Here are two suggestions for reading as summer activities wind down and our fall schedules begin:
Books reviewed:
Jean Bethke Elshtain, Just War Against Terror: The Burden of American Power in a Violent World. New York: Basic Books, 2003. 250 pages.
Edward Leroy Long Jr., Facing Terrorism: Responding As Christians. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2004. 117 Pages.
Oliver O'Donovan, The Just War Revisited. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
by Jonathan Sacks
(New York: Continuum, 2002 with four reprints; ISBN 0 8264 6850 0)
If you are concerned about the world, and wonder if there is any hope for the crises and complexities of our times, and if you care about faith and relationships around the globe, this is a book for you.
The year: 2020. Jonathan Sacks, philosopher and theologian, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth (UK), paints two different pictures of how the world could be.
In one wonderful vision, the year 2020 brings the dawning of "a world of global prosperity and peace." Information technology and high-speed communication have doubled real incomes in the space of 20 years. The dangers of overpopulation have been removed. Genetically modified crops have made starvation a thing of the past. The latest in education curricula reach the most remote African villages via the Internet. Low-cost medical treatments have brought AIDS, TB and malaria under control. International agreements have put an end to the injustices and tensions, the inequity and exploitation that characterized the first years of the 21st century.
by Drew Hansen. New York: Ecco, 2003. ISBN 0060084774. $13.95. 293 pp.
It has been 37 years since an assassin's bullet tragically ended the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. A stone marker at the base of that balcony on the grounds of what is now the National Civil Rights Museum has an eerie quotation from the book of Genesis, "Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him ... and we shall see what will become of his dreams."
Dr. King's "dream" led to monumental changes in American culture and we all share a debt of gratitude for his selfless prophecy and vigilance. But if he were alive today, I am certain Dr. King would remind us that his "dream" has not been fully realized. In our country today, the issues of "residential segregation, inequalities in education and poverty among Americans of all races" threaten the very fabric of our democracy.
By Ronald C. White Jr. (New York: Random House, 2005. Pp. xxiii, 448. $26.95)
Ronald C. White's new book is a thorough and engaging study of the rhetoric of Abraham Lincoln's major speeches and public letters. The focus on language is clear throughout: White argues that Lincoln carefully crafted his words to address specific situations and persuade his immediate audiences. Yet The Eloquent President is not a literary study per se; it avoids technical, theoretically informed analysis in favor of straightforward readings discussed against the background of the day-to-day life and social encounters of the Civil War President. This is a well-written book without a heavy-handed message or strong thesis. It reads easily and yet makes serious points.
"Dark Water" is one of those creepy/tingly films that you don't think you want to see, then pulls you into its dreary, dank interior until you go home not wanting to turn on a water faucet.
Jennifer Connelly plays Dahlia, a just-separated Mom in the midst of trying to work with mediators about the visitation arrangements. It's wearying business. Each parent is trying to undermine the other, and both firmly believe they're operating in the best interests of the child, but they're too emotionally involved to separate that from their own best interests. The Dad, Kyle (Dougray Scott) is not portrayed as an uncaring monster, but is just frustrated enough to be believable, especially as he loses his temper over the way she remembers a shared past. He thinks she's re-writing history. She thinks that he could not possibly be as good a parent as she is. And so they stalk off to their respective desultory apartments.
by Donald W. Shriver Jr. (New York, Oxford University Press, 2005, 285 pages)
A dishonest patriot believes that his or her country can do no wrong and calls anyone who disagrees a traitor.
A dishonest patriot benefits from prejudicial laws and advocates special interests above public interest.
An honest patriot is acutely aware of both the strengths and weakness of his or her country. He or she works hard to celebrate the good while correcting the bad so that a spirit of humility and gratitude will bless the future.
This book, by the well-respected ethicist, Donald W. Shriver Jr., is a sustained effort to develop in responsible detail a portrait of an honest patriot. It is a sequel to Shriver's 1995 work, An Ethic for Enemies-Forgiveness in Politics. The author is president emeritus of Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
Yes, it's the Crusades, and the Church can't help but come off badly: you'll save your immortal soul if you'll go kill some infidels?
But for those who love the Church, it's worse than that: early on, the parish priest goes to the blacksmith's shop to assure the young recent widower that his wife is surely in Hell because she committed suicide (after the death of her baby). Not only that, the "helpful" priest reminds the grieving blacksmith that his wife's head was severed prior to burial, so she's in Hell headless, as well. This gruesome representative of the Church doesn't promise the young blacksmith that going on the Crusade will deliver his wife from Hell, but does try the "save your own soul" appeal. We hardly want to blame the enraged blacksmith for applying his rage to the incredibly insensitive priest.
by Francis Taylor Gench, (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 2004).
