Johnson Books

A tour through contemporary currents in the doctrine of God which highlights the context from which each vision emerged, the theological rationale behind it, and the practical implications this vision has for everyday life. It is well worth the money and is accessible for the average interested reader.

Quest for the Living God is the kind of excellent, inspiring, illuminating writing we have come to expect from Elizabeth Johnson! A wonderful book that merits a slow, reflective read and, ideally, discussion with others.

This book was really good. There were specific chapters that gave me alot to think about.

When I discovered that Elizabeth Johnson had just written a new theology of God I knew I was in for a treat. EJ's "She Who Is" has become one of my most cherished books of theology on the nature of God and wonderfully "Quest for the Living God" is of similar high quality.

While "She Who Is" is an articulation of EJ's feminist perspective on the mystery of God and of a bit more scholarly tone, QFTLG is more popularly written presenting not only God from a feminist perspective but also from liberation, black, hispanic, interreligious, ecological and trinitarian perspectives.

In her multi-perspective approach, EJ attempts to harvest the fruit of more creative contemporary theologies that can open up our understanding of God in fresh ways that foster renewed worship, mystery and reverence. While many theologians write academically and very dryly, EJ sets before us a rich feast for not only the mind but the heart as well. She has something of the poet in her and her writing is a treat to read.

I couldn't imagine a better book to be used for a group book discussion for those of a more progressive Christian orientation. For the student, EJ also includes very helpful book recommendations at the end of each chapter for further reading.

The discussion of God, I believe, is the most pressing concern for Christians today in light of the many fundamentalist distortions highlighted in much of today's media. But more than this, the greatest privilege for God lovers of all stripes and perspectives, is to forever contemplate the limitless grandeur and majesty of our God. To that end, this book admirably succeeds in stimulating contemplative reflection and will be a source of inspiration I suspect I'll be turning to repeatedly over the years.

First off, I have to say that the art in this book is superior to virtually any other children's storybook I have seen in my young parenting career. The paintings portay the scene described in the words perfectly.

This book does an excellent job of conveying a family life where the stories passed through the generations matter so much that the grandchildren DO in fact dream and wonder about the lives of their grandparents. I want for my daughter to dream and wonder, too.

As the adoptive father of a biracial girl, I think this is a good book for conveying a part of her cultural heritage that she may not get to experience much first hand.

I love this book! Dinah Johnson tells all about family living in the Carolinas, using the language of the African-American culture, yet the book's theme is universal. A good read for any child. I particularly liked the name, Hattie Lottie Annie Quinnie Blue. The rhythm of the words are truly like raindrops falling on a tin roof as I remember growing up in North Carolina. James Ransome's life-like illustrations are wonderful. Throughout this read, one can sense the presence of self love as Quinnie Blue compares her life experiences to that of her grandmother's. So, unselfish self-love is passed down.

the best for children of all ages her writing is superb!

This book is beautifully written and illustrated. The rhythm and lyricism of the words conveys the loving relationship between the little girl and her grandmother. I've given the book as a gift to several little girls. One mother called to say that they had read the book 2 or 3 times each day since it was received. Don't let 'race' color your decision to purchase this book. The story is for all little girls and grown-up girls as well.

I think this book is very good. It has helped me as a worker in youth ministry and also my thesis that I had to write for Bible College. I have read other books on youth ministry but have never saw any like this. It shows you most problems that would rise in ministry,and it also gives good guidance for a leader in this ministry. Every youth worker should have one in their library.

I ran across this book in the campus bookstore when picking up some other books for class. After glancing through it I was intrigued. Practical advice, theory that was useful, models laid out so you could see how they worked out on a day to day basis. I found myself taking notes and getting ideas for things I could put into practice.

Senter and Dunn have done a fabulous job compiling data from a number of key youth pastors. The insights I gained from this book were fantastic. Dunn's explanation of the millennial generation's needs, and how to reach them is fantastic. Great reading. This book is a must for youth pastor's everywhere.

