This book is one in Zondervan's Counterpoints Series, which presents the view of various (mostly) Evangelical writers on theological subjects. This book is sorely needed because Evangelical apologists have had a history of writing critically and polemically of one another (one thinks of the Clark/Van Til debate), with the result of the layman having a difficult time deciding among the various positions.

The problem with this book is either that the writers are too timid or are more irenic than their label would indicate. There are three authors who present variations on the traditional approach: the classical method (Craig), the evidential method (Habermas), and the cumulative case method (Feinberg). These approaches are quite similar, although some differences do arise. When the reader gets to John Frame's presuppositional method, he expects to get a starkly different approach. After all, Van Til was notorious for attacking "traditional" apologetics as "Roman Catholic" or "Arminian." Well, Frame tells us that he agrees with most of what Craig writes. The final writer, Kelly James Clark (who represents the "Reformed epistemological method"), says the same thing.

Perhaps the editor could have selected a follower of Gordon Clark (a rationalist who denied the proofs of God's existence) or a fideist to present a contrasting apologetic method.

Few books have seriously tackled apologetic method, or how Christianity should be defended rationally. The last book I know of that surveyed options in this regard was Gordon Lewis, "Testing Christianity's Truth Claims" (Moody Press, 1976; republished by University Press of America).

This book presents five different approaches, each represented by one of its exponents: Classical Apologetics (William Lane Craig), Evidentialism (Gary Habermas), Culumulative Case Method (Paul Feinberg), Presuppositionalism (John Frame), and Reformed Epistemology (Kelly James Clark).

Much ground is covered concerning the Bible's approach to apologetics, where apologetic arguments should begin, how certain arguments for Christianity are, and so on. I will simply make a few comments.

The presentations by Craig and Habermas are the most worthwhile because they are the most intellectual rigorous and well-documented. They also tend to agree with each on most things and reinforce each others views. While I tend to favor a cumulative case method (influenced by E.J. Carnell and Francis Schaeffer, but with more appreciation for natural theology), Feinberg's comments are the weakest by far. He never mentions the leading exponent of this view in our generation (Carnell) nor Carnell's apt and well-published student (and my esteemed colleague), Dr. Gordon Lewis. Not one word about either one! His comments are brief, his documentation is thin, and he fails to advance anything very creative or helpful, I'm afraid. A better person should have been chosen, such as Gordon Lewis. Frame gives his "kinder, gentler" version of Cornelius Van Til, which still suffers from the same kinds of problems--most notably the fallacy of begging the question in favor of Christianity. Nevertheless, the notion of a "transcendental argument" for theism is a good one, but it should not carry all the weight of apologetics. Clark's material is philosophically well-informed (one would expect this of a student of Alvin Plantinga!), but apologetically timid. Clark almost sounds like a skeptic at times.

A few bones more bones to pick. The editor refers to Francis Schaeffer as a presuppositionalist. This is false; he was a verificationist with more in common with Carnell than with Van Til. Gordon Lewis's fine essay on Schaeffer's apologetic method in "Reflections on Francis Schaeffer" makes this very clear. None of the writers address the great apologetic resources found in Blaise Pascal. I also found at least two grammatical errors.

Nevertheless, as a professor of philosophy at a theological seminary who teaches apologetics, I found this volume very helpful and useful. But let's not get so involved in methodological concerns that we fail to go out in the world and defend our Christian faith as objectively true, existentially vital, and rationally compelling (Jude 3)!

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Philosophy Denver Seminary

Before I write anything, I would like to suggest that the reader of "Five Views on Apologetics" first read "Faith Has Its Reasons" by Kenneth Bow and Robert Bowman, Jr. (NavPress). Doing so will give you a good overview of the methodology taken by the different positions; it would be akin to reading a preview of this afternoon's football game, with a summary of the players and the strategy that will be used fully explained.

Overall "Five Views on Apologetics" is worthwhile for the serious-minded Christian. I do like these "View" books because they allow all sides to take part in a dialogue that certainly has more potential to get things accomplished rather than a free-for-all live debate. All sides get to give their side with succeeding rebuttals. This book certainly had some lively discussion as all of the participants had their own ideas of how apologetics should be handled. The five positions were: William Lane Craig (classical); Gary Habermas (evidential); Paul Feinberg (cumulative); John Frame (presuppositional); Kelly James Clark (Reformed Epistemological).

