Webster University Books

Since I needed to read this book before it arrived (I live overseas), I paid extra to read it full text online. It is not a smooth process. Slow and sometimes the pages do not load right away. Must be a better way. I think I would enjoy the book more in print and after discussing it in class, I plan to go back to it now.

A professor once told me, "John Webster does not waste his words." That is certainly the case in this book. While subtitled a "sketch", and only consisting of 137 pgs of text, this is one of the "meatiest" theological works I have read in a long time. It was a difficult read, yet not in the sense that I couldn't understand it, but because Webster is packs in important theological points in every paragraph. It's as though you're in a lecture and the professor says, "If you doze off for even 10 seconds in the next 20 minutes then you will miss the overall point!" At the same time, I have read 4-500 pg books that ultimately say less than Webster did in just over 100 pages. I could certainly re-read this book over the next few years and continue to benefit from it. Webster is an excellent theologian who does first-rate theology with a genuine concern for the church and discipleship in the midst of his discussion of Holy Scripture in light of the Trinity. Other reviewers here have outlined and summarized the book, and so I will not repeat what they have said. Nevertheless, while the reading may be slow, the reward is great. I highly recommend this book to those interested in understand what Holy Scripture is (or even those interested in how to do good theology).

Hurray! At last a robustly trinitarian and systematic account of Scripture! Webster lays out succinctly, and with refreshing clarity, a doctrine of Scripture in terms of the doctrines of God (chapter 1), the church (chapter 2), and salvation (chapter 3), and then turns, in the final chapter, to a consideration of the role of Scripture in the task of theology. Rejecting critical detachment from his subject, refusing distraction by debates in modern hermeneutics, and setting aside even such pertinent issues as Scripture's relation to tradition and proclamation, Webster has written an urgent and focused account of the nature of Scripture and its role in the economy of grace.

Chapter 1, `Revelation, sanctification and inspiration'. Webster argues that a doctrine of Holy Scripture must be based on a prior account of divine communicative activity; everything to be said about Holy Scripture must be `subservient to the self-presentation of the triune God' (6). Webster then describes this self-presentation in terms of revelation, sanctification, and inspiration. Revelation is `the life-giving and loving presence of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Spirit's power among the worshipping and witnessing community' (12). `The "sanctification" of Scripture (its "holiness") and its "inspiration" (its proceeding from God) are aspects of the process whereby God employs creaturely reality in his service' (8-9). Speaking of Scripture in terms of these three particular aspects of divine communicative activity preserves the priority of divine action, what Webster calls `proper dogmatic order'. Particularly helpful are Webster's explanation of his choice of the term `sanctification' to depict God's use of Scripture, along with his critique of descriptions of Scripture as divine accommodation, as analogous to the hypostatic union, as testimony, as a means of grace, and as taking `servant form' (Berkouwer).

Chapter 2, `Scripture, church and canon'. Where God is communicatively present, says Webster, there also is the church. The church, therefore, is rightly described as the `creature of the word', and so a doctrine of Scripture must also address Scripture's relationship to the church. According to Webster, `The definitive act of the church is faithful hearing of the gospel of salvation announced by the risen Christ in the Spirit's power through the service of Holy Scripture' (44). Webster then offers suggestive sketches of the visibility and apostolicity of the church, Scripture's authority within the church (`its Spirit-bestowed capacity to quicken the church to truthful speech and righteous action' (52)), and the church's act of canonisation.

Chapter 3, `Reading in the economy of grace'. What then does God's communicative presence, within the communion of the church, achieve in the individual reader of Scripture? In this deeply moving, even devotional, chapter, interwoven with seasoned advice from the likes of Calov, Calvin, Bonhoeffer, and Zwingli, Webster portrays the act of reading Scripture as `an instance of the fundamental pattern of all Christian existence, which is dying and rising with Jesus Christ through the purging and quickening power of the Holy Spirit. Reading Scripture is thus best understood as an aspect of mortification and vivification: to read Scripture is to be slain and made alive' (88).

