Reflections of the Kingdom

The Translation of the Seventy: History, Reception, and Contemporary Use of the Septuagint by Edmon L. Gallagher My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a scholastic text that primarily appeals to readers with at least a passing interest in early judeo-christian texts, specifically the text known as the Septuagint that became the foundation of the Christian Old Testament in the Early Church. “This book introduces the Septuagint and explores how early Christians made use of it.” What may be surprising to some readers is the evidence supporting the variety/plurality of sacred text and the challenges inherent to translation and transmission across the ages. This was apparently illustrated early in Christian patristic commentaries from Origen, Jerome and Augustine amongst others. What was surprising to me is the evidence that the New Testament makes references to the [expanded] Septuagint (LXX), the Masoretic Text (MT) and other unknown texts and even points to an evol...

After Jesus, Before Christianity: A Historical Exploration of the First Two Centuries of Jesus Movements by Erin Vearncombe My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book comes out of the same organization that gives us the Jesus Seminar (Westar Christianity Seminar) where scholars attempted to identify the Real Jesus within the Gospels with mixed reviews (frequently drawing criticism from the more fundamental wing of Christianity).  This book follows that process with the authors/contributors stating at the very beginning that “One of the core contributions of this book is its rejection of the master narrative.”  So buckle up … controversy awaits us. What we find over twenty chapters is how [these] scholars put together current research and understanding of the first two centuries after the crucification to build a narrative that an incredibly diverse movement that challenges orthodoxy in 6 areas: 1.    They resisted the Roman Empire by invoking the ...

How God Works: The Science Behind the Benefits of Religion by David DeSteno My rating: 4 of 5 stars The book looks at the intersection of Science and Religion by digging into the realm of human psychology and sociology to understand the impact of belief/faith, ritual/practice and cognitive dissonance encountered within a religious framework (even removed from the spiritual connections) on general health and wellbeing.  This is an ambitious goal to be sure.  The basic premise is that the relative success of religion through-out human history points to something they must be doing right … and the author calls these "spiritual technologies.”  He then makes a parallel with the bioprospecting of biologics in the early history of modern medicine to argue that we should also be examining these spiritual technologies to see what actually works and why.   “Recent experiments have shown that even an arbitrary set of actions, when ritualized, ...

The Return of the God Hypothesis: Compelling Scientific Evidence for the Existence of God by Stephen C. Meyer My rating: 3 of 5 stars I enjoyed this book, albeit from the aspect of somebody that didn't need much convincing. It starts with a quick review of the "war" between science and faith, pointing out how religion (specifically Christianity) helped jump start what eventually becomes the scientific method, the foundation of modern science today. Then it moves into a discussion [in Part II] on the improbability of life anywhere in the universe if the conditions for life were not so finely tuned, suggesting the existence of intelligent design (very similar to Schroeder's Science of God, with more detail and better support).  Unfortunately the bulk of the argument in support of the "God Hypothesis" realistically stops there ... without definitive proof of Divine Creator, the author then advances the idea that Intelligent D...

The Sinner's Guide by Louis of Granada My rating: 4 of 5 stars Narration : Was a good fit for the [academic/religious] text. Recommended Speed 1.25x This is pretty much what you would expect in something written by a devout religious circa 1567. Ven. Louis presents a number of theological examinations that explore why we should (motive) practice virtue, and what benefits (privilege) we receive when we do so. As perhaps expected, these maxims are intended to guide for christian meditations more than an apologetic, so the "Pretty Prose" probably won't mean much to anyone looking for ration persuasion. It will however, provide points on which the faithful can think about in order to enrich an already existing (even if newly formed) faith. It should come as no surprise that the text has a more Catholic point of view given the time it was written and the affiliation of the author with the Dominican Order of Preachers (which was actually ...