This is one of the outstanding books on theology of the twentieth century by Professor Gillis of Georgetown University. It is not merely a description but a comparison and analysis of issues, such as Mission versus Maintenance which is an in-depth study of paradoxes between the mission of the church and the maintenance of the bureaucracy and structure. Nobody is expected to accept both sides or all sides of issues, but the reader of any religion or even no religion will come away with an understanding of unique features of Roman Catholicism such as the protection of the connection between the human and the Divine which the institution of Priests and Sisters provides. Buddhism and Hinduism have a different way of protecting this connection, and Judaism and Islam and the Protestant Faith have their own ways. Perhaps there is hope in this Amerian melting pot, that by comparing good experiences the good lives on and the evil is buried. This is why I only review good books.

Roman Catholicism in America is an essential text for any thorough study of Roman Catholicism: it examines the religion within the context of American culture, with scholar Gillis examining the major religious concepts, individuals, and principles of Roman Catholics. An interdisciplinary approach allows for the consideration of various Catholic experiences and influences.

Chester Gillis delights readers with his historical thoroughness and timeless ancedotes on Catholicism in America. As a former student of his at Georgetown, I am not suprised. Thank you, Professor Gillis.

There is such a wealth of knowledge in this little book and if people were to find out how much was contained therein, it would sell for a million dollars a copy. Unfortunately the world has little interest in this kind of outlook and spirituality. Reading it has changed my life and lives of many others. ... So please...buy the original...Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence and you will have the best one to read and meditate on. Have a good day and God bless!

I have to confess I was resistant to reading Trustful Surrender. I am a yoga meditation teacher and I did not want to read another book on Catholic doctrine. (I love the Catholic mystics however). This book was a pleasant and powerful surprise and it had a surprising influence on me. The basic concept is so simple - trustful surrender as an attitude towards ones life. It seems so simple .....till you try it. I discovered how willful and controling I am...and how this willful attitude caused me tension and suffering.

Whether or not your are a Christian, if you can read this with an open mind the concepts presented are revolutionary. The Yoga Sutras, (the yoga version of the Bible) goes on for 190 + terse sentences about all the different yoga practices that will lead to enlightenment and an understanding of oneself....but then in one sentence it says...... All of this can also be accomplished by surrender to God.

Give the book a try. Its well worth (dollar amount).

I just purchased this book and find that the best way to feed my soul with its wisdom is to read and reflect on a small portion each day. I agree with the reviewer who says that not everyone will be able to accept its truths, but for those who can do so quickly (or eventually) it is one of the most perfect paths to peace one can experience. I highly recommend it. Again, it can be difficult to swallow at times, but with adequate contemplation it will become clearer to the point of making perfect sense.

Reading the book _Wisdom: Daily Reflections for a New Era_ , I feel I am being treated to a daily conversation with a wise friend, someone who has read and thought deeply and broadly. Each day's reading begins with a provocative quotation--it may be from Albert Einstein, from an alchemical text, or from the Book of Common Prayer; the range of materials is truly eclectic, ecumenical. Then what follows is a well-written and thoughtful consideration of the saying, with Reynold Feldman sharing not only his own broad scholarship but also his own personal experiences. The spirit of the work is human and humble, the words are those of one who is earnestly seeking for wisdom on his life's journey, one who has encountered many traditions, many persons whom he considers wise and worth sharing with us. And in these meditations he asks good questions, shows us the many paths toward wisdom, toward healing, toward further discernment of our own way. If the reader chooses, she may follow the Wisdom Journal suggestions for writing each day. I have found that even if I do not write, I am intrigued by the assignments enough that I learn just by pondering them through the day. There are memorable stories here, challenges and comforts, ways to healing, ways to learning what it means to become wise from a multitude of perspectives. This is a companionable and intelligent work, one I whole-heartedly recommend.

This thoroughly enjoyable book, filled with anecdotal wisdom and a diversity of wise quotations, is aptly named. Each day of the year has its own distinctive subtitle/topic, a quotation to focus us on the key idea, and a witty and engaging personal story. To close each page, we are asked to draw on our own experience and wisdom to reflect on the day's topic. In a deeply spiritual sense but in a light and charming way, we are led to use our daily reflections to become wiser. Recommended dose: daily, as needed.

