Paul Gross Books

Since its publication in French in 1938, Gross's book has been the primary reference work on deification in the period of Greek patristics. The book contains a compilation and translation of over 1.250 texts on deification, which inform the author's analysis of the doctrine's development from the apostolic fathers to John of Damascus. It is a work of impressive scholarship that draws upon all the major critical editions of the texts.

»The Divinization of the Christian« demonstrates how widely the conception of theosis was held in the early church and the role that it played in the major christological and pneumatological debates of the time. For scholars who are working in the fields of patristics or historical theology, this is an indispensable resource. For scholars in biblical studies, a substantial section also is devoted to the origins of the doctrine in the Bible and in pseudepigraphical writings.

Those familiar with the original work in French will find that the scholarly apparatus has been completely updated and a number of new features added, including a table of authors and works, a biblical index, and an extensive subject index.

The Divinization of the Christian According to the Greek Fathers is an English translation of Jules Gross' PhD Dissertation. Although a little aged, this work is invaluable to any students interested in the doctrine of deification in the early Fathers. Gross includes a brief overview of the doctrine in the Old and New Testaments, but the heart of his work focuses on this subject in the Fathers, which is where he excels. This monograph is by no means comprehensive, but it is a tremendous resource for those interested in the subject.

Since its publication in French in 1938, Gross's book has been the primary reference work on deification in the period of Greek patristics. The book contains a compilation and translation of over 1.250 texts on deification, which inform the author's analysis of the doctrine's development from the apostolic fathers to John of Damascus. It is a work of impressive scholarship that draws upon all the major critical editions of the texts.

»The Divinization of the Christian« demonstrates how widely the conception of theosis was held in the early church and the role that it played in the major christological and pneumatological debates of the time. For scholars who are working in the fields of patristics or historical theology, this is an indispensable resource. For scholars in biblical studies, a substantial section also is devoted to the origins of the doctrine in the Bible and in pseudepigraphical writings.

Those familiar with the original work in French will find that the scholarly apparatus has been completely updated and a number of new features added, including a table of authors and works, a biblical index, and an extensive subject index.

I had to read this book over this past summer for Leadership Team on my college campus and loved this book. The chapters are short so it is easy to put the book down if something arises (you won't want to though...) and the lessons and insight is simply wonderful. I think that anyone that is of college age or older should read this book and try to take the lessons learned to heart. It reveals the wonder of God and the depth of his love and power like few books I know, and I can't fully explain my love for this book. A definite must read for anyone serious about strengthening and developing their faith! :-)

If you don't want to be challenged as a Christian, do not buy this book. The writers cover many areas of the Christian life from faith to fellowship to what it means to truly be a follower of Jesus. The writing is down to earth and honest . These people have lived what they write about and do not pretend to be super-saints. Every chapter ends with suggestions for further reading which is invaluable. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting a deeper, more committed Christian life.

THE LAYOUT IS VERY CONSISTANT AND THE CONTENT MADE EASY TO READ AND UNDERSTAND EVEN FOR BEGINNERS STUDYING AT GCSE A'LEVEL. THE KEY AREAS: THE NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGY, COGNITIVE, SOCIAL, COMPARATIVE AND DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY, AND PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES AS STATED ON THE BACK PAGE. PLEASE DO NOT OVERLOOK OR NEGLECT THE AGEING,ADOLESCENCE AND ADULTHOOD, SEX AND GENDER,PSYCHOPATHOLOGY, AND TREATMENTS AND THERAPIES.THEY ARE INVALUABLE TOPICS.

Using this book to supplement studies in psychology at advanced level courses makes understanding key concepts easy. However, some high foluted language often makes the text confusing.

The New Idea Factory got my mind working and came off as a well coordinated effort between a business journalist and a pair of academics-turned entrepreneurs. In addition to bringing to light ways private companies can make profits by exploiting research paid for by the public or by the parents of students, this book has a way of getting one to think outside the box. Thinking outside the box is a creative process and from the creative process comes new ideas. This is a must read for any businessman.

By Dr. Paul Joannides - repost
Sorry, but I'm the author of this book, and they wouldn't print this note unless I gave the book a star rating.

