Bishop Books

I was priveleged to be visiting the San Francisco Modern Museum of Art during a showing of precisely the pieces in this book. Arneson was a California artist who was tremendously versatile. He did drawings, paintings and sculptures. If you ever want to see an artist's ego reflected in his/her work, this book is a must. Excellent quality photographs and some interesting insites to the artist. Highly recommended for anyone wishing to explore the area of self-portraits. Enjoy!

I find this book to be one of the best I have ever seen on the topic of building robots. Why?
The author covers all the basics of just what a robot is and how to build 5 different ones including a rare gantry type.
The real strengths of this book other than its clarity is the programming of the PICs-his microntroller of choice. Excellent, excellent, excellent. He shows you how and why-even if you don't have a lot of experience
Also-and this is the real gem part-he shows you how to interface the different active electronic components that make up a robot. This is rare in any robot book and Mr. Bishop does it well with lucid explanations and very good diagrams.

Not often does one find a book that gives an outstanding overview of the subject but also goes into the specific nuts and bolts.

Roger of Worcester (1132-34? - 1179) was the cousin of King Henry II and the son of Earl Robert of Gloucester (the illegitimate son of Henry I). He was elected to the see of Worcester in 1163 and was consecrated in 1164. Although considered among the great Bishops of period by some later authors, no vita exists about him and he only appears infrequently in the chronicles (perhaps because he was primarily a involved as a judge and thus uninteresting to write about). Despite the extreme lack of sources, Mary G. Cheney pieces together from shreds of evidence the life, goals, historical importance, and role Roger played in English Church Reform, the Beckett Controversy, and as a Judge-Delegate of the Papacy. Roger battled for the reform of the parochial ministry of the church of England by attacking hereditary succession to benefices and clerical marriage (226). He was also one of the principal papal judge-delegates of the 1170s which enabled him to play a vital role in facilitating Papal attempts of Reform. Roger was a princely bishop (cousin of the King) who despised riches, and gave his life to the church while maintaining his loyalty to King Henry II (although he occasionally opposed him).

The first section of the book deals with Roger's role in the controversy between Archbishop Beckett and King Henry II over the jurisdiction of clerks. Roger was in the delicate position since he was a blood relation to the king while he owed his consecration to Beckett. Roger of Worcester went into self-imposed exile in France. Cheney argues that "Roger attempted to respect the just claims of both masters, and so earned the criticism now of one side, now of the other" (18). Most of the rest of the book deals with Roger's role in relation to Pope Alexander II who urged him to continue his dangerous work as judge-delegate and his drive for Church Reform and legal Reform.

By far the most interesting argument that Cheney makes, supported by her careful study of Roger, is in relation to Alexander III's famous reforms. She argues that there "is no evidence that [Alexander III] ever contemplated a systematic, comprehensive revision of the law, or that any overall plan guided and stimulated his work in this field" (169). Instead, external stimulus, such as Roger and other bishops requests of papal judgment on a case, provided the driving force for the codification and creation of new law by Alexander III's lawyers and specialists at the Curia. Roger raised many issues about the state of English Prelates that would be addressed later in the Lateran Council of 1215. Cheney does an incredible job sifting through all relevant chronicles, shreds of evidence, half sentences of charters, papal decretals, etc to formulate this vital scholarly work that adds greatly to our understanding of this important bishop. This work contains almost 200 pages of relevant charters and decretals mentioned in the text (these decretals are in Latin). Of course, Mary Cheney provides the duct work for her conclusions (this is vital when sources are minimal) and having the reader shift through all this is incredibly tedious so this work is clearly ONLY for the Medieval Scholar interested in this period. A must read/buy for the Medieval English Historian or Medieval Church Historian.