Senter provides one of the few treatments of Youth Ministry that is can serve as an college/seminary textbook and still provides practical insights for practicing clergy. Unlike several other popular titles, Senter takes the time to develop a biblical, sociological, and historical framework for youth ministry. He also provides the best overview of the various models for youth ministry that have been popular among evangelicals for the past half-century. Some may find the depth of the book overwhelming in places. It also suffers from weaknesses typical of using a variety of authors to contribude individual chapters, in that not all chapters are equally valuable. Overall the book should serve as a standard text well beyond the turn of the century for those serious about understanding and practicing effective youth ministry.

A school required book. Purchased for a college course and used quite a lot. Great information and examples, I will be keeping it for future reference in my career!

The book was just as described. I do not like it only because it is a school book, but it was brand new and in great shape. The time it shipped was as expected.

I used this book for a college class as well, the book provides not only the concepts of the subjects you may have to explore and write, but also provides examples and exercises that help you focus in on the most important parts of the writing (which helps for your own work).

I recently used this textbook in a college course. All of the essays are short, easy to read, and cover a variety of interesting topics.

It is refreshing to read that finally academcis start to deal with the specific Christian experience. Mr. Johnson has made a good start. However, his view on protestants dealing with religious experience is flawed. The protestant academic schools he criticises have never been accepted by non-academic protestant believers. On the contrary, missionaries like E. Stanley Jones, academics like C.S. Lewis and Eta Linnemann, minister-scholars like Raymond J. Lawrence, and not to mention the large body of lay people of all kind of different protestant streams, for instance, the Pentecontalists, the Jesus people, Christian healers, etc., they all have always rejected the 19th and 20th century academic stream of Protestantism. If Mr. Johnson would not insist on his anti-protestant attitude actual experience could be a basis for talks between Catholics and Protestants.

Do you want your own faith to reflect New Testament Christianity? This book considers baptism, communion and speaking in tongues and considers what was happening in the lives of the earliest believers. If you are a conservative believer in the mainline denominations (or Roman Catholic as Johnson is) this book offers a solid viewpoint and takes on some of the current revisionist thinking. He constantly reminds that our "a priori" judgements lead to inevitable conclusions. This book is a vibrant look at Christian community and its impact on those who are shaped by that community.

A clear, concise, much-needed perspective on the beginnings of Christianity. Critiques the limitations of the Theology perspective and the Historical Sociopolitical perspective, and explains why scholars are averse to looking at the origins of Christianity from the point of view of religious experiencing.

Central chapters cover glossalia and especially sacred meals, looking for the kind of experiencing that was common to the Mystery Religions and Jewish initiation. The convenient footnotes have valuable references to the books he praises and critiques. Ends with a call to start looking for religious experiencing as the main cause of Christianity.

I am fortunate to have been able to have Luke Timothy Johnson as one of my professors when I was studying religious studies at Indiana University in the early 1980s. He has since moved on to Emory University, which is definitely I.U.'s loss. Johnson has been one of the more prolific and studied historian/theologians of this generation. This recent book, 'Religious Experience in Early Christianity: A Missing Dimension in New Testament Studies', shows much of the way he thinks and some of what he considers important in Christianity. 'Combining trenchant criticism with careful analysis, Luke Johnson calls for a radically new direction in New Testament studies, one that can change the way we view the entire phenomenon of early Christianity.'

Johnson explores three main topics: baptism (ritual imprinting), glossolalia (speaking in tongues) and eucharist (communal meals). This book grew out of the 1997 Stone Lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary, and argues the need for a phenomenological approach to the examination of religious experience. 'This is neither history in the strict sense of the term, nor is it theology. That's the whole point: we need a new way of looking in order to see what we can't otherwise see.'

Johnson argues that there has been a comfortable agreement between scholars and clerics toward a more sanitary, orderly, control-able way of examining religious phenomena, which is only natural considering, particularly in Western society, medieval and modern scholarship grew out of the clerical ranks. The 'history' of early Christianity has thus been a history primarily built of ideas and institutions rather than experiences, which tend to be too subjective.

Perhaps the most remarkable chapter in this text is the one on Glossolalia and the Embarrassments of Experience. Speaking in tongues is something that fringe groups do, most scholars, clerics, and lay Christians believe (except for those in denominations which still regard this as a valid practise). Johnson, coming out of a Roman Catholic background, would be one of the last people one would expect to deal with this subject.

