In the critically acclaimed memoir Girl Meets God, Lauren F. Winner chronicled her sojourn from Judaism to Christianity. Now, in Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis, Winner describes how experiences of loss and failure unexpectedly slam her into a wall of doubt and spiritual despair: “My belief has faltered, my sense of God’s closeness has grown strained, my efforts at living in accord with what I take to be the call of the gospel have come undone.”

Witty, relatable, and fiercely honest, Winner lays bare her experience of what she calls the “middle” of the spiritual life. In elegant and spare prose, she explores why—in the midst of the overwhelming anxiety, loneliness, and boredom of her deepest questioning about where (or if) God is—the Christian story still explains who she is better than any other story she’s ever known. Still is an absorbing meditation combining literary grace with spiritual wisdom. It is sure to resonate with anyone looking to sustain a spiritual life in the midst of real life.

About Lauren Winner

Lauren f. Winner is the author of numerous books, including Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath, and teaches at Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. Her articles have appeared in the New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Books & Culture, and other periodicals.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Editorial Review

In a previous memoir, Girl Meets God (2002), the author detailed her religious conversion to Orthodox Judaism and then Christianity. A decade and a divorce later, she looks at her Episcopalian life post-conversion. Shaken by her failed marriage and her mother’s death, Winner found herself in what she characterizes as an unsettling “middle” moment, “when the things you thought you knew about the spiritual life turn out not to suffice for the life you are actually living.” Throughout this provocative memoir, Winner maintains her insistent deflection of the personal. She claims the book is neither a “manual for ‘getting through’ the middle,” nor a “defense of Christianity,” nor a memoir—“it is not consistently storied enough to count, by my lights, as a memoir.” Yet the book’s most poignant moments are those obviously gleaned from intimate self-reflection or personal experience. While these “notes” may not adhere to the tight chronology characteristic of many memoirs, they do outline a linear spiritual progression common to Christian belief. These kinds of introspective works only succeed when the authors own their doubts and inspiration, which Winner does here, try as she might to claim otherwise. Note, for example, this evocative passage on the plight of losing the ability to pray: “when you don’t know what you believe…prayer sounds like a barefoot hike from Asheville to Paris: it would be nice if you got there, you are sure there is a nice glass of wine and a nice slice of brie waiting for you at some café somewhere, but there is really no way you can imagine actually making the walk.” – Kirkus Reviews

In ‘Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis,’ Lauren F. Winner suffers a spiritual dry patch

The Washington Post Book Review – May 17, 2012 (Excerpt)

It’s very tricky to review a religious, inspirational book. Because what are your criteria? What if your faith is not the same as the author’s? What if the author’s inspiration tastes to you about as inspirational as flat 7UP? If you write disapprovingly, it may sound as though you’re talking trash about God — never a good idea. And what if (God forbid!) you don’t believe in God?

There’s a brand of religious person who not only thinks God is her Best Friend but also that this friendship goes both ways. If you’re looking for a sermon of sorts, here is “Still,” written by Lauren F. Winner, a young woman who was brought up Jewish and converted to Christianity. Now she teaches at Duke Divinity School, and along her spiritual journey, she’s written such books as “Girl Meets God” and “Mudhouse Sabbath.”

In the case of “Still,” the occasion for these pages is the fact that she’s gone through a divorce and is suffering a spiritual dry patch, a diminishment of the ardor she experienced while going through her conversion and shortly after. The first third or so of “Still” is devoted to that feeling of loss or sadness that one feels when one’s faith begins to melt away: “I went to church by habit. I went prompted by some deep-buried intuition. Most days I went brittle, like a dry cake of gingerbread. Like the hinges of an old book.” [Read the full article...]

THE SABRINA STRONG SERIES by LORELEI BELL

Book One: Vampire Ascending [More Info...]

Book Two: Vampire’s Trill [More Info...]

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, comes UNHOLY NIGHT, the next evolution in dark historical revisionism.

They’re an iconic part of history’s most celebrated birth. But what do we really know about the Three Kings of the Nativity, besides the fact that they followed a star to Bethlehem bearing strange gifts? The Bible has little to say about this enigmatic trio. But leave it to Seth Grahame-Smith, the brilliant and twisted mind behind Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to take a little mystery, bend a little history, and weave an epic tale.

In Grahame-Smith’s telling, the so-called “Three Wise Men” are infamous thieves, led by the dark, murderous Balthazar. After a daring escape from Herod’s prison, they stumble upon the famous manger and its newborn king. The last thing Balthazar needs is to be slowed down by young Joseph, Mary and their infant. But when Herod’s men begin to slaughter the first born in Judea, he has no choice but to help them escape to Egypt.

It’s the beginning of an adventure that will see them fight the last magical creatures of the Old Testament; cross paths with biblical figures like Pontius Pilate and John the Baptist; and finally deliver them to Egypt. It may just be the greatest story never told.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

About Seth Grahame-Smith

Seth Grahame-Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. In addition to adapting the screenplay for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Seth also wrote Tim Burton’s film Dark Shadows. He lives in Los Angeles.

