This is a wonderful book! The Reverend William G. Carter is a brilliant author.

An great text about the Orthodox Church in Russia under the Communist regime. Excellent use of primary sources allows Alexander Webster to tell the whole story, pointing out key players, and specific examples.

I highly recommend this text for anyone interested in Russian, Christian, or Orthodox, history.

-JZG

William Stringfellow was the only layman on a panel to interview Karl Barth on one of his few visits to America. During that interview, Stringfellow asked a question that fascinated Barth. In response, Barth asked Stringfellow what he thought. Stringfellow talked at some length. When he was done, Barth looked at the rest of the Panel and told them, and the rest of America, to "Listen to this man!"

Much of that response is contained in this book. I can truly say, this is one book that started me on a process that changed my life. I have since tracked down every book, new or used, that Stringfellow has written. Unfortunately, he died in 1985, so no more are on the way.

But this is the first of his books, and second to "Free In Obedience," perhaps his best. It lays the foundations of his thought. Here we find a man dedicated to "reading America Biblically rather than the Bible Americanly." In the process, you will find he restructures your thoughts along the same path. You will never be the same.

Stringfellow initializes his concept of the "powers and principalities" that are at war with every person in the World, a concept later expanded on by Walter Wink. Here, however, is the core of that worldview. The "powers and principalities" are the images, institutions, and ideologies that hold men captive and channel their lives and their thought. They are the institutions (the IRS, the "military/industrial complex, the "corporate world environment") and the "isms" (communism, capitalism, and even patriotism) that put themselves above God for the allegiance of men.

For Stringfellow, these powers or allegiances have a life of their own, independent of the people that either work for or under them. (For example, the "corporate" standard of dress and behavior of an institution works irregardless of the opinions of management or even the current C.E.O.-they may not even be aware of where the "policies" originated, but they enforce them just the same!) They are spiritual entities.

And these spiritual entities desire the unlimited and unquestioned allegiance of people. They want nothing less then the full captivity of men. As such, they are forces of the fall and forces of death.

For no one took the Fall as seriously as William Stringfellow. He saw its effects everywhere. Therefore, no one took the redemption and victory of Christ Jesus as seriously. He proclaimed with Paul, "Death shall have no victory over us."

This book, though short, will not be read quickly. Stringfellow wrote for the average man in that he did not use theological or obscure words. However, he wrote in a condensed fashion. What others take pages to say, Stringfellow would do in a sentence or two. It may take you the time that it normally takes you to read those two pages to "unpack" those one or two sentences. It may take you even longer to get to the mind behind those sentences.

But the effort will be well worth it. No one, barring Jacques Ellul, wrote and thought about the world through the looking-glass of the Bible as consistently as William Stringfellow. He will take you, perhaps kicking and screaming, to the same point.

James E. Brockington, Jr., MA (Community/Clinical Psychology) Director of Mental Health Services in an institutional Therapeutic Community setting for incarcerated substance abusers.

Psychology from Scripture: Bridging the Gap is that one resource that you must have in your back pocket! Dr. Williams' integration and incorporation of spirituality into the methods of intervention and critical thoughts are laudable and exacting. His efforts to create a "reader-friendly and reader-sensitive" publication have been most successful. I would sincerely hope that Psychology from Scripture: Bridging the Gap becomes a permanent volume on every concerned and committed individual's bookshelf. This is a must have publication and a lifestyle enhancement vehicle. Do read it!!!

Not only is this book a pleasure to look at and read, the content feeds the soul with tidbits from various authors, past and present. Wonderful for gift giving or for keeping close by on a night stand or coffee table to read when sleep won't come at night or you just need to be cheered by God's love and care for you. God's truths will ring forth the pages and soothe your heart.

In Pursuit of Happiness, Jesuit William O'Malley tackles two of life's most pervasive questions: Who am I? and How do I fit into this all?

O'Malley superbly interweaves psychological background, life experience, and humor in a well written book. It is also quite obvious that he is well read. He has an extensive knowledge of psychology, theology, and literature.

I found myslef laughing and thinking at the same time. His down to earth style puts life into perspective.

I love this book! I have read it at least three times. In the early 1500s, Sarah Poyntz, the daughter of a merchant in Antwerp, Belgium, is caught up in the life of William Tyndale. Because of his work in translating the Bible into English, he is a wanted man. Although it puts them in deadly peril, Sarah's family shelters him from his enemies. Sarah Poyntz, the heroine of the book, risks her life to take an English Bible to the court of Henry VIII. Although the king is hostile to letting the Bible be printed in English, eventually he relents. This book is excellent story of a young girl's courage, and it is based on truth as well.

This book should never have been allowed to go out of print; I am glad to see it available. The author was one of the great Christian ethicists in American history. His book, a collection of essays with overlapping themes, is still valuable. You will think about God and all the little gods we worship differently as a result of reading and thinking about this book. Also, Niebuhr has a unique, very fine writing style.

William Placher writes a history of the Reformed church which is accessible to an Adult sunday school class as well as graduate level students. Always careful to include general movements in history as well as the church's specific crises, Placher offers the reader a full contact history - one unabashedly profound history text!

I bought this book by accident. I was in a bookstore looking for another book, but ended up walking out with Wilberforce's enduring classic. I first encountered Wilberforce when reading a biography of the American abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. Since that time I have had the opportunity to read the life story of the English Great Emancipator himself. Wilberforce may have been small and frail in physical stature but his moral stature is that of a giant. For decades, Wilberforce, an MP in the British Parliament, labored toward two great ends: 1. To abolish the slave trade and slavery itself within Great Britain. 2. To change the decadent and decaying moral culture of his homeland. Real Christianity was written toward goal #2. On reading Real Christianity it is easy to see why it remained an English bestseller for 50 years! Wilberforce's writing is like the man himself. Compassionate, logical, persuasive, determined, humorous, and fair-minded.