In Wisdom: Daily Reflections For A New Era, Reynold Feldman (founder and executive director of the World Wisdom Project) offers a book of daily reflections drawn from diverse sources of wisdom ranging from the ancient to the contemporary. These "wisdoms" relate to our own ways of living and adjusting to the world, with each reflection ending in a brief exercise enabling the readers to increase their own personal wisdom and ability to cope with a rapidly changing world. Divided into one chapter for each month of the calendar year and framed for daily twenty minute readings, Wisdom is highly recommended reading for those with an interest in reaping the benefits of diverse men and women who have thought about the world with insight, passion, wit and revelation.

Thank you Sr. Anita for your passionate account of the quantum leaps you made. You paved the way for other Sisters to do just what you were doing in the 1960's, only they didnt have to loose their religious status as you all sacrificed in the name of Integrity and Faith. Thanks for including the beautiful pictures of days gone by of the beautiful violet-blue "Hollywood Nuns", along with present day photos. I pray that your community continues to draw others with your passion and desire to serve our World with Integrity and Purpose.

What an awesome book. As a Catholic, Southern California native I felt very connected to this book. Anita and Susan are beautiful writers with a lovely dry sense of humour. I highly recommend this book to all Catholics.

And thank God that Sister Anita Caspary had the health, energy, and motivation to gift us with this so thoroughly documented story of a scandalous power play in the Church. If the blood of martyrs nurtures the Church, the agony of the IHM Community and the publicity it was given enabled other religious congregations to embrace the reforms they wanted--with a minimum of hierarchical interference. To have this story laid out for those of us who benefited from their via dolorosa is to make sure that our gratitude will will not fade. Joanmarie Smith, CSJ

What makes "All God's Children such an impressive read is the extent to which the author explores the people, places and events that shaped Christianity. This historic novel is exhaustively researched, and it shows. All the time Jim Snyder spent traipsing around Europe and Israel pays off. You can almost sense his familiarity with the key surroundings in countless descriptions that are penned with authority and comfort.

But what makes the book such a compelling read is the high drama that unfolds in the cradle of civilization some 2,000 years ago and the great care that is taken to sort out this confusing period in history and tell the story in chronological order.

As a Jew, I was eager to learn more about how and why the early Christians broke from their Hebrew traditions to preach a gospel that transformed this once mysterious Jewish sect into the modern world's most popular religion. Ironically, my understanding of -- and appreciation for -- the rise of Christianity is enriched by an observation by Jewish historian Flavius Josephus about Judaism's own survival: that an unwaivering commitment to God is enough to overcome the forces of evil and persecution. No one from the period's cast of colorful characters fulfills this mission better than the apostle Paul, who is relentless in his campaign to spread the gospel and absolutely fearless in the face of hostility.

With all the recent battles raging between Arabs and Jews in Israel, I'm sadly reminded after having just read "All God's Children" over the holidays that the more things change the more they stay the same. The Holy Land is still one of the most volatile spots on earth and history appears doomed to repeat itself.

Jim's book takes an era of history that played a huge role in the course of Western Civilization and shows how three very different cultures were interconnected to each other. The history of a culture never takes place in a vacuum, but is impacted by the events going on all around it. Jim is able to bring together the stories of the Roman Caesars, the Jews, and the early Christians so that the reader can understand the whole story. A book that is fascinating and well worth reading!

James D. Snyder, a Presbyterian elder, writer, editor andpublisher with over 30 years' experience, tells a chilling andfascinating tale of an ex-slave writing from Rome from the death of Jesus Christ to the expansion of the new Christian Word over the next 40 years. Snyder has thoroughly researched this site by making numerous visits to various sites and digging up an impressive body of investigative materials.

Snyder juxtaposes the rise of Christianity with the ever-growing corruption of the Roman Empire. The forty years included in this saga encompasses historical events after the crucifixion of Jesus up to the destruction of the Jewish temple at Jerusalem. He includes the powerful leaders of the time: Caesar Augustus, Herod the Great, Herod Agrippa, Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, Seneca, Peter, Paul, Mark, and John.

