Clarke Books

Excellent material. Well thought out. A great help for studying the parables.

Having read Jung's glowing praises of Paracelsus, as well as various accounts of his amazing life, I was very excited to read this book to get a better idea what his actual writings are like. This selection of excerpts is alternately enjoyable and baffling, since Paracelsus was a very complicated thinker with enormous ambitions, and it appears from these excerpts that his reach often exceeds his grasp. He takes an encyclopedic approach to explaining everything about the science of his day as he understood it, completely mingled with his personal theology. The Paracelsian universe is saturated with living and breathing forces, stars influencing everything but in very strange ways that seem to contradict each other, and the inner light of nature leaving signs strewn about everywhere for the enlightened person to interpret. It's rather daunting to read that you really can't just use a particular herb to cure something, because you have to choose the right herb at the right time to fit the current astrological environment as it relates to the person requiring healing. All very heady stuff, and it might be easy to dismiss Paracelsus as a wooly-headed dreamer except for the known historical facts about his rather heroic life, and his reputation for expending great amounts of energy helping the poor.

In summary, the book doesn't (and really couldn't) cover any of the many subjects that concerned Paracelsus in great depth, but it provides a wonderful survey and starting point for additional investigation into this great man's writings.

This product performs as expected - provides part numbers for all Defenders from 1987 to 2001. A must have.

Every student of the fathers is familiar with Quasten's "Patrology"(Patrology: 4 Vol. Set). The last volume of this was actually edited by Angelo Di Berardino. The story of the fathers ends in 450. Thereafter anyone wishing to learn about a later writer is left to struggle with briefer texts such as Altaner's elderly one-volume patrology. Few discussions of the Greek fathers can ignore writers after 450.

When in Rome recently, I found that the Italian translation of Quasten has further volumes; one on the later Greek fathers, and one on the later Latin fathers. Now, at long last, the first of these 'extra volumes' is available in English, thanks to the effort of Adrian Walford.

This takes the story from where Quasten vol. 3 ended (Chalcedon, 451 AD) to John Damascene in the 8th century. It also includes some notices of writers omitted by Quasten between 400-451. The format is the same as before, and there are also sections on Syriac and Coptic writers.

Unfortunately the volume is inferior to Quasten. This was a fault in the Italian, and is reproduced in the English. The text is more woolly, there seem to be no inline brief quotations from the people being discussed -- one of Quasten's glories -- and the bibliographies are very scant. This matters little for the scholarship, as this would quickly date. There is an understandable bias towards Italian scholarship, of course.

But Quasten always made a serious effort to list an edition, and all the English, French and German translations. In some cases no edition is listed -- just a reference to the entry number of the author in the "Clavis Patrum Graecorum" (which no-one can afford). Likewise if a translation is given it will be merely a recent one; in several cases I know of translations that exist in English and are not referenced.

This is sad, since one of the joys of Quasten was to discover a translation, obtain it, and thereby access the writer.

Nevertheless this volume can only be described as essential. Quasten's format is vastly superior to that of encyclopedias, for it is possible to read it cover to cover and as bedside reading, and through it learn the history of the church in immense and referenced detail. This volume now makes it possible for us all to continue the story to John Damascene.

Let us hope that the next volume will be translated also. I have spoken to the publisher and made some of these points to him. Unfortunately the translator, Adrian Walford, commenced work on that volume but has since died.

If anyone knows Angelo Di Berardino, perhaps they might suggest that his group of scholars at the "Institutum Augustinianum" continue their labours. A volume on the Greek church writers from John Damascene to the fall of Constantinople in 1453, in this format, would be very useful indeed.

Every student of the fathers is familiar with Quasten's "Patrology". The last volume of this was actually edited by Angelo Di Berardino. The story of the fathers ends in 450. Thereafter anyone wishing to learn about a later writer is left to struggle with briefer texts such as Altaner's elderly one-volume patrology. Few discussions of the Greek fathers can ignore writers after 450.

When in Rome recently, I found that the Italian translation of Quasten has further volumes; one on the later Greek fathers, and one on the later Latin fathers. Now, at long last, the first of these 'extra volumes' is available in English, thanks to the effort of Adrian Walford.

This takes the story from where Quasten vol. 3 ended (Chalcedon, 451 AD) to John Damascene in the 8th century. It also includes some notices of writers omitted by Quasten between 400-451. The format is the same as before, and there are also sections on Syriac and Coptic writers.

Unfortunately the volume is inferior to Quasten. This was a fault in the Italian, and is reproduced in the English. The text is more woolly, there seem to be no inline brief quotations from the people being discussed -- one of Quasten's glories -- and the bibliographies are very scant. This matters little for the scholarship, as this would quickly date. There is an understandable bias towards Italian scholarship, of course.

But Quasten always made a serious effort to list an edition, and all the English, French and German translations. In some cases no edition is listed -- just a reference to the entry number of the author in the "Clavis Patrum Graecorum" (which no-one can afford). Likewise if a translation is given it will be merely a recent one; in several cases I know of translations that exist in English and are not referenced.

This is sad, since one of the joys of Quasten was to discover a translation, obtain it, and thereby access the writer.

Nevertheless this volume can only be described as essential. Quasten's format is vastly superior to that of encyclopedias, for it is possible to read it cover to cover and as bedside reading, and through it learn the history of the church in immense and referenced detail. This volume now makes it possible for us all to continue the story to John Damascene.

Let us hope that the next volume will be translated also. I have spoken to the publisher and made some of these points to him. Unfortunately the translator, Adrian Walford, commenced work on that volume but has since died.

If anyone knows Angelo Di Berardino, perhaps they might suggest that his group of scholars at the "Institutum Augustinianum" continue their labours. A volume on the Greek church writers from John Damascene to the fall of Constantinople in 1453, in this format, would be very useful indeed.

This book is an excellent depiction of one of the greatest African Art collection in American history. It gives the details and history of pieces that were previously only available to the Gussman family.

A definite addition to the African Art enthusiast collection.

Every student is different; that's why some people think of high school as the best time of their lives while others would rather erase those four years from their existence. "Personalizing the High School Experience" is an educator's guide that realizes this. Promoting that each teenager's learning should be customized to fit their needs and personalities, "Personalizing the High School Experience" is a deftly written handbook for educators, and a must for community library education collections.

Fr Clarke is a man of stunning intellect - he re-animates the wonderful writings of St Thomas Aquinas and shows their continued relevance for out times. This is the third book of Fr Clarke's that I have read. He reached celestial heights in "The one and the many" and comes close to that in this one. His analysis of the incompatability of process theology with christian theology is clear but he shows a clear way forward for dialogue. I have read each of Fr Clarke's books twice in a short space of time and I am half way through this again. If you have any inclination for metaphysics, then Fr Clarke is for you; his writings are crystal clear.

My daughter is a younger than the age group specified, but she loves the story and the pictures -- as do I, the parent who has to read it a million times in a row. *grin* Fortunately for me, the delightful and informative text holds up to repeated readings aloud, and although the book is nonfiction, there's a nice narrative flow that pulls the reader into the life of the platypus. Both enjoyable and educational!

This set of three volumes; The Comedies, The Histories, and The Tragedies is the ultimate Shakepeare collection. Everything you could ever want to know in one set. Awesome......