Cross Books

This book was fun to read since I am a very superstisious person. It will also be very helpfull if I have a project or report to do on suerstitions. It is cool how the book tells about all the different curses andgood luck charms there are,Iwouldnt be surprised if most of them worked. All in all I would recomend this book to anyone that is superstisious.

This book is great! I'm 22 now and I remember reading this in the elementary school library. I'd check it out again and again. I always thought this book was a creepy and fun example of strange superstitions that people followed through history. It's a shame that it's out of print!

One of my favorite books when I was a kid, I just "remembered" it the other day when my sister & I were arguing about superstitions. We both had checked it out from the school library...25 years or so ago!

I was able to find a copy, though it was out of print...thanks to Amazon's locater service!!

I first read this book in elementary school. My mom was the first one to check it our from our local library. I had the chicken pox and I think I read it over and over for about 2 weeks. It had the greatest illustrations and the stories were so creepy. I hear that it is out of print, what a shame. I want to get it for my niece and share the memories with her. A definate 5 star book

Cross-Selling Success is a well-written book about the various techniques to developing new accounts. While that may not be critical to the advancement and promotion of every single employee in an organization, it certainly can boost the career of a significant portion.

When combined with Levine's Guerrilla PR: Wired, which explains how to promote and assist the client, Cross-Selling Success can immeasurably boost both your client's and your bottom lines.

Don't view this book as little more than a glorified used-car salesman's style. Excuse me, I meant pre-owned sales consultant's assistance.

Rather, view it not even a guide to acquiring new accounts. For what is this skill but an insight into human psychology? A way to ascertain a person's feelings and thoughts upon a certain business relationship, size up the strengths and weaknesses of those thoughts and then offer that individual an option that better satisfies that individual's preferences.

Because of that, I recommend Cross-Selling Success.

At my company we have been struggling to solve the cross-selling issue for some time. Our sales organization has not been able to commit to a viable cross-selling strategy and to implement it over time. The result: money left on the table and poor customer satisfaction (or simply customer annoyance).

If you have looked around at the sales books out there, you know that there is not a lot of really good practical advice on cross-selling strategies. Harding does a great job offering suggestions which are effective and reasonable. We have used some of the strategies in his previous two books with great success and we are looking forward to implementing the cross-selling strategies as well. Another great book!

This is the best book (by far) on cross selling that I've found. The books principles can be summarized by Mr. Harding's acronym "BEST."

(1) Buyers. Identify the key buyers in the client organization and strive to create relationships with as many -- if not all -- of these buyers as possible.
(2) Events. Create "events" such as kick-off meetings, progress meetings, and fact-finding/exporatory meetings that put you in a position to build these relationships and mine for signals (number #3 which follows) of additional needs or concerns.
(3) Signals. Listen for signals that the client may need additional services. These signals may be obvious (such as the announcement of a merger or acquisition) or may be simple comments.
(4) Techniques. Professionals should equip themselves with listening, relationship-building, and sales skills in addition to professional skills and expertise.

The book provides extensive case studies to show each principle in detail and also provides a representative list of the types of events and signals to consider. Again, this book is by far the best available on cross selling. I highly recommend it.

After more than 15 years experience in business and in companies large and small, I've seen plenty of cross-selling initiatives fall short of expectations. When I saw this book, I was hopeful though somewhat skeptical. But this book really delivers. It's a great practical guide to actually getting things done. The author uses real-life examples and stories to help illustrate points and this takes things from the realm of theory and makes them understandable and actionable. I don't usually write reviews but it is not often that you find a business book that actually deals with a topic in a clear and effective way. Good stuff.

This is THE Doris Cross book to get, if you can only get one of them. This has to be her best book, hands down! Many creative and surprising recipes. Highly recommended. AVOID LIKE IT'S DISEASED: "Doris's Diet Recipes"!!!!!!!!! That book should burn in hell. I still need therapy for my anger.