Even at Pentecost, speaking in tongues divided the crowd. Since then, glossolalia has been singled out as either the supreme criterion for the direct action of the Holy Spirit in Christian lives or the supreme example of how enthusiasm is a bad thing for Christian piety.

Part of the problem with analyzing this phenomenon is that there is no consistent form, either physically, psychologically, and gets into areas that certainly go against modern, more 'scientific and objective' ideas. Johnson does not try, with this topic or with baptism and eucharistic experiences, to formulate a definitive, 'this-must-be-it' way of thinking or viewing these phenomena, but rather strives to show the real experience in the real lives of early Christians as best as can be reconstructed. This is a fascinating text.

Gordon MacDonald, a sixty-something pastor, offers a lifetime of wisdom in "A Resilient Life." Freely admitting that he was born with a "quitters gene," he credits the influence of his high school cross-country and track coach with helping him onto the road of resilience. MacDonald defines "resilience" as the "toughened condition of both the body and the mind" and goes on to describe many characteristics of a resilient person.

Perhaps most importantly, MacDonald offers hope. He is a firm believer that the second half of life is when God often has people make their greatest contributions, and that we are called to serve well into our senior years. Even if one's life to date has been less than ideal, "the Christian worships a God who can (and does) take the life of any person, turn it inside out, and use it to build a piece of His kingdom."

MacDonald emphasizes that building resilience is a daily pursuit. It requires a regular self-assessment, the discipline of spiritual pursuits, and making the most of one's talents. It also takes place within whatever stage of life we find ourselves in at the moment. One of the most valuable sections of "A Resilient Life" is Chapter Seven: "Resilient People Foresee the Great Questions of Life's Passage." MacDonald interviewed several senior citizens (including people older than himself) to get a full picture of the big questions of life at each age. He comes up with a fairly comprehensive list. These questions shape our lives and the answers we come up with help make us who we are at every stage.

Another important chapter is Chapter 9: "Resilient People Listen for a Call from God." A call "is an acknowledgment that one is accountable to God for the discharge of his life's duties." God calls each of us to fulfill our role in His plan. He gives us the tools we need to make our own particular contribution to the world. It can be difficult to know what God is asking of us, but when we are on that right road, it will generally be confirmed by others. There are also the results. When we answer the call, we help to make the world a better place. MacDonald also emphasizes that not everyone is called to do something that will attract attention. "Men and women have obeyed God's call and become martyrs. Others have undertaken unspeakably difficult and discouraging tasks and barely survived. Many more have lived the relatively common life between home and job. They hammer nails, sell widgets, create software or fix things. But in the process they make a difference in the existence of the people around them. And they, too, are called."

"A Resilient Life" offers an in-depth look at the characteristics that make up a resilient person, a person ready to be faithful for the long haul. While we are all works in progress and very few will possess all of these characteristics, this book gives us something to strive for.


Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur is editor of The Spiritual Woman Newsletter [...]

When I first read this book, I was exhausted and decipated. No matter how important my goals were, I simply wanted to drop everything and jump on a boat to a nomad island.
But this book taught me an important word. RESILIENCE! How foolish I was to think that these times of difficulty are reasons for me to give up~!
Now I know that difficulty is an opportunity for me to reach a new height~! I will now run forward, instead of walking, to make sure that I am resilient enough to be all that I am made to be in Christ our Lord.

Gordon MacDonald does it again with his latest "A Resilient Life". The heart of the book is the powerful chapter on practicing repentance followed by many practical insights on staying in the faith race over the long haul. MacDonald writes as a guy who has been there -- a pastor once fallen - now restored. The power of his words is intensified by the witness of MacDonald's life. God used this book to speak powerfully to me -- what more can I say? Highly recommended.

The writing is rich and deep yet very simple to read and digest. I wish I would have read this years ago. There are gems on every page and I cant wait to get back into the book. I will be buying this book for both my kids and their spouses and using what I learn in my mentoring.

