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Book Review: The Case for Jesus by Brant J. Pitre
Title: The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ Author: Brant J. Pitre Published: New York: Image, 2016. Pages-242. About the Author[1] Dr. Brant J. Pitre is a native of Houma, Louisiana and is currently the Chair of the Department of Sacred Scripture at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana. He earned his Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Notre Dame in 2004, where he majored in Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity with a minor in Systematic Theology. His dissertation was “The Historical Jesus, the Great Tribulation, and the End of the Exile: Restoration Eschatology and the Origin of the Atonement.” He currently lives in Gray, Louisiana, with his wife Elizabeth, and their five children. My Perspective “Did Jesus of Nazareth claim to be God?”[2] That is the main question of this book. But as I started to read it appeared more about the authorship of the Gospels. This makes it appear as if Pitre was going off on a tangent, he is not, so stay with it. It is vital to his argument. If we have been led to believe that the Gospels are anonymous then the question on the veracity of their message…
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Book Review, English 20th Century, Europe 18th Century, Europe 19th Century, History, My Ramblings, Social Commentary
Book Review: The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot
The cornerstone of Kirk’s essay is that Edmund Burke (1729-1797) was the founder of Modern Conservatism. I have read two of Burke’s works, Speech on Conciliation with America (1775) and Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). I found them both to be profound. Kirk takes up the conservative conversation starting with Burke and expounds upon it. He goes into depth explaining what he feels are the key points that Burke stressed and how these were continued in both the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
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Book Review: The Reluctant Disciple: Daring to Believe
Title: The Reluctant Disciple: Daring to Believe Author: David Wells, the Director of adult faith formation in the Diocese of Plymouth. Married with three kids. Guest-lectures at three universities.[1] Published: Toronto, Ontario: Novalis, 2015. Pages-181. At my church, for the last couple of years, I have attended a book/Bible study facilitated by our parish priest in between the 8:30 and 11:00 a.m. Mass. We have read and discussed several books from C.S. Lewis and many that were strictly Bible study. We just finished with The Reluctant Disciple. I will be honest, when it was first mentioned I had my doubts. I guess I can tend to be cynical. I was all for Augustine’s Confessions, but Father was probably correct in steering us away from that. Now that we have finished the book, I can truly say it was a good fit for our group. Wells presents thirty chapters that are each titled with a catchy phrase such as, “What the turkey taught us,” Stupid Me,” and “Are you keeping busy?” The chapters start with a few lines of scripture, then, an anecdotal story from Well’s personal life, followed by a part he calls “Making connections, which is really just seeking…
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Book Review: The Truth of Catholicism: Ten Controversies Explored
Title: The Truth of Catholicism: Ten Controversies Explored Author: George Weigel Published: New York: Harper Collins, 2001; Hardcover 196-pages. This book is about reaching out and attempting to start a discussion about Catholicism for those that want to learn more about their own journey or those just curious to know what we believe. There are a lot of good topics in here to discuss with family and friends over a meal or instead of turning on the television. John Paul II was pope when this book was written. Some of the views you can tell were influenced from this time in history. Parts seem almost prophetic about what is to come. The questions are very important, it has been said that a good question is worth more than a good answer. A good question makes us think and search inside ourselves for an answer, it makes us know more about who we are and we grow. One of the strongest messages that come through is the sanctity of truth. As Catholics, we believe that truth is not dependent on how many people believe something to be true, it just is. If all the world denied God, he is still God. …
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Book Review: Liturgy 101: Sacraments and Sacramentals
Title: Liturgy 101: Sacraments and Sacramentals Author: Daniel G. Van Slyke Published: Liguori Publications; Liguori, Missouri; 2010; Paperback 143-pages. The title explains this book quite well, it is an entry level look at liturgy in relation to the sacraments and sacramentals. With that being said, it is not a dry, point by point, presentation of the facts, instead, Van Slyke presents the information in a language and style that is modern and easily understood. His true desire is for the reader to learn and develop a love and understanding of the special gift the sacraments entail. Basic terminology, such as, liturgy, sacrament, rite, Rite, rights, ordinary and extraordinary, that we hear so often, and yet perhaps do not fully understand their meaning, he explains with a look into ancient languages, history, cultural influences, and biblical references. A vital part of the didactic process is provided at the end of each chapter: a number of thought provoking questions, a list of abbreviations and sources used, and a few suggestions of additional reading. Modern complaints about the sacraments are presented and defended. The importance of the seven sacraments as a gift from God and that they are the “Pillars of the Church”…
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Selected Poems of Matthew Arnold