However, there were three weak points that I need to point out. First, I'm not sure the debaters were the best representatives of the positions they defended. For instance, Craig could be described as a combination classicist/evidentialist. Much of what he said could have been written by Habermas, as even Habermas admitted. Feinberg had, I believe, the weakest argumentation, as I just never did track with his thoughs. Meanwhile, Frame certainly has his own twist on Van Til's ideas, yet these twists make his position a "kinder, gentler" version of Reformed apologetics and thus is not truly representative of Van Tillians--and there are plenty of these thinkers out there. And Clark might as well let Alvin Plantinga write his section since Clark seemed to mention Plantinga in practically every paragraph.

Second, it is apparent that much of the differences quickly became similarities by the end of the book. In fact, Craig even mentioned how he appreciated the similarities the debaters had. If this is so, then why write the book in the first place? In fact, more than once a respondent to another's position declared, in essence, "Why, that could have been me writing! I think--fill in the name--really is a--fill in the position--like I am." This attitude prevailed through much of the book, especially in the concluding comments. (At the same time, perhaps we should rejoice that in a book of Christian division, so many similarities could be found!)

Finally, I think the book got a little too technical in some areas, especially by several of the writers. I think Craig is a master philosopher, and I've seen Bayes' Theorem before, but I'm still scratching my head trying to understand several pages of formulas he put together to support one of his points. Perhaps with some personal explanation I could better understand, but I'm thinking many reading this book would have been totally lost (as I humbly admit I was). Although I didn't agree with his stance, I thought John Frame did the best in explaining his philosophy in the simplist, most logical way possible.

Despite what I feel are its shortcomings, I do recommend this book for the serious student who is interested in apologetics. I enjoyed it very much and was certainly enlightened about the role apologetics takes in the Christian's life.

Like any other recent Wrox titles, this one contains jewels and pretenders. On the bright side, quite a few of the Java and XML chapters are strong, and I particularly liked the ones on EJB, PL/SQL-Java inter-operation, and SOAP. There is also a chapter at the end on setting up the environment to run the book samples. On the not so bright side, the PL/SQL chapters are disappointing, because they cover either fundamental stuff that anyone who calls themselves an Oracle developer should know, or irrelevant technologies like OAS PL/SQL cartridge and PSP (huh?). The chapters on JDBC and connection pooling wasted 60% of the pages by talking about the basic JDBC API and showing the details of a connection pool manager class, rather than talking more about Oracle's extensions to the JDBC 2.0 standard and optional packages API. Finally, there is one glaring omission - MTS (I am talking about the Microsoft stuff here), although it does contain an informative chapter on ASP/Oracle. One more thing: this book covers Oracle8i Release 2, not the latest 3.

With everything considered, you may still want to own this title, as it is the only book under the sun that covers all (well, almost) current distributed programming technologies that interface with Oracle (both J2EE and Windows DNA). It also covers promising Oracle proprietary technologies such as interMedia, BC4J, and Portal (aka WebDB).

This book is one of the more comprehensive I have read about Oracle programming. It has very good examples and you will find tips and information you won't find in any other books/web sites/forums etc. This book has been written by genuine Oracle developers and you will get a depth of real-world knowledge and application. I recommend highly it for the serious Oracle, Java and XML developer.

To produce this book, Wrox took twenty expert Oracle developers and had each of them write about their area of expertise. The result is that whether you are a manager, a developer, or a DBA, if you are working with Oracle 8i this book should be on your desk. This book covers virtually every topic that you need to understand about the Oracle 8i development platform. It does not cover each topic completely but it provides a thorough and in most cases sufficient introduction on each topic. For a particular topic of interest you may need an additional book but to get all the information found in this book you would need ten volumes at least. The book opens with an introduction to Oracle 8i and some of its components including Net8 (Oracle's network solution) and Designer 6i (Oracle's development environment). The next section covers PL/SQL and PSP (this is similar to JSP). This is followed by an extensive section covering Java. This section covers JDBC, SQLJ, EJB, and interMedia (Oracle's powerful search tool). The last section covers XML and includes information on DOM and SAX parsers, SOAP, XSL, XSQL, and more. Extensive case studies are scattered throughout the book. Examples show how to use Oracle tools such as BC4J to develop enterprise applications. The book even includes primers on Java and XML. As a tour of all the features of Oracle 8i, this book is without competition.

