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This was a great read and it isn’t “heavy” history. The author, Frederick L. Allen covers everything from fashion, to sexual norms, to the average workday of a married couple, ramifications of prohibition to the financial collapse of the stock market. You’ll feel like you KNOW the 20’s after reading it. It’s a highly acclaimed NYT Bestseller. Available in Kindle and Paperback. I bought his work on the 1930’s, after reading this. (Click the cover to get it on Amazon.)
Fresh Factor ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ (1 rehash; 5 New information . . . for me at least)
I had not read much on this period other than Calvin Coolidge biographies and autobiographies.
Fun ♣ ♣ ♣ (1 not that enjoyable; 5 barely put it down)
Pretty entertaining, some chapters more than others.
Easy/Difficult ♣ ♣ (Kid’s comics being 1, Finnegan’s Wake by Joyce or War and Peace by Tolstoy being 5)
Practical ♣ ♣ (Affects everyday living. 1 is not that practical; 5 is life shaping/ paradigm transforming)
Lessons: Don’t repeat the mistakes this period in history such as “playing the market” in speculation. It will ALWAYS self-correct.
This week I watched two view worthy documentaries on atheism and intelligent design. (I also watched a documentary called The God Who Isn’t There but it well lacked the scholarly weight of the two I am recommending).
The first, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed was written from intelligent design perspective of the always witty Ben Stein.
The second, Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus, was hosted by the likeable and friendly atheist Randy Olson (I mean that).
Both documentaries are available on netflix. They pair to make a nice viewing from two opposite perspectives. Both hosts are guys with whom you would generally love “to hang.” Watching these reminds me of the degree of faith that both sides must use in defense of their case. It also spurred me to further reading as I go back and revisit the subject of philosophical atheism. I am reading at the far ends of the spectrum. Click the book cover to view in Amazon. Save paper and shelf-space with a Kindle.
One book by a former evangelical pastor who turned atheist.
Another by one of the foremost former defenders of atheism now turned theist.
_________
One book by a respected astronomer on intelligent design.
One re-reading of a book by a vehement evangelist of atheism.
________
And finally one by a renowned scholar who argues for the veracity of the Gospels based upon the fact that they are eyewitness accounts and not merely the gathering of distant oral traditions. This because so many atheists and Jesus Seminar types still lean on the legacy of form criticism to doubt the historical reliability of the Gospels as redacted to serve only the faith communities’ interest regardless of truth.
Of course I am doing a lot of Bible reading alongside these with a bit of lighter-fun reading so I don’t lose my mind or my soul in the process..ha!
I will review some of these here after I complete them or point to other solid reviews. I will also recommend a couple of more works that I have already read or plan to read soon on this topic in the next few days.
God’s Empowering Presence by Gordon Fee
Why I read it? This is a reference book on every passage in the Pauline Epistle’s dealing with the Holy Spirit. I was using it for sermon prep this week and decided to post it here. Fee is both a charismatic and a respected New Testament scholar. Thus, you get an extremely balanced and grounded Scriptural treatment of the Holy Spirit by someone who believes the Holy Spirit is alive and kicking.
Why should you read it? If you have wanted a comprehensive (note 967 pages) view of the Holy Spirit from a balanced position, this is your book. The book is organized by Scripture reference which makes it super easy to find that for which you are looking. If you are brave enough to read it cover to cover, you would have incredible insight on the oft misunderstood person of the Trinity. A daring attempt would be to read through the Epistles in 2011 to gain an deeper understanding and experience of the Spirit with this book as a sidekick.
The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate by John H. Walton
Why I read it? I was looking for a strong non-concordist (meaning, not everything in Genesis 1 was written to be a metaphysical blow by blow account) defense after reading some works from a different viewpoint by Edgar Andrews in Who Made God and Christ and the Cosmos . Many of the defenses of the non-concordist position claim the Genesis account is poetic but don’t go on to give why the account is recorded with the structure of days.
Why should you read it? If you have struggled with wanting to take the Bible account in Genesis 1 seriously yet not discount scientific findings, this book offers a way through.
Cliff notes for the lazy or uninclined. Walton argues that we read Genesis 1 wrong when we read it as a metaphysical blow-by-blow account of how God created. It is this “how God created” reading that sets Genesis 1 in opposition to current scientific creation models. Walton argues that reading Genesis 1 this way is not to read it like a Hebrew. A Hebrew would have been concerned not with the how to of creation but with its function. What purpose did the things God made serve? What was the light for? What was the land for? Walton uses parallel text from other Ancient Near East cultures to show the question of function and purpose was their prime concern. He contends that Genesis 1 reveals God setting up a cosmic temple in which He would dwell with man.
What remains to be seen. Walton’s book is a new argument for non-concordists. I am not aware of any work that takes this strong of a position as to the why of Genesis 1. Walton’s vast knowledge of Ancient Near East culture and parallel texts is undisputed. The functional view is so new that it is yet to be be debated or refuted. I am looking for to the dialogue it will create. If the argument holds, it offers a clear way through for those taking the text and science seriously. Frances Collins, the genome mapper says, “Walton elevates Scripture to a new level of respectful understanding, and eliminates any conflict between scientific and scriptural descriptions of origins.” To date, it is the closest published position to my thoughts on Genesis 1 that I have found.
