Book Description
Written by Joseph Ratzinger shortly before he became Pope Benedict XVI, Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures looks at the growing conflict of cultures evident in the Western world.
The West faces a deadly contradiction of its own making, he contends. Terrorism is on the rise. Technological advances of the West, employed by people who have cut themselves off from the moral wisdom of the past, threaten to abolish man (as C.S. Lewis put it)—whether through genetic manipulation or physical annihilation.
In short, the West is at war—with itself. Its scientific outlook has brought material progress. The Enlightenment's appeal to reason has achieved a measure of freedom. But contrary to what many people suppose, both of these accomplishments depend on Judeo-Christian foundations, including the moral worldview that created Western culture.
More than anything else, argues Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, the important contributions of the West are threatened today by an exaggerated scientific outlook and by moral relativism—what Benedict XVI calls "the dictatorship of relativism"—in the name of freedom.
Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures is no mere tirade against the moral decline of the West. Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI challenges the West to return to its roots by finding a place for God in modern culture. He argues that both Christian culture and the Enlightenment formed the West, and that both hold the keys to human life and freedom as well as to domination and destruction.
Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI challenges non-believer and believer alike. "Both parties," he writes, "must reflect on their own selves and be ready to accept correction." He challenges secularized, unbelieving people to open themselves to God as the ground of true rationality and freedom. He calls on believers to "make God credible in this world by means of the enlightened faith they live."
Topics include:
• Reflections on the Cultures in Conflict Today
• The Significance and Limits of Today's Rationalistic Culture
• The Permanent Significance of the Christian Faith
• Why We Must Not Give Up the Fight
• The Law of the Jungle, the Rule of Law
• We Must Use Our Eyes!
• Faith and Everyday Life
• Can Agnosticism Be a Solution?
• The Natural Knowledge of God
• "Supernatural" Faith and Its Origins
Customer Reviews:
Quite important in these days of relativism.......2007-08-04
A must read if you are interested in the recent and ongoing decline of western civilization. The causative factors are clearly delineated from many points of view, but always from the starting point of the pope's awesome faith and love for God and His Creation.
-Jeremy
Adressing the current situations with a keen and clear understanding.......2007-04-15
In this book Cardinal Ratzinger studies the tension that arises when a split occurs between the state and religion. He tackles modern secularist notions, discusses abortion, and also addresses the notion that if not atheism, then perhaps agnosticism is the best position that man can hope for. The discussion he provides is well thought out and easy to grasp. You may not agree with everything he says, but the beauty and brilliance of the arguments put forth are undeniable.
Succinct.......2006-11-08
Non-Catholics and those of nominal faith might be more comfortable reading
"Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam"
by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and Marcello Pera first. The analysis is much the same but correctives, in the form of a return to a pan-European shared faith (by Pena--the head of the Italian Senate) and/or individual action (Benedict)will find a wider audience.
Either book is a must read for anyone commenting upon or interested in the current geopolitical scene. At the end of the 19th century, Dostoyevsky in "Notes from the Underground" and Pope Leo XIII in "On Socialism" (Quod Apostolici Muneris) warned where conflicts within Western Civilization were headed. 1917 and the horrors of communist and fascist totalitarianism were not adverted. Pera and Benedict are raising the same warning flags today. Is the problem as critical as they believe? Can a tragedy be averted? No one knows of course. But that there is a problem is irrefutable and these two book should not be ignored.
Recently purchased "America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It" by Mark Steyn. Rated it three stars and that was being charitable as Steyn not only provides little hope but the witty prose his newspaper columns are, rightly, admired for is flat and tendentious when spead out over 256 pages.
Benedict and Pera, in contrast, explain why the west is unable to condemn evil and what can be done to ameloriate that failing.
An essential read for understanding the crisis that we are in.......2006-09-12
Pope Benedict has been a keen and precise critic of the cultural clashes that have been shaking the West over the last half a century. He doesn't kowtow to the latest politically correct fad, nor does he mince words to state the truth. In this book he clearly outlines the what the greatest threats are to the Christian culture and the civilization which is based upon it. This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand better the position of the Catholic Church in the ongoing global culture wars.
An essential read.......2006-06-01
Along with such classics as 'clash of civilizations' and 'rage and the pride' this book is a must read for anyone interested in the least bit in preserving their culture and faith in the face of the assault on the west by various non-western and supra-western cultures. For those who are pro partial-birth abortions, probably this book will be offensive because the Pope takes the Catholic church's view that abortion is immoral.
