Baker Books

If dealing with another culture whether moving or in America. This book explicitly talks about serveral major differences we need to face and work within

"Change Across Culture" (CAC) is a masterful exposition of the innate intricacies in transforming cultures using redemption as the "valid basis for cross-cultural ethics." Bradshaw rejects functionalism upfront insisting that for "innovations" to be implemented within culture in a "sustainable way" they must be integrated into the "cultural narratives" of the community.

Bradshaw eloquently defines narratives as the "stories that govern our lives." They (the narratives) "are templates through which we interpret reality and the means through which we seek continuity in our lives." The Christian narrative, says Bradshaw, is centered "on Christ and his redemptive relationship with creation." He further argues that the Bible, rather than being a narrative, is in reality a meta-narrative because instead of making "all cultures look alike" reconciliation in fact is an "effort to offer all people in all cultures values that will empower them to enhance their lives." This is done, says Bradshaw, through the transformation of the "values that shape their cultural narratives."

Bradshaw argues that redemption is "God¡¦s reconciling work in creation" and can be used as a basis for ethics because it is "universally valid and culturally specific." "The validity of redemption," says Bradshaw, "is that it is a unifying theory bearing witness to God as the agent of causation because it bears the meaning of it¡¦s agent."

Using redemption as an ethical basis for cultural change, Bradshaw moves on to tackle some difficult and significant problems facing the world today. He maintains that before cultures can be managed, the "worldviews that are buried within" them "need to be excavated." By "excavating" the worldviews of modern Christianity he concludes that "Gnostic creation stories" have had more influence than the "Biblical creation stories" in shaping contemporary Christian worldviews. He convincingly shows how this "Gnostic legacy" is the root of the "ecological crises in Christianity" today.

In later chapters the author shows how redemption can liberate people from serving their cultures and how positive transformation enables them to become masters of, rather than slaves to, their culture. Bradshaw asserts that "theological doctrine" alone is not able to create sustainable change. "Encounters with people of other faiths," says Bradshaw, "do not begin with discussions of doctrine. Instead they begin when people express their faith through their efforts to cope with the struggles of daily life." He concludes that "lasting change only occurs when people are empowered through the redemptive work of God through Christ to transform the elements within their culture that disempower them."

Bradshaw shows how the powers that be are redeemed when the "Church challenges their authority by exercising their moral agency and empower people to transform the narratives of their cultures to embody the redemptive work of Christ in creation." He argues that this type of transformation can only be achieved through subordination to the authorities and accepting the consequences of exercising their moral agency. Christians and the Church cannot compromise and must be the moral voice that challenges society and governments to act in an ethical manner. Bradshaw shows how redemption has the ability to empower women and to liberate them from cultures that oppress and abuse them. He argues that early Christianity did not discriminate against women but rather enabled them to be leaders in the early Church.

In a later chapter Bradshaw tackles economic exploitation and acknowledges that "people who have any hope of achieving economic viability in the modern global economy can no longer assume that nature is the source of their wealth." He argues that Small Enterprise Development (SED) is the way to tackle exploitation and that "Christians establish SED programs on the assumption that the redemptive work of God is embodied in the mundane structures of society." Bradshaw affirms that SEDs can be redemptive and can contribute to the well being of the whole community.

CAC is a book that addresses a broad range of problems but retains the centrality of Christ and never loses focus on God as the agent of redemption. Throughout this volume the central role of Christ in the transformation of demeaning and oppressive cultural values is never lost.

CAC is a stunning achievement written by a man of experience. It is not a theoretical treatise, but an intelligent, practical aid to understanding how to achieve sustainable transformation of cultural ethics that disempower, degrade, deceive, control, and exploit millions of people today. Bradshaw writes with compassion that is rooted in reality. He has been an eyewitness to some of the most devastating human tragedies of our era. By using specific examples of real people he returns humanity to those who have been downtrodden and abused by the cultures in which they live. His understanding and desire to help change those things that de-humanize humans is a lesson to us all, and should be heeded. Whether we like it or not, we all live within narratives that govern our lives. The only question is will we have the courage to change those values within our own narratives that de-humanize others and make us slaves. Will we, as individuals, allow the redemptive work of God to redeem not only ourselves but also those values that destroy us, our friends, and even our enemies?

Good book. It goes into different trends and contemporary issues when it comes to missions. Some of the subjects covered are globalization, postmodernism, contextualization, majority world christianity, etc...It is written by evangelical missiologists from the west. This is an awesome book. Get it.

