This book is indeed interesting, some of the time. There are long stretches of paragraphs that are a bit of a struggle to read through, particularly the sections on psychology and postmodernism.

The most interesting passages are about the other major religions,how they came to be, and the influence they have on Christianity.

Now back to the reason I claim this book to be inconsistent. There are sections that expound on a "faith only" salvation, and how fundamentalist "cults" believe too much in a literal translation of the bible and salvation through "works." While these authors go to great lengths to show that faith is the only need for salvation, the second half of the book discusses declining morality in the world. If works are not necessary to Christianity, then why should morality be promoted? Wouldn't living a moral life be a "work?" I find it foolish to say that all you must do to be saved is believe and have faith. Why would the bible exist with all of those "rules and regulations", if faith alone was enough to save?

This book is otherwise a fine discourse on upholding your belief in an almighty God and His plans for His creation.

Boa and Bowman's book offers a consisten presentation of an evangelical Christian worldview. Contrary to another reviewer of this book, evangelicals are not inconsistent when they maintain that we are saved through faith alone and at the same time maintain that there are moral absolutes that we ought to uphold. The evangelical view is not that works are unimportant, but that none of us can attain a right standing before God on the basis of our works. In other words, being good is definitely important, but none of us is good enough. That's why Christ died on the cross! The whole point is that we have all violated God's moral absolute standards, and therefore we all deserve his punishment. Yet, by his mercy, we may be forgiven and reconciled to God, and spared that punishment, because Christ died in our place. This basic Christian belief cannot be maintained without also maintaining that such moral absolutes exist.

I highly recommend this book.

This book merely whets one's appetite. The arguments presented are truly compelling evidences for God's existence as the title suggests, but they lack the detailed substance that the topic requires. But readers are forced to dig elsewhere to resolve missing details. This entire book is like a preface to the real arguments. It's best feature are it's quotes, bibliographies and endnotes. These features lead the reader on to more meaty details. This book does a valuable service in introducing (scientific and theological) laymen to the true arguments and debates that surround the evidences presented here. The writing is geared to people who are just getting acquainted with the arguments. Folks with some study behind them will be disappointed. Look through the notes and bibliography and if you've read 50% of what's there, you can pass the book along to an uninitiated friend. However, another valuable service of the book is that it provides easy to remember analogies that readers can carry with them into discussions on God's existence. If you've ever been in a discussion and couldn't quite remember the facts of your case, their handy analogies will prove a big help. I believe it's still worth having as an introduction and for it's references. Their writing style is easy and fluid as well.

Vascular surgery is an essential part of the general surgicalresidency training and this atlas provides the goods. Excellentillustrations and a nice basic approach make this book very easy to use. I keep it handy in my call room for a quick review before each case.

If you are interested in counselling and have a soft spot for the exuberant, exasperating, funny and irrepressible Toad - the riverbank celebrity in Kenneth Grahame's Wind in the Willows - you will find Robert de Board's book absorbing, amusing and informative. On a belated visit to Toad Hall, Mole finds the formerly splendid gardens overgrown, the once grand entertaining rooms and guest rooms closed up, and his erstwhile hero and friend Toad reduced to the state of embarrassed and unkempt hermit in his own kitchen. What will happen now that Toad's bonhomie has bottomed out? Will the wildwooders will finally gain the upper hand? And, worst of all, is the riverbank to lose its most colourful character?

Relating his discovery to Ratty, the riverbank friends decide that there is only one road left for Toad to travel; the path of self-discovery and personal development through counselling. But de Board's book is touching and engaging rather than po-faced or pontificating, as it traces this most life-changing of Toad's adventures. In keeping with the best of humorous writing, Counselling for Toads, is serious at heart. This is likely to make it especially palatable to those with a healthy streak of scepticism about the value of therapy. de Board gives an excellent introduction to the aims of counselling, the nature of the therapeutic relationship and the nuts and bolts of Transactional Analysis. While it is easy to read, it does not shy away from technical terms where these are necessary.

Discover the roots of Toad's penchant for adventure as he tells Heron, his counsellor, of his childhood and his relationships with family and friends. Toad's encounter with therapy turns out to be an education not only for this deserving hero, but for all those who would be close to him.

Over the past two decades democratic governments have spread over the world. The Turkish coup in 1980 appears in retrospect to have been the last of its kind in Europe. While the seventies had marked some important victories for democracy (in Spain, Portugal and Greece) it also faced some major setbacks (in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay). In 1982 and 1983 with the return of consitutional government in Brazil and Argentina, democracy increasingly gained momentum. One victory followed another: the Phillipines in 1986, South Korea in 1987, Pakistan in 1988, the liberation of Eastern Europe in 1989, peace in Central America and the victory of Patricio Aylwin in Chile in 1990, the return to multiparty government in much of Africa, the recognition of the PLO in 1993, the election of Nelson Mandela in 1994. Even Iran has a quasi-parliamentary government, even China has multicandidate local elections.

But something is missing. Why is it that the old cliches about voting ("If voting could things it would be abolished") and choice ("In New Hampshire your house can be any colour you want, as long as it is white") have such resonance? Why does it appear that as the number of democracies increase, the actual options they have decrease? This is the subject of Roberts' important book on the fate of the Chilean and Peruvian left. Although somewhat repetitive and poorly written Roberts presents an important account of the problems facing democracy today.