In this recent book by the author of Hebrews and James in the Westminster Bible Companion series, Francis Taylor Gench provides a sparkling discussion of six gospel encounters between women and Jesus. This book offers fresh readings of familiar stories by allowing a range of scholarly voices, especially feminist voices, to raise key questions and new perspectives about the meaning of the narratives in their ancient and contemporary settings.
The book begins with Matthew's story of the Canaanite woman (or the Syro-Phoenician woman, as Mark refers to her) and Jesus. This story is notable for being the only one in the gospels in which Jesus, who is portrayed in an unflattering light, receives instruction rather than gives it! Gench notes the persistence and ingenuity inherent in Matthew's presentation of the woman who changed Jesus' mind regarding his mission to the Gentiles.
British humor: an ordinary bloke gets to tour the galaxies with hyperspace intergalactic travel, and all he can think about is that he can't get a good cup of tea anywhere.
Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) wakes up one morning in his ramshackle house in the country, only to discover that the wrecking crew has arrived to level his modest home, because they're going to build a bypass there. He lies in front of a bulldozer in his bathrobe to protest. The construction supervisor tells him that it's a useless gesture, because the decision's already been made. In the meantime, his friend Ford Prefect (Mos Def) scurries toward him, anxious to get him to the nearest pub to drink a couple of quick pints before the world ends. Yes, Mr. Prefect, it turns out, is an alien, and he's planning to beam up to the spaceship via his thumb ring before the world explodes. You see, the planet Earth, also, has been scheduled for demolition in order to make way for a highway in space.
It loses some of its force because it is fictional. But it could be about any number of countries in Africa that are all too non-fiction: genocides, ethnic cleansing, brutal slayings, mass graves, thousands of victims, thousands of refugees, thousands of the disinherited and dispossessed, thousands of expatriates yearning to go home, except home will never be the same.
Any movie that begins with an execution by children is going to be sobering throughout. "The Interpreter" is a serious film intended to be taken seriously.
Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian, by Thomas G. Long. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004. ISBN 0-7879-6832-3.
The writer of 1 Peter encouraged followers of Jesus to be prepared always to account for the hope that is in them (1 Peter 3:15-16). Perhaps this accounts for the fear that is within us.
Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
ISBN 978-0-374-15389-2. 247 pages. $23.00.
Gilead, the 2005 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, is a quiet book. The rhythm is slow, the thought deep, the language reserved, and the action understated. A reader looking for lurid sex, violence, or dramatic action scenes, will be disappointed.
by Andrew Purves. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press. 2004. pp. ixxxv, 236.
Pastors ought to read this book. It concerns the very important foundations that underlie much that we do as pastors. Its title, Reconstructing Pastoral Theology: A Christological Foundation, indicates the combination that makes this book so valuable—pastoral care with Christology.
by Jim Wallis. (Amazon Link)
Though I am not a big fan of bumper sticker theology, during the 2004 presidential elections, I did find one bumper sticker that I strongly felt should have a place on my car. I ordered the bumper sticker from the Sojourners community in Washington D.C. The sticker reads, “God is not a Republican or a Democrat.” Amen!
by Steven P. Eason. Louisville: Geneva Press, 2004. ISBN 0-664-50263-6. $19.95.
(Amazon Link)
The Book of Order states that “The minutes of session shall record the completion of a period of study and preparation” for newly- elected officers in the church. After that time of preparation, “the session shall examine them as to their personal faith; knowledge of the doctrine, government, and discipline contained in the Constitution of the church; and the duties of the office.”
By Ernest Lee Stoffel
Smythe & Helwys. 1999. 104 pp.
ISBN 1-57312-261-0
— Review by Robert V. Sturdivant, Cary, N.C.
In The Apocalyptic Resurrection of Jesus, Ernest Lee Stoffel offers a refreshing account of Jesus' resurrection.
Reacting against interpretations of the resurrection as mere myth, legend or symbol, and likewise that of literal persuasion, Stoffel prefers an alternative he identifies as embodying apocalyptic language, imagery and thought. Apocalyptic language, he notes, was known and in use at the time of Jesus.