The central theme of this book is that the West is threatened by the new immorality of western moral relativism and that it is additioanlly partially threatened by the non-western immigrants who invade the west, however the greater danger is internal, the abandonment of religion and faith, and the denial of the fact that Christian roots are indigenous to Europe.
Many wont be able to stumach this book, and even some protestants will find the catholic overtones problematic. However it is an essential and important work.
Seth J. Frantzman
Book Description
The battle lines have been drawn. Many Christians have fallen into the trap of proclaiming "Peace! Peace!" when there is no peace. Hiding their eyes from the pressing issues of the day, they believe that resistance to the prevailing culture is useless. At the same time, other Christians have been too quick to declare war, mistaking battlefield casualties as enemies rather than victims. In How to Win the Culture War Peter Kreeft issues a rousing call to arms. Christians must understand the true nature of the culture war--a war between the culture of life and the culture of death. Kreeft identifies the real enemies facing the church today and maps out key battlefields. He then issues a strategy for engagement and equips Christians with the weapons needed for a successful campaign.Above all, Kreeft assures us that the war can be won--in fact, it will be won. For those who hope in Christ, victory is assured, because good triumphs over evil and life conquers death. Love never gives up. Neither must we.
Customer Reviews:
Accept the truth!!.......2007-09-12
This is a powerful book, a weapon in this spiritual battle that we fight constantly twenty four hours a day and I recommend it to all mankind without hesitation as one of the best weapons we have. Kreeft is a master of description and catholic metaphor in spelling out, using simple language, the reality of life.
He pulls no punches and neither should he as we are indeed fighting a war. As I type this review I am fighting this war, as I look around at this room and walk the streets of a city, as I sit in a coffee shop or ride the bus. Whenever, wherever I am or any of us are we are fighting a war. The war is not against human beings. No human is our enemy. Our enemy is the devil and his demons and they do exist - for to deny their existence is the greatest mistake. To deny that we are in a war is a great mistake. To believe that we can relax and that everything is fine because it appears fine is ridiculous. Spiritual war is not visible, it is invisible and very real. We must not ignore it. We must constantly remind ourselves that we are in a war and that every second is a battle which needs to be won.
This is the essence of Kreefts book and it is a greatly needed message for the world to hear and yet so few are listening. Pick up your rosaries, go to confession, receive the Holy Eucharist, fast, pray, love and never, never give up. These are the weapons we must use. We must become saints and spend our lives striving to become saints. We must never become lazy in thinking we will try tomorrow. We must try now!! Our sainthood is available now. Our thrones at the right hand of Jesus are available to sit on now. Jesus has promised that whoever takes his throne he will make their enemies their footstool.
We have nothing to fear. The enemy has nothing but his big mouth. He cannot harm us. All he can do is suggest to us lies. He is the Father of lies and he uses his mouthful of lies to deceive us and lead us away from the truth. If we trust in God then our enemies are powerless. Call on God, call on Jesus, he is our refuge, our rock. As John Paul II said "Be not afraid". We have nothing to fear as we have the greatest, most powerful weapon of all, We have Jesus!!
This is Kreefts book summed up but read it. I can't do justice to the words of this great thinker.
Enough rope.......2007-03-16
As a person on the "other side" of the so called culture war, I applaud books like this. It makes the argument of those striving for reason over faith so much easier to demonstrate, especially when directed at those in the middle. It's this type of rhetoric that makes it so much easier for authors such as Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and the late Carl Sagan to get their points across. The main point being that those who still subscribe to the fairy tales and delusions of revealed religious faith are a dangerous anachronism.
The war rages on..........2007-02-22
This book is a necessity for all Christians, both Catholic and Protestant. Even though the author is Catholic (as am I) I feel that Evangelical Christians would find just as much use in it. We are not so different, after all, it seems, when put up against our common enemy, secularism.
It's a quick and easy read, but it packs a punch. Anyone who doubts that there is a culture war either seriously doesn't keep up with the news, or is living under a rock. The war is real, frightening at times, but we will win it.
I especially recommend this book for anyone who tends to think the outcome is hopeless. The author reminds us that we are doing God's work, and God doesn't fail. He lays out a battle plan for us, and gets us familiar with the enemy and his trickery.
I really think this is the time for all traditional Christians, and to expand on that, all traditional worshipers of the God of Abraham, to put aside our differences for a common goal. We shouldn't be fighting with each other, we should band together and fight those who want to destroy all that's dear to us.
A rally cry for Christians.......2007-01-03
This was the first Kreeft book I read and it had me going back to read more.
incredible book, incredible author.......2006-11-27
this book is a must for anyone seeking to understand more fully the importance of morality, and seeking the importance of living, and understanding what christians are called to in this world. An excellent read. yet another masterpiece by Peter Kreeft.