We've been wrestling with Amazon for the past year to have the current 5th edition of the GUIDE TO GETTING IT ON come up first when shoppers do a search. It still doesn't. Instead, the 3rd edition from 2001 comes up. Heck, the German edition comes up before the current 5th edition!

I pride myself on making sure that you get the absolute latest information, and I put more work into each new edition than a lot of authors put into an entire new book. You are selling yourself short if you read anything other than the current 5th edition, which is light years better than the 4th edition.

You might ask, what's changed about sex? There's a tremendous amount of new information about human sexuality that is coming out all of the time. We are constantly finding out that we've been wrong about certain things, plus there's new research findings to analyze and integrate. At any given time, I've got a "must read" stack of new publications about sexuality that is at least three feet high--from the latest in the Journal of Sexual Medicine to learning about new sex slang.

If you are reading The Guide, I hope you'll make sure it is the latest edition--which for now is the 5th with a publication date of 2006. We did an updated 2nd printing of this edition in June of 2007.

This book is one of the best guides you can find for overall, general information about the sex act. It is very ambitious, and runs the gamut from top to bottom, left to right and every other direction. It's fun to read, and is a must for any sexually active couple. Couples may also like a more specific book about oral sex. The Sensuous Couple's (Flip Over) Guide to Seismic Oral Sex is highly recommended because it is a flip over book. One side is dedicated to cunnilingus; flip it over, and the other side is dedicated to fellatio. Both acts get equal treatment, and it is not necessarily heterosexually biased. Highly recommended.

I have been using this book since 1998 and I have been giving it as a gift to anyone interested in sex. This is well written, well researched book, and the authors know when to poke fun and when to be serious making it a balanced read.
The best part about this book is you can read it cover to cover and gain insight into all aspects of sex including the social history or you can grab the index and read only the sections that apply to you and you won't feel like you're missing something.

I purchased this book for myself at the age of 41. I am greatly impressed by it and I have only read Chapters 1-6 so far (out of 71). It presents the material in a casual and sometimes humorous manner. By doing that it makes you feel comfortable reading about things that are most often not talked about in our society. It is written so that it can appeal to and inform any age reader.

Sorry, but I'm the author of this book, and they wouldn't print this note unless I gave the book a star rating.

We've been wrestling with Amazon for the past year to have the current 5th edition of the GUIDE TO GETTING IT ON come up first when shoppers do a search. It still doesn't. Instead, the 3rd edition from 2001 comes up. Heck, the German edition comes up before the current 5th edition!

I pride myself on making sure that you get the absolute latest information, and I put more work into each new edition than a lot of authors put into an entire new book. You are selling yourself short if you read anything other than the current 5th edition, which is light years better than the 4th edition.

You might ask, what's changed about sex? There's a tremendous amount of new information about human sexuality that is coming out all of the time. We are constantly finding out that we've been wrong about certain things, plus there's new research findings to analyze and integrate. At any given time, I've got a "must read" stack of new publications about sexuality that is at least three feet high--from the latest in the Journal of Sexual Medicine to learning about new sex slang.

If you are reading The Guide, I hope you'll make sure it is the latest edition--which for now is the 5th with a publication date of 2006. We did an updated 2nd printing of this edition in June of 2007.

The ups and downs of love and tragedy for a young college couple. Good portrayal of the doubts and missteps taken in response to life events and the decisions and emotions which tend to keep people on the right track, even when faced with adversity. An enjoyable read with a happyily-ever-after ending.

"The Locket" story is continuing on with the same characters. Michael and Faye's romantic relationship continues. This book is sentimental, sad, and touching. This is a wonderful book.

This is the first Evans book I read. I fell in love with his writing immediately. I love his down to earth style and his ability to write a wonderful romance based on true love, not lust. If you are tired of having to skip over porn while reading a romance novel, check out this one. I recommend you start with the first in this series, The Locket. The main characters Michael, Faye, and Ester are easy to fall in love with. This book certainly doesn't sugar coat life. It is very frank about the unfairness of life, but it is not super depressing and the message is full of hope.

This book would appeal to both males and females. I think anyone who enjoys a love story, whether they are 14 or 80 years old, would love this series.

