Bishop Books

The life of Desmond Tutu is incredible in many ways. Advocates of social justice, racial equality, and Christian spirituality alike can find inspiration from the story of his life's achievements. As Bishop of Lesotho, then General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches, then the Archbishop of Cape Town, Tutu used his positions within the realm of religion to become one of South Africa's most outspoken advocates for an end to apartheid.

What I enjoyed most about Shirley DuBoulay's biography of Desmond Tutu was its faithfulness to Tutu's true personality and character, both the positive and the negative characteristics. For example, DuBoulay is willing to admit that Tutu's calling to the priesthood was not especially strong at first; however, by the time he began life as a priest, everyone saw that he had a unique ability to connect to all different types of people. More than most, he was able to place himself in another person's shoes, and constantly tended to his parishioners' every need. DuBoulay also admitted that Tutu was irresponsible with money, and was overly sensitive in that he allowed his feelings to be hurt easily.

However, his positive personality traits greatly outweighed the negative. He had an indomitable spirit, and remained faithful to the idea that all South Africans, black and white, can live together in harmony, despite criticisms from those who looked for blacks to become the top of the racial hierarchy. His incredibly personable demeanor attracted blacks and whites alike to his cause, and would help to heal a divided country. All in all, Tutu lived the Christian ideal of living for others. DuBoulay relays this with many anecdotes from Tutu's life that show first-hand the effect that he had on South Africans and people around the world.

A pivotal moment in the book is the Fort Hare strike. Police with dogs, guns, and tear-gas attacked students who were peacefully protesting a racist educational system. Tutu encouraged them and supported them throughout the entire day, and his full-fledged commitment to their cause showed them that he would do more than just speak out against injustice: he would fight it on all fronts. This experience changed Tutu by making him realize that Christianity and advocating for justice went hand-in-hand.

Another important moment in Tutu's life was his decision to accept the position of Dean of Johannesburg. He and his family had been living in England and enjoying the freedoms that living outside of apartheid allowed. However, God called him to return to his homeland and respond to the needs of his people, so that is what he did. This decision sent him back into the cruel realities of apartheid - a harsh adjustment for his family, but necessary so that he might fully understand the struggle in which he would play such a large part. A year later, when he became a Bishop, he disliked some responsibilities of the position (those that took him away from his parishioners) but thoroughly enjoyed leading his people spiritually.

Tutu fully embraced his destiny as an anti-apartheid advocate as General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches. By speaking up about the injustices in South Africa, he raised the profile of the SACC both nationally and internationally, and gave it greater credibility within the minds of everyday South Africans. He identified the SACC with the new concept of Black Liberation Theology, and thus made it respond to the needs of oppressed South Africans. His actions were already beginning to shape the course of events in South Africa that would eventually lead to the end of apartheid.

It is the inclusion of first-hand accounts of events such as this that make "Tutu: Voice of the Voiceless" such a rich and informative biography. While I initially thought DuBoulay included too much personal information about Tutu, I soon realized that his early years growing up, as well as his personal experiences around the world, greatly inform our understanding of this incredible man. Because the book was published in 1987, there is much of Tutu's life that is left out. However, this glimpse into Tutu's life is an inspiration to nonviolent freedom fighters everywhere, and is an expertly written biography.

In 1843, Sweden witnessed the advent of a new religious leader, Eric Janson. Identifying himself as a new prophet, Janson led many people away from the established Lutheran Church. Coming under persecution from the authorities, Janson and some 1,100 followers emigrated to the United States, and founded Bishop Hill, a religious commune on the prairies of Illinois. This is the story of Eric Janson, and the rise and fall of Bishop Hill.

Eric Janson led the first mass exodus of Swedes to North America, and is a subject worth studying. In this short work (some 60 pages), Michael Mikkelsen writes a not entirely dispassionate look into this subject. His book is highly favorable of Eric Janson, and hostile to the Swedish Lutheran Church. Though this book is light on details, I still recommend it.

I was lucky enough to obtain the 1972 Porcupine Press version, which included the book, Eric Janson and the Bishop Hill Colony by Sivert Erdahl. This book (some 70 pages) is much better than Mikkelsen's, heavy on the details Mikkelsen missed, and worthy of five stars. Erdahl quotes from a number of primary sources, including the writings of Eric Janson himself to give a clear and unbiased look at Eric Janson and Bishop Hill.

