While the truths in this book may offend some, we learn that the tithe originated with Abraham, before the old testament law. Abraham gave a tenth of everything to Melchisedec who was a type of "Christ." Wow! Should be a wonderful revelation and encouragement to those who really seek truth and are non-compromisers. Get copies to all dedicated church goers, and it could revolutionize the local church!

Selected by Brandon and Hill (Nursing Outlook, March-April, 1996) as one of the best books for small nursing and medical libraries.

Jarman and McDowell came along with their magazine, The Reaper, when it was needed most. They've done a lot to bring back narrative poetry (McDowell is the founder of Story Line Press). They wrote these essays together, and weren't afraid to say what they thought--they weren't afraid to make anyone mad (they remind me of Randall Jarrell in that way). Meg Schoerke's introduction and the first Reaper essay introduce those of us who are unfamiliar with The Reaper. "Navigating the Flood" takes on criticism, and they aren't afraid to name names. Their essay on Wallace Stevens discusses his impact on contemporary poetry and the narrative. Two essays, "The Reaper's Non-negotionable Demands" and "The Elephant Man of Poetry" (which is about Robert Frost) are the two best essays in the book, and two of the best essays about poetry. They attack the state of poetry with satire and humor in "The Reaper Interviews Jean Doh and Sean Dough" and "The Dogtown Letters", and both essays will make you laugh out loud. The sad thing is that it just as easily could have been real. In addition to four other essays, there is also a guide to writing narrative poetry. This collection is so great that you wish that The Reaper was still in circulation, and you hope that one day Jarman and McDowell will collect a "Best of" and release it soon.

I've been a homeschooling mom for over 6 years now. After using Concerned Communication's A Reason For Writing since the beginning, we stumble on A Reason For Spelling this year. I was tired of "boring" spelling curriculumns, so figured we'd spend the extra $$$ and give this a try. Well, we ALL love it (we're using levels A, C and E for our 1st, 3rd and 5th graders). There is a lot of activities packed into these pages, and you can pretty much pick and choose how much of it you want to do. There are reproducibles in the teachers manuals of additional activities. I'm thinking of using it again next year with all the activities, and I should be able to turn it into our full Language Arts program. One word of warning, DON'T try to use this without the teachers manual, you will be LOST! I find the teacher's manual invaluable!

Guerra's expert editing makes this the best introduction to one of our best political and theological thinkers today.

I just got the second edition of the Planet Architecture Series and I like it even more then the first one. They improved their interactivity and added some new features like the ipix 3D panoramas. There are interviews with the architects on the CD as well, which i really enjoyed. very interesting!! This is a great addition to my architecture library. I can recommend this to everyone, who has a passion for modern architecture. Two thumbs up!!

Recognition, Remembrance And Reality: New Essays On Plato's Epistemology And Metaphysics draws together a collection of outstanding essays by Lloyd P. Gerson, Asli Gocer, Mi-Kyong Mitzi Lee; Mitchell Miller; Mark L. McPherran; Richard Patterson; Christopher Shields; and Nicholas D. Smith. This highly recommended, diverse, engaging, informative, and at times challenging treasury of philosophical analysis and insight into Plato's writings is enhanced for the philosophy student with a section of notes on the contributors, an Index Locorum, an Index Nominum, and a Subject Index.

The book offers a critique of the penal substitution model of atonement. Penal substitution is found through evangelical theology, and enjoys wide popularity today (see for example Christianity Today's "Call for Unity" of June 14th for a list of theologians and authors who consent to this view). The book begins with an examination of the various "models" or "ways of speaking about atonement" present in the New Testament. The authors argue that the New Testament writers did not present only one view of the atoning work of the cross, but instead presented a variety of metaphors and models that were rooted in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and connected to the specific contexts of the writers.

The book then proceeds to survey some models of atonement from church history, looking at thinkers such as Irenaeus, Anselm, Charles Hodge and others. With respect to Hodge and penal substituion, the authors argue that Hodge's notion of justice is too deeply entrenched in a Western idea of justice, and can lead to a warped view of God. The book concludes with examples of people who are trying to re-articulate the saving significance of the cross today in their own specific contexts.

This book is an important book because it highlights the need for evangelical Christians to think seriously about how to contextualize the message of the atonement. If missionaries in Africa or Japan need to contextualize the gospel, why shouldn't Western Christians do the same? This book is a call for Christians in North America to re-engage their culture with a message of the cross that speaks clearly into their situation.

This book is also important because it offers a balanced, biblical critique of penal substitution. For too long evangelicalism has allowed penal substitution to remain the dominate model, without seriously looking at the implications and consequences of this model. This book opens up the question of atonement in evangelicalism to re-examination, while still trying to be faithful to the biblical text.

Finally, a note to those who might be scared off by all this theological language. Don't be! This book is dense, but also very readable and understandable and would be a valuable resource for anyone interested in recovering the scandal of the cross for their own contexts.

Also, for those of you who have read this book, more of Mark's writing can be found [on the internet].