Editorial Review

Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, 2010, etc.) hones his writing chops in this latest take on history’s mysteries, but the results lack the unabashed exuberance of his earlier work, despite a fair bit of swashbuckling. Here he tackles the New Testament, circling in on the Biblical Magi, the Three Wise Men from the Gospel of Matthew. The ringleader here is Balthazar, a hunted fugitive known far and wide as “The Antioch Ghost” for his slippery nature. Captured by a clever Roman captain, Balthazar is brought before mad Herod the Great to suffer for his crimes. In Herod’s dungeons, Balthazar meets kindred spirits Gaspar and his partner Melchyor, two swordsmen for hire. The trio exchange clothes with the real wise men and make their escape to Bethlehem, where they’re attacked with a pitchfork by Joseph and accused of blasphemy by the Virgin Mary. After this auspicious introduction, it’s a fast-paced dash across 200 miles of biblical geography to safety in Egypt. Grahame-Smith throws lots of obstacles in the path of his ragged band, including Balthazar’s tormented memories of his murdered brother, Herod’s approach to solving his messiah problem (the infamous Massacre of the Innocents) and a malevolent Magus with mystical powers and murderous ambition. And that’s before the walking dead (naturally) show up. It’s an interesting juxtaposition to place this anti-religious thief against this heavy religious backdrop—“Either I’m right and he doesn’t exist, or you’re right and he’s the kind of God who watches children die,” Balthazar scolds Mary. But while Grahame-Smith has already sold the script to Warner Brothers, the novel feels less cinematic than its inevitable movie adaptation. – Kirkus Reviews

Book World: In Seth Grahame-Smith’s ‘Unholy Night,’ a Bible story is re-imagined

The Washington Post Book Review – April 17, 2012 (Excerpt)

All of the wit in Seth Grahame-Smith’s previous mash-up — the turgid, entrail-splattered “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” — could be found in its title. At least that counts for wit if you’re still splitting your sides over the author’s tyro bestseller, “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.”

So here is Grahame-Smith’s new novel, “Unholy Night,” which purports to give us the hitherto untold history of — wait for it — the Nativity of Jesus Christ, the Three Wise Men, Herod’s Slaughter of the Innocents and the Holy Family’s Flight into Egypt: a New Testament knee-slapper if ever there was one. I approached the novel with all the enthusiasm of a Skid Row habitue entering a Salvation Army meeting.

I left a convert.

Those with weak constitutions and lofty literary standards be warned: Grahame-Smith has forsaken neither graphic gore nor gleeful historical and religious revisionism. [Read the full article...]

Advertisement

THE BLEEDING HILLS
A Novel by Wilfried F. Voss

I have fought a good fight,
I have finished my course,
I have kept the faith.
- 2 Timothy iv. 7

The Irish War is officially a part of history, but not for Finnean Whelan, an IRA veteran of almost 40 years. British Intelligence has produced evidence that he is the mastermind behind a conspiracy to assassinate the First Minister of Northern Ireland. For Whelan this is not only a mission of revenge, but marks the beginning of a journey into the past and the return to the one true love: Ireland. [More...]

The Bleeding Hills is available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Nobel, and any other good bookstore.

It follows the idea of a traditional English carol, “Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day” which tells the gospel story in the first person voice of Jesus of Nazareth and originates the device of portraying Jesus’ life and mission as a dance. Carter’s lyrics show a liveliness and wry humour in his adaptation of the theme which is not present in “Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day”. (Source: Wikipedia.org)

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Lord of the Dance

by Sydney Carter

I danced in the morning when the world was begun
I danced in the Moon & the Stars & the Sun
I came down from Heaven & I danced on Earth
At Bethlehem I had my birth:

Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
(…lead you all in the Dance, said He!)

I danced for the scribe & the pharisee
But they would not dance & they wouldn’t follow me
I danced for fishermen, for James & John
They came with me & the Dance went on:

Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
(…lead you all in the Dance, said He!)

I danced on the Sabbath & I cured the lame
The holy people said it was a shame!
They whipped & they stripped & they hung me high
And they left me there on a cross to die!

Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
(…lead you all in the Dance, said He!)

I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black
It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back
They buried my body & they thought I’d gone
But I am the Dance & I still go on!

Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
(…lead you all in the Dance, said He!)

They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the Life that’ll never, never die!
I’ll live in you if you’ll live in Me -
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!

Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said He!

With Mormonism on the verge of an unprecedented cultural and political breakthrough, an eminent scholar of American evangelicalism explores the history and reflects on the future of this native-born American faith and its connection to the life of the nation.

In 1830, a young seer and sometime treasure hunter named Joseph Smith began organizing adherents into a new religious community that would come to be called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (and known informally as the Mormons). One of the nascent faith’s early initiates was a twenty-three-year-old Ohio farmer named Parley Pratt, the distant grandfather of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. In The Mormon People, religious historian Matthew Bowman peels back the curtain on more than 180 years of Mormon history and doctrine. He recounts the church’s origin and development, explains how Mormonism came to be one of the fastest-growing religions in the world by the turn of twenty-first-century, and ably sets the scene for a 2012 presidential election that has the potential to mark a major turning point in the way this “all-American” faith is perceived by the wider American public—and internationally.

