5 comments about Confessions of a Pastor: Adventures in Dropping the Pose and Getting Real with God.

1. This was a refreshing and encouraging book. I enjoyed the author's honesty and insight. It was also a quick, easy read.



2. I was looking for a book to use in my introductory pastoral counselling course. The kind of book I needed was one that would challenge students to be in touch with humanity. One that would help them be authentic people who could have the empathy needed for counselling. I certianly found that in this book and so much more... it ended up challenging me and doing more good for me than I expected. I started reading it and couldn't put it down. It's so down-to-earth and practical. The author is talking to the reader as to a friend. It's a definite book for church leaders today!



3. great book....Craig is hilarious, if you are in ministry or thinking about it this should be the book for you. Craig is really real and open and helps you with a lot of your own ministry issues.



4. The Author/Pastor gets real about life and ministry. It's a good book, I recommend it.



5. I picked up this book because because of the cover. If you look really hard, the bubble above the guy's head says "I can't stand a lot of Christians...." I bought the book that day. It wasn't written as well as I would have liked, but it's not a horrible read.
   
   Groeschel divides his book into chapters titled with his confessions. Some of the more amusing: "I Can't Stand a Lot of Christians," "I Hate Prayer Meetings," and "I Stink at Handling Criticism." But he also discloses on more personal topics, such as staying sexually pure, doubting God, and feeling lonely.
   
   If there is one criticism of this book, it's that Groeschel occasionally launches into five steps to this and four warnings about that. But he does so without sounding like a motivational speaker, so it doesn't ruin the book.
   
   The purpose of this book is to show that pastors are not super Christians. They struggle with the same things that regular people do all the time. Groeschel tells about some of the disciplines that he has developed to combat his weaknesses, and one can learn from reading about them.

5 comments about Into the Deep: One Man's Story of How Tragedy Took His Family but Could Not Take His Faith (Focus on the Family Books).

1. As hard as this book was for me to read it ultimately sharpened my understanding of God. His ways are NOT our ways. There is no way to understand why certain things happen on this earth but He is still God and has His own plans for our lives. If people would just see Him and understand Him for who He really is we would be much more content in our lives and like Robert Rogers we could all get through life with more faith and peace.
   
   Excellent Book and I recommend it to anyone who will take it seriously.



2. I had heard Robert speak two times so I knew his story; nevertheless, I found the book both compelling and helpful. By helpful I mean that Robert writes about "feelings" of that accident that I had either not heard or he had not said in his oral testimony. I found it helpful and interesting as well to read more of the details of his story and to see the pictures of his family and the accident scene. I am an emotional person and I cried constantly while reading the book. I think the book is well written. I purchased copies to give as gifts because I think Robert does present a powerful testimony of real, tested, proven faith in God.



3. Please research this story before you buy this book. I do not question Mr. Rogers relationship with GOD, but I do question his effort to save his family during this flood. Spend some time and research the story, look at the facts and decide for yourself. You may decide to spend your money elsewhere.



4. A story of the triumph of faith over crushing grief, sensitively related and strongly motivating to use every day and every opportunity to live each day without regret.
   
   Highly recommended



5. I like true stories, even sad ones, but normally do not read personal stories written by a second person (the "with..." books) because I am not sure how much real personality of the author is coming in. Stan Finger is a good writer and this, for the most part, was well done. It was very sad and may be too much to take for those with small children. However, it does a good job of telling over and over until we believe it that God is a refuge from any storm and provides comfort from any sorrow. Actually I think we would have to experience it (God forbid) to really understand this the way Mr. Rogers finally did. I would give this book at least four stars except for the ending. I was all primed to hear a story of what happened once Rogers devoted himself to God and began a ministry. This part was drastically abbreviated, as though they had spent enough time, and wanted to bring it to a close. I guess that story, with his new wife Inga, is still unfolding and may become another book. A book well worth reading, packed full of appropriate Bible quotes, and just short of being as inspiring, as it could have been.

5 comments about Buddha.

1. This book is below the expectancies the reader might have from other works by Karen Armstrong. The relationship between Siddhattha Gotama's life and his Teachings is essentially the intermediate path (the eightfold noble path). The tradition says the noble path balances the luxurious life of Gotama's first twenty nine years against the following painful six years of ascetic life. You do not need half of the book to explain this. There is no biography of the Buddha for the next forty years (no sequence of events, no chronology), neither in this book, nor in the Pali Canon. Only his last three months are described in detail in the discourse of the last days of the Buddha. Karen Armstrong packs Buddha's message in the middle chapters (Dhamma and Mission) with a final result which is neither a biography, nor an essay. There are no references of the author's own experience with the application of Buddhist messages in her own life. I did enjoy Ms. Armstrong's narrative, which is excellent as the good writer she is, particularly in the Introduction section.
   Gustavo Estrada Hacia el Buda desde el occidente: Sus Ensenanzas sin mitos ni misterios



2. By staying objective, and only telling us what can be known without making any outside assumptions, Karen Armstrong truly delves further into the life of this amazing man than anyone could have otherwise. There is not a single book on the subject of Buddhism that I find myself mentally referring to more often, simply because of her objective nature on the subject. Extremely well written and worth the read for instruction, an introduction on the philosophy or simply a history lesson.



