Is far more in depth than the manual that you get with the camera when you purchase it. Will teach you what everything on your camera does and how to do it. It is also a great resource to read if thinking about buying the camera, before making the investment. I have the A2 and enjoy it thoroughly. It compares well with much more expensive cameras.

After I bought a used A2E, I bought this book to substitute for the owner's manual. I thought I would be using it as an occasional reference and be done with it. I was wrong. This is a very concise and informative guide to photography for both beginners as well as advanced amateurs and semi-pros. Even though I've used Canon SLR's for the last 22 years (along with my large format equipment) and have taught photography at the college level, I found that this book was a valuable refresher of 35mm skills as well as a helpful alternative to the owner's manual.

I found this book to be a great deal better than the manual that accompanied my EOS A2. It's clear, concise, easy to read, understand and a great book for the amateur or the professional. I like the way this book delved into specific areas and gave recommendations and tips for particular situations. For cameras like the EOS A2, manuals like this are essential for understanding its features and to make photography meaningful and rewarding. My only criticism would be the lack of an index. I've been involved in photography for 25 years and rate myself as an intermediate to advanced.

The first section is on the divine inspiration and infallability of the Bible. Need I say more?

What is the Bible:
The Koran calls Christians and Jews': The people of the Book 'F.F.Bruce, Rylands professor of biblical Criticism tells you all about it: the scriptures old and new, in the few first pages.

The contributors:
The editor: P. W. Comfort,a leading authority on the subject orchestrates the effort of a dozen scholars in the field, to an up-to-date, well balanced, concise introduction to the subject: definition, history, theology, and translation of the bible.

The articles: scholarly essays in plain English
The book displays the information in five sections: I. Authority, II. Canon, III.Literature, IV. Manuscripts, V.Translation. There can be no better "Bible Study 101," in English, only that it is offered by some of the finest Anglo-American scholarship. In almost all the articles, a great deal of attention is given to definitions of bible study terminology:
higher criticism, inerrancy, inspiration, autographs,Mauratorian Canon, hagiographa, Rylands papyrus, apocrypha, Gospel of Thomas, wisdom of Amenemope, etc.

A History of the recovery of the original text of the new Testament:
Philip Comfort takes you on an enlightening tour of Oxyrynchus, Beatty, Bodmer papyri to the great Alexandrine codices. "The Alexandrine scribes, associated with the scriptorium of the great Alexandrian library and/or members of the Didaskelion of its catechtical school were trained philologists, grammarians, and textual critics"; this is the quality of information you get reading this book, unless you have access to books By K. Aland, B.Metzger, E.Nestle among few others.

Biblical languages and translation:
Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, and Hebrew as a changing Semitic language, difficult to translate requiring twice as much English words. How did Ptolemy Philadelphius start its translation into the Septuagint for the Jews of Alexandria, who soon appropriated some expressions beyond the scope of Hebrew terminology?
L. Walker takes the mantle to shows how St. John used Logos in reference to Christ, while apostle Paul style was influenced by lexical and grammatical parallels used by the Greek speaking Alexandrines.

English Bible and versions
Now you come to perceive the conclusion to this great drama that started by Origen's Hexapla, but not terminated by the Complete bible versions of Christendom. Devoted efforts by translators in affirmation of Biblical truth explains R. Elliott, "translate without interpreting"

Conclusion:
Around 260 AD, Dionysius of Alexandria found that the stylistic and lexical features of the book of revelation could not come from the same author of the fourth Gospel! All the eastern 'Orthodox' Churches do not include readings from the Apocalypse to this moment, thus was the honest and scholarly pursue of biblical truth.

A well written introduction to the history of the Bible as we have it today -- written by some outstanding scholars of our day. If you're looking for the nitty-gritty details, try one of Bruce Metzger's numerous books -- all very good, but highly academic.

More than just a straight look at the transmission of manuscripts, this book looks at translation issues (including questions translators need to address when translating from Greek into languages other than English, a nice touch).

Highly recommended.

Women, power, murder, politics, confusion. Someone assasinated the woman president of the US. This novel no worse than the ones pouring out of WDC by Senators, former Cabinet Officers, and whatever.