His descriptions make the reader feel like he is on a tour of the area, with one important distinction. He has uncovered virtually every nuance of the times, and the reader's view is almost one of an eavesdropping historian, as when he describes the treachery and death of Messalina, Claudius' young and promiscuous wife who made the critical mistake of openly marrying Gaius Silius at the castle of Claudius during his absence and carrying on what can only be called an orgy:

"Only then did Messalina truly understand her position. Without further word, the mother calmly opened a drawer and offered her daughter a dagger. Messalina looked at it as though it were a serpent. She put it to her throat, but could not strike. Then she moved it to her breast, but her hand was as if frozen. The soldiers watched her for a few silent seconds. In the next instant an officer ran her through. Claudius was still at his dinner table when news came that Messalina had died. He did not even ask whether it was by her own hand or by whose. After an eerie pause, Claudius called for more wine and the conversation went on."

All God's Children is not for the faint of heart. It is an enormous and complicated volume that provides an educational look at a period of time that is of interest to virtually all Christians.

Shelly Glodowski, Reviewer

One of the great bonuses of parenting is that you get to introduce books to your own kids that wowed you when you were a kid yourself. Sometimes your children love the books as much as you did; sometimes they don't. But in either case, you get to revisit with old friends and see how much you and they have changed and retained over the years.

Some of my best book friends when I was a kid were the wonderful illustrated histories of Genevieve Foster, and the one I loved most was *Augustus Caesar's World.* I recently introduced it (and a few others: *Washington's World*, *Lincoln's World*, *John Smith's World*, *Columbus's World*) to my 8 year old, and he's discovering the magic in them I did so many years ago.

There are three qualities to *Augustus Caesar's World* that make it so entertaining and educating. The first is that it's incredibly well written. Foster has the gift of breathing life into historical accounts. In reading about Cicero's execution or the life of Siddhartha, for example, one experiences all the dreadful waste of the one and the liberating wonder of the other. Second, the book is wonderfully illustrated by Foster herself. The illustrations are themselves instructive: along with individual scenarios, she provides time-lines, illustrated most fetchingly, that conveniently encapsulate events and persons. Finally, Foster's histories are really world histories. In *Augustus Caesar's World,* she focuses on the events leading up to the end of the Roman Republic and the establishment of the Empire (roughly, 44BCE to 14 CE). But she doesn't limit herself to Roman history; she also examines events taking place across the world during the time frame in which she's working: the druids in Gaul, Hindus in India, Confucius in China, Mayans in the Americas, and so on. She even includes intellectual history: the origins of Christianity and Buddhism, the Upanishadic culture of the Hindus, etc. Her aim is to give the reader a wide angle of vision, and she succeeds wonderfully.

I'm grateful that Foster's histories are being republished. They don't patronize kids by resorting to silly gimmicks that supposedly make learning more palatable (or at least more marketable). Instead, they make history fascinating the old fashioned way: by showing that it's a great story in its own right. They're a great discovery for my son, and a great rediscovery for me.

This book was on the reading list in my daughter's 3rd grade curriculum. We read it together and found it fascinating. At first I thought it might be above her reading level, but it was just right. What surprised me was how interested she was in it. Genevieve Foster did a wonderful job with this book. I would also recommend her other history books on: Columbus, John Smith, and George Washington. One thing that makes all these books interesting is that Foster writes about most of the important events taking place around the main character; not just in the immediate vicinity, but in other countries. She gives a global outlook.

This is one of the best ancient history books I have ever read. Genevieve Foster manages to tell, not only of Agustus Caesar, and Rome, but about everything in the ancient world, with not too much information. Foster tells everything about the characters in her book, not only about their actions. This book is a good book for teaching, or just pleasure reading! I highly recommend!

I'm studying Roman History in school. This book was fun, interesting, and it brought to life the people who lived in Rome's empire. I couldn't put it down! I cheered when Beric, a man of strong character and wisdom, prevailed against his enemies. I highly recommend this book to anyone studying Roman or British history, as well as anyone just looking for a good read that encourages good values.

Luck was with us when my kids and I discovered the obscure author of this book, G. A. Henty. As a homeschooling mom I am always looking for books that bring history and geography to life. Mr. Henty accomplishes this beautifully and his books are rapidly becoming our favorites.

This is the story of a young Briton during the Roman occupation of Britain. He is captured and taken as a slave to Rome where he has one adventure after another. Mr. Henty provides such rich detail in his narration that the reader gets the "feel" of the Roman and British cultures he is describing.