3. It's difficult to fit this subject into the usual "Penguin Lives" format. As Armstrong acknowledges, we really know hardly anything about his dates of birth and death, many of the places mentioned in the early Pali texts (she uses this form of transliteration which differs from traditional Western spellings of even the name of the Buddha let alone terms for his concepts) no longer can be found, and the scriptures tend towards supernatural contests as often as they do pithy exchanges between mortals with names, if not developed characterizations. The absence of the texture of daily life that we gain from more familiar Jewish, Christian, or Muslim texts makes the study of the formative years of Siddhama Gotana challenging even in simplified form in a couple of hundred pages for the general reader.
   
   However, as I'm that reader, wanting a introduction to a topic I know next to nothing about, Armstrong's succinct summary met my needs. On the other hand, parts of even this short text dragged-- the fourth chapther on "Mission" with its accounts of internecine warfare between chieftains and strife within the burgeoning communities of adepts who followed the "dhamma" failed to rouse much of my attention. The most moving section can be found in her paraphrasing of the end of the Buddha's life. She tells the story well: "the Buddha experienced an extinction that was, paradoxically, the supreme state of being and the final goal of humanity" (187); she shows how he struggled to overcome "the distorting aura egotism that clouds the judgment of most human beings" (187).
   
   Especially strong are the background chapters that place the birth of Buddhism within the yogi practices and Hindu caste system, and that compare the rise of the new "dhamma" within the contexts of the Axial Age's shift from unchanging, unquestioned roles for gods vs. humans into a restless, almost existential, despair that Siddhama himself experienced. Armstrong shows how and why he left his sleeping wife and child, and why this separation would have been seen as necessary.
   
   Similarly, she explains the persistent structure of gender roles and how the women were placed in a subordinate position even as followers; likewise, the laity had to assume an auxiliary status and could not attain the full potential that only the monks could aspire towards. While Armstrong compliments Buddha's teaching as the first that broke out of a tribal or specialized group to offer enlightenment to all, it remains inevitably disappointing that the everyday pursuits of making a living, raising families, and tending to one's necessities turn into barriers to fulfillment, then as now, for most of the religious and spiritual paths that have been developed with roots in the Axial Age of 800-200 BCE. This isn't a fault of such systems as Buddhism, and Armstrong does her best to place this approach to holiness within the confines of its feudal times, but it does keep the full realization of what the Buddha offered to the rest of humanity at a bit of distance from the mundane preoccupations that consume much of our efforts.
   
   The liberation and the freedom from such worldly concerns turns interior for much of this narrative, and it's difficult material to make vivid on the static page. Armstrong relies on both the primary texts and interpretations to try to enliven this journey within to those of us who stand outside of the process towards "Nibbana" and away from "samsara." A list of further reading might have aided us after we close this study.
   
   Armstrong's a skilled interpreter for popular readerships of monotheistic faiths from the Middle East. The strengths lie in how she compares and contrasts the traditions more familiar to Westerners with the more esoteric nature of a less theistically based, more subtle and ethically centered tradition in Buddhism. However, I also wondered if Armstrong found herself a bit out of her familiar expertise with this daunting subject. She's a well-placed interpreter, but I did keep aware that she, not speaking from within the tradition, might not have been able to master the nuances and lived experiences that could have clarified and revivified what remain rather unfamiliar concepts for most of her English-speaking readers.



4. Karen Armstrong's BUDDHA is the first book I would give to someone who is "going forth" on a personal spiritual quest. My own Dear One gave me a copy of the book shortly after I'd begun my serious study of Tibetan Buddhism, and though I earnestly commenced reading, I found it tough going. Armstrong's historical perspective seemed vast, too much for me to absorb and make meaningful sense of.
   
   But a year later, something happened that proved to me all over again my belief that it's magic when a book finds you, when your spirit is aligned with the author's intent. I picked up the book one morning, beginning where I'd left off on page 14, and could not put it down. It was all so clear to me! Rather than putting me off, Armstrong's historical perspective seemed like a gourmet feast to a hungry traveler. I delighted in contemplating the rise of Buddhism on the tableau of history that included the founding and significant principles of all of the world's great religions.
   
   Armstrong succeeds in humanizing a figure who lived and died 2,500 years ago. In the process, she vividly evokes the political intrigue, social and popular culture that formed Guatama Buddha and struggled to comprehend and adjust to his marvelous message of freedom and living for the benefit of others.
   
   One of the most fascinating aspects of Armstrong's narrative involves the revelation that The Buddha's world before him was so ego-driven, and that in many ways his message actually begins where our understanding of modern psychology ends! Indeed, what is new is old, sometimes so old we have forgotten it!
   
   Read this book to discover many more examples, and read it and talk about it to continue your individual spiritual journey. As a history, as a spiritual and psychological text, Armstrongs BUDDHA is magnificent!
   