Michael and Faye's story began in another book and continued in this one is one that promises lasting love and emotion....hope even in the event of adversity......

Maybe it is idealistic for me to feel that "love conquers all" but having been married to my first and only husband for nearly thirty years and two children and two grandchildren, I KNOW that love does conquer all and that no matter what happens you can get past it and continue to live and be happy!!!

Though I must admit the story was poignant and I agree that life is like a carousel at times, it left me unsatisfied... This is the first book I've read of Evans, and he's a good author, but at times I was left hanging and wondering...it felt like a soap opera episode... It's a decent read, though, and the publishing company did a really good job designing his books, so don't be surpised if you're drawn to this book.

As "America's Romance Guru", I found this book THE BEST on human sexuality. I had no idea there was so much one could pack into one book. It looks like a reference book, but I couldn't help but read it from cover to cover, not only because it was so interesting, but because it was incredibly entertaining.

So many writers take themselves very serious when writing about sex, but The Guide pokes fun at sexual intimacy. It's wit was very appreciated. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in any aspect of sex.

As sex and intimacy coaches we highly recommend this book. If you are looking for a fun, hip, and detailed guide to pleasure for men, women and couples, look no further. The Guide to Getting it On has it all. It is a must-have for every household who is interested in keeping their sex life hot.

I'm replacing my old copy with the new version, because this publication is my first choice for beginning sex-ed with my stepdaughter.

This book doesn't demonize consentual sex at all. It's about making consentual sex pleasant and safe for both participants, and it does a great job. It covers topics other books haven't even touched! For example, one picture flatly demonstrates that a partner who helps out with the housework is far more likely to get sex than one who doesn't. How many books touch that third rail???

There are pictures showing the differences between circumsized and uncircumsized penises, as well as genitalia (male and female) of different shapes and sizes. I firmly believe that these will prevent emotionally painful experiences for many young adults beginning to have sex. The information is accessible, and having read the book before I know it will break the ice for the more detailed sex talk with my stepdaughter with both humor and seriousness, while at all times giving vital information.

I was looking for a birthday present at a bookstore when I ran across this title and laughed at it and took it to show a friend of mine who was there with me so she could laugh at it too. This must be the trashiest sex guide in the world, I thought.

Then I started flipping through it.

It was intelligent. And informative. And funny. And contained details and suggestions that I had actually never heard of. (The oral sex section in particular contains the most straightforward, clear and thoughtful instructions on this topic that I have ever come across, and I have not led a sheltered life.)

I bought it right away as the birthday gift I was looking for, but then ended up reading most of it before I gave it away. Now I'm back to buy another copy for another friend. The guy who gave this just one star probably was expecting another clinical social sex review with funny anecdotes, and not a guide that gives you detailed sexual advice that you can actually use. This is also not simply a book of positions, or a book of thinly disguised porn with deep-throating instructions. The advice given here is realistic, honest, and very, very useful.

this guide is a keeper. whether you need some helpful tips or just want to broaden your horizon, this book is worth the money. i have boyfriends and women friends alike borrow my copy.

The bad points, first:

1. Who was the book written for? There was lots of strange, inaccessible vocabulary throughout the text that made this suspiciously like many other texts that a person might encounter in a Philosophy class in undergraduate. (Think back to all those classes that you sat through where you thought that you might perish of boredom before the 50 minutes was up.) There are other books that have dealt with pseudoscience in a much more engaging manner (notably the Robert Park book, "Voodoo Science"). If the point was the let people know about the fraud that characterizes American academia, why not write the book in a way more accessible to the hoi polloi?

2. The tone of this book was extremely bitter/ acerbic/ angry. I know that it is hard to be patient with people that are uttering nonsense with seeming profundity. But it is hard to separate a point about the seriousness of someone's scholarship from the bitter, ranting tone of this book.

3. I tend to think that this book could have been a lighter read if fewer examples of academic foolishness were chosen and dealt with at slightly greater length. To be sure, there is NO SHORTAGE of topics that could have been chosen, and I'm sure that it was the authors' first instinct to try to include them all. But the book suffered as a result.