Mormonism started as a radical movement, with a profoundly transformative vision of American society that was rooted in a form of Christian socialism. Over the ensuing centuries, Bowman demonstrates, that vision has evolved—and with it the esteem in which Mormons have been held in the eyes of their countrymen. Admired on the one hand as hardworking paragons of family values, Mormons have also been derided as oddballs and persecuted as polygamists, heretics, and zealots clad in “magic underwear.” Even today, the place of Mormonism in public life continues to generate heated debate on both sides of the political divide. Polls show widespread unease at the prospect of a Mormon president. Yet the faith has never been more popular. Today there are about 14 million Mormons in the world, fewer than half of whom live inside the United States. It is a church with a powerful sense of its own identity and an uneasy sense of its relationship with the main line of American culture.

Mormons will surely play an even greater role in American civic life in the years ahead. In such a time, The Mormon People comes as a vital addition to the corpus of American religious history—a frank and fair-minded demystification of a faith that remains a mystery for many.

The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.

About Matthew Bowman

Matthew Bowman received his Ph.D. in American religious history from Georgetown University in May 2011, and a master’s in American history from the University of Utah. His dissertation, “The Urban Pulpit: Evangelicals and the City in New York, 1880–1930,” was funded by the prestigious Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. His work on American evangelicism and Mormonism has appeared in, among other places, Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation, Journal of the Early Republic, and The New Republic. The associate editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Matthew Bowman teaches at Hampden-Sydney College.

Editorial Review

Timed for release just as the cogs in the 2012 presidential election start turning, Bowman’s (Religion/Hampden-Sydney Coll.) study of Mormonism shows how this brand of Christianity has always sported a strong relationship with American politics and values, whether in sync or at odds with them. Founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith Jr., the “mercurial” upstate New Yorker and “seducer of biographers” who received visions and translated the “golden plates” on which were written the religious tenets revealed to him, the Mormon faith, according to Bowman, combines a “sacramentalism and priesthood reminiscent of Catholicism with a decidedly Protestant devotion to scripture and suspicion of trained clergy.” Writing to educate a readership unfamiliar with Mormon beliefs, the author claims that “Americans have admired Mormons for their diligence, their rectitude, their faith, and their honesty; they have feared them for their zealotry, their polygamy, and their heresy.” While many—including Mark Twain, who famously dubbed Smith’s Book of Mormon “‘chloroform in print’ ”—were skeptical of its apocalyptic dogmatism and determinism in building a new Zion, others quickly took to the values that somewhat mirrored the expansionist society and followed Smith west. Some of Smith’s ideas, such as abstinence from tobacco and “strong drink,” were right in keeping with those of the 1830s American temperance movement; others, such as the notions that God had a corporeal body and sanctioned polygamy, proved less acceptable to society at large. Bowman paints a multidimensional portrait of a separatist movement riddled with fascinating dichotomies: a patriarchal religion at once embracing community and committed to worldwide missionary service yet sanctioning at various times in its history gross discrimination against women, those of African descent and homosexuals. The author also includes informative appendices of the church hierarchy, lists of Mormon scripture, past presidents of the church and other significant figures, and a bibliographic essay. – Kirkus Reviews

All-American Religion or Reason to Worry?

The New York Times Book Review – January 24, 2012 (Excerpt)

The best musical number in “The Book of Mormon,” the Tony Award-winning play from the holy fools who created “South Park,” is a fantasia that features Hitler, Jeffrey Dahmer, Johnnie Cochran, Genghis Khan and dancing cups of Starbucks coffee. Its title is “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream.”

This political season, a Mormon hell dream might also feature a grinning Newt Gingrich, who is thus far preventing Mitt Romney, the most prominent Mormon on earth, from a straight shot at the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. As the chorus of “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream” intones, “It’s super spooky-wooky!”

Mr. Romney’s political ascendency is forcing Americans to confront their complicated feelings about members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as Mormons. Matthew Bowman’s timely book, “The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith,” will no doubt be of service during this debate. Speaking prophetically, I can see bulk sales to book groups in its future.

The question you most want answered about the Mormon Church, put simply, is this: Is this religious institution a cult — “Scientology plus 125 years,” as Jacob Weisberg memorably put it in Slate — or a welcome and recognizably American band of hard-working, cheerful, morally upright citizens? Or is it somehow both? Mr. Bowman, a Mormon with a doctorate in American religious history from Georgetown, weighs the evidence and scampers safely up the middle. [Read the full article...]