   --Robert McDowell, The Poetry Mentor (www.robertmcdowell.net), is the author of POETRY AS SPIRITUAL PRACTICE (July 15th, 2008) from Free Press.



5. If a person wishes to understand a basic but thorough overview of Buddhism during it's development, this book is very good, in fact, excellent. With a 3 year background of studying Buddhist texts, I found this book to be a Go-To primer to recommend to folks who are interested in the Buddha and want to know more.
   HikerBOB

5 comments about Esther Great Lives Series: Volume 2.

1. This second book in the 'Great Lives' series is excellent! As a Pastor, I used this book for a small group Bible study. We studied one chapter a week. What strength we all can receive from studing the life of Esther! Here was a woman who had to make a decision to be silent and let her people die, or to stand up and do whats right. It's extremely interesting that God is never mentioned anywhere in the Book of Esther, but as Charles Swindoll points out, He is working "behind the scenes" in all of the lives involved in this powerful book. Use this book as a study guide with the Book of Esther.



2. Chuck Swindoll takes what is seemingly a fairytale story and opens one's heart and mind to see how God is in control of all. What valuable life lessons he teaches us through this inspiring Bible book. I highly recommend using this book as a study reference along with your Bible. I appreciated the way he brought the story to life and made it's messages relate to my life as it is today.



3. Just what I was looking for was found in this book for our Bible study



4. Excellent book. Charles Swindoll writes in a way that is easy to read and keeps your attention. I recommend this book to both men and women.



5. Charles Swindoll is a tremendous author. He makes this series come to life. Queen Esther was an intelligent woman who did daring and great things for her people, the Jews. One lives the story with her and can realize what one person can do if they are willing to stand up for what is right regardless of the cost and let God use them.
   
   David: Great Lives Series is another book of the same caliber. Excellent books and fascinating reading.

5 comments about The Life of Milarepa: A New Translation from the Tibetan.

1. As Milarepa tells his story, one of his disciples interrupts him and says that compared to Milarepa's effort, all of our spiritual practice and effort seems like a banal pretension.
   
   I tend to agree. The story will rekindle your dedication. A great book to get if you are feeling down or if it seems like your spiritual quest is too hard or going nowhere.
   
   It will rekindle your Inner Fire if you give it a chance.



2. I think Milarepa was one of the highest levels of enlightened beings ever existed on the planet. Considering the Miracles he did. He is one of the recent enlighten masters, and all this happened a few hundred years ago. He has received little Attention compared to Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed and Khrishna. There is defenately a lot to learn from this book, and what he did is worth reading about.



3. The book quality - new, but not excellent material. Prompt delivery. Thought as a gift, so I had hoped for more. If bought for personal usage, would have been OK.



4. This is a treasure of a book and is very sacred in nature. There are two editions of this book, the first in 1977. The introduction reveals the history of the text and its translations, and the fascinating history that surrounds the text. See "The Life of Marpa the Translator: Seeing Accomplishes All", by Chogyam Trungpa, for further information regarding its history (both texts were written by the same man). Anyway, the first English translation became available early in the 20th century by W. Y. Evans-Wentz.
   
   I am recalling most of this from memory, so my apologies go out to those who find my data incorrect. I highly recommend the new english translation of "The Life of Milarepa" for anyone seeking the life of saints.



5. This book is a very great book that one can not read it fast. One needs to digest the information. I am very happy to have been told by my teachers to read this book. I am so surprised that libraries don't carry such a great book. After I finish my book I donate it to the library so other people can benefit from it. If you are an spritual person and you are interested in growing your soul read this book.

5 comments about Hush: Moving From Silence to Healing After Childhood Sexual Abuse.

1. Books like this reveal that free will can be a terrible thing. But without free will people would be robots. The D word (devil) also is involved in the evil that occurs.



2. I recently discovered the answer to this question: "ever read a book and feel like the author stole a part of you that only you knew?" My answer is yes, and it comes in the form of the book "Hush." Being a survivor myself, it was hard for me to find anyone who I could relate to because I kept my secret hidden. Once I met Nicole and read her book, all of that changed for me. Her message is one of hope and optimism while still speaking poignant truth. Nicole shows compassion in every word that's written. She does an excellent job of detailing where abuse survivors have misconceptions about the world and how to get rid of these thoughts. She also uses her own personal stories to show where those thoughts manifested themselves in her life. By acknowledging these beliefs about other people and myself I finally could start making strides to heal. I hope that everyone in my situation will also be lucky enough to feel the power of healing in their life, a healing that I have learned can only come from a personal relationship with Jesus.
   
   Anyone who is a survivor of or even just knows someone that has dealt with childhood sexual abuse can gain much from Nicole's book. I not only recommend reading this book, but also I recommend if Nicole comes to your area you should definitely go and see her speak because it will change your life.



3. For those who have experienced sexual abuse, this is a must read. The author has walked the same journey and shares from her heart of what it takes to move toward recovery and healing. Highly recommend as a resource for young adult leaders as well.