Roberts' title refers to the idea of "deepening democracy." Instead of imposing the autocratic and ultimately inefficient state socialisms of the past, many Latin American leftists looked to more grassroots and localized decision-making. Such decision making would be healthier than the clientist approach of many previous Latin American populists. At the same time they sought to create a strategy that would not concentrate in classic Marxist fashion on the industrial working-class, historically a relatively small portion of the Latin American population. Instead they would concentrate on new popular movements (women, environmental, leftist Christians, local, etc) to supplement their base. In turn they would also remove their utopian and Leninist illusions of the past which encouraged them to undervalue Liberal Democracy and which encouraged a polarization that led to their defeat.

So far, so good, but the results, as Roberts shows, is very depressing. The savagery of the Pinochet years shattered the traditional trade union movements, industrial base, and what peasant base the left had. The result was a powerful atomization that limited the capacity of the left to get popular support. Of course, Pinochet ensured that the new constitutional order would leave the army's privileges intact and give the Right special bonuses. Moderate Socialist intellectuals theorized about how "deepening democracy" might serve as a substitute for attempts to abolish capitalism outright. In practice, however, they favored a policy of compromise with moderate centrists. Fearing that an aggressive, or even moderately principled position, would encourage the right to support a return to dictatorship, the moderate Left did nothing to encourage or mobilize the grassroots for a more radical democracy. It could provide little help to a shattered trade union movement. Instead political life has been demobilized, with political life confined to elections and the rather atomistic and limited viewpoint it fosters. At the same time the once strong Chilean Communist Party has not moved beyond the limits of a Vanguard Leninist strategy which hampers mobilizing the Chilean population.

Even more distressing is the situation in Peru, where the United Left got a third of the vote in the mid-eighties and at one point seemed to be about to win the presidency. But in a brilliant chapter Roberts shows how it all fell apart. The union movement and much of the hard work the Left had put into organizing the shantytowns of Lima collapsed in the late 1980s when the economy collapsed. At the same time the terrorist Sendero Luminiso encouraged popular fear and panic while brutally attacking the Democratic Left's institutions. Meanwhile the United Left became divided between its moderate and leftist forces. "Indeed, the moderate and radical agendas were mutually negating: the electoralism of Barrantes marginalized and diffused the grass-roots organs of popular power that were integral to the PUM's strategy, while its radical demands polarized the political arena in ways that made it impossible for Barrantes to perform an integrative role." Economic disaster shattered the grassroots groups and it also put the political institutions of the country into contempt, so both radical and moderate approaches failed. Instead into the vacuum appeared Alberto Fujimori who established an authoritarian regime occasionally vindicated by elections. Roberts concludes that "democracy is not served by self-containment, it thrives on deep social roots, a broad base of support, and a capacity to adapt to changing circumstances and newly emerging social pressures, all of which require a participatory civil society." Instead of a vibrant democracy we get an emasculated one, with consequences to be felt far into the future. Maybe forever.

My mother worked in the garment industry in PA her entire life and this book tells me the story of how that happened. My mom was a staunch supporter of the ILGWU and now I know why. I highly recommend this book to anyone who had family that worked in the early days of unionization. It's a wonderful depiction of some very courageous women and men.

If you work for hematology, this book is so nice to learn the basic line. I think the way of learning the basic line is the most important part for the medical students and residents. Of course, you must learn the latest things more with the internet. Sometimes this book is not enough for you, but with internet, it is quite enough.

This is a nice, gift-type book of 175 pages that provides short, general introductions to prominent Christian authors from the last two thousand years. Each author is allotted two pages and excerpts from their writings are presented along with a relevant picture or two. The book covers 76 authors who are almost evenly divided into three general (and, in some cases, arbitrary) categories: spirituality, testimony, and philosophy. Part I, Spirituality, begins with the biblical writer John and ends with Friedrich von Hugel. In between are included such mystics as John Climacus, Johannes Tauler, John of the Cross, and Jean-Pierre de Caussade. Part II, Testimony, begins with the biblical writer Luke and ends with Terese of Lisieux. Other authors included are Augustine of Hippo, Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, George Fox, and Jonathan Edwards. Part III, Philosophy, begins with the apostle Paul and ends with Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In between are such authors as Origen, Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, Eckhart, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jacobus Arminius, Blaise Pascal, and Soren Kierkegaard.

This book would make a wonderful gift for a new Christian or someone who is unfamiliar with the classic authors of Christian literature, but keep in mind that only two one-sided pages are given to each author, so one can hardly get to know the authors introduced. A useful, companion volume to this book (also general in nature) is Terry Glaspey's "Great Books of the Christian Tradition" which introduces one to many of the classic books of Christianity. For nice summaries of the classics of Christian literature, I recommend books edited by Frank N. Magill and Ian P. McGreal such as "Masterpieces of Christian Literature" and "Christian Spirituality" or the one edited by Magill, "Masterpieces of Catholic Literature". Some of these latter books, unfortunately, are out of print but may be located in used book stores. After one has been introduced to some of the classics, one should immediately begin reading them. Many of the Christian classics of spirituality are included in the Paulist Press series called "The Classics of Western Spirituality". Also check out the Ancient Christian Writers series by Newman Press (an imprint of Paulist Press). For those interested in Christian mysticism, see the wonderful, pictorial gift-type book by Ursula King entitled "Christian Mystics". May God richly bless you in your reading endeavors!

As a chinese who is not capable of fast-reading, I appreciate that the authors make it comfortale to read and loss no details. I like the sections of menstrual cycle, vaginal infecion, and genital neoplasms. Compared to the Novak's, the Kistner's is easier and I say -more sensible- to readers.

My professor suggested this book and deemed it the "Bible on Evidence". I bought it and it is. A great book that will clear up many of your questions. If you don't understand what your law professor is saying, this book will make it clearer.