_The Roman West and the Byzantine East_ is a small book consisting of two essays written by two traditionalist Greek Orthodox Bishops. It is published by the Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies, and the authors advocate the use of the old calendar (Julian) rather than the new calendar (Gregorian) to schedule the dates of Church festivals. The first essay, "Historiography and the Christian Church", discusses the difference between the ways that the history of Christianity, its origins and spread, are viewed in the West by Catholics and Protestants and in the East by the Orthodox. The Western version looks at Christianity taking root in the decadent pagan Roman Empire as an historical anomaly, the rise of the Roman Pontiff as both spiritual and temporal authority when the Roman Empire disintegrated, and the major split of the Church being the one in the 1500s with Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation. The Orthodox from the start take a more positive view of the Roman Empire, as it was an expression of the unity of the ancient known world to know God, and it was founded on the wisdom of the Greek philosophers. The Greek philosophers were pagan in the sense that they only had their human intuition to go by, and did not receive the Divine Revelation of Christ. The Church succeeded because God planned it to be so. The Emperor Constantine, despite his considerable personal shortfalls, worked to solidify the unity of the Church and recognized that that was God's mission for him to do. The Church councils which determined the theological stances regarding the Trinity, the Nature of Christ and Canon Law were authoritative not because they were presided over by the Roman Pope, but because they reflected the general consensus of the Catholic Christian Church. The second essay, "Theology in the East and West," is about the considerably wide gulf between the views on the nature of God. Western theology frequently starts with the question of whether or not God exists and sometimes tries to prove His existence philosophically. Western theology also tends to anthropomorphize God too much, as Western notions of God view Him as being reflected in nature and the "inner God" within individual persons, the "leap of faith." What atheism rejects is the anthropomorphized God. The Eastern Orthodox assume God exists, and the central question is how man can reach and become more like God. This assumption takes place in an ontological way, beyond words. Man cannot comprehend or experience the Essence of God, but he can partake of the Energies of God. The Western theme of man's salvation is somewhat legalistic, which itself provokes rebellion against the religious. The Orthodox view of salvation is geared to the old Patristic theme of "God became man so that man might become God." Heaven is where man has reached his highest in the divine, while Hell is where man has negated God's ways into total meaninglessness and oblivion. _The Roman West and the Byzantine East_ is definitely a book that is radically different from most Christian literature, and it actually will make you think a little out of the box. There is no liberal Christianity here (no pews in Church, the priests have to wear robes at all times and never shave or cut their hair, and the virginity of monastic life is to be held as the highest ideal of this earth) as the authors are pretty clear that they take a reactionary position regarding the ecumenical movement which the Orthodox have been participants.

Oscar Romero is the saint of our age and James Brockman does him justice in this compelling biography. One can almost feel Romero's inner struggles and conflicts bubbling beneath the surface through the description of the historical record. Highly recommended.

I read the original 1919 published copy and found it fascinating. So often we ignore TR's fatherly side in lieu of his political and naturalist aspects. This book does not allow that to happen. While it only covers about 13 years (1898-1911) it genuinely shows the love TR had for his children.
Many of the letters show drawings of animals and incidents that occurred while in the Spanish-American War and the presidency. Many of the drawings are funny little sketches that his children would have truly enjoyed. The letters also show how TR never let his children know the weight of the job of presidency. Very seldom does he even mention the affairs of state.
Probably the most telling of the letters are the ones written to his children as they attended boarding school and college. Many times TR tells his children to be athletic but not at the expense of education. Many parents would benefit from these words today. He tells his children that he would be happy if they were "only" on the second team if they were doing well in their studies. If, however, they were to sacrifice their studies for sports, he stated he would be highly disappointed.
Finally, he addresses his letters as a father calls his children. Many letters start with cute names like Quenty-quee and Little Ethel. It again shows the loving, fatherly side of the former president we so seldom see.
In sum, I would highly recommend this book if, for nothing else, the sheer enjoyment one would get by seeing a loving father write to his children.