4. A must read, not only for the abused individual but for all those involved with that individual. Nicole's words touch you on so many levels. Her ability to connect and empathize with the reader is amazing. Her "voice" is honest and straight forward. She gives the reader tools that are easy to understand and use that will assist them in their healing. I highly recommend this book.



5. This is one of the best books I've read regarding finding the path to true healing following childhood sexual abuse. The author, Nicole B. Bromley, does an excellent job of relating to the reader as she expresses her caring heart, and she clearly points out the steps that the victim needs to take in order to move toward healing. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever been sexually abused.

5 comments about Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith.

1. I loved "Leaving the Saints," not because it was the best book ever written (not quite there, but still good) but because it was a woman, and not a man who had the courage to both honor and expose The Latter Day Saints.
   
   As an ex-member, I have kept many good teachings from the church. I have them to thank for my ability to control my finances, stay clear of harmful substances, store food and other essentials for a rainy day, and value family.
   
   However, as a woman, I know that the church is ultra patriarchal, has a history of sexism, racism, and homophobia. I do not believe in its ideas of men becoming gods, with the "ability" to have multiple wives in heaven. Sorry, but I am not here to "help" men achieve heaven, at least not in the way they intend. And I fervently believe that anything touched by mortality is tainted. So I am not surprised at the number of accounts of abuse coming from church members.
   
   At 15 years of age, one of my then good friends was sexually abused by her father, a priesthood holder. She was told by our Bishop to pray for him, and I told her to call the police. At that moment I realized that this church is more preoccupied with saving face, then saving the daughters and sons it supposedly "loves."
   
   I love Martha's ability to speak out, and to see both good and bad in the church, and run from neither. Perhaps if the church were to do the same, it wouldn't be seen as a cult, but as an institution that tries to get better by admitting their humanity, and facing the truth.



2. Inspirational writer, Oprah "Life Coach" and confessed kidnapper Martha Beck does her family and particularly herself an extreme disservice by publishing this vindictive and sour autobiography. Her brother-in-law, Boyd Peterson, in 2002 published a biography of Beck's father and stated that Beck essentially had gone off the deep end accusing her father of crimes perpetrated during the 1960's when she was a prepubescent youth. Given that this book was published on her father's deathbed, the timing should give readers considerable pause as to the motives and stability of Ms. Beck.
   
   Child molestation and sexual assault are serious crimes, and people have a right to expect such crimes to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Former General Authority (Seventy) George Patrick Lee was excommunicated and subsequently pleaded guilty to molestation charges...his high status (much higher than that of Beck's father, who was a BYU Professor and didn't work at Church headquarters) did not immunize Lee from the consequences of his crimes despite any residual embarrassment this very public spectacle would have for the Church. Certainly with a "lay clergy" there are going to be church leaders and even General Authorities who have and will continue to make mistakes in how such matters are handled. Working for a Child Welfare agency, I know that Church policy when such abuse is exposed or alleged in any way--whether or not it be from "confession" (normally protected under state law)--the Church leader is to report this post-haste to the proper authorities and take Church disciplinary action against the perpetrator. That there are lapses in following this policy is human and understandable...but not acceptable.
   
   Ms. Beck accuses her father of a serious crime committed, presumably, sometime in the 1960s. Her sisters absolutely deny that they were victims of anything similar, and assert that Beck's "repressed memories" are the product essentially of a self-serving, attention seeking drama queen (my words, not theirs). Obviously, any statute of limitations would have protected Beck's father from prosecution as the accusations surfaced decades after the alleged sexual assault. Further, even if her father could be prosecuted for the crimes Beck alleges, Beck would be made a fool on cross-examination because her story is so inconsistent and--in some places--ridiculous. There never was any criminal case against her father...
   
   Interestingly enough, Ms. Beck in this book confesses to the felony crime of first degree kidnapping--with an Elderly enhancement--for holding her father (in his 90's and infirm) against his will while attempting to coerce a "confession" in that infamous hotel room; her dippy cousin hiding in the closet would be an assessory. This kidnapping was a focal point of the book as Beck weaves back and forth in the narrative. (Was Beck smart enough to delay publication after the expiration of kidnapping statute of limitation? Is that giving Beck too much credit for being "smart" despite the H-Bombs she constantly drops?? If she is so smart, why would she EVER kidnap her father and then ADMIT to it in a supposedly tell-all non-fiction book???) So perhaps the vulnerable but ostensibly upright Ms. Beck has the right to commit felony crimes because SHE now believes her father committed felony crimes years previous?? Sorry, that's not the way civilized society lets things work...it is an indication that at best Beck is unstable and at worst she is a self-admitted felon who should be writing her Oprah columns from a prison cell. Perhaps she can plead insanity...
   