After being issued an ultimatum to reduce my weight and cholesterol, I started using this book and am delighted. The recipes are easy to follow using everyday ingredients and actually taste good. Doris Cross adds her own personal comments and encouragement, as she has lost 100 pounds herself and has kept it off. I never thought I would eat fat-free mayonnaise until trying her recipes. I lost 6 pounds the first week.

When I found I had high cholesterol, I knew I had to make some lifestyle changes as far as what I eat. I grew up on good old fashioned country cooking and so many of the low fat cookbooks are full of recipes for food I would never even be tempted to try. I also needed recipes for things that my family would eat and that means that the food cannot resemble diet food! Well this cookbook has it all. I have tried numerous recipes and after my family tells me that it tasted great, I say "Good, it was low fat!!" Now it is enjoyable to eat healthy, and I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for great tasting food.

When my husband and I decided to start a new "life style", it meant learning a whole new way to cook. I went to the book store, bought a cup of coffee, sat down with every "low fat" cook book on the shelf and scanned them for recipes that I might actually try. I didn't want to buy a book with only a few recipes that fit my busy schedule. I decided on "Fat Free & Ultra Lowfat Recipes". When I got it home, I realized the author, Doris Cross lived just a few miles away. A few weeks later, after realizing how much I loved that book,I went back for another. That's when I bought "Fat Free 2". I use more recipes in that book than the first. But my favorite is, "Doris' Fat-Free Homestyle Cooking". I have sent copies to all my friends and family.

This is exquistitely written and flawlessly researched. I could not put it down. The bibliography is itself a fascinating read. In the secular world, such evidence as this would provide the foundation stone of a class action suit that would put a stake through the heart of the subject. This is a beautiful covering over dark matter.

Excellent book. Ranan's exhaustive history and analysis of the inner workings and policy making of the Catholic Church is both insightful and a thrilling read. The amount of research and materials reviewed is stunning but the author escaped the danger of writing a dry story. Quite the opposite, once you have started, you will turn pages until you reach the end. If you liked the D'Avinci Code, you will love this book -- but end up smarter.

Written by political scientist David Ranan, Double Cross: The Code of the Catholic Church is a severe indictment of the many flaws, moral lapses, and outright crimes of the Catholic Church, ranging from parish sexual abuse scandals to complicity in genocide. Covering the Church's perpetration of human misery from pre-medieval times to the Crusades to its tacit cooperation with the Holocaust and its ills of the modern Day, Double Cross examines how the Church has structured its power base, policed thought among its members, engendered corruption, fostered violence particularly against non-Catholics, espoused anti-Semitism, and perhaps worst of all among modern-day offenses, denounced nearly all forms of family planning as well as condom use, thereby causing overpopulation and assisting the spread of AIDS particularly in the poorest nations that can least afford either. Extensively researched with numerous notes to clarify details and an index, Double Cross is a "must-read" for anyone involved in or affected by the Catholic Church, both Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

I have just finished David Ranan's "Double Cross, the Code of the Catholic Church", an insightful analysis of the Church's history in which he unravels the whole Catholic power-play. It is quite outspoken, yet factual and not emotional. Ranan, who writes with biting eloquence, has produced a book, the pace of which is breathtaking, and which reads like a super-thriller.

I have personal knowledge of some of the damage caused by the Catholic Church to its own members and therefore consider that this book does a great public service.
The book should be read not only by those who will agree with the author, but importantly by Catholics.

Catholic priests and bishops! Read David Ranan to better understand your Church, even if - and really especially if - some of the facts will fill you with horror when they sink in.

This was written soon after the war (initially as a secret document) and is a candid assessment of the double-cross program's successes and failures; fortunately for the Allies, the former greatly outnumbered the latter. The author explains which operations worked, which did not, and why. He also explains how they could have exploited the system for further gains had they been more confident of their effectiveness in deceiving the Germans, but he also explains why they were cautious and why it was reasonable to be cautious given the circumstances. Details of individual cases are often fascinating, including meetings with German handlers in neutral nations and dealing with uncooperative agents. My only complaint was that the acronym glossary did not cover a lot of the acronyms used in the book.