Good points:

1. It was so refreshing to hear that, yes, the emperor has no clothes. The same 3 credit hours of tuition will buy a course in engineering as will buy a course in "Marxist Interpretation of Feminist Literature." It is amazing that more people don't know that taxpayer dollars and federal subsidies are funding money that could better be spent on research into preventing rectal cancer.

2. There were some very clever uses of words. One example is the comparison of Marxism to a priesthood (with which I'd agree). Another was the comparison of intellectuals to "philosopher-kings" a la Aristotle.

3. The authors were very perceptive in recongnizing that most intellectuals seek INFLUENCE more than anything else. Helping the oppressed or having more noble motives is merely a pretext.

All in all, worth purchasing second hand on Amazon.com. A good week of evening readings.

A thorough examination of the results of applying a confused literary philosophy to science. Covers postmodernism, feminism, radical environmentalism, multiculturalism and AIDS activism -- each of these areas has tremendous strengths, but the deconstructionist approach (aka political correctness) often leads to absurd positions. None of these discussions can be dismissed with sound bites, and this book is heavy going in places, but essential for anyone trying to work or think within modern science and academia.

This is a very important book. Gross and Levitt are, respectively, scientists trained in biology and mathematics. They are also broadly-educated individuals who are able to deal with postmodern (and other) challenges to science on those challenges' terms. They have done considerable homework in preparing to write this book and some of their analyses of postmodern thought are among the most astute and crisp that I have seen. Moreover, the book is eminently readable. The style is firm but graceful. Reading it is not only a pleasure in itself, but a reaffirmation of the possibilities and benefits of broad liberal arts education. While the issues are current ones, the authorial voice is one of 'old school' erudition informed by deep humanity.

There is a danger that the book could be considered a polemic since its rhetoric is very direct. Punches are not pulled; euphemisms are not substituted. Nevertheless, while the book provides the pleasures offered by a great polemic it still enjoys the weight and point of serious argument. It makes its scholarly case.

This is must reading for all who work in the humanities and social sciences and seek to understand the assaults to which science has been subjected as well as those assaults' etiology. The continual question that haunts everyone confronting postmodern thought is, how can serious people believe such stuff? This book provides a number of plausible answers to that question.

Academic fads have a startlingly brief lifespan: Last year's new thing is supplanted by this year's new thing, which promises to transgress all previous boundaries and explode the oppressive partiarchal paradigms that are crushing the unprivileged. Everything that lies under the vague umbrella of "postmodernism" is one of those this-year's-new-things. But most of those academic fads didn't really go away; that's why, even though it was published in 1998, this is an important and still-relevant book.

Gross and Levitt examine and systematically demolish a number of postmodernism's anti-science subspecies. In a way, this amounts to no more than swatting at a swarm of annoying academic insects; Gross and Levitt are genuine scientists, so, unlike the academic postmodernists, they are good at analyzing data and presenting logical arguments. And that's what they do, devastatingly and humorously. It seems unlikely that a densely footnoted and referenced academic study could be laugh-out-loud funny, but this book is.

However, there's something important here, too. That is that the academic postmodernists' attacks on science have a cumulative harmful effect of deflecting young people away from real science, confusing the scientifically illiterate public about scientific and technological principles and policies, and, most dangerously of all, creating the impression that science is just one of several possible "ways of knowing," all of which are equally valid.

No, they're not. The plain fact is that science works; it accurately describes physical reality. Diverting intellectual effort and research money to the study of alternative "ways of knowing" is wasteful and academically bankrupt.

Read this book. It's still relevant and important. And it's very, very funny.

Gross and Levitt do a fine job of demolishing postmodernism in its various guises. The authors' impatience with, and honest surprise at, the academic left's ridiculously incompetent attacks on scientific objectivity is expressed throughout the book alongside some penetrating analyses of, and cogent arguments against, a string of postmodernistic theses.

The book has, however, one serious shortcoming: The authors' justified impatience with the academic left too often seems to make them forget - repeated assurances to the contrary notwithstanding - that a good many honest scholars within the humanities departments are just as hostile to postmodernism as any scientist. Eager to disclose the nonsense behind the empty rhetoric of the "scholars" of postmodernism, Gross and Levitt simultaneously discloses what seems to me to be a far from praiseworthy disdain of the humanities in general.