The Henty books are a mainstay of our social studies curriculum and I know the kids learn and retain much more history by reading these novels than they do by working out of a dry social studies textbook. I highly reccommend these books !

Henty presents an wonderful look at the history of England under the domination of the Roman Empire. This is a story of great courage and daring on the part of Beric and a look at Rome in its declining stages. However, not all the honorable men and women belonged to England.

This really isn't a biography of Mother Teresa so much as it is a document in reflection on one man's encounters with her. Mother Teresa is such a dynamic and profound personality, indeed so much a reflection of her Savior, that just meeting her has inspired much reflection, conviction, and devotion in the mind and heart of Malcolm Muggeridge. She is that rare persona who somehow ascends past celebrity status. Celebrities, in the end, are entertainment. Mother Teresa's presence and personality are much more than entertainment: with hardly a word she challenges and changes people. The best parts of this book have more to do with Muggeridge's inner searching than with Teresa's life and work.

I'm sure that she would shy away from all this praise. Yet truly she is a reflection of her Savior, which is her heart's desire. This strange and unearthly power she has to affect lives with nothing more than her presence perhaps can help us understand how an illiterate carpenter from the backwaters of the world managed to split history in half and utterly turn the world upside down. When you draw near to God, even just a reflection of Him, you cannot help but be changed.

What I love most about Mother Teresa, what inspires and challenges me the most, is her ability, maybe even insistence, in seeing Christ in the poor and destitute that she cared for. He said 'whatsoever you do unto the least of these, you do unto me' and she takes it seriously -- and the result is beautiful beyond comparison. It makes my heart leap.

Thank you, Lord, for sending us a woman like your servant Teresa to remind us of your face, your call, and your love. We are eternally grateful.

This book was touching to me. It has changed my life. Ever since I read this book it made me feel sad about how other parts of the world are poor and we are sitting here with everything bowing to our feet! Oh well....I loved this book!

....of Mother Teresa's activities with the poor, written with grace and conviction. My favorite book about her and her work. You won't read this and remain unchanged by it.

Teresa of Avila was a carmelite nun who wrote this book as a means to guide the nuns in her convent onto the path of holiness, not for their own sake but for love of God.

Accordingly, much of what is written applies strictly to the setting of the convent. However, the spiritual values expressed are timeless. The Saint extols ascetical poverty. While we in the world cannot, or do not, practice ascetical poverty we can derive the spirit behind the vow - that of detachment from things that do not lead us to Christ.

The hallmark of this work, however, is the several chapters written on the Our Father. St. Teresa explains the perfection in Our Lord's Prayer and its message to, and demands upon, all of us Christians.

There is immeasurable value in this. This book fills up the soul.

OK, let's say you have made a beginning on the way of prayer, and you have been looking for good sources to read. You have heard a lot about St. Teresa of Avila. After all, she was one of the first women ever named a Doctor (in the Latin meaning of "teacher") of the Church. But lo and behold, you have found her Life puzzling and The Interior Castle just about impossible to understand.
Then this is the place to start. Yes, Teresa was writing 400 and more years ago, and her audience was cloistered contemplative nuns. But this was written almost like a letter. The personal tone gives it great charm and readability. Very little of it is hard to understand, and almost all of it can be applied to our lives here and now.
My only difficulty with Peers' translation is the huge number of footnotes. They would be invaluable to a scholar, but I can never keep myself from looking at them, and they are not really necessary or even helpful when your desire is to learn the spiritual wisdom of one of our greatest saints. I love her and love this book, and highly recommend it.

review by Janet Knori, author of Awakening in God

St. Teresa of Avila lived nearly four hundred years ago. Her work, The Way of Perfection, comes very soon after the completion of her autobiography. The way of which she speaks is a life of prayer. The book is addressed to the nuns of whom she is prioress. It is mainly intended for their use, but it is riddled with introspective knowledge on a prayer-filled relationship with God. This book is undoubtedly a work deeply rooted in Catholicism. However, Teresa's own intimate relationship with the Father is one to be marveled by all Christians. She begins her work by laying out the requirements to begin a prayerful life: aesthetic poverty, perfect love, and self-mortification. She follows with a discussion on the contemplative life and vocal and mental prayer. She meticulously dissects the Lord's Prayer and gives her nuns guidance in praying through the Paternoster. She intends to do the same with the Ave Maria but reconciles to let it alone for lack of space.