This is a selection of poems from the English poet Matthew Arnold (1822-88). This is my first time reading a collection of Arnold’s work. The book breaks up the poems into four sections: early poems, narrative poems, sonnets, and lyric and elegiac poems. I believe when you read a person’s literary works, you get an idea of who the writer is. This is especially true of poetry. I get the sense of longing for what might have been that was not: a traveler looking for answers. His Scholar-Gipsy epitomizes this feeling I get of who Arnold was. Reading the collection, I get the sense that he was a determined and strongly dedicated man. He believed in lofty ideals and hoped fervently for justice to prevail. However, his Idealism was tempered with the reality of how things usually turn out. Many of his writings deal with travelers and customs. The characters experience a crisis of choice that must be made and it does not end in a fairy tale ending, but rather a realistic view. Of his early poems, I particularly enjoyed Stagirius . The narrative poem Sohrab and Rustum tells a father and son story of how fate can be…
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Patrology: The Lives and Works of the Fathers of the Church
By Otto Bardenhewer translated by Thomas J. Shahan 1908. First of all, this book was not written for the casual reader. It is a great handbook to learn about the first five centuries of the Christian Church. It is full of rich references and copious notes that is a delight to the researcher or historian. Any person with a strong interest in early Christian history would find this book informative. The writer makes the assumption that the reader has a basic understanding of Greek, Latin, and the Bible. In describing the early writers he starts with a short bio and then follows it up with what works they wrote. He mentions which writings are still extant and which ones may have been erroneously attributed. One of the things that jumped out at me was how much material has been written in the past compared to how little has been preserved. I was led to believe that the reason a lot of old writings are no longer available, is because the “church” destroyed them. Well, why wasn’t the church able to save so many important documents of their own? Then I got to thinking about how even we, the United States…
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The Defense of Poesy
Otherwise known as An Apology for Poetry by Sir Philip Sidney Edited with Introduction and Notes by Alfred S. Cook 1890 The actual Defense of Poesy was only 58 pages, however with an introduction of 40 pages and 74 pages of copious notes, I was curious enough to buy this book and read it. Who was Sir Philip Sidney and why had I never heard of him? Sidney (1554-1586) was an Englishman who died young at the age of thirty-one. In that short span of years he traveled throughout Europe, he was appointed as an Ambassador to Germany, was a member of Parliament (twice), knighted by the Queen of England, married, had a daughter who became a Countess, appointed Governor of Flushing (Netherlands), fought, and later died from a wound at the Battle of Zutphen (part of the Eighty Years’ War). He is known to have written Astrophel and Stella, The Lady of May, Arcadia, and the Defense of Poesy. He was an acquaintance of both Edmund Spenser and Sir Francis Drake. This was the Elizabethan Age. What amazed me was the breadth of sources that Sidney uses in this work. He was evidently extremely well read. Not only was he…
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Elements of Philosophy
Comprising Logic and Ontology, or General Metaphysics by Rev. Walter H. Hill, S.J. 1892 After reading Aristotle’s Logic and Metaphysics recently, this book certainly clarified and explained several key concepts. Hill introduces each core topic and then goes on to explain them in a concise, easy to understand terminology. The topics move along very quickly and the concepts are only briefly explained. The author does not try to teach a new course of philosophy, but rather explain where things are as of this date (1892). There are several Latin and Greek phrases interspersed as needed, but nothing that a rudimentary knowledge of these would not be able to overcome. Reading this book gave me the impression I had the professors notebook. In the Preface it states, “The author derived much help from notes taken in private study years ago, but which were prepared with no thought of ever employing them for any other purpose than his own instruction.” Keeping that in mind, the structure makes sense. I am sure I will refer back and reread sections of this book again. The section on syllogisms I found particularly useful. “Logic explains the laws of right reasoning; it is, when considered under…
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The Vatican: Its History – Its Treasures
Written in 1914 Being born and raised a Roman Catholic I had to buy this book when I saw it at our local Friends of the Library shop. The book is physically huge 12.5″ x 9.5″ x 2″. It is full of photographs (unfortunately black & white). Since the book was written in 1914 you get a sense of the unique political landscape at the time. The Pope (Pius X) is known as the “Prisoner of the Vatican”. The four Popes before him never set foot outside the Vatican to step on Italian soil. This was a result of political relations between Italy and the Vatican in1870. It is a little hard to imagine when we think of the modern Popes and how they travel so much. The book had four major parts. Part one covered the history and a general description of the Vatican palaces and gardens. Part two covered the state apartments and chapels. Part three the Vatican museums, collections, and mosaic factory. Part four was the administration. At times I felt like I was reading a brochure for a museum. Which by the way, the Vatican IS an excellent museum. So why did the Popes think it…