J.C. Masterman's "The Double-Cross System: The Incredible True Story of How Nazi Spies Were Turned into Double Agents" should be required reading for all counterintelligence and other human intelligence (HUMINT) personnel. Even after a 20+ year career as a human intelligence professional myself, this is one of the few "spy" books that I have. I consider this book a counterintelligence "how to" text book. To get the full impact of this book, I suggest first reading Ladaslas Farago's "Game of the Foxes", based on the files of Nazi Germany's intelligence service. After reading the German side of the story, the full impact of J.C. Masterman's book and this amazing intelligence operation will hit you right between they eyes.

This 1972 book explains how the British Secret Service actively ran and controlled Germany's spies during WW II. All German agents who were sent to Great Britain were captured; they either worked for the British Secret Service or were executed. This activity involved the cooperation of many branches of government (p.viii). This cooperation was the one essential condition for success. The examples given by this book could be a manual of operations. Page xii gives the purposes of the Twenty Committee. Other books were written before, but this is the best document on the system. This book was published to offset the bad publicity suffered in the fifties and sixties (p.xvi).

Page 49 says the German spies dropped by parachute were "an easy prey", and could not make radio contact "because of defects in the instruments themselves". I think this implies the British had a mole in the Abwehr who cleverly sabotaged their radios.

One of the reasons for this system was "to get evidence of enemy plans and intentions from the questions asked by them" (p.58). Chapter 5 gives many examples, such as the American Questionnaire which asked detailed questions about Hawaii and Pearl Harbor in August 1941 (p.80). Page 85 tells of Plan Midas, a successful money laundering operation where Nazi money paid for British counter-espionage! Chapter 8 notes that sending information back to Germany via double agents meant that the enemy would not send in other agents (p.108).

Deception was best assured by preventing dangerous information from being passed on, not by passing misinformation (p.110). They passed on facts which lead the enemy to deduce false intentions. Page 116 tells of the German agent who stayed in Lisbon and created stories of his visits to England. "Since he always reported what the the Germans expected to hear, and since many of his guesses were startlingly near to the truth, he was more and more readily believed." In April 1942 agent TRICYCLE was to report on American research into the atomic bomb (p.176). 1942 marked a change: Germany now sought information on British offensives, not defenses. In 1943 the policy of the XX Committee was to reduce the forces on the Russian front. Page 138 tells of METEOR, the German triple agent. By 1944 the sole interest was the grand deception for the Normandy invasion. To make the date of attack appear later, to indicate the wrong location of the attack, and to suggest the attack was just a feint. The reports on the V-1 flying bomb were used to make them fall short of the target (p.179).

Why did the Germans fail and the British succeed? He says it was the personal integrity of the British. German blunders were due to Abwehr officials profiting from their agent, and could not honestly judge the agent's work. Another is the fact that espionage in wartime is difficult and usually unprofitable; counterespionage is comparatively easy and yields satisfactory results (pp.187-190). Since espionage and counterespionage deal with different sides of the same problems, they should be as united as possible. At least activities should be on records accessible to each other. (This book necessarily lacks all mention of British spying in Germany.)

The Author was one of the few who ran the double cross system in MI5 using captured spies they ran back false intel on the planned invasion of France. Making the German's think that Normandy was a ploy to weaken the fortifications at Calais. The Best agent was codenamed GARBO whom the German's still believed in at the end of the war. They fooled them with false bomb damage reports from the V1&2 Rockets causing them to aim the Rockets short therefore missing London. A Great book on the Secret War.

I'll admit that any book with the work heresies in the title has an automatic advantage in peaking my interest, but this volume does so much more than merely entice. MacCoun and Reuter have done an amazing job of looking that drug prohibition from a new point of view. Frankly, despite the passage of a few years, I believe that this book is absolute essential if one hopes to really understand the controversy over the War on Drugs.

