's about an adventure experienced by Meg Murry, a teenage girl whose father is missing. He was a scientist off working on a government project and, about two years before the tale begins, he suddenly stopped writing home. As the story progresses, Meg, her brother, Charles Wallace, and one of her schoolmates, Calvin O'Keefe, encounter three odd women who end up transporting them to a distant world to try and rescue Meg's father, who is apparently a victim of an experiment gone awry. It's a tale with a Christian worldview, with a definite conflict between good and evil. However, it came off as a pale imitation of C. S. Lewis. It took me a while to figure out what's lacking--and that was a lack of God. In Lewis' Narnia series, God, in the person of Aslan, is a main player. He often starts and finishes the tale and helps the protaganists along. In Wrinkle, God's nowhere to be seen. The heroes have some supernatural help, but essentially are left to rely on their own strengths. It's a subtle difference, but quite noticeable. I was not as impressed with this tale as was Gene Veith, but I would still recommend it as good waiting room material.
Labels: WaitingRoomMaterial
Sunday, November 17, 2002
The Purpose Driven Church
I didn't want to read a church growth book. I was looking to attend a seminar for small churches. I was kind of hoping that they would offer ideas for congregations to function as small churches rather than operating with the constant desire to be big someday. But I let inertia drag me to the seminar even after I found out that it was church growth and this book came with the package. I was surprised. Dr. Warren is not a shallow, suburban airhead. In 1979, he felt called by God to plant a church. He was led to the Saddleback Valley in Lake Forest, California and started reaching out to the unchurched people living there. The boy done good. The church has grown to about 18,000 (as of 1995) and intentionally pushes its members to be strong and faithful servants for Jesus Christ. In The Purpose Driven Church, Dr. Warren explains the principles by which he founded, has grown and operates his congregation. Like I said, I was surprised when I read the book. As I went through it I realized that Dr. Warren has some very good points, based more on scripture than on marketing principles. I was uncomfortable when he pointed out problems that I recognized in my own church (and self). I was also convicted when I realized that I'm prejudiced against upper-middle class, suburban Americans--the very people to whom Dr. Warren and his church ministers. But despite the discomfort, I was able to read the book and might have even learned from it. Now, the book is not perfect. Dr. Warren naturally pulls examples from his own congregation, and that left me curious how the principles would play out with a different social class or ethnic group. I was also annoyed at the lack of references. Dr. Warren mentions enough outside sources that he comes across as well read in theology and church history--at least until he says, "Remember, they burned Wycliffe at the stake ..." According to the books on my shelf, John Wycliffe died a natural death. It makes me wonder whether his other references are legit, but as the only books he mentions by title are the Bible and some of his other works, I can't easily check it out. Anyway, if you hold any sort of leadership position in a Christian church, check this out. Errors aside, it should give you something to ponder. If not, perhaps you need to be writing your own book.
Labels: CheckItOut, RickWarren
Thursday, November 14, 2002
Amusing Ourselves to Death
Kill your television before it kills you. Actually, that's not really the message of the book. As far as our culture is concerned, TV is already guilty of murder. Mr. Postman shows how television (on the heels of other electronic media) has shaped public discussion in our once literary culture. He argues persuasively that the medium affects the content of what one tries to communicate. Television, which all but demands a moving picture to accompany its words, drives the level of content in the message down. As a result, we don't have the same depth of discussion in our communities--be it politics, religion or education--that we had back in the 18th and 19th centuries. (If you doubt me, go ahead and try to read the stuff they wrote back then.) In a sense, it's a scary book. It offers no real hope of change. And since it was written in 1985, I know that things have not gotten better. But life goes on. Ours is not the only culture in the world, nor, hopefully, the last generation. Maybe God is not done blessing humanity with great thinkers, teachers, statesmen and artists. And if not, one can still light a candle in the darkness. You can always grab the library card instead of the remote and encourage others to do the same. So I encourage you to check it out.
Labels: CheckItOut
Sunday, November 10, 2002
Flatland
(Despite what my daughter says, this is not a book about Illinois.) This is an odd little book--kind of like a geometric fairy tale. The narrator of this tale is A Square. He tells of his world, a universe of two dimensions. It's inhabitants are all polygons and in the first section, Mr. Square describes the society in which these creatures live. In the second section, he then describes his encounters with other dimensions: Lineland, Pointland and Spaceland. It's not a terribly complex book--I happened to have read a book called The Planiverse which offered a two dimensional world with much more scientific detail--but Flatland has a definite style and essence to its tale which makes it memorable. That's probably why this book from 1884 (second edition) was reprinted 68 years later in 1952 and why it's going on my shelf 118 years later in 2002.
Labels: OnMyShelf
Thursday, November 07, 2002
Cloak
More Star Trek brain candy. The tale starts out with Captain Kirk's Enterprise stopping a runaway Federation starship. All aboard are dead and as the crew delves into the mystery they find a rather Byzantine plot. This is not a great book--definitely waiting room material--but it was enjoyable enough, and the author makes a good point about the shortcomings of blind obedience to one's doctrines.
Labels: StarTrek, WaitingRoomMaterial
Sunday, November 03, 2002
The Koran
(Disclaimer: I'm a Christian, so I was hardly able to give this an
unbiased reading.)
For a number of years now I've had it in my mind to read the Quran, the
holy book of Islam. That desire became more of a priority since September
11th and finally, at the last Friends of the Library book sale, I searched
out and bought my own copy. It's not an "official" copy. Dawood is a
scholar who wants to leave the questions "of Mohammed's prophethood and
his theological sources" to the reader to decide for him or herself. He
even has rearranged the surahs from their classic organization to
one that is more thematic. (But he does provide the traditional
numbering, so I was able to read the book in the traditional order.) But
like some of the non-traditional translations or paraphrases of the Bible,
I think that the main message can still come through. First off, I was
slightly surprised that the book wasn't as lame or unreadable as it
might have been. There are some beautiful expressions of faith in God,
even though they're tarnished by an incomplete understanding of Him. I
can see why this book has stood the test of time. Where it fell
short--the reason it didn't make me interested in becoming a Muslim--is
that there's a subtle focus on Mohammed. Over and over again The
Koran reiterates that Allah can and will raise the dead, that those
who had scoffed at previous prophets suffered for it, that Allah has no
daughters, that those who deny the Quran's message will suffer in hell.
These are things that all tie in with Mohammed's problems as he tried to
bring his message to the people of Mecca and Medina. In contrast, the
Bible talks about people of various stations and in various situations
relating to God and each other. We see Moses as an infant, a sinner, a
priest, and an administrator as well as the prophet who confronted
Pharaoh. In The Koran, you only see the latter. Like the Book
of Mormon, I found The Koran to be rather lackluster in
comparison to the Bible. Unlike the New Testament, I found no continuity
between the Old Testament and The Koran. If this is a new
revelation from Allah, why doesn't it fit together as well? Anyway, I
would recommend that you check it out, if
you're so inclined. But you'd be much better off reading the Bible.
Labels: CheckItOut
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