Customer Reviews:
IF YOU'RE BEGINNING TO AWAKEN FROM JW BRAIN-DEATH..........2007-10-06
THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU!
I've read this book several times, and I would place it second only to JEHOVAH UNMASKED in its impact on the Watchtower sect. I am a former Jehovah's Witness who attended the International Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses in Chicago in 1969. I was there when then-President of the Watchtower Society, Nathan Homer Knorr, announced to the audience that "1975 marks the end of six thousand years of man's existence, and begins the seventh millennium since Adam's creation. This seventh millennium will run concurrently with the one thousand year earthly reign of Jesus Christ. Therefore the Great Tribulation and the Battle of Armageddon must occur sometime BEFORE 1975!" This prediction can also be found in old Watchtower books no longer published by the Society, such as the "Freedom of the Sons of God" book.
The Jehovah's Witnesses of today are either unaware of this 1975 prediction, or they swallow the Watchtower lies about it. When I was a Witness I was taught to "lie for the Truth." This practice was called Theocratic Warfare. The idea is that it's commendable to lie in the furtherance of "the Truth." This oxymoronic hypocrisy goes right over the heads of Jehovah's Witnesses. Anyway, that's why JW reviewers of this book lie and say the Watchtower High Command never made a prediction about 1975. The Watchtower Society has even managed to get some of the Witnesses to believe that it was the lowly Witnesses THEMSELVES, the rank and file, that made this false prophecy, not the Brooklyn Oracles (Watchtower High Command). Talk about MIND CONTROL!
So, CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE is a MARVELOUS nail in the coffin of the Watchtower Cult and it's mounting pile of dead children whose parents denied them life-saving blood transfusions. As well as the growing scandal of pedophilia as more and more Watchtower "elders" are exposed as pedophiles. The Watchtower High Command shields these sexual predators from prosecution, and instead disfellowships the VICTIMS of Watchtower sexual abuse!
Jehovah's Witnesses promote ignorance, superstition, medical quackery, and encourage pedophilia by covering it up and PUNISHING THE VICTIMS! The Watchtower High Command controls every aspect of a Witnesses thinking, telling them they cannot vote, cannot join a political party, cannot join a union, cannot join a Lodge, cannot serve in public office, cannot serve on a jury, cannot join the armed forces, cannot salute the flag, cannot celebrate holidays, cannot celebrate birthdays, cannot step inside a church even to attend a wedding or funeral of a non-Witness loved one. They forbid JW's from reading any religious material other than their own, and even forbid married couples from engaging in oral or anal copulation. They work hard to keep women "in their place" and even strongly admonish their youth against going to college, preferring to keep JW's ignorant, credulous, and malleable to their will. All of these prohibitions (and hundreds more) carry the punishment of shunning, complete ostracism, from the group. This winds up destroying the lives of Witnesses, and tears whole families apart, when they can no longer speak to their loved ones, nor their loved ones speak to them. The Watchtower High Command (The 'Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses') knows NOTHING of the Grace and Love and Mercy of God, but are the most harsh, merciless, Pharisaic, legalistic, mean-spirited, judgemental group of bitter old men with delusions of grandeur ever to walk the earth!
I was trapped in the Watchtower Religion for four long years. I know whereof I speak. It is an un-American religion that exercises FAR greater mind-control and life-control over its members than even the Pope does over Roman Catholics. Yet the Witnesses condemn the Pope for dictating dogma to his people. The Witnesses are unable to see this double-standard, the hypocrisy. They're blind, as all religious zealots ultimately are.
So, by all means purchase CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE as well as JEHOVAH UNMASKED! for a one-two combination to the face and head of the Watchtower High Command. You should "pity the fool" who becomes ensnared in the Watchtower sect or has been raised in it, for they are a slave to the Watchtower and exist to do its bidding. Thankfully, the JW growth rate has slowed to a crawl and young people raised as JW's are abandoning ship in record numbers! :)
Would you like me to go into more detail as to why CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE was penned? I will assume the answer is "yes" and will extrapolate.
"Demons" inhabit the literature of non-JW Christians according to the Watchtower High Command, so Witnesses must be careful not to touch it and never read it. "You never know when a demon might be lurking inside a Gospel tract, just waiting to invade your body and mind!" So Witnesses are told never to read or even touch any books or literature from other religions. In reality, this is a transparent ploy to make sure the Witnesses are ever exposed to what non-Witnesses have to say about the failed prophecies, doctrinal flip-flops, and theological somersaults regularly engaged in by the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses. The Watchtower Society holds it's slaves in the steely grip of the primitive fear of demons.