If you think you're fairly well informed re: church and mission issues, think again. The authors of this book cover the mega issues of our time and the challenges we face as Christians in addressing them. I'll read this book again before I'm ready to talk about it, there's so much here.

Books that take you from undergraduate physics to a nontrivial understanding of nonlinear dynamics, chaos and fractals are rare. Chaotic Dynamics does the job ellegantly. The familiar pendulum is used to illustrate the basic techniques and concepts in nonlinear dynamics. The reader is gently introduced to phase diagrams, Poincare sections, basins of attraction and bifurcation diagrams. Computer code is included in the Appendix. The interested reader can use this code to further illustrate the lessons of the text or to embark on his/her own exploration of the pendulum and other dynamical systems. Having used the pendulum to establish a firm conceptual platform, Baker and Gollub progress gracefully into the logistic map to illustrate concepts such as period doubling, Lyapunov exponent, entropy, stretching and folding, and various measures of fractal dimension. The presentation is nicely rounded off with studies of other maps and nonlinear dynamical systems from a range of fields in physics, chemistry and fluid dynamics.

The gateway to experimental chaos research comes through here! The mathematics, the examples and code that illustrates the book is here. It is somewhat narrow in it's beginning approach, but delivers after careful study a beginning of understanding with some real industry. Not for the mathemaically shy or Professors like Ruelle, but for real people wanting real answers! Your unique Associates ID is: thefractaltransl.

This was a great book I could not put it down. It made me think of what it would be like to go back to the Old West from the 21st Century.Trey and Amanda's reactions to their different worlds keeps the story moving right along.I like to read historical romances and this is one of the best.It makes me want to look for a white horse to show up in my yard. I would highly recommend this book it is a good light summer read,one that helps you to escape from the real world for a while. I give this book 5 stars.

This is my favorite book ever! I love reading Western Romance, historical or contemporary, so this book was right up my alley. Madeline Baker is my favortie author, I have never read a book of her's that I didn't like. This book was very vivid and made me feel like I was there. Read this book, I promise you'll love it!

Why does someone not seek God? Why would someone exchange the Truth for a lie? This is the emphasis of this book, and the theme is directed toward college age people. Written to accompany an audio series by RC Sproul, one need not hear the lectures to comprehend the book. I found the book an interesting argument about the nature of man and the nature of God, even though I am twice the age of the target audience. How does culture affect views about the condition of man, his perspective of God, and his need for salvation.

The first chapter quotes many young adults what their perspective is of belief. The answers illustrate a philosophy of relative thought: what works for me, what works for you, what is functional to the individual. RC Sproul explains why people come up with their own religion. He uses the story about the prodigal son throughout the book to illustrate his point: man's natural inclination is to rebel against God.

The second chapter starts with many quotes from young people about code of conduct or morals: how does someone choose what is right from wrong. How does someone determine what behavior is acceptable? Is there an ultimate ought ness? Sproul uses this point to explain the myths of relative truth, relative morals and a life with no absolutes. That someone may accept the concept of God, but make it out of his own choosing- not what actually exists or is described in the Bible. The author further explains the difference between a God pleasing life and a clean life to bow to social pressure to a parent or another person.

The third chapter starts with many quotes from young adults about the afterlife. Sproul goes into a discussion about how people perceive God's hatred of sin and the judgment of God. Because of today's culture tend to dismiss God's holiness and God's perspective of the deserved punishment of the created. Man does not perceive the need to be saved from the wrath of God. The author explains the difference from being saved from pain and current circumstance as compared to salvation from damnation.

The fourth chapter starts with quotes deal with perspectives about the Christian church. Sproul uses this point to argue what people perceive the Gospel is? Someone may perceive Jesus as philosopher maybe even theologian but not as the redemptive sacrifice for ones sins. Man does not want to accept the idea what punishment he deserves, so he does not want to believe in the atonement.

The fifth chapter deals with quotes about God the Father. Sproul uses this point to explain the holiness of God and worship. What does it mean to believe in a Holy God?

My brief description of this book fails to demonstrate how Sproul incorporates the story about the prodigal to explain all these points. I found the book very interesting.

This book was the impetus for me sharing the Gospel and the reality of objective truth surrounding it. It gives non-Christians a bold but sensitive reality check and offers them the correct alternative. I can see it hangin on God's toolbelt right now...

