Bartholomew Books

This book is the fourth volume of the Scripture and Hermeneutics Series. In it the editors make the point that Christianity is a religion that believes in a God who acts in history. Most of the stories in the Bible are set in specific historical contexts and are designed to show God working with individuals and groups in a historical context. Because history is so bound up in the Bible stories it is impossible to read the Bible without addressing the issue of history.

Sometimes the particular historical view that a reader holds affects their interpretation of Bible passages. This is one of the primary areas this book examines - biblical hermeneutics with an eye toward the relationship between faith and history and how that relationship both affected how historical events were reported and how biblical events are interpreted.

This is a scholarly collection of articles that is written in an academic style and highly suitable for Bible colleges and Seminaries more than the average reader. Behind the Text: History and Biblical Interpretation is recommended for the serious Bible student.

I like Joy Berry's work, because as a foster, adoptive, and birth mother I work with kids with LOTS of different issues. Many of her books in the "Let's Talk About" series are quite good, and have changed our lives by changing our children's. However, this book is in a different format which is not as easy to read and which presents a great deal of information on each page. It is, nevertheless, quite good--but not one that children will read independently for pleasure.

Ben Jonson creates in this play a complex atmosphere of constant trespassing of social everyday norms to produce an action- and wit-packed experience in which we could easily drown. All possible means are used : trespassing normal life with funfair folly ; trespassing normal social conditions with cutpurses, ballad singers, funfair-merchants, one puritan, one crazy person, a puppet show, etc. But he also embeds in this action some more pregnant issues. Some weddings, for example, that are supposed to be founded on love and not the buying of a license. The puritan who is a gross hypocrite who always finds the right religious words to condemn the sins of other people and to cover his own gluttony. Some women who want some excitement and try to play the easy ladies they dream of being but do not dare to be except behind a mask. A justice who wants to discover reality and true deep crime by using various disguises. The puppet play that reveals two things : first the violent domination of women by men and the subsequent negation of love ; second the vanity and ridicule of the puritan who wants to prevent the show that he calls immoral and profane and expell the puppets that he considers as idols. The puritan is easily negociated into sounding silly, illogical and vain. The justice sees crimes that are not crimes and does not see other crimes that are real crimes. Then he tries to accuse and convict innocent people. He is ridiculed and silenced by his wife taking off her easy lady's mask end revealing herself in that game to his utmost astonishment. The weddings are the result of a certain amount of freedom on the side of women. But the whole play is loose in its plot and lacks the dynamism of a closely-knit action. The language is very popular at times, if not even gross, with many dialects and a lot of wit, often rather easy and farcesque, but it lacks the density that would make it poetical. The attempt to rewrite the classical theme of the puppet play in modern circumstances in London shows the ambiguous change of taste taking place in England at the time but lacks density and fullness. The play could be a good farce, a good entertainment, but it never reaches the strength of a dramatic comedy. It is a disorderly bawdy funfair of many sparkles but no real light or fireworks.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

This book, clocking in at just over 145 pages, is a pretty worthy successor and update to an earlier book both authors co-wrote with Bill Brann and Bruce Hallenbeck in 1992. It covers sightings and reports in the Empire State, but also covers reports in New England States (Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and even all the way to Maine). The brother authors do look at the different theories as to the possible existence of the Sasquatch, even delving into alternate explanations (though they are quick to point out they do not necessarily believe those explanations). I would give this one 4 out of 5 stars, but it is still not quite as good as MOTN.

Very well written, good general information and lots of great pictures, a must read.

Kel Richards has very cleverly taken an ancient story, set it in a modern environment, and come up with a perplexing locked room mystery.

Although dated (8 years old), Bartholomew maps of China are a good standard so that you can travel off the beaten path. It is labelled in English. Expressways and highways are well marked.

Have this map and a Chinese map (search keyword: dituce) and you are armed to direct your driver! I read this map at the Univ of Minnesota, Borchert Map library.

Lately, China's mapmaking ministry has just started making Tourist city maps (starting with Shanghai 7-5031-3006-7) that are labelled with Chinese characters, Pinyin romanization, and English. They are excellent.

Patriarch Bortholomew I of Constantinople is a realist leader of the Orthodox Church (not to suggest that the other leaders are unrealistic.) He realizes that everything in the world doesn't fit into easy little boxes and that there are tough challenges facing humanity in general (regardless of religion) and he believes the Orthodox Church in some places can work together with other groups to address these challenges and at other times the Orthodox Church should be the leaders in addressing the challenges.

He speaks of while one doesn't have to agree with or believe what other religions believe that you must at least realize their right to believe and shelter and protect them from the persecution of others. He addresses fanaticism (both religious and secular nationalistic), drugs, AIDS, natural preservation, etc. Patriarch Bartholomew has revealed to the world that Orthodoxy is and has always been a very "eco-friendly" religion, one that has disdain for overdevelopment and the abuse of the planet and its natural resources.

The book covers a very wide array of topics, but shows a balanced, traditional, yet forward looking Orthodox Christian perspective on the challenges specific to the Orthodox Church and to the world in general.

Dewy writes with simplicity and clarity. Readers familiar with the "Seth Material" by Jane Roberts will be very comfortable with Dewey's take on our self created universe. She spends a little bit too much of the first half of this 110 page volume bemoaning the limited world view of traditional religious and scientific thought, but this is quickly forgiven once she introduces the theory of the "endosphere" ( see Seth's "Framework two" or David Boem's 'Implicate Order"). Her ruminations on the effect of "cycles" is especially interesting. Her references to the theory of "laminated spacetime" are inspiring me to order her book of the same name. Here I believe that I will really sink my teeth into these most intriquing concepts.

I was immediately drawn to this book in the "Get Over It!" series of Joy Berry because it said exactly what I would have liked to say to comfort my 11-year-old son. He went through some of these "crises" such as hearing hurtful remarks and having to deal with criticism from his classmates. The author writes simply and clearly, in a tone that speaks to young adults with respect and kindness. The illustrations are also very attractive. I am thrilled to learn that I can order the other books in the series too. I have only two laments: a) that the author didn't push beyond the self-help tips to talking about the values and Christian virtues behind the recommended responses; and b) that there is no single book containing all the topics. As a book, rather than as a set of brochure-looking guides, it may be easier to use as a reference whenever our young adults need to grab some "self-help" reinforcement at home.