   In sum, this obscenity of a book makes Beck out to be a delusional manipulator and a shameless/vicious kidnapper, her father to be a bumbling and unstable pedophile, and the Church of her youth to be some sort of quaint but loony totalitarian mind-control police. (See film on the Springer show...) Interesting that Beck and all other Mormon Haters have been free in their zeal to attack the faith of others and to do so despite the "Strengthening Membership Committee" or "Danites" or whatever. Interesting that I was able to read this book right after it was first published and no Church Gestapo came to even confiscate my temple recommend, let alone do me harm. Obviously, there are people with Mormon Church conspiracy theories...the delusional Beck tells those crazies exactly what they want to hear.
   
   Fact is, this book only benefits the Mormon Hater community, which gleefully has received it as a wet-dream come true. Everyone else comes off the loser in this book...especially Beck...her Harvard education apparently didn't make her smart enough to realize how incredibly juvenile and stupid this makes her look, and how it deeply diminishes her other otherwise "inspirational" writings. What a tragedy.



3. Is it too cynical to wonder if Martha Beck and the publisher waited to publish the book in March 2005 until her father, who she accused of sexual abuse, died in February 2005 so that he couldn't file Defamation of Character suit? Nah. This book wasn't exactly rushed to press; its time frame is 1988-93.
   
   If Martha Beck had true rape allegations, then they should have been investigated by law enforcement and this book should have been penned in a serious and complete manner. This is not the kind of allegation anyone makes without due process and protection of everybody's rights. The family appears to be looking at the possibility of a lawsuit and that seems an eminently reasonable way to get the facts surrounding this book out on the table once and for all.
   
   You''ve just got to wonder what the publisher was thinking to publish this unsubtantiated thesis of criminal accusations with real people named, accused without investigation, interview, or evidence, and at one point literally held hostage by the author, meanwhile deliberately omitting extremely relevent facts and context that would offer a different possible conclusions. It is a sneaky book; so much is deliberately left out of this book that would provide the reader with a different picture entirely. An investigation may prove that Martha Beck is the only perpetrator in this story.
   
   The entire construct of her absolute surity, her one piece of physical evidence all of it stems from one doctor commenting that she had scarring in her vaginal area, but this was after delivering multiple children vaginally. Irrespective of other possibilites, based entirely on the basis of this one physician statement, Martha Beck develops a hysterical reaction, including graphic mental images of shredding and haphazard healing of the vaginal tissue of a four year old who was raped by an adult male. After this medical comment she begins to have vague recollections of being sexually abused until she has a whole film crew working overtime in her head. With visions and interpretations of spiritual messages coming to her from God, she seems capable of imagining a lot.
   
   Does anyone remember the memory regression fad of the late 80s and the "therapists" out there who were actually creating memories, usually of women "remembering" that they had been sexually abused by their fathers? That's all been largely debunked nowadays and we can assume that it is a very rare thing. Mr. Ramona successfully sued his daughter's therapists and won over half a million dollars in a groundbreaking tort case that strengthened the right of injured family members to sue an irresponsible therapist. (For details read: "Spectral Evidence: The Ramona Case: Incest, Memory, And Truth On Trial In Napa Valley"). A good site: http://www.stopbadtherapy.com/resource/books.shtml M. Beck uses a pseudoname for her therapist. According to the family sites, her counselor's real name during this time of dregging up repressed memories was Lynn Finney, who now is completely out of the business of counselng and uncovering repressed memories. None of this is acknowledged in the book. As a matter of fact on her website now she goes to the other extreme and says memory recovery is completely debunked and was created by a pedophile... huh?
   
   Context-wise, I think it is important to remember that this book was written and rewritten multiple times as fiction, but it kept being rejected. The publisher thought it would have a better chance if it were nonfiction, presumably because Martha Beck had name recognition. Parts are still provably ficticious. One counselor that she gave the pseudoname "Grant" to was agonized over in the nonfiction version as being related to a Grant (real name) in the LDS church and she dithered about in the book as to whether they were related and if she was in danger because of that... ah, course not. It was a ficticious name.
   
   The book has a messy kitchen-sink approach, lots of ranting and raving about Mormon extremism, with which apparently Martha Beck found to be an easy shot. Insider dirt. Personal and mean-spirited stuff, like making them out to be weird about their underwear and secret marriage ceremonies (completely denied by a lot of Mormons as gargage they've never heard of). Anyway, who cares? They're not hurting anybody with their clothes or their marriage ceremonies. I found her mean-spiritedness and arrogance appalling, like her references to the "helmet hair" (styles) of the Mormon women attending a BYU seminar on women's issues. Come on! No heart? Here's the thing: change your opinion and your life if you want... no one is stopping you. Why the vicious personal attacks?
   
   Martha Beck is a self-righteous victim throughout the book, wrapping herself in multiple mantles of victimhood, the penultimate victim with God's peppermint voice in her ear. This stretch-the-truth-'til-it-breaks and then keep going gal presents herself as having God experiences all over the place. Self-reported, of course.
   
   Her tone of feminist militism is hilarious considering that she got her PhD in sociology from Harvard. Not exactly an oppressed life. And, for that matter she's a lesbian now, in spite of co-authoring a book about the evils of being gay with her husband who also came out as gay. And both of them did it after they had three children. But no one cares. No one is denying her right to seek happiness or holding her accountable for any of her polarizing to extremes and then taking the opposite extreme positions or trying to hold both opposing extreme positions. Where's the oppression?
   