I agree with the previous reviewer that the "world would be a better place" if everyone read and utilized the wisdom contained in these two essays.

"Christian Healing" and "The People's Idea of God" were both sermons given by Mary Baker Eddy at the turn of the 20th Century. There's a lot of potent truth contained in both of these books and I found them to be powerful and inspirational and best of all, practical.

From Christian Healing,
"The primitive privilege of Christianity was to make men better, to cast our error and heal the sick. It was a proof, more than a profession thereof; a demonstration more than a doctrine. It was the foundation of right thinking and right acting, and must be reestablished on its former basis."

If you read about the history of the early church, you'll find that for the first 300 years, Christian healing was part of the deal. Jesus said that his followers were to cast out demons and heal the sick and raise the dead and cleanse the lepers and that's *exactly* what the early Christians did. If you back up and take an honest look at Eddy's life, you can't help but appreciate her boldness in striving to reintroduce this lost element of Christianity - the healing of the sick - back into mainstream churches.

"Christian Healing" is a short essay (20 pages) that gives a good overview of her thoughts on the power of God to restore health.

As to the "People's Idea of God," she wrote, "Believing that man is the victim of his Maker, we naturally fear God more than we love Him; whereas 'perfect Love casteth out fear;' but when we learn God aright, we love Him, because He is found altogether lovely. Thus it is that a more spiritual and true ideal of Deity improves the race physically and spiritually. God is no longer a mystery..."

I've never had any interest in religious teachings that say things like, "well you can't think about these things too much; you just have to have faith." Eddy was a *thinker* and her written works reflect that fact, making them a good read.

The world would be a better place if we all could agree on the fact that God is the source of all good....including healing. This excellent book helps the reader to see this. It is called Christian Healing but anyone can benefit from this book.

I'm not much of a musician but I do like to sing. And I love to read. Many times, I've sat down with this hymnal and simply *read* the lyrics and have found them to be deep reservoirs of inspiration and spiritual insights.

Yeah, the hymns are old and they're from the Victorian era and the lyrics are clearly reminiscent of that time, but they're still beautiful and touching. For instance, there was someone in my life that I felt I had every reason to hate, but being a Christian, I knew that hating any of God's children was wrong and was not part of God's plan for my life.

One of my favorite hymns in this book reads,

"Speak gently to the erring ones,
they must have toiled in vain;
Perhaps unkindness made them so,
Oh win them back again."

That simple sentiment has helped me release the animous and contempt I feel toward this person and reminds me to pray for her each day and ask God to send her nothing but blessings.

I highly recommend this hymnal.

I have owned several copies of the Hymnal, and keep giving them away and buying a new one. I love the lyrics and find them inspirational at all times, and especially in times of trouble. Hightly recommended.

Christianity In The Academy: Teaching At The Intersection Of Faith And Learning distills the wisdom of author Harry Lee Poe (Charles Colson Professor of Faith and Culture, Union University), who also serves as the program director for the C. S. Lewis Foundation's Summer Institutes, a training resource on faith and scholarship issues especially for Christian Faculty. Wrestling with serious issues confronting Christian educators in institutions of higher learning, Christianity In The Academy touches upon the Christian worldview, interdisciplinary dialogue, the religious spectrum that can be found in higher education, the repercussions of the postmodern age, and much more. Tackling difficult dilemmas of faith and academics seemingly at odds, Christianity In The Academy is an opinionated but thoughtful resource recommended for personal contemplation among college educators of all levels who share a common bond through faith in Jesus Christ.

I must confess that Harry Poe's book Christianity in the Academy was not at all what I was expecting. I was expecting this book to be about teaching in an academy where an integration of Christianity and other disciplines would be assumed, and was rather surprised to find that in actuality it was mostly about how to be a Christian professor while teaching in a setting where it was not assumed. Thus the main thrust of this book seemed to be that all disciplines are related to each other, and thus are related to Christianity. This means that no matter what we are teaching there is a way for it to be taught Christianly. There is a Christian view of mathematics, a Christian view of physics, a Christian view of anthropology, etc.

Poe outlines three views on how Christianity relates to "secular" disciplines. The first view is that Christianity has nothing to do with disciplines like biology or sociology. As one mathematics professor at a Christian university said, "There is no such thing as a Christian perspective of quadratic equations." Or, as Tertullian said, "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?" Those who hold this view separate their faith from the "real world." They (usually) accept the faith/reason dichotomy brought by Kant, and see faith as something that really does not have much to do with the physical world or the creative world. It has little involvement with either the sciences or humanities. Perhaps the only place it could make it in is in a religion class, and even then it is usually set aside in an attempt to be unbiased about other religions (as if that were a real possibility).