If you are interested in Eric Janson and/or Bishop Hill, then I recommend this book to you. If you can obtain the Porcupine Press version, though, then you are obtaining a read gem!

In 1843, Sweden witnessed the advent of a new religious leader, Eric Janson. Identifying himself as a new prophet, Janson led many people away from the established Lutheran Church. Coming under persecution from the authorities, Janson and some 1,100 followers emigrated to the United States, and founded Bishop Hill, a religious commune on the prairies of Illinois.

Bishop Hill is located in Henry County, Illinois, and draws many tourists to see its historic buildings and other interests. This children's activity book was written for the younger reader, and uses such activities as coloring, word searches, and even a you-build-it paper wagon and oxen to educate the youngster on Bishop Hill and its inhabitants.

Overall, I found this to be a very good activities book, with a wide range of activities that will be sure to entertain every age group. If you take your children to Bishop Hill (and you should!), then get this activities book. I highly recommend it!

It is nothing new to learn that the "the ancient Mediterranean world established legitimacy of authority in social institutions, whether Roman, Greek, Jewish, or Christian, by citing successions of leaders. In early Catholic churches, apostolic succession was the linchpin in the three `pillars' of tradition, succession, and canon. It guaranteed the first and assured interpretation of the third." Without becoming completely cynical about the origin, function and impact of authority structures in the early Church, e.g. Bart Ehrman, the author clearly presents the very human side to the struggle to define and maintain sound doctrine via apostolic succession as it developed from the late first through mid-fourth centuries during times of doctrinal crisis (of which there were many).

The author seeks to show, successfully in my view, the role that literature/lists played in their unique contexts. Although he may be a tad too "Bauerian" for my tastes, any student of apostolic succession and the development or maintenance of ecclesiastical authority needs to at least read this book, if not own it, not so much for the thesis as much for the organization of primary texts.

What I find interesting here is that people of faith or no faith can look at the same material and come to radically different conclusions, hinging on the question "but is any of it really true, all this doctrine stuff?" If it is false, then the whole thing looks rather petty and stupid. If it is true, then it takes on monumental significance. But what is critical to remember is that it all depends upon what you are bringing to the texts, not the texts themselves.


Table of contents

Preface
Introduction
Literary Background: Apologetic in the Hellenistic World
Greek and Roman Successions
Jewish Successions
Formative Crises: Bishop and Succession in Earliest Christianity
New Testament
Ignatius and 1 Clement
Stage 1: Anti-heretical Uses
Hegesippus
Irenaeus
Stage 2: Anti-Schismatic Uses
Julius Africanus
Hippolytus
Stage 3: Apologetic and Encouragement
Eusebius 1. The Chronicle
Eusebius 2. The Ecclesiastical History
Conclusion

You may also find the following useful: Early Christian Writings: The Apostolic Fathers (Penguin Classics), Apostolic Succession in an Ecumenical Context, Apostolic Succession, Apostolic Succession: In the Writings of Yves Congar and Oscar Cullmann (Andrews University Seminary Doctoral Dissertation Series, Volume 20), Eucharist and Church Fellowship in the First Four Centuries, By What Authority?: An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition, Evangelicals and Tradition: The Formative Influence of the Early Church (Evangelical Ressourcement: Ancient Sources for the Churchs Future) and Teaching Authority in the Early Church (Message of the Fathers of the Church).

Enjoy!

The Bishop Murder case is the fourth novel by S. S. Van Dine (pseudonym of Willard Huntington Wright)featuring his detective Philo Vance. Philo Vance was much in the mode of British fictional detectives of the period such as Sayer's Lord Peter Wimsey who had made his appearance in 1926 in Whose Body?. The Philo Vance mysteries were wildly popular in the United States.

Vance is a wealthy dilettante and aesthete who was portrayed as a dandy and bon vivant. The books were narrated by a fictional Van Dine who took the part of the Watson figure. His admiration for Vance was based on the fact that Vance excelled at any lofty, upper class thing he attempted. In short, Vance is a bit of an insufferable bore with a heavy smoking habit.

