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The organization of the book is well done, beginning with a Chronology. The entries, which follow, are probably out of neccessity quite brief, yet for the most part helpful. I would have preferred if their sources would have been cited, as then the Book would have been of use to Scholars. The plots of the Novels are given, sometimes Chapter by Chapter, but there is little interpretation. I have found so far, several minor errors, which are not too serious, and hope will be corrected in subsequent editions. There follow a Melville Family Tree, a Caterogical Index, a useful but not comprehensive Bibliography and finally a General Index.
I think on the whole this book is well done in its scope. It is easily accessible and well priced, but is not useful for Scholarly Research, which is, I gather not its intent. Still, the concept is a good one and I can think of at least twenty Authors for who I would like to see a similar Guide.
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For instance, Carl shows how a deficient ecclesiology (theology of the church) and a misunderstanding of the Israel-Church relationship reverberate throughout the theology of premillenial dispensationalism, with eschatology (theology of the end times) being greatly effected.
This book helped me to better understand not only why some Christians believe in the rapture, but also why they separate themselves so strongly from the world, instead of seeking to transform it (Chuck Colson is an excellent example of the latter).
Truly a great, great book, well worth a place on your bookshelf.
What Carl Olson has provided is a thorough analysis through excellent scholarship. He shows how the whole world-view of the rapture, while emotionally appealing to some, is a long way from the truth. Taking the emotion out of the equation allows exploration of all the ancillary assumptions that lead to the emotional buy-in to what is at best a questionable doctrine.
Along the way, the depth of theology explored here ultimately leads to a renewed faith in the true doctrines of the Church, a better understanding of our place in the Church, and the reality of the Church itself, the Church that Jesus personally established on Earth. What a wonderful gift that is!
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Unlike the "Elites" book which relies on bang 'em up, shoot 'em up high-powered combat (not that there's anything wrong with that), this book takes a low-powered thoughtful approach to the campaign. Most of the organization is made from normal humans who are forced to match wits with Nova's who can tear cities apart with their bare hands.
If you thought the Directive was another "Big Brother" organization, like I did, you are partially right, but compared to Project Utopia and many of the high powered psychotics running around, they are the lesser of many evil's. The Directive is not above invasion of privacy or even torture, but when you are facing down bad guys who could kill you with a glance, it is supposed you will do what you have to do.
This is definitely the book for a thinking man's party. The players must rely on subterfuge and strategy, and there are a few new rules, skills and backgrounds to complement this game-play along with a slew of new weapons. Low powered Nova's suddenly become far more interesting in this type of scenario.
If you like James Bond, Ronin (the Robert DeNiro movie) or X-Files, chances are you'll like this book. These guys are more than just spy's though. They are humanities first line of defence against the gods who live among us.
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Each time they credit her with something, within the next sentence or two they somehow take it back, or cast doubt on it. Only her battles with cancer are described with anything like sympathy.
Apparently it is beyond them that a woman, and a beautiful woman at that, could produce some of the most important essays of our time. That she has changed her position on some issues is treated as some sort of betrayal, hypocracy, or attempts to jump on a particular bandwagon. Perhaps, like the intelligent woman she is, she re-thought some of her earlier positions.
Why they wrote this book is beyond me.