Review of ‘The Mormon People ’ by Matthew Bowman

The Washington Post Book Review – March 9, 2012 (Excerpt)

Has “Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer accomplished more than just writing one of the new millennium’s blockbusters, a multimedia phenomenon that cast supernatural creatures as teenage heartthrobs? Two new books, one a work of history, the other of cultural analysis, seek to explicate the “Mormon moment” for American readers. And each cites Meyer’s success at mainstreaming the values of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

But what if the romantic triangle created by a Mormon housewife turned novelist isn’t merely a story of young love that celebrates abstinence and family? Suppose it’s a parable for the 2012 Republican presidential primary.

The “Twilight” series’s main character, Bella Swan, buffeted by bad luck, is a stand-in for the voters. Suspicious of true love, she’s courted by combative suitors. Edward Cullen is tall, handsome and perfectly coiffed. Jacob Black is volatile and passionate, self-made and fond of the ladies. Edward is the scion of an ancient, close-knit family whose members, as vampires, are bound together for eternity. Edward’s a little wooden, while Jacob, a werewolf, has no problem expressing his emotions when the stakes are high. Could it be more obvious? Romney is the vampire aristocrat, Gingrich the up-by-his-bootstraps wolfman. [Read the full article...]

Advertisement

THE BLEEDING HILLS
A Novel by Wilfried F. Voss

I have fought a good fight,
I have finished my course,
I have kept the faith.
- 2 Timothy iv. 7

The Irish War is officially a part of history, but not for Finnean Whelan, an IRA veteran of almost 40 years. British Intelligence has produced evidence that he is the mastermind behind a conspiracy to assassinate the First Minister of Northern Ireland. For Whelan this is not only a mission of revenge, but marks the beginning of a journey into the past and the return to the one true love: Ireland. [More...]

The Bleeding Hills is available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Nobel, and any other good bookstore.

Song of the Angels by Bouguereau, 1825–1905

Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek, a translation of mal’akh in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh); a similar term Malāīkah, is used in the Qur’an. The Hebrew and Greek words originally mean messenger, and depending on the context may refer either to a human messenger (possibly a prophet or priest, such as Malachi, “my messenger”, but also for more mundane characters, as in the Greek superscription that the Book of Malachi was written “by the hand of his messenger” or to a supernatural messenger such as the “Mal’akh YHWH,” who (depending on interpretation) is either a messenger from God, an aspect of God (such as the Logos), or God Himself as the messenger (the “theophanic angel.”)

The term “angel” has also been expanded to various notions of spiritual beings found in many other religious traditions.

Other roles of angels include protecting and guiding human beings, and carrying out God’s tasks.

The theological study of angels is known as angelology. In art, angels are often depicted with wings; perhaps reflecting the descriptions in Revelation 4:6-8 — of the Four Living Creatures and the descriptions in the Hebrew Bible—of cherubim and seraphim (the chayot in Ezekiel’s Merkabah vision and the Seraphim of Isaiah). However, while cherubim and seraphim have wings in the Bible, no angel is mentioned as having wings.

The New Testament includes many of interactions and conversations between angels and humans. For instance, three separate cases of angelic interaction deal with the births of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. In Luke 1:11, an angel appears to Zechariah to inform him that he will have a child despite his old age, thus proclaiming the birth of John the Baptist. And in Luke 1:26 the archangel Gabriel visits the Virgin Mary in the Annunciation to foretell the birth of Jesus Christ. Angels then proclaim the birth of Jesus in the Adoration of the shepherds in Luke 2:10. Angels also appear later in the New Testament. In Luke 22:43 an angel comforts Jesus Christ during the Agony in the Garden. In Matthew 28:5 an angel speaks at the empty tomb, following the Resurrection of Jesus and the rolling back of the stone by angels. Hebrews 13:2 reminds the reader that they may “entertain angels unaware”.

Since the completion of the New Testament, the Christian tradition has continued to include a number of reported interactions with angels. For instance, in 1851 Pope Pius IX approved the Chaplet of Saint Michael based on the 1751 private revelation from archangel Michael to the Carmelite nun Antonia d’Astonac. And Pope John Paul II emphasized the role of angels in Catholic teachings in his 1986 address titled “Angels Participate In History Of Salvation“, in which he suggested that modern mentality should come to see the importance of angels.

As recently as the 20th century, visionaries and mystics have reported interactions with, and indeed dictations from, angels. For instance, the bed-ridden Italian writer and mystic Maria Valtorta wrote The Book of Azariah based on “dictations” that she directly attributed to her guardian angel Azariah, discussing the Roman Missal used for Sunday Mass in 1946 and 1947. (Source: Wikipedia.org)

Advertisement

CRIMSON DAWN
Book One of the Darklife Saga by Ronnie Massey

Two Women Hunting A Rogue Vampire

Vampire Valeria Trumaine must confront old demons and face new possibilities as she struggles to bring a rogue vampire to justice. Her best friend and powerful Sidhe princess, Irulan, joins the hunt. Valeria will find that Irulan’s motives for keeping her safe are not what she thinks. And soon she is faced with an undeniable attraction that makes her question everything she knew about herself. [Read More...]

Available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, and any other good bookstore.