I am educated in the humanities, but my attitude is very much pro science. I was therefore frequently frustrated when I read "Higher Superstition", because I felt stabbed in the back by the authors' propensity to treat humanities scholars as of all of the same kind - e.g. as mathematically "illiterate". Gross and Levitt ought to know that even though humanities scholars rarely know anything about avant-garde mathematical and physical research this does not in itself betoken a lack of abilities, skill or intelligence on the part of those scholars. Reality has many different and fascinating aspects and no one can be an expert within every field of research. We pick the subject that interests us the most, and Gross and Levitt should accept that not all intellectuals find mathematics or quantum mechanics as interesting as e.g. history, anthropology or psychology.

Unfortunately, Gross and Levitt too often seem to equate the liberal arts with some kind of cosy game that can lead anywhere because of a lack of rules. This is grossly unfair - not to say ridiculous and demeaning - to scholars within the humanities departments. But to me it is regrettably an altogether too typical example of the intellectual arrogance that typifies many scientists' attitude to any kind of research that is not about the "exact" or "hard" sciences. Why shouldn't the humanities pretend to study an objective reality by way of stringent methodological rules and in the hope of providing sound, corroborated theories and true propositions? Why can't there be a good theory of e.g. the origins of World War I? Surely, Gross and Levitt wouldn't want to claim that there can be no true or false statements within the humanities? Were that the case, Gross and Levitt would be exactly as naïve and unjustified as the postmodernists who level the same charge against science. The fact that the humanities don't use particle accelerators or advanced mathematics does not in itself falsify their claim to objectivity. Surely the nature of the subject matter - and not the postulates of arrogant scientists - must decide questions of methodology. Objectivity is not just a matter of expensive laboratories and men in white coats.

An obvious example of the authors' condescending attitude towards the humanities is their musings on the question of which of the two - science or the humanities - is least dispensable to the human race. Apparently, Gross and Levitt think that whereas a world without science would be a terrible place, a world without the humanities would only be marginally (if at all) worse than the present one. I find the question in it self rather childish - science and the humanities are not competitors - but were I to play this game I'd point out that a scientifically advanced world without an adequate appreciation of the arts, literature, ethics etc. would be a world in which any Hitler or Stalin wannabe had every chance of blowing everything apart. Science can tell us how the world is - but only the humanities can tell us about how we ought to live our lives and treat each other. Gross and Levitt would do well to learn this lesson. Their claim that they themselves could teach a course in the humanities is hilarious and it made me shake my head in disbelief. I've been taught philosophy and history by teachers who have spent a lifetime studying these subjects. But of course, Gross and Levitt are not only wiser by far than anyone else when it comes to mathematics and physics. They also know everything worthwhile about subjects outside their area of expertise! A modicum of respect and humility - or just plain old modesty - would not be amiss.

This criticism aside, there ought to be no doubt about the high quality of the authors' writing and logic. This is an important and well written book; it should command the attention of the intelligent reader and prompt some serious considerations of basic questions in epistemology and philosophy of science. I can heartily recommend this book.

I bought this collection of short novels having read many good reviews but I was disappointed. I think that the thing that I liked less is the Sembia location and the characters that here take life. I think this setting is not fantasy after all, it is more a kind of 18th century Europe mixed with fantasy elements that don't fit well together at all. Ed greenwood confirms himself a great inventor of poeples and settings and a bad writer, but also most of the other authors couldn't really suspend my disbelief. I didn't enjoy at all this collection of stories and will not buy other books located in Sembia.

This was an excellent book and provides a very intriguing opening to this series of books. The book is divided up into 7 chapters, each chapter focusing on a member of the Uskerven household.

I found most, if not all, of the characters to be enthralling with all of the stories well written. There is the proud patriarch of the family, Thamalon Uskevren, the disappointed heir to the family forturn Tamlin, the free-spirited daughter Tazi, the very independent second son Talbot, the proper yet mysterious matriarch Shamur, the distinguished butler Erevis Cale, and the young, innocent servant Larajin. The chapters set up stories for each family member. These stories will unfold through the rest of the series, with one book focusing on one family member. It definelty is an original way to do a series. Hopefully the full-length stories will be as good as these chapter length ones were.