Rather than attempt a summary of the contents, let me simply point to three specifics as representative of the wealth of insight the reader will encounter. First, MacCoun and Reuter have expanded the typical dichotomous legalization v criminalization perspectives to include depenalization and commercialization. Counter the arguments of drug prohibitionists, depenalization does not seem to be inextricably intertwined with massive increases in the prevalence of drug use as is anticipated with legalization. Also, legalization may have less negative increases in prevalence without the accompaniment of commercialization. By adding these two considerations, MacCoun and Reuter enable expansion of the debate into potentially fertile areas for improving the consequences of prohibition.

Secondly, the careful analysis of the 48 negative consequences of prohibition and the related causal linkage to enforcement, illegal status, and use should be the focus of careful reflection by every reader. In many respects, the damage caused by the War on Drugs is a kind of collateral damage - unintentionally caused by the implementation of US prohibition efforts.

Thirdly, MacCoun & Reuter reconceptualize the total harmfulness of illicit drugs as the interaction of three factors: prevalence, intensity, and micro harm (i.e., user self-damage). Much of the criticism of drug prohibition deals with the extensive micro harm without equal weight being given to the total harmfulness to our society. The negative correlation between prevalence and micro harm is among the more interesting possibilities to consider.

In summary, it is quite difficult to imagine a more sensitive evaluation of drug prohibition that so carefully considers the US case in light of the European context and the historical experience with legal addictive substances (alcohol and tobacco). I cannot recommend this book more highly.

Drug War Heresies may be the best book ever written about modern U.S. drug policy. Written by a psychologist and an economist, the authors draw on attempts to control other substances (such as alcohol prohibition in the U.S.) and exhaustively examine the alternative and experimental European drug policies that most American readers will find particularly useful. The authors are careful to not impose their values and beliefs into their work, instead focusing on the consequences of alternative drug policies. The result is a persuasive case for policy reform in America that is not doctrinaire. Required reading for all who are interested in illicit drug policy in America.

This is one of the most comprehensive, objective or "bi-partisan," and current studies available to the general public. Although it is indeed an academic study and is written to influence policymakers, the educated public can easily follow most of the arguments posited by MacCoun and Reuter. Both thinkers have extensive experience in the area of drug policy, both are senior consultants with RAND (Drug Policy Research Center) and have published a considerable amount of literature on the nature of drugs and drug laws. This dynamic text attempts a comparative analysis of vices, such as gambling and prostitution, with that of recreational drug use, including alcohol and tobacco. The purpose of this study is to research whether or not there are any correlations between vices and, if so - can they assist in our understanding of how to regulate drugs and the desires of individuals for drugs. For example, of the kind of comparisons made, is that of prostitution and gambling. Both are legal in Las Vegas, NV - both are thought to be harmful vices, nevertheless, the law has provided a place for them in a legal context - can the same be done for drugs? The text also evaluates extensively, the European models of drug law enforcement and treatment and compares them to America's own models of law and treatment. The authors do not offer any solutions to the drug problem, but what they have done is contribute a comprehensive study with an extensive and diverse amount of data on the subject, something of which has not been achieved as thoroughly as it has been done in this study. The authors also analyze many of the drug reformer's arguments and parse them for consistencies and/or inconsistencies; in the conclusion, they offer a sympathetic gesture to the reformer's contentions because the authors admit to realizing the inanity and harm current drug laws are causing society, but they do so cautiously. They realize that something "must change," but what? and the future can only hold speculations. This book is highly recommended.

Another interesting companion study is the Consumer Reports study that was released in 1972. It is comprehensive and treats the many aspects of the "drug problem" in America. See:

Breacher, Edward M. et al., Licit and Illicit Drugs: the Consumers Union report on narcotics, stimulants, depressants, inhalants, hallucinogens, and marijuana - including caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol. (Boston: Little Brown, 1972).

"In Drug War Heresies, Robert J. MacCoun and Peter Reuter ask whether drug prohibition makes sense and whether legalization might achieve a better balancing of the costs and benefits associated with drugs and drug policy. They draw on a broad range of social science literature, and they emphasize the lessons provided both by drug prohibition in other places and by prohibitions of other goods, such as alcohol and prostitution. In discussing this evidence, they raise most of the key issues that should be considered in evaluating drug policy. Their book is an excellent starting point for anyone who wishes to understand the debates about prohibition versus legalization.