It was just the other day that my wife poked her head into my office and asked: “Guess with whom I have altar guild this weekend?” I got the name right, and I cringed, because that person has a reputation of displaying herself as being one of the saviors of our church, however, without a record to prove her point.

Some people have a skin so thick that they can still sit straight without a spine, and, unfortunately, some of our parishioners fit the profile. The problem is that too many people want to run our church like a monarch runs a country. They ignore the point that our church is a house of God with no need for personal ambition.

Sure enough, that particular person did not show up to decorate the alter, and I, plus our four-year-old son, ended up helping my wife. That same night we received a phone call and that person apologized profoundly. She had double-booked herself for alter guild and for a wedding in New York. You may think that things like this can happen, but, as I wrote before, that person has a reputation of weaseling herself out of situations that required actual work.

We have had another person who booked herself as an usher, an acolyte, and a lay reader for the same service (we are Episcopalians), which doesn’t work unless you clone yourself. We have had a lay reader who didn’t show up because she spent the weekend on Cape Cod (no need to call the priest). We have had a Musical Director who would play music when she deemed it appropriate, especially when the priest’s sermon annoyed her.

We have had parishioners who conspired against our new priest, which included replacing the current senior warden, writing inflammatory letters to our bishop, and even sending threatening emails to the priest through an email address that was impossible to trace. The new senior warden, even though he was part of the conspiracy, resigned after a mere six month under the motto, “Mommy, I don’t like to play anymore.”

It is an unfortunate fact that it took our priest almost three years to reach a point where he didn’t have to defend himself against unproven accusations of the worst nature on a daily basis. I have to admit, he wouldn’t have been my first choice, either. He is a heterosexual male, while I would have liked to see a black lesbian, married, and with children. But that might have wiped out our entire church. I won’t go into details here. It’s just gruesome.

Now, that the “battle” over the new priest is over, we have lost a good number of parishioners who, out of outright vanity, left the church. We are, nevertheless, finally at a point where the church can concentrate on the real issues. One of the major issues is the lack of young parishioners in our church, and the discussion has started why young people seem to be reluctant to join us.

In my view, not only our church, but most churches around the country act like a lonely person who looks at the phone, and says, “Call me. Somebody call me, please.” My point is, in order to start a conversation, you need to pick up that phone and dial a number. When you get the connection, it doesn’t help to tell that person on the other end, “Komm’ bitte zu unserer Kirche.” (That’s German for “Please, come to our church.”) The point is, you need to speak their language, and that is especially true for young persons – and with young I mean people under sixty.

In order to reach and communicate with the young generation you need basic tools like an appealing website, and, at minimum, a Facebook account. You should videotape sermons and put them on Youtube. Take videotaped interviews with the priest and ask tough questions about God and Jesus Christ. I know our priest has a way of responding to such tough questions with a sovereignty that will tickle the curiosity of those who don’t believe in the value of going to church.

I am sure, there are many more ways to reach younger people, but I am also convinced that these “revolutionary” ideas won’t find the approval of those parishioners who still believe they run the church.

In the meantime, we are losing parishioners, and the question remains: Why?

During the snowy 2011 Halloween weekend that left millions of Americans without power (See my post My Adventure Trip: Delivering Snow From New York to Western Massachusetts), I enjoyed my time reading “The Case For Christ” by Lee Strobel.

Strobel used to be a sceptic when it came to believing in Jesus Christ, and I admit I am still there. There is a Hopi Indian saying, “You have to believe in Gods to see them,” and that is where I come from. I believe in the Big Bang Theory – which is also described in the Bible – and what it basically says is that before the Big Bang there was no time or space, a concept totally incomprehensible to the human mind. In all consequence, there is a power at work that is beyond human comprehension, and I call that power God. You may as well call it Allah, Yehova, Buddha, or something else. You have to believe in the Gods to see them.

Lee Strobel is one of those believers who, according to indications in his book, went through hell before he found his way back to God. His journey started in 1979 when his wife Leslie stunned him with the announcement that she had become a Christian. He was surprised by the fundamental changes in her character, her integrity, and her personal confidence, and, intrigued, he plunged into the case for Jesus Christ and the apostles Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

He applied the training he had received at Yale Law School as well as his experience as legal affairs editor of the Chicago Tribune and, in the quest for the truth, he put the apostles on an imaginary courtroom’s witness stand. He applied the same classifications that you encounter in a real-world courtroom:

• Eyewitness Evidence
• Documentary Evidence
• Corroborating Evidence
• Rebuttal Evidence
• Scientific Evidence
• Psychological Evidence
• Circumstantial Evidence
• Fingerprint Evidence

Yes, the last item is Fingerprint Evidence, which refers to evidence as strong as a fingerprint.

As a history buff, I did enjoy his approach of analyzing – through interviews with top experts on the individual topics – the apostles’ credibility first, before developing his case. As a legal expert, he cites details of contemporary criminal cases where evidence was convincing enough to convict a murderer, yet, at least in one case, the more than convincing evidence proved to be misleading.