This story was written in 1978, when Walt Stack was just 70 years young. Stack ran most of his miles after this book was written, so the story continues, and is truly, truly incredible. You can find this book in the out of print circuits, but it was easiest to locate a copy through inter-library loan. Bishop's book is written with much of Stack's help, and so you learn about the person behind the runner, the communist in philosophy, but the democrat in nature. You learn of a man who did his daily 2:00 a.m. 7 mile bike ride, 17 mile run, and 1 mile swim in the San Fran. ocean, and how it ended up as not being his nature to prove anything. He just did it, day after day. Try just one day at his schedule, and you'll soon see why this story is incredible. Walt died in 1995, and little has been written about him since that time. We keep searching for heroes, and so we try to create them in movies, or some die on mountain tops in efforts to become one. With Stack, being a hero came in his encouragement of all runners to run their best, women, children, elderly, anyone. Stack was a hero to many, and still should be to all. We don't have to create heroes, we just need to remember who they were and are.

Stack ran every day, every day, rain, wind or shine - with no shirt. After the 2:00 a.m. rise and his workout, he jumped to a blue collar hod carrying position of lifting wet motar and concrete up ladders on his back all day long.

His day has not been duplicated.

This is a collection of nine short works by Augustine. The table of contents is presented below:

"The Good of Marriage", introduced and translated by Charles T. Wilcox

"Adulterous Marriages", introduced and translated by Charles T. Huegelmeyer

"Holy Virginity", introduced and translated by John McQuade

"Faith and Works", introduced and translated by Marie Liguori

"The Creed", introduced and translated by Marie Liguori

"Faith and the Creed", introduced and translated by Robert P. Russell

"The Care to be Taken for the Dead", introduced and translated by John A. Lacy

"In Answer to the Jews", introduced and translated by Marie Liguori

"The Divination of Demons", introduced and translated by Ruth Wentworth Brown

"The Good of Marriage" was one of Augustine's most influential works. He wrote it to define the purpose of marriage and to defend it as a good - not as good as holy virginity but a good nevertheless. To this end, he defined the purpose of marriage (what goods it brings to those in the married state), and from this what the duties of marriage must therefore be. It is a work at once strange and familiar. It is strange in the pains it takes to defend the idea that marriage is not actually sinful (a charge that few would even think to make today). It is familiar in that many of the most criticized aspects of the Catholic view of marriage, such as the denial of divorce and the sinfulness of non-procreative sex, are presented and defended in this work. It is a powerful presentation of these embattled points of doctrine and well worth reading.

"Adulterous Marriages" is a treatment of a variety of possible issues and complications surrounding adultery, particularly with regard to separation and remarriage. It was built on the same theological foundations as "The Good of Marriage", but was aimed less at expounding doctrine than answering possible objections to it and clarifying the finer points. It almost serves as a set of appendices to that prior and more foundational work.

"Holy Virginity" is a work that necessarily followed Augustine's works on marriage. Having defended the goodness of marriage, a defense of the superior goodness of virginity was required. The argument is rhetorical in form and scriptural in content. The main purpose is completed fairly quickly - Augustine draws on the lives of Mary, Jesus, the Apostles, and the teachings of Paul to establish that holy virginity is a good thing. Surprisingly, he then devotes considerable space to warning those practicing virginity not to be over-proud of their state and its superiority over marriage and to caution those practicing virginity to humility.

"Faith and Works" concerns what the title suggests it concerns. The launching point, however, is the narrower question of whether pagan converts should be educated in the requirements of a Christian life before or after baptism. This question leads Augustine into the question of how important the Christian life is to salvation: do works matter? Augustine's answer and the scripture used in addressing this point is the Catholic position. It relies on Peter, John, James, and Jude as counterweights to the "faith alone" reading of Paul, and in fascinating in showing how the question did not arise suddenly in the sixteenth century but in fact had very old roots (Augustine in fact regards it as old even in his own time, and as having been settled in the time of the Apostles).

"The Creed" is a short work, originally given as a sermon, explaining the meaning of the Creed to a lay audience. Augustine went slowly through the Creed, explaining each line's meaning in clear terms, and avoiding theological heavy lifting.

"Faith and the Creed" is a slightly longer work than its predecessor, and was aimed at a more sophisticated audience. It also works slowly through the Creed, but its main occupation is using it as a means of differentiating Catholic from Manichaean belief, naturally to the credit of the former.