The Watchtower Society strongly discourages it's slaves from owning a personal computer or surfing the Internet. Their ostensible explanation is again "demons." The demons will infect your sin-infested mind if you dare to read anything on the Net that displays the failed prophecies, doctrinal gyrations and theological flip-flops of the Governing Body. This is also why Jehovah's Witnesses are strongly discouraged from reading old books the Governing Body no longer publish. They don't wish their slaves to know how much their doctrines keeping mutating and evolving into one monster after another.
The Watchtower Society claims it speaks for Almighty God Himself, and you'd better believe what they say unquestioningly, and obey them explicitly, or you are DOOMED to be destroyed in the Battle of Armageddon. Therefore, Jesus Christ isn't the savior of the rank-and-file Jehovah's Witnesses, the Governing Body is! The Governing Body officially and openly teach the "Earthly Class" (The rank-and-file Jehovah's Witnesses) that Jesus Christ did not die for them, but only for the Anointed Class of 144,000 who will go to heaven. Also, even though the Watchtower High Command claims to speak for God, and insist that rejecting their words WILL INSURE YOUR DOOM AT GOD'S HANDS, they claim they aren't divinely inspired! The Watchtower High Command tells Jehovah's Witnesses, in the pages of the Watchtower magazine, that they speak for God Almighty Himself. Then on the next page they declare the exact opposite, and claim they are just poor imperfect folks stumbling along just like the rank and file Witnesses, and are not inspired. Right after claiming to be God's Earthly Representatives, speaking for God Almighty!!
So, the Brooklyn Oracles have it both ways. They demand unquestioning and total obedience as God's Earthly Representatives, but plead "imperfection" and say "but we never said we're divinely inspired" when caught in a failed prophecy or doctrinal flip-flop. Which happens a LOT throughout their history. Old discarded doctrines and failed prophecies are called `old light' and today's doctrines and prophetic speculations are called "new light." The problem is that "new light' quickly becomes "old light" and often even "old light" becomes "new light" again! People who have been shunned (and therefore become as one dead to their families and friends) because they didn't submit to some ever-changing Watchtower flapdoodle, are NEVER apologized to or allowed back into the group when the doctrine is rejected for something new. The Watchtower High Command are callous old fools with delusions of grandeur, squirted full to bursting with Hubris.
Going door-to-door and obeying every whim of the Watchtower Society is how the Earthly Class of Jehovah's Witnesses prove their faithfulness to Jehovah and thereby earn salvation. They are taught they are not saved by Jesus Christ. They are taught that if they have any chance at all at salvation, it will come by belonging to the Watchtower Society and believing it unquestioningly and obeying it explicitly. So, don't admire Witnesses for their zeal. They're just trying to earn brownie points with God by fearing and obeying what they mistakenly believe to be God's Mouthpiece. In reality they don't really care about you. They only care about saving their own hides.
The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses have passed thousands of "Theocratic Laws" about everything one could imagine. From banning blood transfusions, oral and anal sex even between married heterosexuals, to prohibiting such things as celebrating holidays or birthdays, voting, holding public office, serving on a jury, saluting the flag, or going to college! To list the thousands of laws they have enacted against their slaves would take hundreds of pages. If you think the Orthodox and Chassidic Jews have a lot of religious laws, you'll change your mind if you study Watchtower literature.
Even when I was a Witness, I knew that some of the Watchtower pronouncements were quackery both medically and theologically. Such as the blood transfusion ban. I'd never been able to take seriously their belief that "the soul is in the blood" but went along with it rather than be ostracized. To Jehovah's Witnesses it is literally a matter of life and death. A lot of Witnesses (Including children) DIE because they refuse blood transfusions. In the past, the Watchtower High Command has enforced other types of medical quackery upon the poor victimized Jehovah's Witnesses, including ridiculous "cures" for cancer that resulted in the deaths of many Witnesses.
Read I WAS A TEENAGE JEHOVAH'S WITNESS and JEHOVAH UNMASKED for two of the wildest rides ever!
An amazing book.......2007-08-31
This book will do a great job helping people understand what Jehovah's Witnesses do and how they can confuse so many sincere, intelligent people. A must read for anyone who has been a Witness or 'studied' with them.