Erevis Cale is by far the most popular of the characters and with good reason. He is much like Drizzt in that he has a very honorable streak in him and love for the people around him, but his past is very dark and shady. I know he has gotten one trilogy dedicated to him, and I believe there is a second one planned. I was also drawn to Talbot. His story one of being cursed and having to be responsible for things he wasn't responsible for. Something we can all relate to at certain points in our lives.

These were just my two favorites. I am looking foward to reading all the stories about the family, and I'm hoping that they develop more series for the individual characters and not just Erevis Cale.

I read this book very, very fast because of the fact that is is seven separate stories, there was something bran new every fifty or so pages, so you go through the book very fast. The stories are fast paced and exciting and good for anyone that likes a good fantasy or medieval based book, regardless of if you've read any other Forgotten Realms books. It can easily be a stand alone novel.

This is an excellent novel, with only a few faults. The main gripe I have with the book is that it is truly a series of short stories, but is treated like a novel. What I mean to say is that there is no table of content that allows you to easily jump one from story of interest without having to scan through the entire book. The tales need not be read in order at all, and yet you are expected to do so.

Each story centers on one member of the Uskevren house, starting with the Patriarch all the way down to the maid. Each of these people seem to have some special quality about them, and their secrets are kept close to their breasts. Sometimes, it seems that there is a reason that each person is so special or has so deep and dark a secret. Clearly, there is more to this family than is initially let on, and only further tales will reveal what is so special about them.

In case you did not know, the shorts in this book are but preludes to the other novels in the series, they are basically the set up tales that get you interested, but really give you no completion. Many things are left unsettled by the end of this book.

The only downfall I can really see, and it has nothing to do with this novel in and of itself, is that the final book that was to be penned by Greenwood has been canceled. I would love to see another anthology of tales to close out the series.

Of them all, the Best tales deal with the matriarch, the butler, the maid, the daughter, and the second son. The Patriarch's tale is informitive, but dry and the heir's story has plenty of drama, but no depth. Two out of seven aint bad! Besides, they are still decent tales.

Warning: If you buy this book you will have to pick up the rest of the series!

This is a fair to good collections of short stories that are somewhat interesting.
Why buy this book, well if you want to read the books and series that follow the characters that are started here, that would be the reason.

Ed Greenwood `The Patriarch' -- slow and dull (C-)
Richard Lee Byers `The Matriarch' -- strange (C-)
Clayton Emery `The heir'-- unlikable fop (C+)
Voronica Whitney-Robinson `The Daughter'-- spoiled, very spoiled(C)
Dave Gross `The Youngest Son'-- interesting werewolf (B)
Paul Kemp `The Butler' -- superb story of a likable assassin!!! (A+)
Lisa Smedman `The Maid' -- really good story of a cleric to be? (A-)

OVERALL SCORE: (B-/C+)
READABILITY: (?), PLOT: (B-), CHARATERS: (B-), DIALOGUE: (B-), SETTING: (B+), ACTION/COMBAT: (A-), MONSTERS/ANTAGONISTS: (C+), ROMANCE: (B), SEX: (n/a), AGE LEVEL: (PG)

To all the film buffs, as you good people are aware this book dealt with the how and why the film,ALIEN, was filmed,i just wish that i had bought this, book in 1979 when this film was first shown.Overall a nice piece of history of horror set in space.This book is quite rare and is hard to find....please bring it back.............

Paul Scanlon and Michael Gross (Burt Gummer!?!) offer very litte text about the actual making of the movie. There is a token segment about the genesis of the script but the rest of the book is focused strictly on the visual aspects. No comments from cast, production crew, or composer Jerry Goldsmith are offered. Those (like me) expecting an in depth look at the making of a genre milestone will be a tad disappointed. Nonetheless, the countless conceptual drawings (both for used and unused concepts) from the pre-production of the motion picture and the generous amounts of stills will get the mouth of any Alien fan watering. An essential for the drawings and stills, but the text is strictly behind the scenes filler that is lacking both depth and insight.