This book is a very serviceable biography of John Chrysostom, the most famous preacher of the ancient church. It chronicles the entirety of John's life, from the monasticism of his youth, to his subsequent tenure as a priest in Antioch, his bishopric in the imperial capitol, and the quarrels with the bishop of Alexandria and the empress that eventually brought about his downfall.

Kelly does an excellent job of showing John's character. We get to see that those things which in some ways were the best of John's traits, his forthrightness and lack of fear, were the very things which due to his intemperate nature led him into conflict with those who were easily made jealous and those who did not care for their misdeeds to be honestly spoken of.

There is, however, one serious flaw in this book. Kelly seems undecided about who his audience is. He alternates between gripping narration and lengthy passages (sometimes several pages in length) wherein he dissects the arguments for and against the authenticity of a particular sermon of John's or the dating of one of his writings. In my opinion, the book would have been strengthened had Kelly simply based the main text on what he believes to be correct, and moved the disputation either to end notes or to an appendix.

In this account of St. John Chrysostom's life, J.N.D. Kelly does an excellent job of gathering a thorough and balanced biography of John's rise to fame, his role as a bishop and preacher, and his subsequent deposition and exile. He details how John began his life as a humble monk with a startlingly severe lifestyle, and gradually became a deacon in Antioch, where he was to earn renown for his remarkable preaching (and hence the nickname "Chrysostom", i.e. "Golden Mouth"). Not long after filling that role in Antioch, John was assigned the office of bishop of Constantinople, one of the primary sees in Christianity. His preaching was characterized by sharp denunciations of the rich and powerful, and advocacy of aid to the poor and downtrodden. Thus he was the champion of the common people, but he developed many bitter enemies among the rulers and clergy in the government and church.

Kelly tells the story of John's relationships, the bitter controversies he was caught in, and his eventual exile in a lively manner, but without embellishing the facts. His book is very well written from a historical perspective, but I had a few minor complaints. First of all, since Chrysostom was primarily famous for his preaching, I was disappointed to find meager quotation from his sermons. There were many terse references to various sermons in the book, but none of them gave any extensive examples that helped the reader to understand their popularity or controversial nature. Instead the reader must rely on his brief paraphrasing and summarizing of the sermons' content, and the occasional excerpt. Secondly, the evaluation of John's personality was very focused historically, but barely described John's theological viewpoints. That would have been something of considerable interest in a biography of a Father of the Early Church. Otherwise the book is certainly recommended, and with few exceptions the author remained objective in his treatment of the historical evidence.

This is a superb, thorough, scholarly life of one of the key figures in the political-religious turmoil of late antiquity. Like Kelly's equally fine biography of Jerome, it is not a hagiography or a critical study of John's voluminous works; rather it concentrates on telling the story of his eventful life as revealed through often fragmentary sources. As a narrative it succeeds very well indeed. My only criticism is that the book gives very little sense of the tremendous secular upheavals against which the turmoil in the church was taking place; it is perhaps significant, in this respect, that the one time the Gothic sacker of Rome is mentioned, he is called "Alaric the Hun." However, that is a very rare lapse in a work that I can recommend without hesitation to anyone with an interest in this fascinating period.

I mostly agreed with Eric Ma. There are some areas that Wrox needs to review the whole process of publishing Java-related books. Here are some drawbacks that I can draw from reading recent Java-related books:

(1) Repeated Contents: Materials about Servlet, JSP, EJB, JNDI, JDBC, XML, etc are repeated over and over many books. This could waste time, money, and papers for both Wrox and readers.

(2)Books or Articles?: I asked myself: is Wrox publishing books or articles? Each book is written by many authors and the book's flow is inconsistent. The assessment that it is not a book but a collection of articles may partially true. It is true that a book if written by a team of authors could speed up the process of releasing it, but if Wrox editors and coordinators have to do their better jobs.