Rachel Canon's THE ANNIVERSARY is a well-crafted suspense novel that starts with the premise that the first female President of the United States has been assasinated on her Inaugeration Day and that a year later, her best friend begins to find out some things she never suspected. The book deals with the "feet of clay" that have to exist in all public figures and does it in a wonderfully warm and humane manner. This is a book about love and it's consequences. Especially intriguing is the author's use of tenses to separate flash-back and present action. This novel has elements of political suspense, mystery, thriller and even a bit of romance. I highly recommend it.

I found that this book provided me with more useful information than the manual that came with the camera. It defines the different modes in more detail and gives more examples about when you would use a feature.

This would be a good book for most people. Might be a little technical for the absolute beginner, but I would recommend it to them anyway.

The Literary Canon has been more flexible than 'Canon' in the religious sense ever could have been or could be. I think it's a case of bad conceptual metaphor. Let's bring Lakoff and Johnson out of the bullpen.
As a contribution to Canon Formation bookchat, this book is a solid work of scholarship. Yet of course the real cannon fodder in the Canon Formation discursive grapplings (the equivalent of the non-academic, or 'real', world's Ultimate Fighting Championships, only the popularity of the Academy's version leads to far too much influence on the Academy in general) is the readings and discussions of Canonical literature. The other problem is that glib jerks like myself can claim moral authority despite a penchant for horrible puns (cannon/canon) simply by admonishing those who spend seemingly too much time on Canon Formation frolics.
Regarding the multicultural and cultural studies relationships to Canon Formation politics, I respond with some trepidation to Gillory's admirable ideas. Sure, a more nuanced understanding of Canon Formation makes multicultural expansion within the Canon, as well as an expansion of literature's perimeters within the Canon, that much easier and that much more easily defended against the Neocon menace. I also accept the role of judgement, though it says a lot that that had to be brought back to the fore--were we just determining germane discourses and texts through some sort of Super Lotto Big Spin System for a few years there? But to what degree do I follow someone who, I don't think, has the judgement tools to recognize the literary energies of the first Wu-Tang Clan album; the album Liquid Swords by Wu-Tang leader Genius/Gza; the work of Del Tha Funkee Homosapien (rap's Dylan and Whitman at once) on the Deltron 3030 album; everything produced by Prince Paul and Dan the Automator and every record involving Michael Franti, Lady of Rage and Roxanne Shante; Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska and Darkness On the Edge of Town; anything recorded, admired, or smiled at by John Coltrane, Lester Young and Eric Dolphy; any recorded lamentation by Robert Johnson, Son House and Skip James; the Poetry of Eleanor Lehrman, Thylias Moss and Elizabeth Woody; or the fiction of Katherine Dunn and Kate Braverman? Couldn't the fan of any of the above immediately recognize the literary superiority of said work over [enter your least favorite Elizabeth Bishop manque, T.S. Eliot manque, or Robert Lowell manque here]? If Guillory ain't hip to Curtis Mayfield and Steve Cannon, I'm walking, 'cause the reason we shant despair isn't because we might contribute to the Canon Debate, or earn or burn a draft card to the culture wars, but because, if there's a hell below, we're all gonna go. And if I can be aware of the above names AND make a Ricky Nelson reference, then I'm not sure that I need this book as a sort of Fodor's Guide to "The Canon and The Culture". (P.S. If you get the review title, start YOUR book on American Lit. canons. We'll meet up on the backstreets of Medina.)

For any scholar working in the fields of literary history or 'philology', Guillory's 'Cultural Capital' should be a mandatory reference source. Brilliantly assembling the diverse concerns of multi-culturalism, aesthetic theory, post-Marxism and canon formation, Guillory manages to offer a work of impressive relevance and scope.

The principle objective of Guillory's project, as he himself asserts, is to revise the popular misconceptions about canon formation:

'The largest thesis of the book is that the debate about the canon has been misconceived from the start, and that its true significance is one of which the contestants are not generally aware. The most interesting question raised by the debate is not the familiar one of which texts or authors will be included in the literary canon, but the question of why the debate represents a crisis in literary study.' (Guillory: 1993:vii)

Dealing with the canon debate particularly as it concerns Anglo-American pedagogical institutions (his close readings, for example, treat Milton, Gray, Wordsworth and Eliot), Guillory nonetheless also offers a wide-ranging international theoretical buttress to his argument (Bourdieu, Gramsci, Bahktin, Jauss inter alia are cited and analysed with astounding precision and insight).

I would unreservedly recommend this book to anyone interested in the current multi-cultural/feminist/minority debates regarding the canon. Guillory's style is complex, muscular and brilliant. This book will not disappoint the most exigent connoisseurs of literary and cultural theory.

