I have looked high and low for a "Bible stories" book for my curious four year old. This one tells short stories from the Bible from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible that are clear and easy to understand. It is an easy reference when your child asks religious questions and you're not sure you know the answer. I've learned a lot too! Older kids will enjoy reading it and they will like the illustrations.

If there is any event in American history that has been thoroughly documented it is the Lewis & Clark expedition, 1803-06.
Surprisingly, one area that has been generally overlooked is the medical aspect of the expedition. A retired cardiac surgeon and wilderness medical expert, Bruce C. Paton, has remedied that oversight with this fascinating book.
In a highly readable, non-techinal manner, Paton examines the state of medicine in 1800 and discusses the medical preparations made by Meriwether Lewis for the journey including, at the urging of President Jefferson, his meetings with leading scholars of the time.
The story of Lewis' meeting with Dr. Benjamin Rush, the advising physician to the expedition, is interesting not only for the advice given to Lewis but for Rush's varied interests and activities. Rush's list of 10 steps to follow in order to maintain the health of the expedition members provides the reader with a stark reminder of the state of medical care in early 1800.
In addition, the author discusses the diagnoses and treatment of three specific major medical crises that confronted the expedition: the gunshot wound suffered by Lewis, the illness of Sacagawea and the death of Sergeant Floyd. While the death of Floyd did not affect the ultimate success of the expedition, the author speculates on what the outcome might have been had Sacagawea or Lewis died. That they did survive may have been due more to luck than the treatment they received.
Only one member died during the incredible three-year ordeal despite limited medical knowledge and medications that were largely ineffective.
This is a must book for anyone remotely interested in the Lewis & Clark expedition. Highly recommended.

I was in Doctor Rubenstein's Michigan History class at the University of Michigan-Flint in the late 70's. This book contains information from primary research papers from students not only in the class I was in but several other of Doctor Rubenstein's classes. I enjoyed his classes because the information presented not only contained the standard information people receive from high school history classes but also in depth accounts of what really was going on during those times. When I read this book it is like I am reliving those wonderful history classes. I highly recommend this book and any others Doctor Rubenstein has written. You will gain a vast wealth of knowledge about the real Michigan history. I own one of the first printings of this book and will keep it in my library as a cherished memento.

This series combines some of the most exhaustive treatment of each book available with up-to-date scholarship and a generally evangelical point of view. Each volume is close to 1,000 pages, and the treatment is thorough. Most if not all commentaries were written or revised in the 90's or 2000's, and a knowledge of issues such as narrative theology, literary genre and rhetorical criticism are reflected in the text (unlike many other evangelical commentary series). If you are looking to invest in a more exhaustive series, this is the one to invest in .... ...

The Prayer of Jabez is a powerful look at how much God wants to bless each and every beliver in Him. The book shows how God wants to take us past our limits and use us in ways we could never immagine, as He did with the walls of Jerrico. Reminds us of God's great love for us and His desire to keep us from falling to the Enemy's temptations. A must Read for all belivers! This lether edition is nicely bound also!

This reviewer is no expert; neither is he knowledgeable in ancient Hebrew. So this make his review more suited for the layperson instead of the pastor. He has, nonetheless, decided to write a review because he likes this commentary.

The author, Roland Murphy, is a scholar in his own right and is well known, having published a commentary on Ecclesiastes.

This commentary provides its own translation, which makes comparing the text to known Bible versions interesting and helpful. Murphy's translation is at times wooden: Murphy tried to follow the form of the text more than other translations. Thus, his translation does add value and makes reading the text strikingly new. Not only is the feel closer to the original tongue (from what I can gather) but it also has more assonance and alliteration of the ancient Hebrew.

Concerning his commentary, Murphy's detailed discussions are remarkable and his comments are most helpful and filled with insight.

To give you a taste of his translation style, below are two well-known Proverbs in the traditional text followed by Murphy's translation. For Proverbs 16:18, Murphy's beliefs on translation come through are quite clearly.

Proverbs 15:1

Traditional: A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

Murphy: A soft answer turns back wrath, but a sharp tongue stirs up anger.

Proverbs 16:18

Traditional: Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Murphy: Before a collapse, pride, and before stumbling, haughtiness of spirit.

This is a terrific novel about the radical abolitionist John Brown. The style of the book is remarkable. Olds writes in short bursts of prose, not more than three or four pages at a time, and from different perspectives: first person, third person, quotes from actual historical documents, and what appears to be an interview with Brown from beyond the grave. The effect is like channel-surfing on cable TV. And it works beautifully--it's an exciting way to write about history for the '90's reader. Olds strips down his language--it reminds me a little of James Ellroy's recent work--but he uses archaic words and sentence structure combined with impressive poetic imagery to achieve a convincing historical density. This book has great resonance. This is a time of intense, moralistic political warfare and this depiction of intense pre-Civil War passions should be disturbingly familiar. Bruce Olds makes us recognize and respect complexity. His final take on John Brown seems to be that he was an unpleasant, possibly insane man who nevertheless knew what the most important moral issue of his time was. Great reading.