I just want to compliment the author on his creativity and sense of responsibility to keeping the reader interested. I never lost interest and found it hard to stop trying to guess what was next. I think that says something about a story. I want to read the sequal.

It's hard to put this one down! This is a totally, way out absorbing, fully developed novel, the kind that one always yearns for and so rarely finds! The characters, the atmosphere, the horror descriptions, the sensitively treated themes, the intriguing and unusual plot, and the rare entrée into the mind of a writer, I give this novel the recommendation for others to achieve.

This is a great book written by Earl Johnson. This book is so addicting, I couldn't put it down. Keeps you on the edge of your seat. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes action and suspense in a book. I hope they make a movie out of this, or heck why not even a Playstion 2 horror game.

More than a drama, suspense...It keeps you turning the pages from the prologue through the final scene. I was impressed with the vivid details. The author keeps you in touch with the characters as he brings them to life. You will be gripped and on the edge of your bed (or wherever you may read it).

Good Book!!!

I bought this book used, but when I received it, it was in perfect condition. My child needed it for a class that she was joining mid-semester. The book is no longer being printed. However, while other students were still waiting on the arrival of their books ordered from another bookstore, she was in class with her copy in a little over a week with standard shipping.

Sam Patch was an American original who escaped my attention for forty-eight years. Professor Johnson's study of this mostly forgotten, irreverant showman has piqued this reader's thirst for more of the bold, eccentric and sometimes ambivalent personalities that have shaped this nation in often subtle ways.
Not long after completing the author's chronology of the Patch family's slide from the respectability of the rural New England landholder and the influence of Calvinism, it becomes apparent
that a documented record of just what manner of man Sam Patch really was is not to be had. From the standpoint of social status, Patch was a non-entity, a skilled textile laborer his sole identifying trait; that is, until he made public his hobby.
Just what spurred Patch to leap the Passaic Falls at Paterson,NJ on July 4, 1828, effectively upstarting the elaborate holiday ceremonies planned by one of the city's wealthy and genteel manufacturing elite is uncertain. One effect of the feat was the galvanizing of the local labor force into an awareness of their potential to force reform in mill working conditions. No sooner had Patch had dried himself off when a consortium of mill owners issued an edict altering the daily work schedules of its employees, needlessly disrupting the domestic routines of thousands. Patch then betrays a political motive in answer to management with an encore jump during work hours just one week after the new schedule had taken effect. Patch's exploit was followed by a strike, arbitration and comprimise. The Paterson jumps gave birth to Patch's intriguing motto "Some things can be done as well as others."
The cynical critic questions the depth and genuineness of Patch's social altruism based upon his lack of education, predilection to alcohol, and the complete absence of any concern, stated or implied, other than self-promotion during the remainder of his career. In fact, Patch, at the age of twenty-seven, having worked in the mills for twenty years, resigned his vocation permanently upon departing Paterson shortly after the second jump. After a brief exploit from atop a ship's mast in Hoboken,NJ, Patch emigrated to Niagara Falls for bigger game.
Now an avowed professional jumper, backed by resort developers and sporting gentlemen, Patch thrilled crowds of commoners and elicited enmity from the Whig sophisticates and press. After a few successful performances, the venue shifted to Rochester,NY and Genesee Falls where class distinctions and responses to such behavior were at a premium. After an initial jump, a plan was hatched to erect a platform some forty feet above the millrace which paralleled the falls, raising his leap to an uprecedented one hundred-thirty feet. Unfortunately for our hero, he met his ultimate fate that day in 1829 when, unable to contain his passion for the bottle, he endeavored to jump while in a well-lubricated state, lost his form early in the air, hit the water on his side, and disappeared for four months before his body was hauled from under the ice of the Genesee River some seven miles downstream.
On reconsideration, it is perhaps the case that Patch had an angle along reformist lines. Though unsophisticated in its method, the very inanity of Patch's nonconformist act served as a slap in the face to the righteous, overbred conceit of the upper classes and their proclivity for circumscribing the limits of self-determination for those less fortunate. In appropriating a mere mill-boy's pastime Patch defied the ruling gentry and diletantes of morality to prevent his freedom of expression. Although his jumps lacked the ingenuity, utility or permanence of the engineering marvels which buoyed the emerging industrial revolution, they gave notice that democracy entitles a man to make his mark after his own fashion and, notwithstanding limited means, proof that "Some things can be done as well as others."
Despite the absence of source material Professor Johnson has done a comendable job of resurrecting Patch's story from the confines of legend. Johnson's tedious labor is evidenced by his notes--drawn almost entirely from periodical literature.
While it is not possible to forge an intimate acquaintance with Sam Patch, Johnson has provided the detailed social, political and religious mileau needed to understand his role in history.
Johnson is also to be credited for the modesty of his prose, which makes this book smooth and entertaining.