MacDonald writes of the battle between the producers of the Pastorals and the tradition embodied in the Acts of Paul (written between 150 and 190). MacDonald's unique contribution is seeing an oral tradition behind the Acts of Paul, and using folkloristics to prove it. His first chapter is devoted to showing how the Acts of Paul fits the laws of oral storytelling. I think he places too much trust in the ability of these rather vague laws to distinguish between oral and written, and he doesn't defend his assumption that oral stories are necessarily old. It should be noted that MacDonald also chooses to discuss only the three most promising episodes from the Acts of Paul, which is fair enough, but which also preserves the possibility that Tertullian is at least partially right in saying that the presbyter who wrote them made them up.

In his second chapter, MacDonald is on firmer ground. He discusses the sympathetic treatment of women and the contemptuous treatment of men in the Acts of Paul. He also points to strong evidence that the stories originated in Asia Minor. Finally, he identifies the themes of opposition to the Roman empire, city, and household in the Acts of Paul, and connects them with the rough treatment Christians received at the hands of society in second-century Asia Minor.

MacDonald then turns to the Pastoral epistles and their relationship to the Acts of Paul. He identifies the Pastorals as products of Asia Minor, written between 100 and 140. These polemical epistles were directed in part at the oral stories which would become the Acts of Paul, according to MacDonald, and were meant to silence the "old wives' tales" that glorified virginity, feminine autonomy, and rejection of the claims of society. The question of relationship is also raised by several similarities of detail between the Pastorals and the Acts of Paul. Many scholars have concluded that this is because the author of the Acts of Paul knew and used the Pastorals, while a weaker argument has been made that the author of the Pastorals used an earlier version of the Acts of Paul. MacDonald disagrees with both, and posits that the authors knew the same oral legends. His strongest argument here is the lack of polemic or even response to the charges of the Pastorals in the Acts of Paul. In chapter four, MacDonald discusses the victory of the Pastorals over the Montanists, who held to the apocalyptic radicalism, rejection of social norms, and role of women in prophecy, all themes from the Acts of Paul. (MacDonald believes that the traditional view that the Acts of Paul represent Gnostic beliefs is no longer tenable, not least because of the stories' emphasis on the resurrection of the flesh.) The Pastorals were not fighting a doctrinal heresy, but sought to affirmed hierarchical church leadership and conformity with society against the ways of the Montanist radicals. MacDonald identifies the presbyter who wrote the Acts of Paul with a priest caught in the Montanist turmoil of Asia Minor in the second century.

MacDonald's final chapter considers the lesser "victory of the legends." He describes the popularity of Thecla and the Acts of Paul in later centuries. He closes his book with a discussion of the consequences of the battle's outcome for the Christian church.

Given the intensity of the battle as described by MacDonald, and the close geographical proximity of the battling authors, I am left wondering why the Acts of Paul appeared as such a naïve recording of oral tradition. MacDonald insists that the defrocked presbyter did not use the Pastorals at all, and this certainly seems to be the case. If these Pastorals spoke to the heart of the controversy, and even had a role in deposing the author of the Acts of Paul, how could he have been ignorant of them? If the controversy prompted him to record the Acts of Paul, why are the Acts so free of controversy? The battle doesn't seem to be properly joined.

Dennis Ronald MacDonald's book is one of the earliest (1983) reviving an interest in Thecla of Iconium, an ascetic woman whose story inspired many women and some men to remain celebate and serve God. Another early book in this revival which mentions Thecla (2 pages) is Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza's _In Memory of Her_ (1983). Fiorenza's book piqued the interest of feminist theologians. In Fall 2000, Oxford University Press publishes _The Cult of Saint Thecla : A Tradition of Women's Piety in Late Antiquity_.

Early Christianity's diverse communities developed and treasured different stories about Jesus and the Apostles, including Paul. MacDonald examines certain traditions of Paul, particularly in light of the patriarchal tradition which apparently "won" the battle for Paul and a tradition which he believes originated with women, the Acts of Paul and Thecla.

MacDonald especially examines the two Pauline traditions that made the biblical canon, the deutero-Pauline (Colossians, Ephesians, and II Thessalonians) and pastoral epistles (I & II Timothy and Titus), in relation to the Acts of Paul, which was in some early Armenian and Syrian canons. The Acts were written down by an orthodox Christian in Asia Minor between 160-190 and circulated in several languages, including Greek, Coptic, Ethiopic, and Armenian.