There are two versions of The Way of Perfection: the Escorial version and the Valladolid version. The Escorial version was written first and is directed uniquely toward the nuns of Avila. The edition above comes from the Valladolid text. It is a more formal manuscript intended for a larger audience. The translator and editor E. Allison Peers does a wonderful job of footnoting the differences between the two versions and inserting italicized sections from the Escorial text. The reader is given a feel for both versions in one book. It can be tiresome to constantly refer to footnotes, but a straight read-through is very enjoyable. It is nice to know the footnotes are there for any academic study. Teresa often meanders from her main point and talks at length about issues that her writing leads her to discuss. At first it may seem annoying that her focus is not always succinct, but her conversational tone greatly attests to the intimacy she has with her fellow nuns and with God. In all, The Way of Perfection is a pleasant and inspiring read.

A couple pseudo quotes, not from Epictetus. "Give me the strength to endure what I cannot change, the power to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference between the two." "Who cares? We'll all die someday anyway."

Depending on the particular chapter, and admittedly, on the mood of the reader, either of these two statements might characterize the basic philosophy of Stoicism as defined by Epictetus and described by his student, Arrian. Somewhat like the relationship between Socrates and Plato, Epictetus did not write down his teachings, but his eager student Arrian did so, recounting from memory the many conversations of Epictetus with various listeners.

Perhaps this is why there is such a fragmented style. The text has an annoying tendency to suddenly veer off into unrelated and incomprehensible topics. Many references are made in passing to people and events, presumably either contemporary figures or mythological personages. A (very) knowledgeable reader might be able to follow these allusions, but I don't know for sure. Fortunately, it is usually possible to at least figure out the point of each chapter from the text, although the chapter titles do make at least that much clear regardless. One exception to the elusive allusions is Socrates, about whom most people probably know something. But unfortunately, Epictetus so often points out how Socrates lived and what he said that it comes across as argument by authority. Other figures are treated in this way as well. Admittedly, the text is based on real conversations with real listeners, for whom such arguments may have been very persuasive. It's something worth noting here.

Regarding Stoicism itself, I was disappointed. The point of this philosophy is that one should not concern one's self about things outside one's own power to change. Fair enough, I suppose. But does he really think that many people are, or should be, willing to ignore as unimportant such things as being unjustly imprisoned, whipped, exiled, killed, and so forth? Obviously he did. But the problem I had was that he made no allowance for trying to change one's own circumstances. The defeatism was deafening at times, leading to my second pseudo quote above. Under this form of Stoicism, I cannot see how or why a practitioner would every attempt to improve his own life. Of course, Epictetus himself would probably say that this is no route to true happiness, but I think it is. There are, of course, circumstances where this mind set would be quite useful, and the much-quoted use of Stoic principles by Vice-Admiral James Stockdale to survive his long experience as a POW in Vietnam is an excellent example. I would argue that only when someone is truly powerless to change bad circumstances for the better would Stoicism really make sense as a philosophy for living. During the Hellenistic period in the Mediterranean, when Stoicism and other new philosophies emerged, many people lived very difficult and probably unhappy lives. Epictetus was himself a slave for at least part of his life. In this context it makes sense. But despite the claim on the back cover, I do not recognize what I've read here as being "virtually the unofficial religion of the Roman world." There is wisdom to be found in this work, but you'll need to read carefully and critically (actually, this is always good advice) to find it.

I've downloaded every word of the great Epictetus and mess around with my own "book" of his sayings and discourses. His voice reaches me from across 2000 years in a way that the sillier religions can't. I'm proud to call mysell and Epictetan, father than just a Stoic since the Big E had such a witty, down home approach to the Big Question --- How Can I have a contented life.
E rocks. Buy the books. Check him out on the net. Sit at the feet of one of the few gurus in history who would kick you for sitting at his feet.

If you are interested in Stoic Philosophy this is the book that you should read. Epictetus offers a concise guide on the stoic philosophy which allowed him to endure a life of slavery and hardship during the reign of Nero. Does he answer the big questions? Well i can only say that to me he did not answer the question on how to be truly happy (well actually he did I just have trouble accepting his answer), but he does answer the question the question - how do we avoid disappointed in our life, how do we avoid being sad.