"The Care to be Taken for the Dead" is a sensitive work for those dealing with the problem of the proper care for the dead and what - if any - consequences it has for the life to come. Augustine finds that the reason for respectful care for the dead lies not out of concern for the next life (where it has no effect), but out of concern for those still alive, that care of the dead is an opportunity for a final show of respect for the deceased. In doing so, Augustine gives comfort to those who cannot care for loved ones who have died, without making it seem as though those who can are foolish in doing so.

"In Answer to the Jews" aims to defend the Christian interpretations of messianic prophecy in the Old Testament against Jewish objections. There was a substantial Jewish population in North Africa where Augustine was bishop, and he sought to fortify local Christians with a defense of Christian belief about the Old Testament.

"The Divination of Demons" is a short piece intended to explain a question that seldom troubles Christians today: how could demons prophecy the future and if they could didn't it make them worthy of worship? Without claiming to have every heard a demon prophecy anything, Augustine argues that they could do so by merely natural means, and that this would not even necessarily make them better than men, much less worthy of worship.

This book contains a pair of unfinished works by Augustine on the Book of Genesis. The table of contents is as follows:

Introduction (Roland J. Teske)

Entries from "The Retractions" on the two works

"Two Books on Genesis against the Manichees"

"On the Literal Interpretation of Genesis: An Unfinished Book"

General Index

Index of Holy Scripture

Augustine regarded the interpretation of Genesis as important to Christian belief, but also found it difficult. These works were his two first attempts at writing interpretations of it, but he thought them only partly successful and did not see fit to complete them. Neither work is to be confused with Augustine's "The Literal Meaning of Genesis", which is a later and much longer work on the same subject that he successfully completed (that work is available in two volumes from Paulist Press).

Augustine's special interest in Genesis had two roots: apologetic and theological. His apologetic interest was a response to frequent attacks on Genesis by non-Christians and what he felt were inept defenses of it by uneducated Christians. His theological interest sprang from the critical importance of the Fall to Augustine's theology.

The first work, "Two Books on Genesis against the Manichees", was primarily apologetic. It was written not long after Augustine left the Manichees to return to the Church, and was intended as a rebuttal to the Manichee attacks on Genesis. In this context, Augustine discussed Creation, Eden, and the Fall, but the work ended there - Augustine felt that he had not yet learned enough to complete the task he had undertaken successfully. The section on Creation was largely literal - reading it as a record of events that had occurred, but the section on Eden and the Fall was largely allegorical, reading it for the spiritual truth within the literal account. The chief interest I found in the work was that the description of the Eden and the Fall shows the strong influence on Augustine of classical virtue ethics, but none of the theology of Original Sin that is of such importance in his later writings.

The second work "On the Literal Interpretation of Genesis: An Unfinished Book", was aporetic in character: in it, Augustine deepens the reader's understanding of the text by raising questions about it rather than by giving answers. This work was written not long after the previous one, and again Augustine found himself ultimately unequal to the task he had set. This work is even shorter than the previous one, and gets less far into Genesis, ending after the Creation days. I found the work pleasant to read; the aporetic style provides a sense of intimacy - that the author is sharing not only his answers with the reader, but also his questions, even if he doesn't have an answer to give.

The supporting material in the book is quite good - the only fault I would find is that the introduction generally refers to works by the abbreviations of their Latin names, which made me break from reading the text to his table of abbreviations (about 30 in all) far too often, a fault compounded by the fact that English translations for the titles in that table were not provided. Still, this is a pretty minor quibble.

As a final note, thanks are due to Teske and CUA Press for providing the first translation of these works into English.

Remembering is a process that never rests. Memory is where Augustine finds himself and others and God. The power of memory is vast. We commit things to memory. We equate memory with mind.

Memory holds the four categories of mind--desire, joy, fear, sorrow. In Book Ten of the CONFESSIONS Augustine moves from the past to the present. The chapter is Augustine's project of self-assessment. Augustine marks the combinative powers of memory. There is a relationship between memory and personal identity. Augustine reaches no sure answer to the problem of forgetting. Augustine sees his major failure as a desire for praise.

Garry Wills has taken a significant portion of the CONFESSIONS and provided new translations and literate commentary.