MacCoun and Reuter make a compelling case that many evils typically attributed to drugs result instead from drug prohibition and its enforcement. According to their analysis, prohibition causes increases in property crime because users face elevated prices; increases in violent crime because traffickers cannot resolve disputes using the courts; diminishments of civil liberties owing to the difficulty of detecting crimes without natural complainants; increases in corruption of police and politicians; disruption of countries that produce coca and opium; diminishments of users' health because of poor quality control; increases in the spread of HIV because of prohibition-induced restrictions on clean needles; excessive restrictions on medical uses of drugs; and reductions in respect for the law bred by widespread violation of prohibition-among other consequences.

And yet the authors do not endorse legalization. They find great fault with the heavy emphasis on criminal sanctions in current U.S. prohibition, and they believe substantial deescalation to, say, the level of enforcement in western Europe, Canada, or Australia would diminish many of the harms of prohibition while causing only small increases in drug use. Still, they do not endorse legalization. Why not?

Their position rests on four arguments: that moving from weak, European-style prohibition to legalization would produce a substantial increase in drug use; that this increase would be a bad thing; that most of the benefits from legalization are achieved simply by deescalating prohibition; and that the effects of legalization are uncertain."

"The authors' basic points move in the right direction. They have done a great service in carefully, honestly, and scientifically considering both theory and evidence on the effects of alternative drug policies. Room remains for reasonable persons to disagree about certain pieces of evidence, but if more persons were to analyze drug policy as dispassionately as MacCoun and Reuter, both drug policy and the country would be in far better shape."

"Who knew? Who knew the answers to some of life's big questions? At forty-eight she was starting to feel that she had more questions than answers." Thus Elizabeth sets out on a courageous journey to look backward in order to make sense of her future. This is an engaging story about a woman's quest for her inner spirituality and finds it deep in the beauty, love and death she encounters in the Holy Land. What starts as a "getaway" turns into a reclamation of Elizabeth's love for her family. But she must receive it first from the people who take her in as family and love her unconditionally. She must receive it first from a God that was a concept and turned into a warm, living Savior. Read it twice!

Cheryl Dickow masterfully guides her readers through a journey to the Holy Land in her new fiction novel Elizabeth. Readers will experience the culture and customs of a land that is wonderfully different from our own. Join Liz Gantry, the main character of Elizabeth, as she rediscovers meaning in a life with which she has become so dissatisfied. Readers will identify with the desire that drives each of us to constantly seek the value of our own existence. Join Elizabeth on a memorable journey that will lead her full circle back to the treasures she already has. My compliments to Cheryl Dickow on her wonderful new book, Elizabeth!
Rosemary McDunn/ Author of The Green Coat A Tale from the Dust Bowl Years and When Kids Dream and Trucks Fly

Cheryl has written an excellent book which I had a hard time putting down. Those women who are feeling down about getting older will come away encouraged to know that what they are feeling is felt and understood by others. She is to be praised for the importance she puts on being a wife and mother in a world that devalues that calling and service. Even though it is inspirational it is also a great work of fiction.

While the title would make you think you were going to read about the land of Israel it is really about the most important part of the Holy Land, it's people. They have endured hardships just because they are Jewish yet Cheryl touches on their secret of survival which is loving God and as commanded by Him loving their fellow man. In this book Christians are given insight into the richness and beauty of the Jewish roots of our faith.

There are surprises in the book , some of which I won't share so as not to spoil it for anyone. You will have an unanswered question which will make you want the sequel to be released soon. And just when you think it has ended Cheryl has added some information for each chapter to help apply some of her insights to your own life and also she shares some of the web sites where we can get more information.

Cheryl Dickow is a fairly new writer who will soon be in the ranks of the best.