I suggest that Wrox should review its strategy of publishing books to avoid the repeating of materials over and over and thus bring down the cost associated with publishing the books. The final result is: readers and publisher will both save time and money. Otherwise, readers will loose their belief with Wrox.

For the past 2 years Wrox has been publishing books dedicated to Windows-based data access (ADO etc.), but the same cannot be said about their Java/database collection. Although you find chapters on JDBC scattered all-over almost all server-side Java related books by Wrox, there was no single volume from them that teaches JDBC first, and then show how it is used by the newer dependent technologies, until this book arrived. After looking through this book, I must say the authors and editors have done a rather commendable job.

Why do I make the above conclusion? Let me give you my general impression of the book first. A theme repeated in several of my recent reviews on books from Wrox is about the problem in coherence associated with multi-author books. Well, having more than a dozen of authors for a single book seems to be a fact of life (for books from Wrox at least) now, as the publication cycle gets shorter. I was rather surprised to find out that the organization and coherence is very good in this book, i.e., there is very little overlap among chapters. Also, this books uses JDBC cleverly to tie other pieces of J2EE together, making smooth transitions from one chapter to another. If you want to know, this factor alone prompted me to add an extra star to the overall rating of the book.

Let's now run down the chapters of this book quickly. The first 115 pages deals object-oriented and database modeling, and can be skipped by any "Professional" developer. Then after your obligatory intro to JDBC API, the next chapter covers the JDBC 2.0 optional package. This is the best treatment of this topic I have seen. Then another chapter is all about SQLJ, another first. The effort of having a chapter on database performance should be lauded, where connection pooling, prepared statements and stored procedures usage are demoed. The reminder of the book is about applying JDBC in various J2EE components, such as JSP, servlets, EJB, JMS, and XML. For this part of the book, even though I accept the fact the proper stage has to be set for each one of them, I still don't believe the book found the right balance between focusing on JDBC and showing what these other technologies are about. A large number of pages are used to teach basic JNDI, servlets, JSP's, and EJB's stuff (remember there is already a book on J2EE from Wrox!). Therefore, it is up to the reader to discover the real nuggets of gold hidden in this pile, which are far and in between in places. I found that some critical issues are not highlighted or details are lacking, such as how to use connection pooling/data sources in servlets, JSP's, and EJB's, the threading issues related to sharing database connections, and good database practices in BMP EJB's. However, the one thing I cannot complain about is that the book did not forget to teach the transaction aspect of EJB with a good depth (there is a short ans sweet chapter on using JTA/JTS inside EJB). There is also a chapter on the brand-new JDO framework, even though the spec is still in a state of flux. Finally, there are 4 case study chapters in the book - although the design and implementation are limited in scope and as a whole those samples do not teach all you need to do know about enterprise scale J2EE system development, they do provide a flavor of how JDBC is used in real world, together with setting up Tomcat, JRun, Orion, and WebLogic to access MS SQL Server and Oracle databases.

Now my overall take of this book. For VB/SQL and pure back-end PL/SQL developers who are eager to jump on the Java express train and need a suitable platform (especially for the ones who learn best from playing with actual code), I recommend this book as one of several you should own. Compared to other JDBC books from say O'Reilly and Sun's JDBC Tutorial, this book is the most up-to-date, contains the most source code, and has the broadest coverage of related topics. But keep in mind some of the advanced topics such as EJB and JMS can be intimidating for new-comers. On the other side of the coin, people who are advanced in various server-side Java technologies are unlikely to benefit a great deal from this book and should look elsewhere for info (for example Wrox's J2EE and upcoming EJB titles).

An excellent book that varies between a chronologised history of budget reform in Australia, and an investigation of contemporary budgeting and budget theory. Interesting reading even if you are not familiar with Australia, but are interested in Government budgeting, or interested in a country with an excellent history of aggregate budget outcomes over the past twenty years.

Though it meanders a bit, it is a good read. The main author is a respected contributor to the field. The book also provides a good political history as major issues and actors of the time period covered are viewed through the prism of public expenditure management, including elections.

