Bishop Books

"James Theodore Holly (1829-1911) was a contemporary of Douglass and Delany, an advocate of black emigration, the first Afro-American bishop consecrated by the Episcopal Church, the founder of the Orthodox Apostolic Church in Haiti, and the first black man to preach in Westminister Abbey. This first book-length biograpy tells the story of a faithful shuchman and a pioneer black nationalist."

Desert Shamanism was not written orignally to share with the world. It was writen as a man's personal journal. Bishop Maley has offered us a rare opportunity to travel with him as he goes on his vision quest in the Arizona Desert.

Armed with a doctorate in theology and the wisdom of Native American Spirituality, he ventures into the desert. His vision quest was initiated by his search for the answer to a question.

We are invited to travel with him as he speaks to Spirits, questions his sanity, rejoices, suffers and runs the gamut of emotions. At the end of three months in the desert he is blessed with a answer, although not to the original question he asked. He experiences a numinous transformation.

The author writes with such honesty and innocence expressed in a unique, beautiful, simplistic style. I laughed, cried and at times had to take a deep breath, put the book down and come back to it. I have read it three times and each time found something new.

I give Desert Shamanism the highest recommendation. It is an account of a man's soul in search of the Truth. Mind shaking and profound. A "must read" for everyone.

As far as I know, this is the only novel by Edward Carben. And if so, it's a shame, because this story remained with me over 30 years, finally moving me to hunt down a copy for myself. I was very pleased to find that it was just as good as I remembered, and far more relevant than I might have imagined.

It's the story of Peter Faber, from his days as a teenager in 1937, studying for the priesthood, to his death in 1974. Presented as excerpts from his ongoing diary, it not only gives us a portrait of a sincere, decent, sometimes troubled man, but also a portrait of the American Catholic church through those decades. The author was a lay theologian & teacher, so he brings considerable weight & knowledge to these historical & cultural details.

But before all else, it's the story of an individual. Peter is intelligent, curious, devoted not only to his calling but to the truth. And if this pursuit causes him to experience major doubts regarding his faith, he has the courage to face those doubts, rather than simply deny them. He sees himself as being driven more by his head than his heart, but he's quick to anger where injustice is involved, and tends to grapple with problems as best he can, even if he displeases his superiors.

And here's where it gets even more interesting. Long before the sexual abuse scandals that have wracked the church since the 1990s, Peter finds himself dealing with such things as far back as the 1930s. There are predatory priests here, venial & power-hungry as well, more devoted to position & pleasure than their avowed service to God. Peter encounters a good deal of self-serving corruption within the hierarchy, and finds that the few who genuinely wish to emulate Christ -- the Christ of the poor, the downtrodden, the oppressed -- well, those few are marginalized.

So as the decades go by, Peter copes with racial injustice, sexual bigotry, the war in Vietnam, materialism, bad faith, the changes of Vatican II, the changes in American culture -- in short, an ongoing gantlet. He's liberal, even radical in many ways; yet at heart, he's conservative as well. Is he idealized at bit? Perhaps. But he's a model of what a priest should be ... and what a decent human being should be, too.

I first read this as a young man, a member of the church. Decades later, I'm agnostic at best where literal belief & organized religion are concerned. But this novel remains moving & thought-provoking to this day. It definitely deserves reprinting!

This book is the first well-organized treatise in contingency table analysis using log-linear models. Today it remains the best in the subject. It is extremely fun to read. Tons of examples clearly explained with the help of lots of graphs and tables. Mathematical notations and arguments are clean and elegant. The MIT Press also deserved high praise for making this book with top quality and affordable price to students. In a perfect world, all books in mathematics and statistics should be written and published this way. This book is a gem.

Despite real progress made in ecumenical relations between Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, the last few years have seen an increase in bitter attacks on Papal Supremacy and Infallibility by some Eastern Orthodox (some of them former Protestants, others former Catholics).

In *The Divine Primacy of the Bishop of Rome and Modern Eastern Orthodoxy: Reply to a Former Catholic*, James Likoudis treats in detail of Eastern Orthodox ecclesiology and replies to objections made to Catholic doctrine on the Pope's Primacy of Supremacy and Infallibility, on the Procession of the Holy Spirit, on the Filioque clause, on the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, on Purgatory, and on the Development of Doctrine.

From the Foreword of the Book by Fr. Tamerlane Lana, OP Rector of the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines:

This study captures a segment of the history of the Philippines made colorful by the arrival of the missionaries who had wielded a great influence in the religious landscape of the Philippines centuries ago. Bishop Salazar was a prominent figure, the champion of the missionary of the early Filipinos. This publication encourages us to carry on nurturing seeds which Bishop Salazar had sown in the country's soil.