Sad but Insightful.......2007-07-29
I recently read this book from cover to cover in a matter of three days. As many other reviewers mentioned, the author does not come across as bitter but rather as sad and disappointed. I too felt the same by the end of the book. I had previously been a member of the Jehovah's Witness organization but decided to leave after finding many of their rules to be dogmatic and oppressive and not in harmony with or supported by scripture. I too felt as Franz did when he stated, "I need to be certain that I am not following some humanly devised standard that poses as divine standard but which in fact is uninspired, unsupported by God's word". I also felt that women in the congregations were not treated fairly or equally and punishment for infractions of rules were meted out to women more harshly than to men. The book showed that many of my concerns and observations were not limited to my local congregation but started from the top down! Also, the book clearly showed that the many changes in doctrine over the years were not guided by God at all but were voted on with some of the members of the governing Body NOT in agreement! I also can testify to the 'witch hunt' mentality he describes that lends some congregation elders to pursue a goal of disfellowshipping some and not others. My minor children were constantly being harassed as questioned about my personal life after I left the congregation (they were still being brought with their father) to the point that I had to write a letter to the elders requesting that they respect the rights of children and not question them about adult matters. I knew of several instances of active Witness men accused of sexual abuse of children who were not disciplined, in fact it was covered up, and yet I and my children were being hounded! Franz also showed that this too happens from the top down and can ruin peoples families and lives with out regard to showing Christian love, compassion, or humility. Unlike Franz, I have felt free and never happier after leaving the organization and have no inclination towards religion or the Bible at all. However, I do admire his continued love for God and the scriptures despite the experience he went through. I also applaud him for keeping such meticulous records to support everything he claimed happened during his association with Jehovah's Witnesses. I would recommend this book to all Witnesses who wonder how the organization is run.
Want to know if the Watchtower is unreliable? Read this book!.......2007-07-26
If you want a book that emphatically proves that the Watchtower is an unreliable organization, then this is your book. I can't imagine how any Jehovah's Witness can read this book and yet remain a member.
The author, Raymond Franz, was a Jehovah's Witness for most of his life as well as a governing body member. This is his story. He tells of how he became involved in full time service to the organization all the way up to his being disfellowshipped.
About half of the book is devoted to Franz's personal testimony and what he experienced as not only a full time staff member, but as a governing body member too. These are insights that very few men have chosen to reveal. This includes everything from the Society's scandelous cover-ups to the inner workings of the governing body.
What I found most valuable was Franz's allegations towards the Watchtower as a false prophet. Hundreds of pages were used to deal with the false prophecies of 1914 and 1975, as well as a few others.
Although the book is quite lengthy (over 400 pages), it is not a boring read. If you are interested in Jehovah's Witnesses, then you'll enjoy this book. Raymond Franz is a passionate writer and does everything he can to be fair. Very little is dealt with in regards to theology. In fact, Raymond Franz probably held and continues to hold to the core doctrines of the Watchtower. The entire thrust of the book is to stress the book's subtitle: "The struggle between loyalty to God and loyalty to one's religion." With this, i'll agree that Raymond Franz most certainly accomplished his purpose in writing this book.
Boring and dry.......2007-07-15
While this book did shed a lot of light on the inner workings of a cult, it was a really dry read. I felt like I was reading the dictionary.
Customer Reviews:
The Compromised Church.......2001-06-30
During the past ten years,my focus for reading Christian books has been on studying authors who wrote from 50-300 years ago. It seems that turth was not "what was relevant" back then, but for men who were the true spiritual leaders of the day, it was their life source, and came out their intimate passion for Jesus and love for His saints. The most important thing was true salvation, not building big churches, and sanctification, not self-actualization. In this freat masterpiece, Editor John Armstrong has brought home a hard hitting message to the "Laodician Church" of 2001. We are being greatly deceived, by our World around us, and consequently the Church is conforming to the world instead of to the standards of Jesus Christ and our early forefathers. Dr. Armstrong has assembled leading theologins in critcal areas of Christian wisdom, and compiled a book that should be a warning and a lighthouse for the Body of Christ in the years to come. Sadly, outstanding works like this do not achieve their highest cudos until long after their relevance is most needed. Thank you Dr.Amstrong and team for a truely distrubing( in a good way) book.
Hello! McFly!.......2000-07-12
The evangelical church in America is dying from the same thing that kills its members: obesity, sloth, overindulgence, and ignorance. Church members are fat-headed, too lazy to read and study for themselves, quick to gorge themselves on pop theology, and don't want to hear the truth. Thus, any book that attempts to point out these failings is often read only by those who are already aware of the problem; the messenger isn't killed for bringing bad news, because no one who would find it offensive is listening. Nonetheless, I hope that "The Compromised Church" gets a wide hearing; its message is vital for today. The book is a compilation volume with contributions by some of the brightest evangelical pastors and scholars around: Al Mohler, David Wells, Sinclair Ferguson, Ed Clowney, etc. The topics covered are at the heart of the current crisis in evangelicalism. Just to whet your appetite, I will list a few: the authority of Scripture, the doctrine of the Trinity, "church-o-rama or corporate worship," baptism, church discipline, and preaching. Each subject is given careful, biblical and sociological treatment. A quote from the chapter by Monte Wilson ("Church-O-Rama or Corporate Worship") should give you the overall flavor of the book:
"Evangelical worship is becoming an oxymoron. Our songs are either belted out in the same mindless intensity with which we ............."