I work in several Microsoft languages and have needed to explore VB.NET just like all the others. Ever since PDC I have been programming in C# as much as I can and have explored VB.NET so make sure that anything non-specific to C# can be accomplished in VB.NET. I also read books for recomendation to others. This book is not one that I will recommend. Not because VB.NET is less of a programming language, but because this book does not cover the amount or topics needed, IMO. A super sound knowledge of OOP is needed because it's maditory in VB.NET. You can not get away from this and you need to understand this first. This book covers these topics so minimally that you don't really have any real-world application and looks sort of like someone explaining the Impliments keyword in VB6. My recommendation is to NOT get this book. And if you are determined to go to VB.NET then please get a book dedicated to OOD (Object Orientated Design) and/or OOP (Object Orientated Programming). The last few chapters are interesting but so high level that it's difficult to get full understanding of how to really use the material. I rated this book a 2 instead of a 3 because of the lack of meat on OOD and OOP. The syntax is there, but the knowledge is just not expressed to where you know why or when.

The only other .NET book I've read is the Wrox "Preview of ASP+" which I thought lived up to it's title. For me, this book goes well beyond a preview.

I read the whole 433 pages over a span of seven days and with the knowledge I've gained I'm preparing to recommend using the .NET beta technology to begin development on an Enterprise system that (in our architecture) would otherwise require use of Visual C++ and the ATL. Now I know that with VB.NET you can easily create free threaded applications and objects and you can just as easily create Win32 services.

Everything you need to know about the changes (and there are many of them) is explained in detail. Chapter 5, covers object-oriented programming for those who are new to the concept and explains how VB.NET handles: inheritance, and function overloading.

Even if you can't find it in your local bookstore, buy this book (if you have the public beta of course), after you read this one you'll likely be ready to go in to your manager and build and a case for reasons to mirgate to .NET

What another pair of shoes to wear! I'll have you know that I am wearing 6 pairs already! Well folks watch out 'cos you ain't seen nothing yet: for the best dressed VB developers, VB.Net - is a pair of shoes made for giants!

No, you don't have to be a giant to try them on, its just that when you do, and you walk around in them for a while, you start to grow and you start to feel like a giant!

A good place to get that powerful VB.Net feeling, is to start with this excellent book - 'VB.Net Programming With the Public Beta' by Billy Hollis & Rockford Lhotka.

Billy & Rocky, hand you a passport to walk from the world of VB6 to the pure object orientated world of VB.Net and the .Net paradigm. OK, it's a book on a beta, but all the basics are there, and with VB.Net you really need a lot of pre-release training!

Having a copy of Visual Studio.Net Beta is cool, however you don't need one to understand the book: there are plenty of excellent screenshots and diagrams, not to mention the easy to understand descriptions. Just by reading it, you can feel your confidence grow, as well as your shoe-size.

What is also impressive about this book, is the amount of content that is covered in a limited space. It is technically comprehensive & well balanced: half of it walks you through the new environment - the Visual Studio.Net IDE, the .Net framework, the language, UI capabilities, ADO.Net & ASP.Net, whilst in the other half you get a gentle work-out on the hot topics: object orientated programming, web development, web services & application migration.

Billy and Rocky, know that you want a quick and comprehensive overview - and that is exactly what you get! For example, if you want to understand web services & SOAP, and do an example in which you create and consume a web service: 8 pages! That's all it takes! Next topic! The book is full of such great 'short-sharp' presentations!

For the greater part, Tyson's book is a reasonably accurate review of the material in Dee's diaries. So long as you are using it solely as a reference for the basic elements of the system, you won't go wrong. However, he tends to "interpret" unresolvable ambiguities in the material according to his own view without ever noting that there are ambiguities. He also selectively quotes the original material to support his views; a substantially different sense of what was said sometimes arises when the material itself is studied. Where Tyson really crashes and burns is in his association of the Enochian material with the apocalypse, particularly in his belief that the Calls are meant to bring about the end of the world. Here he combines Christian fundamentalist myth with elements of H.P. Lovecraft's fictional horror universes; there is nothing in the original to support his ideas.