The second position on how Christianity interacts with other disciplines is that we must "add Christ" into them. This view holds that in order for one to have a Christian view of a discipline, you must first add something Christian into the discipline that you wish to have a Christian view on. In other words, you take a science and add religious overtones to it. Good examples of this would be many people in the young earth creationist movement (geology), the KJV only advocates (textual criticism), etc.

Finally, there is the position that you can have a Christian position in any discipline because the Christian worldview is something that seeks to explain literally everything in the universe, and some things outside of it. One person to hold such a position would be Francis Schaeffer, who taught that the Christian worldview is about reality, not the faith realm. Nothing needs to be added to disciplines for them to relate to Christianity, they simply already do by the very virtue of existing, for everything that exists relates to one's worldview.

Not only does this view support the idea that Christianity is related to all disciplines, but it also supports the view that all disciplines are related to each other. As Schaeffer noted, theology tends to reflect the general culture, culture tends to reflect the idea present in contemporary music and art, and all of them can usually be traced back to philosophical ideas which have simply been integrated by the other disciplines. The Interdisciplinary Studies program at my own school (Lincoln Christian College) was spawned by these two ideas, and it still attempts to show how some disciplines are related (unfortunately they usually only cover art, music, and literature in any given period), although its original emphasis on relating Christianity to all the disciples seems to have waned greatly in recent years.

Poe calls for Christian professors who realize the integration of Christianity and other disciplines to step forward and teach Christianly within their field. He does not say that a biologist should start preaching to his biology class. He simply says that the biologist should teach biology from a Christian perspective. As C. S. Lewis said, "What we want is not more little books about Christianity, but more little books by Christians on other subjects--with their Christianity latent."

Understanding the relatedness of disciplines is essential to properly understanding any field which one may aspire to teach in at any level of higher academics. If, say, one wanted to teach in the field of theology, being able to grasp how theology takes its themes from philosophical, scientific, etc. issues of the day is vital to properly understanding the theological views of people in cultures and times different than our own. To understand the classical liberalists' theology we must understand the philosophical and scientific issues that were being raised in their culture at that time -- issues like naturalism and the mechanistic model of the universe taken from Newton's scientific discoveries.

Then, in order to be able to really teach theology to students so that they can truly understand the history of theology, we must be able to tell them how differing theological ideas arose in different times and places, and be able to explain the extent to which other disciplines influenced the development of theology through the ages. When this idea of ties between disciplines is lost, a field such as theology becomes largely unintelligible. Great men of the past end up looking silly, until we begin to understand what in their world was driving them to come up with what appear to us today to be extremely odd views. In order to understand historical theology, and contemporary theology, we must be able to trace its roots, and its roots are hardly ever so shallow that they do not stray into other disciplines.

Overall grade: A

The book is a perl for people that need the trust. In my life this book is a great sucess in my decision time.---

this book changed my life experience for the betterbeyond words. It showed me how Jesus healed and how i could apply the priciples of divine healing to my understanding and daily life. i heartily recomend this book to all who are searching for happiness and blessing. this book gives one acess to unlimited practical workabe , healing TRUTH.

Professor Donald provides insight into how the collective decisions of the past have led to so many of the problematic circumstances we face as a nation today. Professors Donald, Baker and Holt take the reader back to over twenty years before the beginning of the Civil War and continue through Reconstruction to examine the various factors and angles from which the entire history of the Civil War and Reconstruction is derived. The student of American History has everything needed in one concise volume to gain a working knowledge of the Civil war and Reconstruction era. This work is a well-documented, factual and detailed account of the most trying period of history our nation has seen to date. The work is accurate, comprehensive and concise. No doubt The Civil War and Reconstruction by David H. Donald will maintain a prominent place in any serious historical library for years to come.

Students of history would do well to begin their studies of the U.S. Civil War by reading this seminal historical text by renowned historian James Garfield Randall (1881-1953), University of Illinois professor and Lincoln biographer. Released in 1937, "The Civil War and Reconstruction" was revised by Randall's student David Herbert Donald in 1961. This is the book we are dealing with, not the further revised volume outlined in the product description.