Beth Gantry, Liz, Elizabeth...the main character of Elizabeth: A Holy Land Pilgrimage is many things to many people. What seems unclear in the opening pages of this debut novel from established non-fiction author Cheryl Dickow is how Elizabeth will be able to reconcile her roles as wife, mother and teacher with the woman she feels she has always wanted to become.

In the opening pages of this engrossing story, we meet Elizabeth and depart with her on the journey of a lifetime: her solo trip to Israel. She has dreamed of this pilgrimage for many years, but in the end it appears to be her discontent with her life that drives her to finally embark on her voyage. Beth has given her life to serving others and has come to feel only disappointment and resentment in return for her loving efforts. Her relationship with her husband Luke is strained to the point of near divorce. She feels a growing gulf between herself and her teenage children, the oldest of whom has flown the coop for college. Even her spiritual life seems dry and distant.

Beth looks at her journey to Israel as an opportunity to regain the life she feels she has missed out on in all of her efforts to care for others. "Her ache for what life hadn't yet held was becoming almost unbearable at times." Leaving her children in the care of her very driven and increasingly distant husband, Beth throws herself into her travel. Her desire is not to have the typical tourist experience of the Holy Land. Rather, she arranges for apartment housing in hopes of truly experiencing the traditions of the Jewish people. After having spent years studying the Jewish culture, "Elizabeth wanted to know, up close and personal, what is was like to live as a `chosen one'."

Elizabeth's logistical efforts are rewarded immediately when she meets the friendly neighbors at her Jerusalem accommodations. Meir and Ayala Goldfarb, along with their adult children David and Miriam, immediately embrace Elizabeth as a part of their family's Sabbath celebrations and she finds herself invited to dine and worship with them.

Just as the reader is joining Elizabeth in settling in to her wonderful scenario, unexpected tragedy strikes. Beth, at the urging of a very concerned Luke, contemplates cutting her trip short but eventually decides to remain in Jerusalem. The ensuing events draw her even more closely into the Jewish rituals and traditions she has longed to experience. Ultimately, through her wonderful relationship with the Goldfarb family, she meets Sipporah and Rachel, who will become her guides. Their tutelage is both historical and spiritual - embracing their companionship Elizabeth ultimately reconnects with her own personal spirituality. A fire is lit within her as she reconnects with God with a new intensity.

Interspersed throughout the accounts of Elizabeth's trip, we find Luke experiencing his own journey of sorts. As he steps in for the role his wife has played within the family, he begins to understand her perspective and his part in the damage that has occurred in their relationship. Like Beth, he finds himself longing for a deeper and more convicted connection with God. But has his marriage suffered too greatly to be repaired? The closing chapters of this lovingly crafted novel bring a tender response to this dilemma.

Elizabeth: A Holy Land Pilgrimage is not the typical inspirational novel. Part travelogue, part history lesson, part Bible study, this book blends a wonderful story with empathetic characters. Author Cheryl Dickow's research and attention to detail are apparent in this smartly written tale. Dickow's strengths lie in both character development and in educating the reader without taking on an overly dogmatic tone. In reading this novel, I learned a tremendous amount about Jewish culture and its relevance to the roots of Christianity. The close connection I felt with several of the characters in this book, along with my admiration for the wisdom and spiritual reflections of author Cheryl Dickow, leave me hoping that we will be treated to a sequel to Elizabeth: A Holy Land Pilgrimage.

I have spent 20 years of my life working with young people and adults who have been victims of violence and oppression as well as with the perpetrators of violence. As I read this book, I found their stories and experiences throughout its pages. They are the stories of persons who walk through the doors of the church every day.

Crysdale gives a theological framework to understand the experience of victimization. She opens up and illustrates the paradox that leads to true healing and growth.

Crysdale uses personal stories and clear, coherently written theology to forward her feminist interpretation of the doctrine of the atonement. Only by embracing travail -- joy and sorrow, the sense of being a crucifier as well as being one of the crucified -- can we retrieve a meaningful notion of what Jesus' death on the cross means.