_The Legend_ is a "readable academic book." It illuminates some of the gender politics involved in the post-Pauline church and how they fit into the over all context of the Roman concept of the family structure and the role of women. Though the more woman-positive traditions about Paul revealed in the Acts of Thecla did not make the canon, both women and men followed in her tradition for centuries afterward. To this day, Thecla is the patron saint of Tarragona, Spain; Italy, Turkey, and Syria claim she is buried in their countries; Maalula, Syria has a convent established in her name; and that's just a beginning of a list-- not to mention that some advocate that she should be the patron saint of the Internet!

Kaisers work with the Old Testament Documents is an interesting read. I had the belief that the Old Testament documents were both reliable and relevent before I began to read this book, and after reading it my belief still stands. There are only two arguments that I would like to confront after reading Kaiser's work. The first thing that I dislike is how Kaiser skims over some topics of debait and basically just says that they are historically accurate because they are found in historical documents from more than one source. This could easily be construed by simple "word of mouth" or lack of an eye witness. A rumor or tale could be believable and convincing and yet not true or precise. The second thing that I noticed about this book, is the fact there is very little evidence to go by in regards to the Old Testament, and Kaiser does not thoroughly discuss this problem. Although further discussion of this topic might hurt Kaiser's points, it would only be fair to show how small the stack of evidence, even though convincing, really is. Overall, this book was very informative and serves as a great introduction to how the Old Testament can be both "reliable and relevant" today.

Most books dealing with the reliability of Biblical documents focus on their transmission history, and usually that of the New Testament, as we know more about it. How much less we know of the textual history of the Older Testament, however, is seen in that only 35 pages of this book are actually devoted to it! The rest of the work is filled out by discussions of whether or not the history and message recorded in those documents is reliable and relevant to today. These discussions are introductory and survey the field in a manner that seems to skate over some rather prickly issues, particularly in the areas where Kaiser argues for the reliability of the recorded history. Given that this work came out some six years after the first major public salvo from minimalist interpreters, who deny the historicity of the events Kaiser argues are historical, there should have been more interaction with them. Their views are becoming general public knowledge and should be interacted with. There also seems to be a tendency in the later sections on the reliability of the messages in the documents, to jump from the fact that something in the text is historically accurate to the view that the message is therefore reliable. The message of Ezekiel, for example, may or may not be reliable, but it isn't proven by the fact that other people at the same time also used bricks as writing materials. On the positive side, however, the discussion of the textual history is concise and informative, as is most of the book. There is also useful information on how many critical views of the text, which remain prevalent in the popular conscience and media, are actually either passe, dead, or under serious fire on the academic end. Over all, the book is worth reading as long as one keeps in mind its introductory survey nature and are willing to pursue the issues to greater depth via the footnotes. The book will give you a good foothold in and understanding of the field to make a solid start at it.

The most important part of photography is knowing your camera. This is far more informative than the basic manual that you receive when you buy a camera. It teaches you how to use the camera, and teaches a lot of concepts of photography as well. It also covers lenses and speedlites. It is a great resource for someone that is considering buying the camera.

The book does an excellent job of providing the amateur / intermediate photographer with the necessary knowledge to take fantastic photos. The camera is quite powerful and the book helps the user leverage its capabilities far better than the original manuals.

If you are new to 35mm photography or just new to cameras with automated features this book gives much better explantations of the camera's features than the Canon manual. I keep the book with me whenever I'm using the camera, at least until I get thoroughly familiar wtih it.

While the overall scholarship of the new commentary is impressive, there are some serious, significant and grave errors which compel me not to recommend this book. Instead of relying on sound jurisprudence, this edition degenerates with theological dissent, speculation and confusion. Book Three (the Teaching Office of the Church) is where it begins. The footnote on page 913 in reference to canon 749 on Infallibility attacks ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS when it says: "the statement by the CDF [Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith] of October 28, 1995, that the teaching to the effect that the Church has no authority to confer priestly ordination on women requires the definitive assent of the faithful since 'it has been set forth infallibly by the ordinary and universal Magisterium' is an exaggeration" Classifying the authortative interpretation of the CDF on Ordinatio Sacerdotalis as being an 'exaggertion' is going well beyond the bounds of judicial commentary and now enters the realm of theological dissent. Cardinal Ratzinger's Responsum ad Dubium (10-28-95) made it clear that while Ordination Sacerdotalis itself was not an EX CATHEDRA statement (like the papal document MUNIFICENTISSIMUS DEUS of Pius XII defining the dogma of the Assumption of Mary in 1950), nevertheless the TEACHING (doctrine) that only baptized males can be ordained (deacons, priests and bishops) IS infallible as it has been a consistent element of the ORDINARY MAGISTERIUM. "All members of the faithful are required to give their assent to the teaching stated therein." The Commentary continues in the footnote to attack the infallibility of the teaching when this is not a canonical issue, rather it is obviously doctrinal and the proper authority (CDF) has made a definitive ruling, not the CLSA.