Strong stuff. This book addresses the problems of the church in a compassionate but firm manner, and offers viable solutions, but not a quick fix. If you find yourself appalled at the sorry state of American evangelicalism, take heart: there are influential and intelligent pastors and teachers who share your disgust. They have taken the time to analyze the problems, and they have solid, Bible-based answers to help you address them. Read this book. Share it with your pastor, your Sunday school teacher, your Bible study group. Prayer for revival should always be accompanied by careful thought and analysis of the world around us. "The Compromised Church" will promote just that.
All christians must read this book.......1999-12-21
If you want to know what it is happening with the evangelical faith in our days, please read this book. Great truths are analyzed carefully through this. The people of God need to stop and to meditate on everything that is examined in this book.Highly recommended.
Book Description
"This collection of writings, drawn from a wide variety of sources, reveals the intellectual depth and breadth of the author. The articles include political commentary, cultural critique, literary analysis, extended book reviews, and even a short story by West. All of these are held together by a prophetic Afro-American Christian perspective. The value of this book is that it provides easy access to a significant selection of the author's corpus." --Religious Studies Review (October 1989) "This volume collects over 50 articles, book reviews, and addresses by a Union Seminary theologian . . . . The most eloquent pieces are those in which West explains and interprets his more personally felt tradition of Afro-American Protestantism." -- Library Journal
Product Description
A culture built upon the ideology of individual choice will be culture of alienation, loneliness, and violence. In a provocative new book, A. J. Conyers shows that Western culture was once informed by a sense of vocation, that men understood life as a response to a call from outside and above themselves. Beginning in the sixteenth century, however, the sense of vocation began to fade, to be replaced by the modern celebration of the unfettered human will. In such a society, Conyers argues, where relations among men are based on force, true community is impossible. The idea of vocation is of central importance in the Judeo-Christian tradition, of course, but Conyers shows how it has shaped non-Western societies as well. In every tradition, he finds, the divine call to which men respond is usually both arduous and contrary to their own will. When men s responsibility to the One who calls them is replaced by the cult of choice for its own sake, the ties of family, church, clan the ties of affection that constitute real community are dissolved. Society is organized but not organic, obsessed with a radical equality that reduces men to interchangeability. In the culture of choice, there is only the individual and the omnipotent state. In a stunning insight, Conyers shows that the quintessential institution of modernity is slavery, for the slave is the ultimate autonomous individual. Stripped of every human tie, he belongs to no community but to a stranger. It is no accident, then, that the rise of modern slavery coincided with the Enlightenment itself. This wide-ranging study, refreshingly free of sentimentality, makes the barbarism and unparalleled violence of the twentieth century explicable. For a society that casts off the burden of vocation abandons that which makes it human.
Customer Reviews:
Both Beautiful and Useful.......2007-03-13
The Listening Heart is a rarity: both beautiful and practical. It's a book that belongs in the hands of everyone, because everyone has a calling from God, but especially in the hands of thoughtful young people who wish (or should wish) to discern that calling.
Book Description
Through a series of sharply focused studies, George Pattison examines Kierkegaard's religious thought--within the contextual framework of debates about religion, culture and society that were carried on in contemporary newspapers and journals read by the educated stratum of Danish society. Pattison not only considers Kierkegaard in relationship to high art and literature but to the Tivoli Gardens and the literary ephemera of his time. This has important implications for understanding Kierkegaard's view of the nature of religious communication in modern society.
Download Description
Kierkegaard is often viewed in the history of ideas solely within the academic traditions of philosophy and theology. The secondary literature generally ignores the fact that he also took an active role in the public debate about the significance of the modern age that was taking shape in the flourishing feuilleton literature during the period of his authorship. Through a series of sharply focussed studies, George Pattison contextualises Kierkegaard's religious thought in relation to the debates about religion, culture and society carried on in the newspapers and journals read by the whole educated stratum of Danish society. Pattison brings Kierkegaard into relation to not only high art and literature but also to the ephemera of his contemporary culture. This has important implications for our understanding of Kierkegaard's view of the nature of religious communication in modern society.