This is a biography of Sam Patch, the famous jumper from high places into swirling chasms. Yet it's more than a biography; it's also a social history of the times (1820s) and the places where Sam made his daring leaps (Paterson, NJ, Niagara Falls, and Rochester, NY). Sam's early life was spent working in the cotton mills of first, Pawtucket, RI, and then Paterson, NJ. He learned the "art" (Sam's word, and an important one in defining how Patch saw himself) of jumping while a boy performing daredevil stunts in the Blackstone River of Pawtucket. Later, in Paterson, he leaped into the Passaic Falls more as a "rebel-victim" - Timothy Crane had erected a bridge across the falls, which was considered a social good; but when he bought land adjacent to the falls that was popular as a recreational retreat for the working people of Paterson and turned it into a private park for the wealthy, Crane became a villain to the many factory workers of Paterson. Sam timed a number of his jumps there to coincide with events designed to honor Crane, to humiliate him or at least take away some of his thunder. In these instances, Sam Patch was a jumper for Democracy.

After Paterson, Sam leaped off the mast of a sloop anchored off Hoboken, NJ into the Hudson River, which was reported widely in the press, and Sam became a celebrity. Now his leaps would be for fame and fortune. He jumped twice at Niagara Falls to great success, and then went to Rochester to leap the Genesee Falls. His leap was successful, but a second jump on a cold November day proved to be his undoing; his body wasn't found until the following spring.

Then of course, Sam Patch the legend took off. The real Sam Patch was a drunkard and millworker, raised in poverty, who discovered he had a talent for surviving high leaps into dangerous waters, and decided that exploiting this talent brought a big improvement to his otherwise futile existence. (It's the classic American story: think of all the ballplayers, actors, singers, etc. who saw even the worst of times in their chosen endeavors as better than "going back" to the mines, or the mills, or the empty windswept towns on the bleak prairie.) But for the decade or two after his death Sam was transformed into a gentleman's son who overcame timidity and learned to face danger and be "a man." Then, of course, even this made-up image of Sam disappeared from the scene - until 1945 when folklorist Richard Dorson rediscovered him and grouped him with such legendary characters as Davy Crocket and Mike Fink.

Johnson does a superb job in rescuing Patch from the annals of folklore and presenting him as a real historical figure. This is not an easy task since very little in the historical record is known about Sam, and much of that is contradictory. He devotes much space to what life in the cotton mills was like, how Niagara Falls was perceived in the American imagination at the time, and what the young and bustling cities of Paterson and Rochester were going through when Sam visited them. Johnson is an interesting writer - detailed and learned, but not dry and scholarly. It's a fascinating book. Highly recommended.

If you have never heard of Sam Patch, it is because you are not living in the nineteenth century. Sam Patch was America's first celebrity daredevil, someone who made his fortune and his fame by spectacularly endangering his life, jumping from waterfalls. Paul E. Johnson, in _Sam Patch, The Famous Jumper (Hill and Wang), has not exactly brought Patch back to life. As Johnson explains, people like Patch did not have linear careers that lent their lives to being told as stories; they had episodes, not biographies. Patch only lived thirty years, and jumped professionally only for the last two of those, but he did have a wonderful career, and even some meaning within American history and sociology. Johnson has, though Patch's story, examined some details of Jacksonian America, industrialization, philosophies of art, and aspects of fame from self-endangerment and self-promotion rather than self-improvement and civic involvement. Patch was, after all, a lout and a drunkard, but it must mean something that he achieved such a level of fame that his feats could be cited by Melville, Hawthorne and Poe. Even Andrew Jackson's favorite steed was named Sam Patch.