These days, we easily dismiss the evidence of Jesus’ life – i.e. the gospels – as a product of embellishment to promote a new religion. Add to this that the gospels survived initially only through mouth-to-mouth records. Written records of Jesus Christ appeared only centuries after the fact. However, if you analyze in meticulous detail the ways of preserving records in the time after Jesus’ death plus the customs and social responses, you might change your mind.

This is the part I enjoyed most about the book. It puts you, the reader, on the jury bench. You are being asked to affirm that you haven’t formed any preconception about the case. You are required to vow that you will be open-minded and fair. You will be urged to thoughtfully consider the witnesses’ credibility, carefully consider their testimonies, and rigorously subject the evidence to your common sense and logic. Ultimately, it is the jurors’ responsibility to reach a verdict.

Let me point to two examples of evidence in the case that I, personally, found extremely intriguing; they address the credibility of the gospels and the death of Jesus Christ.

In terms of the credibility of the gospels, there are more than 20,000 written historical records of the gospels of which some date back close to the years after Jesus’ death (i.e. within a lifetime). All these records are, with only minuscule differences, identical. In comparison, early written records of Homer’s Iliad number at a little over 500, yet there is generally no doubt about the authenticity.

The Bible’s description of Jesus Christ’s death contains details (e.g. the flowing of blood and water after piercing Jesus’ chest) that are in striking conformance to what a modern forensic pathologist would expect. Dr. Robert J. Stein, a leading forensic pathologist, explains in graphic detail the injuries and excruciating pain resulting from the torture, followed by inevitable death, as described in the Bible.

In terms of reasonable doubt, I believe that Strobel made a convincing case for the validity of the synoptic gospels as written by the apostles Matthew, Mark, and Luke. However, the book cannot and Strobel never intended to provide the ultimate evidence. After a period of more than 2,000 years, his case can only be circumstantial, and you, the juror, depend on common sense to believe or not believe the evidence as presented. The ultimate evidence can only come from within yourself.

Advertisement

THE BLEEDING HILLS
A Novel by Wilfried F. Voss

I have fought a good fight,
I have finished my course,
I have kept the faith.
- 2 Timothy iv. 7

The Irish War is officially a part of history, but not for Finnean Whelan, an IRA veteran of almost 40 years. British Intelligence has produced evidence that he is the mastermind behind a conspiracy to assassinate the First Minister of Northern Ireland. For Whelan this is not only a mission of revenge, but marks the beginning of a journey into the past and the return to the one true love: Ireland. [More...]

The Bleeding Hills is available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Nobel, and any other good bookstore.

Click on image to buy from Amazon.Com

You are Invited to a Dinner with Jesus of Nazareth.

The mysterious envelope arrives on Nick Cominsky’s desk amid a stack of credit card applications and business-related junk mail. Although his seventy-hour workweek has already eaten into his limited family time, Nick can’t pass up the opportunity to see what kind of plot his colleagues have hatched…

The normally confident, cynical Nick soon finds himself thrown off-balance, drawn into an intriguing conversation with a baffling man who comfortably discusses everything from world religions to the existence of heaven and hell. And this man who calls himself Jesus also seems to know a disturbing amount about Nick’s personal life.

“You’re bored, Nick. You were made for more than this. You’re worried about God stealing your fun, but you’ve got it backwards.… There’s no adventure like being joined to the Creator of the universe.” He leaned back off the table. “And your first mission would be to let him guide you out of the mess you’re in at work.”

As the evening progresses, their conversation touches on life, God, meaning, pain, faith, and doubt—and it seems that having Dinner with a Perfect Stranger may change Nick’s life forever.

Editorial Reviews

In Dinner With a Perfect Stranger, David Gregory relates the story of two men sharing a meal. The point of interest is knowing that one man believes he is Jesus. What will the other man think by the time the evening is through? The conversation begins, as one could imagine, scratching the dry hard surface of skepticism and doubt, but gently and persistently goes deeper and deeper, spiraling in from that starting point until they are eventually talking about the true stuff of life; the career drifting off-track, the marriage experiencing its own kind of strain, the life being lived where the philosophical questions of youth have given way to simply coping with modern day-to-day living.

Gregory’s book is a refreshing reminder of what evangelical Christianity is at its very best — a faith enlivened by the personal relationship between the Creator and the created. In the end, evangelical Christians are focused on who Jesus Christ is, and more specifically, who He is to them. Doctrinal stances, theological conundrums, questions about literal or non-literal Biblical interpretation, these are all beside the point for the certain type of Christian whose central focus is the life and person of Jesus.