Fr. Gutierrez leads us in looking back to a life that was lived to its fullest. He shares with us how a man of mission and vision continues to touch our lives with his propagation of the Christian faith. The University of Santo Tomas takes pride in sharing with you the fruits of Fr. Gutierrez's many years of labor. This book, is indeed, a tribute to all of us who are missionaries in our own right.



I give this book five stars. It's a biography of a forgotten bishop of long ago who did many great things not only for the Filipino people in the earliest stage of their conversation and colonization, but way, way before he reached the shores of the Philippines, this great Bishop Domingo de Salazar, already labored in some parts of the United States and Mexico.

Fr. Lucio Gutierrez did a wonderful job in writing this great book. An expert in the field of history, this was originally his doctoral thesis (in original Spanish) in the Faculty of Church History at the Gregorian University in Rome. With patience and perseverance, he quietly worked and researched in many archives from Madrid to Rome to California and to Mexico. This book traces Domingo de Salazar's formative years, his missionary labors in Mexico and Florida (the footnotes themselves are a treat and definitely worth reading), up to the bishop's arrival in the Philippines, his defense of the natives and finally his return to Spain and his death in 1594. It has several illustrations as well and for a very broad and deep topic, it is very readable for which we must credit Father Lucio.

Fr. Gutierrez is also the author of another great work on the History of the Church in The Philippines 1565-1999 (available both in Spanish and English). He has currently published three volumes of The History of the Visayan People which he translated from the original several volume work of Fr. Alcina. All are available at the University of Santo Tomas Press, UST Manila.

Fabulous book. This book really helped me to pray. Bishop Holcomb is a true man of God, hearing from God and it is evident in information contained in this book. If you have a worry then this book is a MUST! Trusting God and praying to God is essential for all Christians and this book reaveals the importance of not worrying and praying. Even if you think you don't know how to stop worrying....this is the book to read. I was always worrying about something but then I found out by reading this book that worry not only hinders my prayers but is a form of blasphamy. Great book. Great author.

This really is one of the best Bibles available. It is beautifully bound which for the cost is extraordinary.

It does not have anything like the rosary, or other "specials". What it does have, is 3 different papal encyclicals on the Scriptures. These give a fantastic explanation of the inspiration of Scripture and why we should be reading & believing Scripture that I have ever had.
There are a number of art prints in the center in the style of old family Bibles.
I can't say enough good about this Bible. The main thing that I see in it, that is different from other Douays, (in addition to the above) is that the quality is much better. They have used the best of everything, to make this an heirloom quality edition.
There are many points which can be illuminated by reading this Bible. One example which I found interesting is that the garden of eden (which isn't even called that in this translation, Eden the word is translated in this version to "paradise") is mentioned to have been the area between Ethiopia and Mesopotamia rather than just the later. This is very interesting as this really eradicates the conflict between the bible and the current evidence we have of the earliest existing human beings which were possibly African. If the gestation period for the human race was this expansive fruitful area, Moses knew that the first human beings were African in origin. How did he know this?
That cannot be explained by science how he knew this information. This is a beautiful, stunning bible, which sheds light on the beautiful stunning bible it is a perfect translation of (the Latin Vulgate).

This edition of the Douay Rheims Bible is a large size - ideal as a family Bible, and also for as a wedding gift.
The Douay Rheims is one of my favorite translations. In this edition, the text is really clear as it has been increased in size from the original standard sized edition.
I love the beautiful, poetic language, and the very Catholic words--note Luke 1:28 And the angel being come in said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed are thou among women.
Overall, this is the Bible each family should have on the shelf.

John Putnam Thatcher gets involved in a kidnapping. Not as a victim, and certainly not as the bad guy, but as the one delivering the million and a half dollars in ransom to the Swiss bank where the terrorist group known as Black Tuesday will pick it up.

Poor Thatcher. He likes a quiet life. But nothing goes his way. The ransom is picked up by a blond packbacker who immediately disappears. The terrorists remain quiet, but it takes weeks before the victim reappears. And when he does, the questions just become louder. Because the victim was the major figure in an important oil drilling contract for the North Sea in Scotland. His company wins the bid and are just beginning to get things ironed out when someone plants a bomb in his car. Then it turns out that he had never been kidnapped in the first place. So what happened to all that ransom money?

I always like Emma Lathen's books, but since they are out of print, they are hard to find. I just got a copy of this one yesterday at a thrift store and I couldn't wait to read it. I hadn't ever read this one before and it was a real treat. I love her stuff. If you're a fan, I really recommend this one.