What distinguishes this work is Randall's keen sense of historical accuracy: Although he had his own predilictions (Abraham Lincoln was his childhood hero and lifelong subject of his scholarship), he separated his early personal views from his assessment of the historical record. Anyone who has ever read books on the Civil War written before Randall's will find enough jingoism, hyperbole and finger pointing to suffice them a lifetime. What Randall aspired to, however, was a more objective and scientific analysis of history. In that, I believe, he has succeeded.

Written in an era before political correctness, this book deals with the issue of slavery honestly and forthrightly. Randall looks into the economics of slavery from Colonial times up to the Civil War, and gives a dispassionate sketch of its origins and practices. For example, consider these simple facts: That unlike the pale white indentured servants from the British Isles, who were generally physically ill equiped for working the soil in the hot and humid Southern states, African slaves were much better acclimated to the South's punishing climate, and, in fact, received better treatment than their European counterparts. The reason for this was purely economic, not altruistic: Slaves were owned, and represented a financial investment, whereas indentured servants more or less were leased and were driven hard so that plantation owners could extract every penny of value from them while they could. Yet, when I voiced these facts in a graduate school lecture hall in New York City in the early 1990s, many students glowered at me, and the professor looked like a scared rabbit, and changed the subject immediately.

What makes Randall's study of the Civil War most appealing is that although he began his career seeing the Union through rose-colored glasses (given his admiration for Lincoln) one sees that after studying the matter thoroughly, his sympathies often lie with the South, and that he regards Lincoln as a sort of tragic figure, who was torn between holding the Union together and keeping more radical elements of the Republican Congress at bay. This is significant, because it is seldom that scholars admit they are wrong.

His thesis, that the Civil War was indeed not inevitable, ought to be carefully studied by purveyors of the two prevailing -- and ignorant -- explanations of the Civil War and Lincoln's place in it. To those Southerners who declare that the Civil War was not about slavery, Randall provides copious evidence to debunk that myth. Yes, while it is true the war was not *exclusively* about slavery, Randall shows that slavery was indeed the crucible through which radicals of both sides eventually wound up taking arms against each other. He holds radical abolitionists such as John Brown and cynical Yankees as Stephen Douglas (more concerned with building a transcontinental railroad through the industrial north, partly at the expense of Southern taxation) in equal disdain. A simple study of the breakoff of the West Virginians from Virginia illustrates the concept of two economically separated nations.

Another naive, yet dangerous, view that Randall dispells is the gripe often voiced by leftists that Lincoln was no hero for ending slavery, because his primary objective was holding the Union together, even if it meant keeping slavery intact. That view drops context just as readily as does the aforementioned Southern view. According to Randall, Lincoln was a voice of moderation in the Republican party, not a rabid abolitionist. Lincoln knew that slavery could never be ended immediately without war, and indeed tried to prevent it. Randall's telling of the election of 1860 showed that while Lincoln's more moderate platform of compromise and consensus made it possible to have a mandate in the North, deep divisions within the Democrat party further exacerbated Southern suspicions that the Northerners had it in for them. The nomination of Illini Douglas caused the South to field their own candidate, John Breckenridge. John C. Bell, a pro-South candidate who wished to see the Union preserved, tried -- like Lincoln -- to appeal to calmer emotions, but made little impact. The election ended with a nation deeply divided, and though Lincoln was considered a moderate in his native North, Southerners -- who wound up with the short end of the stick from the Missouri Compromise and the Kansas-Nebraska Act -- viewed Lincoln as the veritable embodiment of abolition.

Thus, according to the politically correct, Lincoln was no puritan on this issue, and therefore of suspect motivation. In fact, though, he did represent the best practical hope of ending slavery, through attrition, rather than the hotheaded clash of swords.

Likewise does Randall paint a rational picture of Reconstruction, more informed by economics and sociology than partisan fury. I commend this volume to anyone who wants to read a well-researched and reasoned account of the Civil War. I find, on balance, Randall's attempts at objectivity to be quite fruitful. For those who 139 years later are still re-fighting the war with vitriolic fervor, they will find little in this tome to stir up spiteful emotions, pro or con. Such types will nevertheless regard Randall either as a Yankee apologist for Abe Lincoln or a pro-Southern closeted racist.

Although thoughtfully appended with excellent photographs, maps and illustrations, I additionally recommend Bruce Catton's "American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War" as a fun and informative companion general history of the American Civil War and Reconstruction.