In the Narnia series, C.S. Lewis touched on some of the core questions of religion, from the Christian viewpoint (is there a hell? What is heaven like, really? How can other religions be wrong, and just one be right?) Taking his cue from Lewis, Gregory does the same, realizing that questions like these come alive when they’re in the context of a story, and we can be the third party, watching with interest while they are put on the table and considered. In the end, Gregory’s book succeeds because of his willingness to approach interesting, hard questions like these. He is always, undoubtedly, aiming for the heart, but he realizes that to win the heart one must never forget that the mind has to come along for the ride. –Ed Dobeas, Amazon.Com Review

In this didactic inspirational novella, Cincinnati workaholic Nick Cominsky accepts an invitation that he assumes is a gag: to have dinner with Jesus Christ himself. He soon finds out it’s no laughing matter, and, despite his doubts and initial misgivings, he engages in a long conversation with the deity (who has jettisoned the long locks and sandals in favor of a Brooks Brothers haircut and blue suit). That conversation constitutes the novella’s light plot. As the courses of their elegant Italian meal are delivered, Nick and Jesus discuss the dichotomies of sin and salvation, grace and works, organized religion and personal faith. In his quest to prove why Christianity is superior to other religions, Gregory has Jesus make misleading statements about Hinduism, Buddhism and particularly Islam. These unfair caricatures add to the book’s heavy-handed feel, as do strawman arguments for the veracity of the Bible and the resurrection. What’s appealing about this book is that its Jesus is refreshingly down-to-earth; he digs good food, draws theological illustrations from Star Trek, and quietly chafes at wearing a necktie. But that can’t disguise the fact that Gregory has not written a story so much as a dressed-up and controversial sermon. – Publishers Weekly

Review

I received this book from an aunt who has recently “rediscovered” her Christian-self and ever-since has been proselytizing to me, in an effort to convert me I suppose. While her intentions are pure and her motivation is love, I must confess I wasn’t exactly excited to hear she had another book for me.

I almost tossed this book to the side, but upon inspecting it further – it looked like a quick read. I skimmed through it a bit, and the premise seemed at once both intriguing and a bit silly. But after thumbing through some pages and finding enough food for thought to at least catch my interest for an afternoon I actually ended up reading it in one sitting.

I was pleasantly surprised with what I found. The book is told from in a first person narrative form, as an average modern man receives a dinner invitation from Jesus. He thinks it is a practical joke, or a ploy from a local church – but later finds it is the real deal.

As another reviewer noted this book is really not much more than a sermon disguised as a story, but as sermons go this one was enjoyable, and thought provoking. I’m an agnostic myself, so I never claim allegiance to, nor deny any religion in particular. I found the view of Christianity portrayed in this book to be much less harsh than I expected. Very little in the way of guilt, god-fearing, bible-beating or any of that evangelical non-sense. In fact there’s no fire and brimstone at all. While the book does present a clear-cut view, and certainly positions it’s own view of Christianity as THE truth, it’s more centered around the true values of the religion of Love, Trust in God, and God’s compassion and love for us all, rather than focusing on the evils of sin and using guilt and fear. It draws readers in and uses the main character to invoke both empathy and critical thinking.

This less-conservative view is really more about the essence of Christianity, and less about the formalities. There’s little in the way of preaching exact rules, and at times even puts down church hierarchy and organized religion. It very much stresses a personal relationship with God and Jesus – and in that sense could have been written by Martin Luther himself as it seems to have a very protestant informal view of the religion.

It does in the first half present a logical basis for both 1) The existence of God, and 2) that Christianity is the one true religion. Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam are all discussed in one way or another and are ultimately discredited. Islam in particular is dismissed as being misinformed, hypocritical, and plain erroneous in it’s teachings. Buddhism and Hinduism and other religions with a pantheistic view are dismissed on flimsy argument that the universe MUST have a creator and that all cannot be one – something with which I disagree with personally. Jesus gets our story teller to admit that modern science proves the universe had a set beginning – which I really don’t believe coincides with modern physics which has many theories which suggest the universe is a constant cycle of explosion and implosion. Judaism is never really referenced, because Christianity stems from it – but there is a discussion on how we can be sure Jesus really is/was the messiah, which seems to indirectly address modern Judaism which essentially just denies Jesus being the son of God and rejects the new testament.

While it successfully pokes holes into other major world religions and does do an ok Job addressing the most common questions and logical problems/misunderstandings of Christianity, I found the totality of its argument to be less than infallible. Those holes are where Jesus stresses trust. Paradoxes abound, we are never given complete answers – but the holes here we are told to just have faith, while the holes in other religions are used as proof for their being inherently flawed.

Still, I found the book enjoyable, interesting, and refreshing in a sense. Sure it’s a sermon in a story, but it’s a good-hearted one. And at least it’s vision of Christianity is quaint and true to the quintessential nature of itself. The image of Jesus sitting down and dining humbly with an ordinary man, the emphasis on love, and the constant insistence that God’s ultimate desire is not to be worshiped or to have you earn your way to heaven but to have you accept his free gift of forgiveness and love is very warming in an age where fundamentalism in all religions seems on the rise. Only momentarily does the book discuss hell or provoke any sort of fear or talk of damnation and it doesn’t really go too much into that. Whether that is just to try and get you in the door or whether that is the author’s view on his faith – that love and compassion, not fire and brimstone are what jesus was about – that’s to the reader’s own opinion.