For a good, old-fashioned family movie, this one has it all: a timeless small town, a cute little girl, a well-meaning but distracted Dad, a few colorful secondary characters, and a dog who has an amazing capacity for bringing the humans closer together.
Annasophia Robb plays Opal, the pig-tailed 10-year old with the skinny legs and the big, blue innocent eyes and a wise-beyond-her-years outlook. She moves to this small town because her Dad (Jeff Daniels) is the new preacher. The church is just forming, and is meeting in a convenience store.
Opal describes her Dad, whom she also calls "Preacher", as a tortoise always going back inside its shell. He seems to spend a lot of time in their mobile home reading the Bible, but not much time going out and seeing people. He's sad because his wife, Opal's Mom, left him several years ago, he says, because she couldn't stand being a preacher's wife. So his resentment of his profession hangs with him along with his gritty determination to keep doing it, because he's already paid too high a price not to continue.
I liked it better than "Hoosiers."
In "Hoosiers," the new high school coach in a small Indiana town in the '50's preached teamwork, teamwork, teamwork, pass the ball, set picks, four passes before every shot, and then when the star shooter arrived, all that went out the window.
His big motivational ploy was to get them to measure the hoop when they went to the State tournament. They reported it as ten feet from the floor, the same height as every basketball hoop. It was his way of demonstrating to them that they didn't need to be intimidated. And in the end, they go all the way to the State Finals.
Now it's the '90's. Coach Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) arrives at Richmond High in California, a school that graduates only 50% of its students; a school where only 6% go to college. When he preaches "teamwork, teamwork, teamwork," he means more than passing the ball to the best shooter, or running a trap play to force a turnover. He means taking responsibility for yourself, and for everyone else on the team.
by Warren Goldstein (New Haven: Yale University, 2004)
In his biography entitled, William Sloane Coffin Jr.: A Holy Impatience, Warren Goldstein reminds us of a person who made a deep impression on may of us during the last four decades of our lives.
It's not a new plot idea. Kids languish in an orphanage. New teacher comes and gets them energized. There's no real plot surprise here, it's all in how it's done. And 'The Chorus' is done in such a way that makes it seem real and heart-warming at the same time.There's precious little sugarcoating. It's mostly struggle, and conflict, with just a few moments of tenderness to make it even bearable.
The music teacher Clement Mathieu (Gerard Tugnot) is admittedly depressed as he shuffles into the dilapidated-looking French boys' orphanage in 1949. He's failed at being a professional musician. It seems that nobody really wants to pay to listen to his music. He's put his compositions away, in a leather satchel, and hidden them in the closet of his bare room at the orphanage. Metal bunk bed, wooden dresser, straight chair. The only woman around is the maid, who is seen little and heard from even less.
By Arthur Herman
New York: Three Rivers Press (Random House), 2001, ISBN 0-609- 80999-7, 472 pp. $14.95
The title of Arthur Herman’s book, How the Scots Invented the Modern World, has that flavor of a college debate topic: The students are called to show a more confident than comprehensive grasp of some enormous subject, like modernity.
Living on the Borders of Eternity, by Robert Bluford, Jr.; Historic Polegreen Press: Mechanicsville, Va.; 500 pages, paperback. ISBN: 0-9754215-0-6,
Cost: $24.95, shipping and handling included.
Here is a little quiz. Pick out the people who are not Presbyterian in this list: Andrew Jackson, Woodrow Wilson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, John Foster Dulles, John C. Calhoun, John Witherspoon, John Glenn, Jimmy Stewart, Fred Rogers.
The Reformation: A History, by Diarmaid MacCulloch, Viking, 2003. 700 pages
When I picked up McCulloch's magisterial history of the Reformation, I thought perhaps I would spend a couple of hours dipping into it. I was in for a surprise. This large work of nearly 700 pages became almost an obsession for me as I engaged in a dialogue with this British theologian who has given us a passionate and opinion-filled discussion of the events we call the Reformation.
'The Polar Express' is an animation film that features Tom Hanks voicing several roles on his way to making a Christmas movie that looks and feels really different, especially on IMAX.
Our unnamed hero is a little boy who's just old enough to start doubting Santa Claus. He overhears his parents telling each other that he's shared his doubts with his younger sister. The mother and dad say, 'This may be the last year of the magic.' The little boy falls asleep, and the next thing he knows, a big train pulls up in his front yard, where the conductor offers to take him to the North Pole.
© Copyright 2026 The Presbyterian Outlook. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Statement. Website by Web Publisher PRO