Sam was around seven years old when he took up work in a mill; families in the early eighteenth century were being drawn to mill towns since mothers and children could easily get work. He was good at the work, and fiercely independent in the craft of "mule spinner". The independence manifested itself in his jumping as well. He learned the craft of jumping as other boys did, but when he moved to another mill town, his jumping acquired a social and political aspect that endeared him to the populace. He jumped to spite a rising industrialist in Paterson, New Jersey, and then in support of his own class when there was a dispute over how the town should celebrate the Fourth of July, and jumped again during the first labor walkout. People loved the jumps, and newspapers reported them. Patch became a working-class hero. He went on to jump into Niagara Falls twice, and finally in Rochester. On 13 November 1829, he took a plunge into the Genesee Falls, into which he had jumped successfully a week before. He was drunk, and hit the water out of control. It was months before the body was found, but respectable Americans had found a new cause to rail against; one preacher spoke of the "strange and savage curiosity" of the crowds who came to see the jumps, and another told his Sunday school class "... that any of them who had witnessed Patch's last leap would be judged guilty of murder by God."

Sam Patch could have been an emblem against the masses, but it did not work out that way. He became the subject of poetry, comic stories, and stage plays. "What the Sam Patch!" became a common way of swearing. There was a Sam Patch cigar. He has even recently been the subject of a novel. Rochester has welcomed his memory as if it were that of a favorite son, and you can buy souvenirs at Sam's Gift Patch. There are those who insist that any American Dream must be built on hard work, domestic harmony, and sobriety. Johnson's able and well-researched portrait, with its many digressions into aspects of our fledgling democracy, shows a different sort of dream and a new sort of celebrity. Americans, bless their hearts, had from the beginning a delight in one who tweaked the nose of his betters and got fame for lots of wrong reasons.

Scars and Stripes by American idol Red McDaniel paints a vivid picture of his life's greatest struggle as a POW in the Vietnam conflict after his plane was shot down.
Scars and Stripes written by Red himself puts you in a world that only he could describe. The book is interesting and factual filled with many tragedies and accomplishments to keep you reading.
As a reader I could only find one minor fault. Towards the middle of the book when Red has been held prisoner for his second year, the description becomes dragged out. The action slows down a little too much. I say this not in the least to discourage you from reading. I would advise anyone who likes biographies or stories about true survival to read either rent or buy it.
Red McDaniel gives descriptions and accounts anyone would like to hear and is altogether a good read.

Scars and Stripes is the emotional story of Eugene McDaniel and his seven year emotional rollercoaster in Vietnamese prisoner of war camps. McDaniels served in the Navy during the Vietnam War (965-1972), was shot down while flying an A6A jet on May 19, 1967, crushed two vertebrates after falling forty feet out of a tree (p. 25), captured by compassionless Vietnamese (p. 35), imprisoned, tortured and finally released seven years later on March 4, 1973. The ful range of emotions shine through this book and I shall write a review by focusing on the emotions.

LOVE was felt by McDaniel and his family after his release from the Hanoi Hilton; "All the black hours [in prison]... were gone and we had the sweet reality of faith rewarded, of enduring love fulfilled" (p. 170). His DESIRE was to forgive "Spot", his jailor/torturer; "Looking at him... I felt only a desire to share with him the innter, deeper secrets of God and His never-ending care" (p. 167). And JOY filled the soul of McDaniel when he entered his warm house after leaving the cold prison in 1973; "When I walked into the house with my family... I suddenly was too overwhelmed to absorb it" (p. 170).

His HATRED for the Vietnamese guards was dissolved by prayers; "I had once hated them for what they were doing to me in torture... yet I felt the need to pray for them" (p. 132). DISGUST was felt daily in the camp since the bodily injuries were gross; "My eardrum had ruptured when they struck me across the head with my shoe and it too was oozing blood" (p. 124). SADNESS was always present in camp for the guards were regularly cruel; "Each time I would drop my arms after hours of holding them up, they would beat me around the shoulders with a bamboo stick" (p. 109).

