This illustration of the four gospel writers comes from the Book of Deer, the earliest surviving example of Gaelic literature from Scotland. The Book of Deer is an illuminated Christian text, similar to the Book of Kells. It is named after the monastery of Deer and contains portions of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark andContinue reading “The book of Deer”
Tag Archives: books
Unimpressed by the Dhammapada
Not overly impressed by the Dhammapada … which I finally got around to finishing this evening. Very repetitive. Lots of do bad and you’ll be damned, do good and you’ll be blessed kind of stuff. Like the book of Proverbs without the essential grace aspect. Not nearly as interesting as the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā by Nagarjuna. I supposeContinue reading “Unimpressed by the Dhammapada”
Book of Cerne
This image is from the book of Cerne, an ancient Celtic Christian text featuring Gospel extracts, Pslams, hymns, prayers and an apocryphal “Harrowing of Hell”. It was used by the ancients for private prayers and devotions. Shown here is the opening of the Gospel of Luke, featuring an image of Luke above his symbol, the Ox.
Gita and Gospel
From John Nicol Farquhar, 1861-1929: “Here, then, we have the secret of that similarity which we are all so clearly conscious of, when we read a Gospel alongside of the Gita. In the Gospels we have in historical form the authoritative utterances of the historical Jesus; in the Gita we have the imaginations of aContinue reading “Gita and Gospel”
Reborn on the Fourth of July: The Challenge of Faith, Patriotism & Conscience
When ranking a book I look for three things. Was it thoughtful? Was it readable? Did it leave me different afterwards? Having just devoured “ReBorn on the Fourth of July: The Challenge of Faith, Patriotism & Conscience” by Logan Mehl-Laituri, I’m giving it 5 stars. I just couldn’t put it down and even now I’mContinue reading “Reborn on the Fourth of July: The Challenge of Faith, Patriotism & Conscience”
Books, Books, Books
I been buying books! Here’s my latest Kindle acquisitions: Prodigal God by Timothy Keller ($8.66) Bringing the Gospel Home: Witnessing to Your Family Members, Close Friends, and Others Who Know You Well by Randy Newman ($9.00) Virtue Reborn by Tom Wright ($9.99) Jesus@Work by Graham Beynon ($1.00) A Contemporary Anabaptist Theology: Biblical, Historical, Constructive byContinue reading “Books, Books, Books”
Best Sellers in Hinduism
Every now and then I find it helpful to take a wider look at the spiritual currents moving through our culture, beyond my direct experience of it. In that respect I sometimes find it informative to look at what’s selling in bookstore like Amazon. So tonight I thought I’d take a look at the bestContinue reading “Best Sellers in Hinduism”
More significant than the Dead Sea Scrolls?
“They could be the earliest Christian writing in existence, surviving almost 2,000 years in a Jordanian cave. They could, just possibly, change our understanding of how Jesus was crucified and resurrected, and how Christianity was born.” – BBC That’s a lot of “if’s” for such a short statement. Some are claiming these books are more significantContinue reading “More significant than the Dead Sea Scrolls?”
What covers CAN tell you about books
The other week I drew attention to some esoteric difference between Dispensational Theology, Covenant Theology and Christocentric Theology. Now, given the launch of Jesus Manifesto this week, I thought it might be timely to draw attention to how theological themes can practically manifest in book titles. Here’s some examples: Reformed Influenced / Covenant Theology DesiringContinue reading “What covers CAN tell you about books”
Trends in Christian Publishing
Need therapy? This evening I spent some time looking for trends in Christian publishing, guessing book sales could serve as a good litmus test for shifts in Christian focus amongst the Christian community. So I located a current list of best sellers according to the Christian Booksellers Association and ran it through a text analyser. The results? The top keywords wereContinue reading “Trends in Christian Publishing”
Curious Christian 