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Book Review: TBS Missionary Discipleship
Title: Threshold Bible Study: Missionary Discipleship Author: Stephen J. Binz Published: New London, Connecticut: Twenty-Third Publications, 2017. 130-pages. My Perspective My first introduction to the Threshold Bible Study series was at my parish when I joined a Sunday Bible study group. The books were designed to be used as a small group or for individual study. They are organized and presented so that a specific topic can be covered in six sessions (at least that has been my experience thus far). Each session has a number of quick sections followed by questions. The sections typically start with a Bible quotation, followed by commentary, then questions, and then a prayer. It is not meant to be read in one sitting, although one could. I have enjoyed going through several years of these small group sessions. There are many times we have drifted “off track,” but I believe these for the most part were guided by the Holy Spirit to allow the group to respond to issues that appeared to be outside the topic, but in reality they helped us gain a better understanding of our relationship with God. This particular book is about missionary discipleship. All Christians that have been baptized…
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Book Review: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Title: Ender’s Game Author: Orson Scott Card Published: New York: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 1994. Pages-349. Preamble This book was recommended to me several years ago and has been sitting on my shelf perhaps longer. I grew up reading lots of science-fiction and fantasy books. So, on a recent camping trip, I grabbed this copy and brought it along. I devoured it. It was like the old days. I am an early riser, usually five AM every day. So, there I was, reading in my camp chair, as the litany of birds serenaded me in the early morning hours, reading all about Ender. This book originally came out in 1985 while I was serving in the Navy. At the time, I was an avid Dungeon’s and Dragon’s player. In 1985 I was reading Dragonlance Chronicles and in the science-fiction genre, Armor by John Steakley. After reading the book, I can understand the fascination accredited to it. As a side note, I have not watched the movie. My Perspective The story takes place in a futuristic earth setting in which mankind is threatened with a war against alien bugs. It is an us vs them mentality. Most of the book takes…
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Book Review: Social Problems by Ezra Thayer Towne (1929)
Title: Social Problems: A Study of Present-Day Social Conditions Author: Ezra Thayer Towne Published: New York: The MacMillan Company, 1929. 406-pages. About the Author[1] [2] Ezra Thayer Towne, an American economist, was born on April 1, 1873 in Waupun, Wisconsin and died February 27, 1952 in Grand Forks County, North Dakota. He was the son of William Hammond and Marion (Kingsbury) Towne. His education and career is as follows: an advanced course at the State Normal School in Oshkosh, Wisconsin (1894); Assistant Principal at De Pere High School in Wisconsin (1894-95); B.L. University of Wisconsin (1897); Graduate work at the University of Wisconsin (1897-99); Studied at the New York School of Philanthropy (1898); Superintendent of Schools in Sharon, Wisconsin (1899-1901); Studied and traveled in Europe (1901-03); earned his Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Halle, Germany (1903); acting professor and professor of economics and political science at Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota (1903-17); Head of the department of economics and political science, and director of course in commerce at the University of North Dakota (1917-24) and later Dean of School of Commerce (1924-48); Doctor of Humanities, University of North Dakota (1948). He was the author of several works, including: The…
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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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Review: The Scholar’s Mission
Title: “The Scholar’s Mission” in The Works of Orestes A. Brownson Collected and Arranged by Henry F. Brownson Volume XIX pages 65-87. Author: Orestes Augustus Brownson Published: New York: AMS Press Inc., 1966. An oration pronounced before the Gamma Sigma Society, of Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H., July 26, 1843. Preamble I was introduced to Brownson in The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk. Since then, I bought the twenty-volume collection of his works assembled by his son. I am surprised I had never heard of him before, but what usually happens after I find someone like this, is his name will suddenly start appearing in other works I read. It is just the fact that now I am aware of him. That is true with so many other things in life. Think of many of the great discoveries made throughout history, once they are known, then it is easy to see. It is like the old tale about Christopher Columbus and the egg. Supposedly he was sitting around with some other people after he discovered America and they were saying how it was not really a big deal. He asked for an egg and requested that they each try to…
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Book Review: A Manual of English Prose Literature Biographical and Critical by William Minto