Chapter 4, `Scripture, theology and the theological school'. The `Current Issues in Theology' series to which this book belongs is intended for `upper-undergraduates and graduate students of theology, as well as...Christian teachers and church professionals'. It is appropriate, then, that the one particular, non-dogmatic issue Webster chooses to address is the role of Scripture in the theological tasks of formulating doctrine, catechesis, and training church leaders. Taking his cue this time from Ursinus, Webster argues that theology, in all its tasks, is `a simple sketch or outline of the different parts of Christian teaching with an eye to their scope and interrelations. There is no organising principle,...and no interest in defence or apologetic commendation: the aim is simple summary description' (113). Theology, therefore, is `not a set of improvements on Scripture', but is rather `most properly an invitation to read and reread Scripture, to hear and be caught up by Scripture's challenge to a repentant, non-manipulative heeding of God's Word' (130). Webster then concludes this extraordinary account of Scripture with Calvin's `Jeremiah' prayer and a poignant appeal from Augustine's sermons on the Gospel of John.

I really should downgrade the original 2-star rating as per my former comment below. But I'll leave it.

I quit trying to read this book. I have offered it to a Pastor friend of mine with the challenge of reading AND understanding what it is that Webster is attempting to say. And I say, 'happy trails'. Not me. Waste of my money and time.

My 2-star rating was simply a preliminary to approach my comment.

Although I am only 20 or so pages into this book I am already disconcerted. I have had to re-read passages to attempt to grasp Webster's point.

What is the point of phrasing a book in such a way that it is severely restrictive in readership. Already, before even touching on content, the application is narrowed, for not many can go there. It requires a highfalutin vocabulary, probably available only to graduate and post-graduate theological/philosophical minds.

I have read 'theological' books for some time, and enjoy (and am quite interested in, from a 'what's going on?' perspective) the current discussions on interpreting Scripture. Webster's approach, according to the write-up, was particularly attractive to me, as I stand squarely on the Divine source and His intention to be understood at all levels.

I will wade through this one for that reason. But .. wow!

This little book is not a light read. Webster writes at a high level of discourse and assumes the reader is familiar with theological terms and developments. As a masters level student, I read this at the tail end of my first year and still felt I was only grazing the surface. Webster is particular with his word usage, serving the purpose of delivering a very punctual, direct message. He uses terms that require industry specific familiarity, nearly to the scholar's level. It is not enough to look up the unfamiliar words in a dictionary, as the words are nuanced according to current-day use.
That said, John Webster was certainly targeting his scholarly peers with this book. It is fascinating and brilliant. He addresses the both the liberal and fundamentalist position over scripture as arrogant and overstepping the authority given to the church by God. The main thrust is that the church should come before God on its knees in humility, instead of "lording" over the Scriptures. The church should not act like God, thus "limiting" God. It should not claim to know things it can not know. The church should not worship its own authority, but allow God to continually make and rebreak it, to continue to allow God's truth to speak... Jesus upholds the church, just as he upholds the individual believer. The church never "arrives", never has it all figured out. God's revelation has not stopped. The Scriptures are not God's Word without the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, it is just a book. The Holy Spirit is required for truth from the Scriptures to be grasped. This is because God's revelation is being continually revealed to us. The Scriptures are living and breathing and powerful because of the HS. We should be open to God's leading. We can not read the Bible and force our interpretation on the Bible. Instead, we should approach it with humility before God and wait for him to reveal it to us. We should maintain our understanding of it in humility. Neither the individual nor the church is ever an authority over the Scriptures. The Scriptures are in continued authority over the church, and with the HS will reshape the church over and over, perserving truth. This is much like how walking with God is a faith proposition. To try to define it and box it up, or to create a list of rules and say "this is walking with God" is to miss the point. The church must do the very same thing with regard to the scriptures.

Any book that attempts to summarize the thought of Barth in 300 pages is faced with an impossible task. Barth's thought was so exhaustive and trickled down into so many areas of theology and life that no summary can do complete justice to Barth. Nevertheless, this book puts forth a good effort toward that end.

Webster has assembled many of the heavy hitters in Barth scholarship to tackle various key areas of Barth's thought. Trevor Hart provides a good chapter on Barth's view of revelation. Nigel Biggar's contribution on ethics is also good.