An astonishing retelling of the life of John Brown. I selected this book for my book group after having listened to Banks' "Cloudsplitter" on BOT. I had read a few reviews of that book post hoc only to find that many critics cited this text as superior. I would say that the experience of listening, rather than reading, to Banks' book likely boosts my appraisal as I thought it was brilliant in its expanse, detail and imagination. As for Olds' work, it reads as though one is living through the time in a dream-like state. The wickedness and cruelty that is frequently attributed to "historical context" is brought to bear so that it is difficult to fathom how we look back at our American history as somehow noble and founded on justice. As for the man, John Brown, it was a serendipitous reading choice given the current state of world affairs. When resistance is linked to terrorism, the results are necessarily unpredicatable and frightening, regardless of the outcome.

richlvau2 from Grand Haven, MI misses the point when he writes that "the style [of RHH] is very interesting and it is an easy read, but the historical accuracy leaves a lot to be desired. Unfortunately, many will believe it to be "gospel" -(pun intended)"

Olds, by way of a form of literary deconstruction very rarely seen in contemporary fiction, painstakingly blurs the line between accuracy and innacuracy in historical writing. And he is not writing this way because it's the "in thing" to do.

It is also *deceptively* easy to read, with Olds hiding many of his devices from the suspecting eye and the text itself offering a number of simultaneous interpretations.

There is no "gospel" and Olds makes every effort possible to reconstruct the many narratives surrounding John Brown and to prevent any one voice from gaining authority -- especially his own.

I more than highly recommend this book: not only will you view this particular event differently, but you just might call into question the "truth" of other historical figures and events.

(Olds is overdue for a new one, let's hope the luke warm review in the NYTimes didn't blow it!)

This is a good Hebrew research tool. It's best feature is that it's only two volumes (compared to 11+ for the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament!). The entries are short compared to other theological lexicons and wordbooks, however, and you don't get as much depth as you do in other theological lexicons.

If you're looking for slightly more than a lexicon, this is a great tool. But if you really want to study Hebrew words, their range of meanings, different usage, extra-Biblical usage, etc. try the 3 vol. Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament (Jenni, Westermann) or - for the best of the best - the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (11 vol completed, more to come).

This is a great set. I got it about 20 years ago when it first came out, and, as a pastor of over 23 years, I say "Go for it!" Although I do not refer to this work every week, it comes in handy when I need to do a Hebrew word study. Because it is cross-indexed with Strongs, you can find the Hebrew words (and their definitions/expansions) without knowing a stitch of Hebrew.

For practical ministry use, this is the set to get! It provides plenty of information, clear definitions, but does not get tedious (usually). I would recommend it over older studies which are not nearly as accurate (especially those done before the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the 1940's).

Discusses just about every theologically significant Hebrew word.

Easy to use and find your word in question.

Full of useful information!

On the opening page of "Bucking the Tiger," Bruce Olds gives fair warning of his love for wordplay, and the form his novel is going to take, and if you're not ready for bricolage, collage, or pastiche, you're not ready for this book. Mr. Olds tells the story of gentleman, gambler, gunslinger, Doc Holliday by using just about every literary device he can get his hands on. There are lists informative, monologues instructive, histories illuminating, "facts astronomical, solemn or comical." Infectious, and had there been a way to connect a PowerPoint between the bindings I think Mr. Olds would have done it.

Even with all the wild technique, "Bucking the Tiger," is a biography (of sorts, maybe a "mytho-biography" would be more like it,) a love story, an adventure both meta and physical, a treatise (on poker, gunslinging, and death,) and ultimately rather touching.

I recommend this book for a story interestingly told, and for a shower of language and verbal effects that were quite refreshing.

Mr. Olds goes for it, mixing present day idiom, old time-y western vernacular and a few words that are exotics. However the somteimes borderline stylings are used in an effective telling of an interesting tale. I do wonder how in describing Holliday's first kill, he selected "invaginating" to describe what the knife did to the victim. The victims guts can invaginate the blade, but not vice versa. Anyway, so what if Old's does seem to over work things a little at times, it's worth it for having a story that weaves together 19th century text book accounts of disease etiology with Doc's gambling rules and the rememberances of colorful characters.

Jason

Readers who demand a simple, chronologically linear narrative, please apply elsewhere. "Bucking the Tiger" is a fever dream of a novel, kaleidoscopic in its fragmented vision and very nearly hallucinatory in its voices. There is nothing straightforward about this book, an ambitious labyrinth largely made up of first person observations from Doc himself and Big Nose Kate and Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson and Dodge City whores and TV cowboy show heroes. Even Thomas Berger's Jack Crabb makes a walk-on appearance under another name. The Doc Holliday within its pages is something of a Gilgamesh in ancestry, one third man and two thirds cinematic image. In the Gunfight (almost) at the OK Corral segment - hands down, the best recreation of that event I have ever read - picture Val Kilmer in the starring role. And from that starting point, Olds delves deep into the mind of Holliday. When you pick up this book, prepare to be dazzled by pyrotechnics and perhaps occasionally daunted by its determinedly literary demeanor. Just don't expect Louis Lamour.