Crysdale emphasizes non-dualism, encouraging the embracing of struggles and suffering in an honest way. She brings a feminist perspective that is fresh and yet non-militant, only non-hierarchical. She calls the human person to grapple with the perpetrator and victim that dwells within each of us. Her treatment of the victim/perpetrator dualism breeds compassion and by that I speak of compassion as defined by Chogyam Trungpa . . . the compassion that requires we do what is necessary, even when it is not pleasant. I only wish Crysdale would have written more. I used her as a major source in my thesis project

This book is written in an engaging style utilizing concerete stories of suffering, nonviolence and hope to illustrate the keen theological insights of the work. I found the discussion on Walter Wink's work and the nonviolent cross to be exceptionally clear for those who have not been exposed to Wink's work. I was very impressed by the feminist perspective that permeated the book that should serve as a corrective to hierarchial and patriarchial tendencies in seminary theological training. I hope that this book will find wide readership in the theological community and among lay persons.

I was very pleased when I bought this bible. Not only do I like the ESV translation but I enjoy the feel of the cover. I know some people have complained about the cover not being stitched to the backing but the cover is very supple and, unless you tend to fold the cover back while reading, it should be just fine. The backing and the cover seem to move together without one feeling like it will pull away from the other. I am sure that there could be the occasional cover that separates from the backing but I have dealt with three of these now, all for different purposes and none of them have given me any problems in that sense and they do not simply sit on a bookshelf. One is the bible that I carry with me in my shoulder bag to work as well as for trips and one is the Bible I try to read on a nightly basis and for church services as well as studies so they do get used. However, I would put this under normal use and not heavy use. Hope this helps those that are trying to make a decision. On an aesthetic note, I appreciate the intricate designs on the covers!

I love the ESV translation and I love the durability of the cover! I love the smaller size of this Bible and I love not having commentaries all over the place!! Wonderful references.

I highly recommend this Bible. The ESV in my oppinion, is the best translation. It stays true to it's original meaning and is also easy to read and flows well. This Bible also contains cross-references, a great concordance, and maps, which will help you as you study the Word. This is a great Bible to give to unbelievers, new believers, or believers looking for an accurate translation. May God bless you as you pursue great affections for Him.

English Standard Version (ESV, a revision of RSV) is a fine translation. And my review here is not about the version, but the quality of the physical Bible itself. Overall, it is good, but not great.
1. While it is not leather, it is a fine imitation leather (TruTone). It is soft and flexible. As for its durability, imitation leathers fall in somewhere between genuine leather and hardcover. But it also depends on the user.
2. It is NOT Smyth Sewn binding (stitched). Pages are glued to the spine. This is one of the weakness of the Bible. Comparable King James Reference Bible is Smith Sewn and so is Ultrathin Reference Bible-NASB and they are cheaper than this ESV Bible.
3. While the font is readable, the darkness of the font is not evenly printed. For example, the print in page 1202 (Philemon) is darker than the print in page 1203 (Hebrews). And there are more pages with this minor problem. Now, it is possible that only my copy has this anomaly, but I doubt it.

Overall it is a good Bible but the quality could be better.

Staniloae is simply breathtaking. He holds the tensions of Christian faith in a beautiful harmony. For instance, his discussion of the cataphatic and apophatic way of spiritual life is the best treatment I have ever read on the topic. It steers away from what he considers to be a Westernized understanding of negative theology which borders on agnosticism. Staniloae presents a relational God who creates time and space for man's place of movement toward intimacy with God. Staniloae's thought is particularly relevant in this postmodern age. He would be interesting to read in conjunction with Colin Gunton, Stanley Grentz, Thomas Torrance, or other Trinitarian theologians.

Dumitru Staniloae is one of the great theologist of our siecle through his profound and full of life view of God.