The brewing scholarly battle between Graham Ward and Bruce McCormack concerning possible similarities between Barth and Derrida regarding language is not hinted at in the book. The reader only gets Ward's side of it, in which he argues that Barth's contention that human language is inherently incapable of describing the "wholly other" God finds a home in the later thought of Derrida. McCormack is on record saying that any similarities between Barth and Derrida are superficial, and in my view, McCormack is closer to the truth on this. However, this book does not present McCormack's position, and thus may very well give the reader the impression that Ward's position is the accepted position on this question within Barth scholarship. It is not.

In addition, one would have hoped for a more in-depth treatment regarding Barth's relationship to Kantian philosophy. Given Barth's crucial importance chronologically in coming onto the theological scene in Europe at a time when the Kantian-influenced theologies of Schleiermacher and Ritschl reigned supreme, an understanding of Barth's intense reaction against both strains strikes me as critical in putting Barth into context and assessing him within this context. While Kant is mentioned more than once in this book, it is only in skeletal form, and this is a weakness. Putting Barth into the proper historical context is absolutely essential in assessing his importance, and this book could have been better at doing that.

But overall, the contributions in here are scholarly, well documented, and informative for someone looking to gain a good working knowledge of Barth. Evangelicals need to contend with Barth responsibly, and we have been mostly neglectful in doing this. One way to do this is to read a book like this which attempts to thoughtfully interact with Barth from a mostly non-evangelical perspective. As such, I commend it to discerning evangelicals.

Any multi-authored book on one writer/ theologian is bound to have high points and low points. However, this book is a must read. As an introduction to Barth's thought this is not for the beginner. It presupposes a fairly high amount of knowledge regarding Barth to be able to work through it. Having said this -- most of the writers do an outstanding job in interacting with Barth's thought. Webster's introduction is nicely done. Heron's conclusion and interaction with Barth's legacy is also beautiful. And then, its worth having the book just for Bruce McCormack's, George Hunsinger's, and Trevor Hart's articles on Barth. If you want to begin to understand Barth, this is a book that you must read eventually.

I give this book three and half stars, actually. I'm very pleased to see a full-length biography of Margaret Webster; she's an important force in American theatre history who has gotten too little attention from theatre historians. Milly Barranger, a knowledgeable Webster scholar, has done a thorough, interesting job with this study; she offers perceptive insights into Webster's philosophy of directing, her significant contributions to Broadway, regional, and repertory theatre, and her professional strengths / weaknesses.

At times, though, I felt as if I were reading a rehash of other secondary sources, particularly of Webster's own writings. Overall, I would have liked more analysis, both cultural and biographical. Unlike many biographers, Barranger is careful not to offer too much speculation with too little evidence, which is good. But especially in the first third of the book, Webster the person seems distant and elusive. Instead of bringing her alive, the description of her early career in England occasionally bogs down into little more than a summary of productions and lists of cast and crew.

Barranger generally writes fluidly, although she has two stylistic quirks that I wish an editor had caught. First, she seems to have an aversion to pronouns/synonyms, so that sentences often contain flat repetitions of earlier words. (One typical example: "Although several universities asked to receive their papers, they decided to donate their papers to the Library of Congress" [306]. Other unedited repetitions occur fairly frequently, such as Webster being called "the astonished Peggy" twice in one anecdote [17-18].)

The second quirk involves material that is introduced on one page and then re-introduced a page or two later as if the first reference never occurred. (One example: We're told that when Webster left NY after her first Broadway triumph, "Eddie Dowling handed her a script to consider. . ." Two paragraphs later, we're told anew, "One of the new scripts that had been pressed upon her in NY belonged to Eddie Dowling. . .[72-3]).

And as often happens in detail-filled books, errors creep in: Webster's father Ben is said to be 73 in 1937 and also to be 73 at his death in 1947 (75; 171); Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 film "The Ten Commandments" is time-warped to the 1970s (97), and so on. The editors should have been more alert.

They especially should have been more alert in checking sources. The aforementioned errors and verbal tics are minor. More problematic, however, is Barranger's tendency to borrow the wording of her source material. As examples, I cite some comparisons between Barranger's work and Helen Sheehy's 1996 biography of Eva Le Gallienne (Webster's long-time lover and artistic partner):

On the publication party for Webster's autobiography --

SHEEHY: "At the party, Peggy appeared well and full of high spirits, but Le Gallienne knew that she suffered constant, agonizing pain, which the Percodan she took could not relieve" (404).