Book Description
In presenting the common factors that caused past civilizations to decline, Black identifies which warning signs are present in America and urges readers to take specific action against them.
Customer Reviews:
I'm glad the author's not my university professor.......2006-12-29
The dust jacket states that the author teaches at the "university level". If so, he should know that in 146 B.C. Rome was still a republic, not an empire. I stopped reading at page 36 where he stated that Rome was an empire at that time. As the Romans might have said: "falsus in unius, falsus in omnibus."
An attempt to sell this book.......2004-03-28
I read the other reviews and am pleased with them. I read Jim's book and am pleased with it. I only add a log on the fire for potential customers...buy it. It is simple to read, clear, and Jim has done his homework. The bibliography at the end of the book is worth the purchase alone. Jim covers the distinctives of moral, social, and theological collapse. Thanks Jim, working the bibliography beyond your fine work. (By the way, I always use first names, never last and never titles, including John at the Vatican. I call Jesus Jesus, I call John John. As Augustine said, "Humility, humility, humility".)
An eye-opener!.......2001-09-03
This book accurately documents the sad state that this nation (USA) is in. It is almost depressing to see where we've fallen from. It is a clarion call for Christians in America to wake up and strive for faithfulness, before God sets us on the shelf completely.
When reading this book, it is interesting (and scary!) to compare our present state with that of other nations that have fallen throughout history. Rome comes immediately to mind. We are on the downward slope, picking up speed.
Is it too late for America?.......2000-04-28
"When Nations Die" proclaims the obvious. America is currently on the wrong track and many indications suggest that we are careening out of control headed for a crash. Some will dismiss this scholarly book as "right-wing fanaticism," but common sense demands that we look a little deeper. Why have so many great empires collapsed throughout history? Is it just a coincidence that several traits existed in every mighty nation that took a fall?
When Pope John Paul speaks of our current "Culture of Death," he could just as easily reference the latter stages of the Roman Empire or the heydays of Carthage. When many complain of the excesses of big government with its rapacious taxation policies, they could apply that charge to most of the other chronicled nation states. In ancient civilizations the evil practice of sacrificing newborns to the gods was commonplace, and today in America inconvenient babies are killed in their mother's wombs with the government's imprimatur.
Even less obvious example abound. The popular diversity and multiculturalism fads annoy most of us, but too often we dismiss them as silly diversions rather than look to the perils they truly pose. In every once great nation laid low, there were forces working to create class wars and split people apart based on artificial considerations similar to our current "group rights" campaigns. The breakdown of the family, which goes hand-in hand with sexual licentiousness, is equally indicative of past imploded civilizations. Nero's impudent concupiscence could compete with Bill Clinton's any day.
While all decent people in our era are appalled at Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers" and much of the other gory garbage ejaculated by Hollywood's poison factories, ancient Rome regularly fed Christians to the lions in front of hordes of howling spectators. (Fortunately, Tinsel Town's tiny brain cells haven't figured out how to get away with that yet.) We currently have prime-time sitcoms populated by sex-crazed sybarites; they had public orgies like the one depicted and vociferously defended by Hollywood's legion of janissaries in "Eyes Wide Shut."
I do have two minor criticism of this work. At times I felt it could have been better organized; in a few cases topics seem to weave in and out. Secondly, I think this version's appendix is incomplete because its abrupt end leaves the reader hanging.
Still, it a badly needed wake-up call. Jim Nelson Black agrees that there is still time for America to turn back from its dangerous course, but as Americans we must all decide if that is what we truly want.
I read this book a few months ago and wrote the above review which for some reason never accepted when I tried downloading it. Since that time we have seen the government of a so-call liberal president have federal forces execute a nazi-caliber raid and kidnap a small child from innocent U.S. citizens. Sadly it may be time to add America's name to the list of nations that have died.
The Truth Always Hurts.......2000-02-09
Mr. Black has given me a great gift, a book that gives concise study of the downfalls of civilizations and then shows the same events going on in American society. The historical value of the book is great in that it gives great insight and research to our societal ills and hopes. We have to learn from history, or else we do end up repeating it. Excellent Book!
Customer Reviews:
Bravo, Father Rutler!.......2002-01-02
It is not breathless hyperbole, but rather a genuine and deeply felt sincerity that leads me to say that "A Crisis of Saints" is one of the best books it's ever been my pleasure to read. Father Rutler addresses the most important issue facing man -- the Church (and, by inevitable extension, Western Civilization) in crisis, and how to reverse this trend, which, if left unchecked, will soon result in absolute calamity. In addition to the inherent interest of his chosen topic, Father Rutler's erudition and elegance of expression are breathtaking. He's also delightfully charming and witty.