This invigorating book is the first time a major work of Fr. Staniloae's has appeared in english. He treats the topics of Revelation, Knowledge of God and the Trinity. Staniloae's theology is based in personal experience of love and communion with God. It is never abstract but is expressive of the encounter with the Triune God. Staniloae's perspective is eschatological and so is focused on human freedom and its fulfillment in God. Staniloae is grounded in the Christian patrisitc tradition in such a way as to demonstrate the wisdom of our forebears and their vital contribution to contemporary theological discourse without ever being trapped in a patristic archeology or fundamentalism.Staniloae's prose is exceedingly dense and can be tough going. However, the pay off is immense as we gain creative insights and understanding into love, freedom, the nature of space and time, the Trinity, the Church and the experience of God

How to convey the spiritual riches contained in this book by Dumitru Staniloae? I knew it was enriching and enlightening when I first read it, but it was only after I picked it up again recently and began really to read it as closely as I could that it gradually dawned on me how wonderful a work this is. It is not an easy book to classify or to read, but I would not characterize his writing style as "exceedingly dense," as did the first reviewer. I understand what the reviewer was trying to say, and I agree with it, but I think it is clearer to say that Staniloae's prose is not dense so much as extremely demanding. His writing demands that you stay present with him in concentration and single-pointed purpose. His writing is not dense in the sense of some closely written, jargon-laden economic thesis, but dense in the sense of exceedingly meaningful, and once penetrated, highly illuminating and enormously rewarding (as the other reviewer also pointed out). You really have to pay attention every moment, because every sentence, every phrase is significant, has meaning, and builds upon what he has previously said in a cumulative and interlocking way, until suddenly, the light dawns and you see something--a familiar doctrine, a spiritual practice, a liturgical prayer--in an entirely new and illuminating way. His writing is rich indeed with meaning and full of light, "shining like shook foil" on many levels.

Some measure of Staniloae's uniqueness as a theologian lies in the fact that this book is the first volume of his masterwork, Dogmatic Theology, with a projected five further volumes to come. Imagine naming a work on Dogmatic Theology, which is usually a subject treated almost entirely in rational, systematic and academic terms, The Experience of God! Anyone who went to seminary in any denomination knows what it means to say that normally nothing could be further from the experience of God than a good stiff exposition of dogmatic theology! And yet, truly, reading Staniloae draws one closer--by preparing the soul and infusing it with fruitful, dynamic images and concepts--to an actual spiritual experience of Divine love and communion. Staniloae discusses the dogmas of Christianity totally through the lens of experience and communion, in a profoundly effective way that is almost unknown or unheard of. One feels completely assured of the possibility and probability of tasting the love of and communion with God, and you feel your heart burning with excitement and hope. Can I really come to experience communion with God in this way, in a way that brings the doctrines of the Church to life almost beyond expectation? Staniloae says, yes, that is what the Incarnation of Christ is all about. While it is a truism about the Orthodox Church, since Lossky, that Orthodox theology has never separated doctrine and experience, I know of no one writing today who brings the experiential so completely into harmony with the intellectual aspects of theology as does Staniloae. And this is to be expected of a man who was himself fully and totally immersed in the mind and spirit of the “niptic” or hesychast Fathers of the Church, esp. Sts. Dionysios the Areopagite, Maximos the Confessor, Symeon the New Theologian and Gregory Palamas. He knew the ascetic and hesychastic life from the inside, and it is this quality which is so evident in his writing and which makes the spiritual workout it takes to read him with understanding worth all the effort.

To give a brief example from the book itself, one of the ten chapters is entitled, “The Supra-Essential Attributes of God.” Nothing in this chapter is exactly what you might expect from the title. He discusses therein such Divine aspects as infinity, simplicity, eternity, supra-spaciality, and omnipotence, but he does so in such a way that these mind-boggling concepts, rather than fostering an image of an inaccessibly perfect and impassible Divinity who has no actual place in our religious life, produce instead a dynamic image of God whose very transcendence from everything finite and human, creates in a paradoxical way the actual conditions for the most intimate personal communion and union with Him. In this same context of eternity and infinity, Staniloae presents a meditation of time and space and shows in a marvelous way how genuine and truly Christian is the poet’s insight of “infinity in a grain of sand and eternity in an hour.”

The spiritual greatness in this book is worth every bit of the effort it takes to extract it. Magnificent!