BARRANGER: "At the party Peggy appeared well and full of high spirits, but she suffered constant pain that medication no longer relieved" (303).


On Webster's fatal cancer --

SHEEHY: "Her life was now measured in weeks. 'Nothing can be done,' Peggy said" (403).

BARRANGER: "Her life was now measured in weeks. 'Nothing can be done,' Peggy told her" (302).


On W's and Le G's work together in 1965--

SHEEHY: "Peggy and Le Gallienne were tentative and awkward with one another" (379).

BARRANGER: "At first, the women were tentative and awkward with one another" (285).

Such echoes can easily occur during early drafts, but they should be caught before a book goes to print. Readers need to be able to trust that author and sources are independent.

Margaret Webster, a so-so actress but one of the world's leading directors of Shakespeare, and one of the first prominent female stage directors, now has her own biography. (She wrote two memoirs during her lifetime, both sadly out of print.) Historian Milly S. Barranger has written a magnificent biography of a woman whose very life seems to be slipping away from us year by year, as memories of her productions dim, and those who knew her vanish from the world stage. (Webster died in 1972 at age 67.)

She was the daughter of a British matinee idol, Ben Webster, and his wife, the celebrated May Whitty, who became a star late in life in Hollywood playing an elderly harridan in the Robert Montgomery starrer NIGHT MUST FALL. By that time Margaret Webster had established herself in New York, with a long-running collaboration with the actor Maurice Evans. The two of them mounted quite a few productions of Shakespeare, on Broadway, though in the 1950s his star had waned and the magic wasn't there and it became apparent he was no Olivier or Gielgud.

This book would be worth reading just to outline her work with Maurice Evans, but there is so much more! Each chapter is meaty enough to be its own volume, particularly the chapter about Webster's historic work with black superstar Paul Robeson in a Broadway Othello of 1943, with Uta Hagen and Jose Ferrer in support. Barranger guides us through this controversial production step by step, suggesting that Webster's British background perhaps allowed her to cast more color-blind than her USA counterparts, if "color-blind" is the proper word for casting Othello as a black man indeed. The inner ins and outs of the show, with Hagen and Robeson having an open affair with the complaisance of Ferrer, all of them eventually turning on Webster, is enough to stand your hair on end, but you'll have your hat off to them all. It is truly one of the great Broadway stories, on a par with the opening of THE CRADLE WILL ROCK.

So too is the story of Tennessee Williams' first Broadway production, with BATTLE OF ANGELS, an early version of ORPHEUS DESCENDING, for which the Theater Guild hired Webster to direct a temperamental Miriam Hopkins in the leading role. The play fell victim to tyrannical Boston censors and never made it to New York.

Margaret Webster also worked with, and loved, the tragic actress Mady Christians, and the imperious and more or less "out" diva Eva Le Gallienne. Perhaps her greatest love was the novelist Pamela Frankau, who made her middle years a joy. Sadly she lost Frankau to an invidious cancer.

Her lesbianism and her association with anti-racist and Leftist causes made her a natural victim of Joe McCarthy, and Barranger deftly sketches in the ways in which her career was badly damaged by right wing accusations that she was a Communist in RED CHANNELS. Crazy but true, the blacklist existed not only in Hollywood but to a certain degree on Broadway as well. Barranger is a graceful writer, though the book is marred by a number of bizarre typos which will detract from your enjoyment. In one, A critic wrote that Martita Hunt's Portia "shown" like a candle in a dark world. What's with "shown"? Or "Aaron Copeland"?

As a biographer, Milly Barranger's biggest mistake, perhaps, is her failure to read properly the novels of Pamela Frankau, Webster's great love, particularly the so-called "Weston trilogy" CLOTHES FOR A KING'S SON. As I read more and more about Margaret Webster, I realized that the outlines of her tempestuous life were ringing a bell in my head. Having read the Farbkau books years ago, I could see clearly that Webster must have confided in Frankau many, many details of her life unavailable elsewhere, and Frankau really mined her lover's past for her fiction. Reading SING FOR YOUR SUPPER, SLAVES OF THE LAMP, OVER THE MOUNTAINS, Barranger will discover how Webster really felt about her famous parents, about acting, about her sexual identity, about being a nomad in a spotty if glamorous profession. It's all there and it's all beautifully told. But this is only a minor cavil; MARGARET WEBSTER: A LIFE IN THE THEATER is a spellbinder.