Highly, highly recommended.
Vatican II deconstructed.......2001-09-06
Do-it-yourself Catholics will not appreciate this book. It sets the record straight regarding the Roman Catholic Church in modern times and the many specious interpretations foisted on Catholics. Using historical example, writings of intellectuals (including himself) and sound reasoning, Father Rutler skewers he post-Vatican II free-spirits with disciplined dialectic. To those who wonder how so many Catholics have lost their way in pursuit of some feel-good comaraderie, this book will provide insight. The writing is not for the beautiful people. Some passages must be read several times and checked against one's own reality. Those who make the effort will, perhaps, gain some peace of mind and even hope. Looking over the collection of what passes for leaders and thinkers of the world today, we see that the assured restoration of the Catholic Church requires a severe shock, A Crisis of Saints. It will come, but the spiritual price will be high.
a landmark for all Christians.......1999-08-30
I've read this 3 times so far. I will continue to read to fully absorb all that there is in this most intensely written and serious commentary on the state of Christianity today. Fr.Rutler nails it!
Book Description
The Ten Commandments are the crystallization of God’s law. All across our nation they appear in churches, homes, and even some public buildings. But how do we apply them today, and how do they relate to the Gospel?
Philip Graham Ryken believes that the Ten Commandments are an expression of God’s eternal character and thus have binding force today. In this book he explains the value of the law for us—to convict us of our sin, to restrain sin in society, and to show us how to live for Christ. Dr. Ryken offers basic principles for interpreting and applying God’s law and explains these holy words commandment by commandment, illustrating each with a biblical account and relating each to the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ.
This is a book to be read and savored with reflection. God’s holiness and his standards for life are clearly related, and the joy of living by God’s law is vividly portrayed. Readers will find themselves examining their own lives, changing their ways, and delighting in the grace of God.
Customer Reviews:
"I thought I knew the 10 Commandments".......2006-09-10
In preperation for my fall adult bible class I asked our minister to recomend some resources. Written In Stone, was one of them. I have been pouring over this book all summer and will be leading my class though this material over the next few months.
I thought I knew the 10 Commandments, but quickly learned that I didn't have a full appreciation until I read this book. It is great and I have been deeply blessed by reading it. I highly recomond it. God Bless.
Review of this Reformed book by an Evangelical seminary student.......2005-07-24
First, I do not agree with Brother Ryken on all theological issues put forth in this book. Despite that, I think he has written a superbly beneficial book based on Scripture. His ideas on the Law and how it applies to Christians today is a very sound idea. He divides the Law into 3 categories, Ceremonial, Civil and Moral Law. He states that the Moral Law applies to us today while the others were tied to the Israelites alone, which I could not agree with more. He makes a great argument for why the 10 Commandments still apply to us today and writes a moderately Reformed book. I disagree with his ideas of predestination (I believe Scripture but have a different interpretation, but we both find God to be completely sovereign).
Brother Ryken goes through each of the 10 Commandments in a separate chapter. He makes sound Scriptural references to show why these still apply today.
Brother Ryken has a full set of notes at the end of the book to guide us in further reading while giving deeper tangential inputs that would not fit well in the main text of the book. He also adds 2 indices- a Scriptural index and a General index.
Ryken's basis in writing is that we do not keep God's law in order to be saved. We have been saved by grace alone through faith in Christ alone. But why are we saved? To glorify God, which we do by keeping his commandments. John 14:15.
Whether you are Reformed, Evangelical, Charismatic, Catholic or simply identify as Christian, this book will benefit you on your Walk and will help you know more about how we should act as Christians.
One Of The Few Books Which Is Right On Target.......2004-02-19
In this book, Pastor Ryken offers basic principles for interpreting and applying God's law and explain these holy words... commandment by commandment, illustrating each with biblical account and relating each to the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ. This book should be read along with your bible and savored with reflection. I could hardly put the book down...from the first page to the end. Gods holiness and his standards for life are clearly related, and the joy of living by Gods law is vividly portrayed. His explanation on the The Ten Commandment open my eyes up to the deep meaning of the law. Readers will find themselves examining their own lives, changing their ways, and delighting in the grace of God.
This book is, Highly Recommended. Great Commentary for any home library. One book you will want to come back to so that you can refresh your memory. My next book and my suggestion to you will be Ryken's The Communion of Saints
Tripp
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Books Index
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General
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Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam
Jesus of Nazareth
Values in a Time of Upheaval
Handing on the Faith in an Age of Disbelief
Truth And Tolerance: Christian Belief And World Religions