However, there is an entertaining, campy quality about the stories and The Bishop Murder case is generally acknowledged as one of the better of the Vance stories. It is constructed around a number of Mother Goose rhymes where, for instance, a character named Christopher Robbin is found pierced by an arrow as in "Who Killed Cock Robin".

Frankly, if you don't already have a soft spot for Vance or don't want to read one of the seminal works of the Mystery Genre then you might well find this book a bit heavy going. However, if you are prepared to suspend *a lot!* of disbelief and just going along for the campy ride then you might find yourself enjoying The Bishop Murder Case.

The book's rear cover tells us that Marjorie Bowen "spent the early part of her working life providing for a demanding and ungrateful family." An examination of her writing appears to demonstrate just how much that experience embittered her.

The stories are well-enough written, and demonstrate a deft touch with the sort of non-explicit horror that marks the period. In ones or twos, the stories are excellent. However, I don't suggest sitting down with the intention of reading the book cover-to-cover, as the effect would prove painful. Each of the stories leads to some unfortunate conclusion, a little reminder of the pain of human interaction or existence itself. The innocent and the guilty alike come to bad ends, as a human or cosmic malice seems designed to overtake all.

A Freudian might feast on the clues to unhappiness found in Bowen's short stories; the rest of us might just note that heavy current of bitterness that pervades them.

This CD contains two 2003 interviews on Canada's CBC radio network featuring retired American Episcopalian bishop John Shelby Spong. In summary form, he outlines some thoughts on topics like the Sept 11 attacks, prayer, cosmology, Bible literalism and the rise of fundamentalist religion, and he questions our traditional understanding of many Bible-related issues in the light of new knowledge. It is tempting for conservative Christians to dismiss this man's ideas out-of-hand ... but we should not. One of the best things I ever did was pick up one of his books for the first time. If you've not given intelligent consideration to Spong's ideas before, this CD could be a good start for you. Then you'll want to get his books!

Harry Bishop, witty, charming, disdainful and iconoclastic, battles academic absurdities and crime with a deft, though booze-fogged touch. Wry dialogue, realistic characters and the twist at the end make this book worth reading. Too bad it's out of print. Would that Harry were more readily available.

This farce, published in 1934 (which was the year of his death), was regarded as the funniest of the series of comic novels written by author and scriptwriter Thorne Smith.

It begins with a beautifully written comparison between the long and extremely chaste Jaeger underpants worn by Bishop Waller, with the much scantier equivalent garment worn by an attractive lady by the name of Josephine (Jo) Duvall. The prose, written with a studied, poised irony which you rarely find these days, tells you immediately that this book will be a delight to read if you enjoy skillfully crafted language.

The calamitous events described by the book begin when Peter Van Dyke, Jo Duvall's employer, in a moment of absent-mindedness puts on a superfluous pair of underpants. The consequences of this apparently minor incident are quite remarkable ...

Other novels by Thorne Smith included "The Night Life of the Gods" and "Tapper takes a Trip."

Bill Debottis, is a common man, of uncommon intellect. Soft spoken, and direct, honest to a fault, and full of the love for God. Bill has something that burns in his heart that he wants to tell you, and this is the only way that a man of his humilty could find to say it.

Those unique traits are reflected in this work of historical fiction, The Bishop's Ring. Its the story of common people caught up in uncommon, even mystical, events. As Bill unfolds his story from the ancient world to the old world, and then into the new world, he never lets the reader forget, that even in the most delicately innocent moments of our seemingly ordinary lives, the forces of Good and Evil are at work both inside and around us. Most of us, will never know how close we are to the battle of evermore, so Mr.Debottis, has opened the blinds for us to see outside our normally closed minds.

Bill will tell you that there are no coincidences. As you try to unravel this page-turner of a crime story, you will see, that in the lives of his imaginary characters, in your life, in his life, and in mine, he is surely right. The line between coincidence, and the will of God is undefinable.

This book will be a special treat for any American, whose roots are in Poland. For some of the older folks, who may have emigrated to the US from there, it will be both heartwarming, and emotionally draining, as they retrace the days after WW2 when the forces of Atheism in the name of Communisim crushed the lives of a Catholic people. Its also a stark reminder to all of us that the jack boots will always make it to the door, if they are not stopped at the city gate.