HOPE came to McDaniel one day when, "at the height of my three-day torture, I heard church bells coming from somwhere in downtown Hanoi... It had given me hope" (p. 120). DESPAIR filled the camps since the guards could care less about the American prisoners; "One of them told me, 'I am here to give you rations and bury you when you die'" (p. 49).

There was plenty to FEAR at the Hanoi Hilton; the guards "would take a dog and torture it to death for the sheer pleasure of inflicting pain. It got to us, because we did not know how far that streak in them would carry over to us in the torture room" (p. 54). COURAGE was demanded of McDaniel every day;"I felt that Christ was able to do more in methan if I had counted only on my strength and courage" (p. 172). Finally, the reader cannot help but become ANGRY due to the inconsistencies and unreasonableness of the Vietnamese guards; "The guards kept inflicting wounds- but at the same time they made sure I had medicine so I would not die" (p. 131).

Understanding the story of McDaniel and the full range of emotions triggered by his traumatic prison experience will possibly bring a person to an appreciation of his own emotional life, of the brave military men and women and of the federal republic of the USA.

The story of Eugene "Red" McDaniel is not only about a prisoner of war in Vietnam, it is the story of a hero who defied the odds and overcame extreme adversity.

Eugene McDaniel was shot down in 1967 and spent 5 years in captivity in North Vietnam's Hanoi Hilton, Zoo, and Zoo Annex prison compounds. While imprisoned, he made very aggressive strides to keep secret communications going between the prisoners even though such communicating was prohibited. In continued defiance of his captors, he paid a dear price.

McDaniel had the unfortunate distinction of being one of the most viciously tortured prisoners of the Vietnam war. Methods used on him were sadistic and barbaric and leaves you wondering how his jailors could possible treat another human being in this manner.

In the most trying of times, when all hope was lost and despair was complete, McDaniel turned to faith and prayer in God and was lifted up from the depths he was in. McDaniel was a constant source of optimism and strength for his fellow prisoners during confinement.

This book, outstanding in its message of courage, perseverance, and inspiration, will leave you knowing that no matter how difficult things can become, faith in God will always see you through.

A magnificent book from start to finish and definitely recommended to everyone.

Wonderfull book! It tells the story of my friend "Red" McDaniel of him being in the infamous HANOI HILTON were he was beaten severely. In the book, he tells how he got through those years of pure Hell with the help of God. If you are religous, POW-MIA reader, or someone who just likes a good book, I recommend that you read this book, it will truely move you.

A 'must read book for anyone involves in the ministry! The content was altogether helpful, not only in the preparation of sermons, but for Bible Studies.

Luke Timothy Johnson's methodology was easy to understand for church leadership, as he shows how to discern the Scriptures with authority for interpretation; reinterpretation and interaction. Making decisions are difficult when dealing with thorny issues that are ever present in all settings and have to be responded to because the issues are timely and are applicable to the decision-making processes today with the membership, in fellowship and with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Johnson begins conveniently by defining terms and concepts to be used throughout the book.

Johnson defines church as by various terms throughout, including an intentional community, a living organism (juxtaposed to an organisation), but perhaps the most fundamental is this: 'The church in the strict sense is found where there is a specific group of people who assemble together to call on the name of the Lord in prayer and fellowship.'

Key to the definition and existence of the church is faith. Faith is defined as the response in trust and obedience, a deeply responsive hearing of another's word or call. Faith in God, theological faith, the faith of the church, is therefore the hearing of the call of God. And the distinctiveness of the community called 'Church'

Johnson's definition of faith is different from many theologians in that is requires a recognition that God acts now, and continues to act. Johnson's faith is 'not attachment to a body of doctrines but a process of responding in obedience and trust to God's Word,' which continues to speak to us through the interpretive prism of community and experience.

Johnson then proceeds to discuss the normative use of scripture, which he returns to in each chapter. Two quotes are essential from the text here: 'It is an expression of the church's faith to regard these writings as prophetic for every age, and therefore as speaking God's Word.' Also, 'The theologian serves the church by allowing the text from the past and the text of the present to enter mutual interpretation.'