I suggest starting out with "modern magick" by donald michael kraig before studing or even practicing the enochian system,for it is very very complex,just because it says it's for beginners really means for someone who has some knowledge of the actual enochian system or has actually been taught and feels comfortable enough to go ahead, he does put a little to much in the book to "start off"with,and it should just be a refrence guide at first.otherwise enjoy and be safe. love,life and light

This book is an invaluable source of reference for magicians who would like to try their hands on Enochian magic. The author has researched extensively in an attempt to put forward as good as possible the original workings of Dee and Kelley.

A word of warning here - the book is not a complete manual for performing Enochian magic. Those who are used to ceremonial magic will have no problems with what is or rather what isn't included in this book. Those who are new to ceremonial magic, and so do not understand certain observances required should not attempt what's been written. 'Enochian Magic for Beginners' is not, or should not be meant for absolute beginners.

I bought this book thinking that it would be fascinating! I read online reviews that made it seem credible. Unfortunately, many of these reviewers did not have a background in psychology but I do. I was disappointed with this author's ludicrous claims and sloppy scholarship. Some claims are loosely supported by actual studies with some validity while other claims have no valid or reliable experiments/studies to back them up. For example, Verny claims that babies that are induced are more prone to sexual sadism and masochistic behavior! He cites no study to back up this ridiculous claim! Also, Verny equates emotional health with the personality traits of openness and extroversion. To suggest that a child who is shy and introverted is maladjusted is bad psychology. Personality theory has proven that these can be innate and inborn traits. My complaints go on... PLEASE, DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS BOOK. It's muddy...some valid claims mixed with very stupid ones. It's an example of how someone with "M.D" at the end of his/her name can sell a book that the layperson believes due to the author's credentials. However, I can assure you that my graduate school professors would have given this research writer a D.

sorry for my spelling but I am from mexico
I am amazed buy the people who dont love this book, personaly I love it perhaps it lacks more proof and more studies but the information can change the life of your children I folowed all their advice for I had no maternal instinct during my pregnacy
so I did everithing the book said to bond with my child, and I can tell it is the best thing I have ever done my daughter and I have a wonderfull bond and I am rereading it again for muy second pregnacy, congradulations to the authers.

As an OB/GYN, this book is required reading for all of my pregnant patients as well as for those thinking of starting a family. Any physician who is up to date with current peer-reviewed literature in the realm of prenatal psychology would know the value of Dr. Verny's book and his work. ...

I have read over 6 books on how to build you house recently. This was by for the least helpful because it is targeted to people building in a subdivision using a tract builder. Although the authors seem knowledgable in general contracting procedure they continually reiterate the pros of subdivisions and the cons of custom buiding on your own lot.

This book was authored by a builder...and it reads that way. Though there are a few helpful hints (what house plans and contracts should contain, for example), overall the theme is this - if you select a good builder, everything will work out fine. True, perhaps, but I was hoping for a more objective and desciptive approach to understanding the custom home building process.

When my husband and I started thinking about building a custom home, the idea really frightened me. I decided to tackle the process as I do everything else... read everything I can find on the subject. This book explained the process of building a custom home from start to finish in layman's terms. My husband and I both read and reread the book and felt it gave us the inside track on the entire event. We found ourselves asking the right questions. I am happy to report that this book allowed us to enjoy the home building experience and fullfill our American Dream. I would recommend this book to anyone who has even considered the idea of building. Forewarned is Forearmed!!!!

If you want some excellent photography of several great homes in the South, you will enjoy this book. It will make an attractive addition to anyone's coffee table. If you want a good collection of recipes from the south, then look elsewhere. The quantity of recipes is limited; and the ones that are there are found, for the most part, in dozens of other cookbooks. Save your money.

The recipes in this book are excellent, as is the photography. However, I could do without Mr. Taylor's somewhat elitist comments throughout the book, such as what "self-respecting" Charlestonians do and don't do. I learned to cook in Charleston, from many people who certainly consider themselves "self-respecting", and who were born and raised in Charleston (unlike Mr. Taylor), and they cook in many different ways, using many different recipes and ingredients to prepare the same dish! Also, the repeated plugging of products sold in his store downtown is somewhat self-serving. But like I said, the recipes are worth it, and I use them frequently.

Beautiful book with great photography and local insights. Taylor has my respect.