This is a useful and solid book for people who want accurate facts about Haydn's life and music. The lists at the end are extremely thorough and detailed. Those who are reading for pleasure will get more enjoyment out of Rosemary Hughes's book "Haydn" (out of print, but often available used), which shows a warmer sympathy for the composer and a better choice of revealing detail.

This is a concise, lucid, well written account of Haydn's life and career with a balanced assessment of his works and of his character. It contains a complete list of Haydn's works and a valuable bibliography for further reading and research. It is an excellent introduction to Haydn. Those wanting to learn more about Haydn's life and works will look elsewhere but will want this book for its listing of his works and its bibliography.

Easy reading, warts and all biography and balanced scholarship about the complex and intertwined lives of proslavery figures and two famous abolitionists carrying their moral battle and suffering to Kentucky as prelude to the Civil War.

This has become one of the essential texts in understanding music of the Classic Era. Webster is one of the leading scholars of 18th-century music and particularly of Joseph Haydn. It is not for the non-musician, as the analyses are quite extensive, but for those who can follow Webster's work, it is well worth the effort and repays study. I recommend this highly.

Brenda Webster's Paradise Farm is a page turner. Each page reveals a little more of the inner lives of people living in a time that, in retrospect, was extraordinary. It was 1929, before the stock market crash but not before Mein Kampf. It was a time of change for women, for art, and for human explorations of the mind. Within this maelstrom, a Jewish family--Agnes, the mother, and Lara and Johnnie, grown daughter and son--move on after the death of husband and father Eugene. They confront what it is to be Jewish and what they have meant to each other. Johnnie's journey is marked by his prescient grasp of the threat of Hitler, a insight that is largely ignored by those around him. Agnes emerges from Eugene's shadow. Will she find, as she puts it, something to do with the rest of her life? Lara struggles to define herself as an artist while experimenting with new sexual freedoms. The least compelling aspect of this novel is its portrayal of Lara's relationships with the various men in her life, whether brother, lover, or would-be-lover. No relationship, even the crucial and incestuous one with Johnnie, is developed to the point that the reader can really understand or care about it. Her departed father's influence on her burgeoning art, however, is convincingly woven into her development as a painter. By the end of the year in which Eugene dies, Agnes and her children have all left home--their Paradise Farm. And we have been given a glimpse into a family fettered by sexual infidelity and incest. This is a tale of what we now call a dysfunctional family at a pivotal point in their lives. Lara provides the principal lens through which we view this family and their times. In its intimate portrayal of her growth as an artist first, and then as a woman, Paradise Farm is a story for every contemporary woman who has ever asked how family and work fit together in her life.

Published by Oxford University Press in 1984, THE TURBAN-WALLAH: A TALE OF LITTLE INDIA presents a teenage love story against the background of racial strife in a British town. It is a moving story, written with conviction. Len Webster later went on to write about South-East Asia and the same sharp eye for detail can be found in his books BENEATH THE BLUE MOON (Times Editions, Singapore, 1992) and HELL-RIDERS & OTHER STORIES (Times Editions, Singapore, 1994). THE TURBAN-WALLAH might be just a little dated because of its setting but the central love story and racial conflict will remain of interest for years to come.

One of the best books on the gothic and sentimental novel that I've
encountered.

It's great to be reminded about all these early sentimental novels, but that's about it. So maybe the best thing about Stern's book is the bibliography. It sure isn't the prose or the insights. I was SO disappointed by this book.

This is perhaps the sharpest, most interesting book I have ever read. A must buy for any scholar or student of literature.

I really love that this book is exactly the same as it was in 1824, but Applewood's copy quality stinks. The print is not sharp... a VERY low resolution copy. If the print was clear, this book would be perfect. But as it is, it is very hard for me to read/see, and I'm sure this difficulty would only be multiplied for any child trying to look at the pages.