Johnson proceeds to discuss techniques to show how diversity of voices can be recognised and accepted without any single voice being dominant or neglected. These include typology, midrashic, and allegorical techniques in reading, which each have their own pitfalls. Johnson contends that the literary diversity of the New Testament provides a framework for a plurality of faithful responses, individual and communal, to the Word of God.

In the second and third parts of the book, Johnson moves beyond theory to talk about issues regarding specific applications and how they inform the general principles of decision making in the church.

In talking about difficulties, Johnson concentrates on Acts 15 as a model (often neglected, as he characterises it). He states that the narrative aspects of the prophetic witness is key to the process, 'because it gives the fullest picture in the New Testament of the process by which the church reaches decisions.'
Moving on to decisions, Johnson gives us examples of decisions that were made by the early church, but says that they do not provide a good model for decision-making, as they primarily concentrate on the outcomes rather than the process.
Discernment is described by Johnson as a vague but necessary and very real part of the decision-making process, akin to (and derived from the Greek words for) testing and judging, as well as understanding. Again, Johnson (interpreting Paul) is more concerned with 'the integrity of the ekklesia, God's convocation' than with individuals, who have a responsibility in discernment (in a later chapter he discusses the mutuality of responsibility of listener and speaker in this process), but not necessarily a decisive one. The goal for discernment is holiness and edification of the entire community.

Johnson proceeds under the Practice section to concentrate primarily on three topics as illustrative of his model of decision-making and discernment: the status of women (leadership), homosexuality (fellowship), and possessions and economics (stewardship).

In Johnson's final chapter, he discusses the need for a 'conversational model' of hermeneutics that involves leadership and fellowship in a broader and more listening mode than has existed, and that the responsibility for theological thinking and speaking needs to be carried to all members of the church.

The primary question I would ask of the book as a whole is, How do application of the principles of discernment and decision-making work for a church organisation that goes beyond the parish/local congregation level? Can the principles of listening and decision-making be applied to a macro-organisation such as regional/national/international churches in a constructive and thoughtful way in the same way they are applied at local levels? And what becomes of local discernment when it is out of line with the discernment and decision-making of the larger organisation?

Johnson gives many examples, again arising from the diversity of voices found in the scriptures, of different circumstances and applications, and looks for general principles that guide all decisions, which include a listening to narrative experience, leadership by the Holy Spirit, and discernment in community. Johnson admits that this is often a vague process, and that care has to be taken in making sure that 'the proper spirit' is being heard -- he even gives examples of how Paul seems to violate his own principles (leaving aside the possibility of later revisions/redactions of the text and such problems), which remind us of the passage read at the beginning of the course about listening to other gospels, even if taught by angels, etc. Johnson categorises the status of women as an issue of leadership and the issue of homosexuality as one of fellowship. I would argue that both could be reclassified under the other's heading. I would have liked for Johnson to expand upon the Devices section, and perhaps include more on how to reach those outside the church (if indeed the church is supposed to be evangelical -- calling out to the world to bring those outside in).

I am biased in that Johnson was a professor of mine during my undergraduate days at Indiana University, and I have read almost everything he's ever written. He is very consistent; many points will be made across chapters and books using the exact same language and construction. The readings for this evening will provide a good framework for further discussion of how communities form their identities, canons and codes of action.

The author joins several other modern scholars who point out quite rightly I think, that one must avoid the Biblical fundamentalism of proof texting the Bible. You can prove anything you want from the Bible if you simply pick your passages. Rather the person who is really seeking the Lord's will in modern life, should note the broad themes of scripture. We should see how God has dealt with His people in the past, and apply that learning to our present situation. The Word revealed in the words of scripture will guide us into all truth.

Dr. Johnson has updated this book, making it a fantastic resource for anyone interested in the ways the church should use scripture to discern the will of God. Johnson hits important issues, including the place of homosexual Christians in the church, but rather than using the book as a soapbox to take stands on issues, he uses the issues to demonstrate the way scripture is used and understood. The book is helpful to religion/seminary students and clergy, but is accessible to lay persons who care about making scripture the basis for their decisions and those of their church.