   Part way through, in spite of the scorched earth writing about the Mormon doctrine, the Mormon culture, Harvard culture, etc., the pile driving agenda comes through loud and clear: Martha Beck is out to destroy her father. Not only does she not have any sort of evidence or collaboration for her "remembered" rapes from ages 4-7, but the circumstances appear to be virtually impossible for this to have happened as she claimed. Interestingly, she chose to omit from the truth-seeking-about-being-sexually-abused-as-a-child book the singular incident of a neighbor boy who attacked her when she was nine years old, and her father rescued her. Another important omission.
   
   It's bizarre that Martha Beck returns over and over in the book about how her Ivy League education taught her to present evidence and use logic, citing her professor holding up her paper between two fingers "like a dirty nappy" (we can empathize with his feelings) and taking apart her lack of logic and evidence: "eviscerating every false generalization or unsupported extrapolation I had typed... I thought I'd been impeccably fact-based..." Uh huh. And, then she proceeds to accuse her father without a shred of logic or evidence or collaboration, and then she publishes it as fact. It is extraordinarily foul.
   
   It's not just the writing that is foul. Her actions make her the Judge, Jury and Executioner by publishing the book the moment he died, leaving her grieving family with incalcuable pain and no immediate recourse at the worst time in their lives. As far as I'm concerned she can drop the impish cutsy "life coach" act on Oprah. The cat's out of the bag; the jig is up; the fat lady has sung. No truth-seeker is she. This will come as a shock to Martha Beck, but there are actually extremes where one rules the other out. For example, you probably can't accuse your entire family of nefarious crimes and cover up publicly, in print, when they have no recourse and also expect to be cherished among them.
   
   No surprise that her seven siblings and other relatives want nothing to do with her; she is using her public "life coach" platform to tear them to pieces as well as her father. If Martha Beck is to be believed, this book is published testimony to their criminal complicity of multiple rapes of their preschool sibling that took place repeatedly over three years, under their roof, in a tiny house, with a bedroom shared by two sisters, one sister an extremely light sleeper, in a rickety upper bunk, with mother in the room immediately next door, by Dad in an Egyptian costume... oh yeah, and always at 4:00 AM. Not one of her seven siblings backs up even one of her stories and some of them are no longer with the LDS Church (she claims LDS makes sure they can't speak the truth). They would have to be absolute monsters to allow this to happen and monsters to continue to deny it if it were true. Yet, in her book they seem like really nice, kind and caring people. There's the having-both-extremes thing again. The circumstances of this family's upbringing were hard scrabble, with an annual household income of around two thousand dollars for ten people, all family money was earned by her father who translated documents from a number of languages for the LDS Church. This hard- working family life has to include incalcuable untold sacrifices and lost personal opportunities with this kind of austerity. And this book, Martha Beck's book, with its' terrible allegations, is impossible to completely disprove no matter how untrue. I hope that they still have legal recourse. This injustice should not stand.
   
   This book is a real insight into this author's character. Martha Beck never questions herself when she kidnaps her 91 year old father, recently out of the hospital and holds him against his will in a hotel room (she calls it the "Incest Inn") for five hours, with a cousin and a friend hiding in case he says anything incriminating (he doesn't). She is silly when she needs to be serious, fantasy-based when she needs to be fact-based, bold when she should be cautious, callous when she should be kind, criminal when she should be legal.
   
   Martha Beck will probably dine out free on this book for a long time. She deliberately triggered a lot of hate and victim themes in this book presenting herself as a someone who has seen the light on a number of causes; former Mormon advocate, now Mormon-basher; former gay-basher now gay; claim to be a survivor of childhood rape, now militant feminist. I suspect Ms. Beck is a multiple victim, brave hero and scrappy survivor only in her imagination. She presents her book as vigilante justice, but it is criminal.



4. Leaving the Saints is a valuable book for anyone interested in closely taking a look at what they believe and why. I grew up enmeshed within religion and spirituality, most of which was taught and ingrained into my mind from as early as I can remember. While it is frightening for me to take an unbiased (as much as is possible anyway) look into my own belief system, it is necessary to do so. I don't want to be settled on what I believe primarily because it was the mainstream religion within my circle of friends and family. I want to search things out for myself, whatever the outcome. That is the journey I'm on right now, and this book is helping and encouraging me to do just that.
   
   I underlined so many parts of this book, thoroughly taken by the wit and wisdom within Martha's writing and experiences. I am not a Mormon and never have had much exposure to this religion, but that didn't matter. Mormonism was interesting to read about, but I was utterly captivated by Martha's candid and almost raw way of expressing her story. She's truly a gifted writer and thinker. I love the way her train of thought develops through each chapter. A definite thumbs up from me!



5. I grew up in a town that was 98% Mormon. Being in the minority, I spent my youth being either left out because I wasn't Mormon or barraged by members of the church to become one of them. If they are anything, Mormons are as relentlessas they are exclusionary. So I thought I knew a just about everything I'd ever want to know about them and their religion.
   