Title: A Manual of English Prose Literature Biographical and Critical Designed Mainly to Show Characteristics of Style Author: William Minto Published: Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1881. Pages-548. Preamble This book was easy to read and well organized. It has provided me with a better understanding of English Literature and its composition. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in either topic. About the Author The International Association for Scottish Philosophy states that William Minto was born October 10, 1845 at Nether Auchintoul, near Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and died March 1, 1893 in Aberdeen, Scotland. His father, James Minto, was a farmer and his mother was Barbara Copland. At the University of Aberdeen he took honors in the departments of classics, mathematics, and philosophy, graduating with a MA in 1865. He served as an assistant, from 1867 to 1873, to Alexander Bain the professor of Logic at the University of Aberdeen. In 1872 he published the first edition of this book. From 1873 to 1880 he lived in London and contributed numerous literary and political articles to The Examiner, Daily News, and the Encyclopedia Britannica. When Bain retired in 1880, Minto took his place as Regius Chair…
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Book Review: The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft by George Gissing
Title: The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft Author: George Robert Gissing Published: London: Phoenix House Ltd., 1953 (First published 1903). Forward by Cecil Chisholm. Pages-220. Preamble There are books that help me understand who I am, this book is one of those. Now I cannot identify exactly with the character of Henry Ryecroft, but, there are moments of truth that encapsulate certain aspects of myself that Gissing clarified. Gissing portrays Ryecroft as a humble, contemplative, and very mature Englishman of fifty-three. He himself was only forty-three when he wrote this story and he never lived to be the age of his character, Ryecroft. I am convinced that Gissing did not just happen to stumble on the portrayal of Ryecroft, he has a very well-defined sense of human character. This must have come from many hours of contemplative thought and self-reflection. The character is very humble, knows what he enjoys, recognizes his age, and has on overall very mature look on life. Here is a man who can stop and smell the roses, one who can appreciate what he has done in his youth, and yet knows those days are gone, and accepts it. He does not pine away on the…
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Book Review: Wordsworth and Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 1798
Title: Wordsworth and Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 1798 Authors: William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge Editor: W. J. B. Owen, Professor of English McMaster University Published: Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969. Pages-180. This was the first collection of poems that Wordsworth and Coleridge put out. It was released in 1798. I got this book from my local library because I am interested in finding out more about the Lake poets. Therefore, this was not a random pick out of the hat. I have some meaning for reading and discussing this work. This essay will cover a brief biographical sketch of the two poets and the editor, and next a discussion of the editor’s portion, and then finally my impression of the poems contained therein. William Wordsworth was born April 7, 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumberland, England and died April 23, 1850 in Grasmere, Westmorland, England.[1] His mother died when he was eight, and his father five years later.[2] Before the age of thirteen , his father had him memorize “large portions” of Spenser, Shakespeare, and Milton.[3] He attended St. John’s College, Cambridge, in which he exhibited mediocre academic progress, and instead of striving for honors and fellowship, he settled with a pass…
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Book Review: Justice by John Galsworthy
Title: Justice: A Tragedy in Four Acts Author: John Galsworthy Published: New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1910. Pages-109. Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As, to be hated, needs but to be seen; Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace. Alexander Pope (1688 – 1744) An Essay on Man: Epistle II, Lines 217-220[1] John Galsworthy (1867-1933) was an English novelist and playwright. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932.[2] He studied law and was called to the bar in 1890.[3] Shortly afterwards, with a goal to specialize in marine law, he took a voyage around the world in which he met and befriended Joseph Conrad.[4] The Encyclopedia Britannica calls Galsworthy “A passionate partisan of liberal humanitarianism, he had little sympathy with the modern movement in the arts taking place around him. … He had, in short, no profound understanding of human nature, only a keen emotional feeling for the society in which he had himself been brought up and a sentimental esteem for the underdog.”[5] The article gave most of its attention to Galsworthy’s Forsyth Saga, but did have a short comment on this particular work; “Justice (1910),…
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Book Review: Essays and Essay Writing by William M. Tanner
Title: Essays and Essay Writing: Based on Atlantic Monthly Models Editor: William M. Tanner Published: Boston: The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1918. Pages-307. This is embarrassing. I just recently bought this book at a used book store. I put it in my stack to read, my current stack to read that is. There have been many stacks that went unread and then eventually became assimilated into the ever-growing collection that is my home library. I had just finished reading one of the books in my “new” stack when I looked at this book and the spine. It seemed very familiar to me. Had I purchased this book before? Did another copy lurk on my shelves somewhere? I went exploring. Not only did I find another copy, I found two. I now have three copies of this book and I have never read it. Well, time to fix that! I will have to read it, see if it is any good, and then give a couple copies away to someone whom I think will enjoy it. That, my friends, is how this book came to be next in my review list. What is an essay? Tanner explains it is difficult to understand…