Canon 752, according to the new Commentary "leaves room for dissent." This is based on the mistranslation of OBSEQUIUM by the Commentary. Ironically, the translated text in the same book reads "religious SUBMISSION of intellect and will" must be given to the authentic Magisterium (as opposed to an ASSENT of faith required of infallible teachings) whereas the commentary below the translated text keeps translating OBSEQUIUM not as SUBMISSION but as "RESPECT" or "DEFERENCE". Austin Flannery, OP, had no problem using SUBMISSION for OBSEQUIUM when he translated LUMEN GENTIUM #25 upon which canon 752 is based.

Another of many examples of an underlying agenda is shown in Book Four as well as Book Three. Canon 914 explicitly and unequivocally mandates First Penance BEFORE First Communion, yet the Commentary (p. 1110) suggests ""if the parents, who have the primary responsibility for the child's catechesis, should determine that their child is not yet ready for first penance but is ready for first communion, the child should not be denied the right to the sacrament." If that is not encouraging the faithful to oppose the law, what is it? Certainly not orthodox teaching or canonically licit behavior.

All in all, it is sad that the good scholarship has to be eclipsed by the creeping heterodoxy and subtle dissent in major portions of the book.

It took me a while to figure out what this Commentary is all about. For one, I am not a catholic and secondly, I did not even know there is such thing as canon law. My curiosity compelled me to research and read more about the topic. In my profession as a foreign medical doctor, I have been trained to search for the "why's" and "how's" of every given thing. The commentary gave me not only a path to follow but ways to understand this so-called canon law, the absolute purpose of which according to its last law is "the salvation of souls". The commentary is very well written in a style and manner that reflects the author(s) intimate knowledge of the complexities of human life and the god that wants to save it. It is not always easy to find books (or commentaries for that matter) that can help one to understand issues, topics and events that are alien in one's mind and faith. The authors have successfully presented opinions and interpretations based on their obvious love and respect for the church they belong and the god they believe. If all laws are approached that way, perhaps not only souls but also lives will be saved as well. My compliments to the writers.

This text is a clear and concise explanation of Canon Law as found in the Code of Canon Law 1983. This text can be used by both the professional Canon Lawyer as well as the pastoral minister in a parish in order to understand what the law means. This text provides the best explanation of the law, which is meant to be used in real situations in the Catholic Church.

One review discribes this book precisely: "I lost my manual. This book replaced it perfectly"!
There's almost no information that's not already in the manual. Not even basic information I hoped to find in this book e.g. "Will the camera set the custom functions to default when changing the batteries?" No, it only "in portrait mode the depth of the field will be shallow." Even in the EOS manual there are sample pictures in order to illustrate this function.
For similar prices you'll find much better books on understanding photography (e.g. John Shaws nature photography field guide"). In combination with your manual even the biggest photgraphy rookie will learn more from this combination.
Of course, if you lost your manual, this book deserves five stars for it's a substitute to your manual - not more!

There is so much good stuff to learn about my Elan 7E, that I kept this book next to the toilet for the first 4 months. I then put it in my camera bag, and have further accelerated my understanding of this very technical, and very fun camera.

In fact, just last weekend, I found the depth of field preview button.

So many buttons.

I would have liked to have seen better explanation of certain photography technical terms in the book. Depth of Field, Focal Length, F-Stop. I suppose the authors thought that anyone paying so much money for a camera would have understood these things. I now do, after I bought the Alesse book.

This book, however, does a very good job explaining how this camera worked. I would recommend it.

I lost my manual and this has replaced it with no problem. It looks a lot like the old one I had with my Rebel 2000 (EOS 300) camera, but has specific information about the Elan 7e. I will help you even if you are a beginner.