   In that, I was wrong.
   
   I've come to admire and trust Martha Beck through her other books and articles. She is funny and brutely honest in equal parts. In this book, she tells what would in the hands of any other writer been either excuriatingly painful or angry. Instead she treats her childhood sexual abuse by her father, one of Mormonism's inner circle, with compassion and understanding. Along the way, she tells the most honest account of her childhood religion that I've yet come across -- at her peril. Within the Mormon religion, there are those zealots who would do ANYTHING to stop someone from revealing things that might put their beliefs in question. Now that I've read this book, I know now why my gut was telling me to steer clear of all those efforts to convert me. And I am even more a fan of Martha Beck.

5 comments about Augustine of Hippo: A Biography (New Edition, with an Epilogue).

1. Peter Brown's AUGUSTINE of HIPPO is epic study of the adventure...the spiritual-intellectual ODYSSEY...that is Life of Aurelius Augustine,Saint and uber-Father of the Christian Church in the West. Brown's peerless biography details(36chapters;437pp)a life of towering intellectual genius from birth in AD 354 in Thagaste,Province of Northern Africa SPQR ;until his death as Bishop of Hippo in AD 430.His education is sweepingly arrayed ~beginning in Carthage as orator and magister;his thorough indoctrination in Manichaeism; his meeting with St.Ambrose and immersion in philosophy of Platonist...the birth & death of his brilliant son,Adeodatus,"gift of God"..;the everlasting presence/influence of his mother,Monica; the epiphany cited in THE CONFESSIONS,"to take and read(Biblical exhortations of St. Paul)"followed by his Conversion/Baptism and quick-fire Ordination as Roman Catholic priest;and almost-instant elevation to Bishop. This prelude is followed by Augustine's unsurpassed career as The West's first & premier existential-psychologist:THOU HAS MADE US FOR THYSELF LORD; AND OUR HEARTS ARE FOREVER RESTLESS UNTIL THEY REST IN THEE; and ironic humorist~LORD MAKE ME PURE...BUT NOT TODAY. As well as arch-foe of anti-Catholic heresy~Donatism; Pelagianism;and the Occult(with which he was expertly familiar having been 10 year Initiate therein).
   
   Augustine's CITY of GOD is not only the first consummate philosophy of History (surpassing Herodotus "then";and Hegel/Spengler & even Marx "now" in effect on history. CITY of GOD shaped the LOGOS,world-view of Western Man for 1000 years/entire MIDDLE AGES(ca~AD 476-AD 1517).Austine wrote catechisms ENCHIRIDION);treatises on Free Will;predestination;and is formulator of the Christian concept of ORIGINAL SIN.Augustinian theology l comprises(ironically)most fundamental notions of Protestant Reformers. Catholic Church champion St.Thomas Aquinas is -as-indebted to him as to Aristotle in framing THE SUMMA THEOLOGICA.
   
   
   Peter Brown's new St.AUGUSTINE of HIPPO is not so much revision but carefully written...in modus of Augustine..reflection on what he had once written.There is brief preface.There is extensively documented epilogue comprised as New Evidence;& New Directions(pp441-520).There is expanded bibliography & index.The 1967 edition is 463pp;the new is 538pp.
   Any student of Augustine knows that with him "more is More. Whether 75pp mas is MORE, the reader will of course determine.Brown's book is the classic,unlikely to be surpassed,study of a genius in the service of God,SERVUS DEI. Any serious student of theology,philosophy;or history of Ideas must confront St.Augustine of Hippo.This profound, mythology-like masterwork is not the opus to start with.But when you're ready "to TAKE & READ",it is matchless story-telling that is worthy of the unique,perhaps most remarkable,QUEST for God & Truth that a great and gifted man ever committed his life toward. (777 stars)



2. This a revised edition of a very good biography of St Augustine of Hippo. Although I am in the mist of reading this bio I find the writing inviting and histology very well done.



3. Augustine's is a severe and forbidding character. His intellectually rigorous reasoning on(and harsh views of) salvation and grace made him an inspiration to Calvin and the Puritans. But gloomy though his view of human nature might be, Augustine was intense and passionate, a theologian and philosopher with a poet's sensitivity to natural beauty and the use of language. This books puts the reader in Augustine's mind and life: there is the young man dedicated to an idealistic pursuit of truth,surrounded by admiring friends and family; later, his imposition of that truth on the all-too-human structure of the early Christian church will be fraught with challenge. Augustine knew Rome and Roman Africa in their glory days; he died as Africa fell to Vandal invaders who would impose a century of brutal rule. Peter Brown brings the tumultuous period in which Augustine lived fully and comprehensively alive; he makes us one with a brilliant, uncompromising, surprisingly compassionate human being.



4. This is an excellent scholarly biography of Augustine of Hippo. Peter Brown gives a thorough and balanced treatment of all of the important aspects of Augustine's life, thought, and historical context. I personally used this book as my set textbook for an independent study course I took on St. Augustine when I was attending university.
   
   Brown does a very good job of summarizing important philosophical and theological concepts that are central to understanding Augustine's significance to the history of Christianity.
   
   However, despite my very positive appraisal of this book, I feel that this might not be the best choice for people making their first entry into Augustine.



5. this is the best and most easily understood bio of St Augustine, I love it.

5 comments about Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret (Hendrickson Classic Biographies).

1. Very well written and worthy of commendation. I recommend in for all, especially to those who are seeking, with hope, a trophy of God's dispensations in the diverse and many operations of this world about them, and in them.
   There certainly is a refuge in the midst of the storms, who is Christ Jesus...but, sometimes, it is neddful to direct thy bow to face the storm, and to ride the waves right into the storm. It is there, that we may find an "eye" in the storm, with peace and tranquility our anchors and mainstay.



2. Very informative and honest account of what it is really like in practice to trust in Jesus Christ to fulfill your needs when you are loving and obeying the Lord's Word (the Bible).



3. This work regarding the testimony of God's faithfulness to Hudson Taylor is truly inspiring and amazing. Hudson Taylor was truly a unique individual that sought to pioneer the mission movement in inland. While other missionaries were content to stay in the large metropolitan centers of Asia dotted along the coastline, Taylor ventured forth with a firm faith in God with the purpose of bringing the Gospel to the Chinese countryside. The title of the book is somewhat of a misnomer as the secret is no secret. Taylor bowed his knee in simple obedience to clear biblical commands. The secret of the book is how it documents Taylor's account of how God used him. God said "Go!" and Taylor went, and the influence of that is still being impacted on Asia. The book shows the uniqueness of Taylor as God worked in his spiritual formation, mission philosophy and practice. The Hudson Taylor's spiritual secret is attributed to his radical commitment to live a life in which he completely trusted in God and the living out of the Great Commission.



4. This book is simply one of the most powerful books you could read to draw you to the Lord, in increased trust, fervor and understanding of His love.



5. This book has helped to change my life. It is neatly and gently written, and seems to convey a part of Hudson Taylor's own gentleness with it. No Christian library can be complete without it. It is a book you read over every so often, in an attempt to spur you towards reaching what Hudson Taylor called 'the exchanged life'. Next to the Bible, this is one of about five books that has radically changed my outlook on life.

5 comments about The Quest for Shakespeare.

1. Pearce gives a fine introduction to a growing field of study regarding the Catholic faith and the Bard.



2. Joseph Pearce is a prominent biographer cum Catholic apologist, and of course he presents the case for Shakespeare as a Catholic. Is Pearce's presentation of this a "slam dunk", as another reviewer puts it? By no means. There has been a great deal of recent scholarship, some judicious and reliable and some wildly speculative, without admitting such.
   
   Now, I am sympathetic to the Catholic case. But as a matter truth, we must admit that the case is one of plausibility and probability, with an enormous number of unanswered -- and probably unanswerable -- questions. Even admitting that Shakespeare was raised a Catholic (almost certain) and was persistently interested in traditional religious images and theological questions, we have no way of knowing what he personally believed -- the plays do not contain an explicit statement of faith. For judicious and critical but sympathetic reviews of the issues, I recommend two reviews from the journal, First Things:
   
   http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=5374
   http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=6202
   
   If you want a biography that will inspire your Catholic faith and sensibilities, by all means read Pearce. And feel free to substitute five stars for my two. (Even at that I would allow only four stars because I find Pearce a rather superficial and tedious writer.)
   
   If you want a fairer reading of the evidence, sympathetic without overstatement to the the Catholic case, start with the two articles mentioned or reading Michael Woods' outstanding book, "Shakespeare" (the DVD of the PBS series called "In Search of Shakespeare" is fabulous). Michael Woods' book has the further advantage of have a really good annotated bibliography--he even sites the opposition literature.



3. Joseph Pearce shows us convincingly the overwhelming evidence that Shakespeare was Catholic in a very objective manner, distinguishing always between facts that have proof to back them up and speculations that have only circumstantial evidence. This book is easy to read and imperative to understand Shakespeare and the times he lived in. Unfortunately, Pearce spends only one chapter (really an appendix) demonstrating how the knowledge of Shakespeare's Catholicity should affect our reading of his works, and the work he chooses is King Lear, not exactly one of the most famous of Shakespeare's plays. I wish he had chosen Hamlet or Macbeth. I hope that in the future, Pearce will do an in-depth study of more of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets.



4. I am very pleased to thank the Author for this book, that has got me to know the true Shakespeare. It's a wonderful book, very charming and convincing in its quest for the facts or the various degrees of plausible possibilities about the facts concerning the life and the character of the great Playwright. What I liked in particular was the clear and frank dismantling of the pretentious theories of so many scholars who pretend to dress the Poet with `their' personal mental habits...Again thanks, and I'm going to read these marvellous plays with a new and deeper awareness.



5. A very serious look at the subject; and once the evidence is examined in the light of the times in which they occurred, then I concur!