All in all, if you’re in the mood to contemplate religion, or want a glimpse of a humble and (I believe) more true look at what Christianity really is (or should be) all about – then read this book. This book may be selling something, but it’s no telemarketer or car salesman – it’s more of a helpful clerk in the electronics dept that will tell you just what they really think and let you decide for yourself. While I did not like how easily the book was willing to toss aside other schools of thought, nor how the book made it seem that evidence (historical and physical) was so clear-cut in Christianity’s favor, I did enjoy reading it and if nothing else it reminds me just what a beautiful religion Christianity really is, something that can get lost on many in a day where the loudest voices are those of Jerry Falwell, the Christian Coalition and other militant conservative extremists.

My Aunt may be a long ways from converting me, but if she had to give me a book Im glad it was this one, as I did enjoy it over-all and found it an interesting read. – Leo “Katphish”, Amazon.Com Customer Review

Advertisement

The Bleeding Hills

A Novel by Wilfried F. Voss

I have fought a good fight,
I have finished my course,
I have kept the faith.
- 2 Timothy iv. 7

The Irish War is officially a part of history, but not for Finnean Whelan, an IRA veteran of almost 40 years. British Intelligence has produced evidence that he is the mastermind behind a conspiracy to assassinate the First Minister of Northern Ireland. For Whelan this is not only a mission of revenge, but marks the beginning of a journey into the past and the return to the one true love: Ireland. [More...]

The Bleeding Hills is available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Nobel, and any other good bookstore.

Click on image to buy from Amazon.Com

For two thousand years people have spent their lives waiting, praying, fighting, begging, and going to war for the Messiah. They continue to do so, every minute of every day, every day of every year. And yet, as far as we know, the Messiah has never come.

How would a man like Jesus be perceived if he appeared today? How would he live, what would he say, what would he preach and believe? How would society react to him, and what would they to do him? And though he may be the Messiah, he is not the man that has been prayed for over the course of the last two thousand years. He believes religion is a fraud, government is a sham, and that love should be a choice, regardless of gender. He is, as Christ was, everything that religious leaders and government officials fear, what they speak against, and what they destroy. He did not burn books, or picket doctor’s offices, or spend his time in religious institutions. He simply preached a message. Love your fellow man.

Written from the perspective of his family, friends, and followers, in the same way the story of Jesus Christ was told in the New Testament, The Final Testament of the Holy Bible is the story of Ben Zion Avrohom, also known as Ben Jones, also known as the Messiah, also known as the Lord God.

In The Final Testament of the Holy Bible James Frey, America’s most controversial bestselling writer, has written the most compelling and provocative work of his career.

Author Q&A with James Frey

Q: What inspired the controversial concept behind The Final Testament?

A: It’s something I’ve thought about for 15 years. What would it actually be like if the Messiah arrived, or if Christ returned? Who would that person be, how would they live, what would they believe in, how would we recognize them, and how would society react to them? I don’t claim to have the answers. I just wanted to tell a theoretical version of the story.

Q: You’ve opted to go with the Gagosian Gallery in New York rather than a traditional publisher. Why did you choose a small art gallery over a traditional publishing house?

A: Gagosian is the most prestigious gallery in the world. And they publish about 50 books a year–beautiful art books that transcend what a writer can do with a traditional publisher. I wanted to make a beautiful book, an object that people would be proud to own and display,something looked and felt like a real Bible, but more contemporary. I have always said that art influences me more than writing does so the idea of working with a gallery made sense to me.

Q: What artists inspired you while writing The Final Testament?

A: I looked at a ton of Renaissance religious art, like Michelangelo and Raphael, Carvaggio. Some of the sculpture Rodin made. Illuminated manuscripts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There is a much greater and more substantial body of religious art than there is religious literature.

Q: Could you talk about the design of the book? How involved were you in the process?

A: I was very involved in every step of it, in every decision related to it. I worked with a design firm in London called GTF. They make incredible books, and they were incredible to work with on this project. The goal was to make a beautiful, unique, collectible book.

Q: The Final Testament will be released as a limited-edition $50 printed book and a $150 autographed version, but you’re self-publishing the ebook at $10. Do you see a future where the printed book is an expensive object intended for collectors while digital copies are for everyone else?

A: Absolutely. I think the future of publishing, or one version of it, is in physical books for collectors and serious fans and ebooks for mass distribution. I believe in that future and want to be a part of it as early as possible.

Michael Lindgren reviews James Frey’s ‘The Final Testament of the Holy Bible’

The Washington Post Book Review – May 15, 2011 (Excerpt)

What to make of this strange, ambitious, near-brilliant piece of ventriloquism from controversial memoirist James Frey? “The Final Testament of the Holy Bible” presents the reader with a knotty exercise in genre disorientation.

The book is, among other things, a vivid re-imagining of the life of Jesus Christ, a pricey quasi-objet d’art from super-gallerist Gagosian, a calculated act of provocation, a gesture of almost stupefying egotism, and a sincere and moving examination of the nature of spirituality. The multiple ironies at hand are potentially disabling.

This book of prophecy, written by one of the most famous liars of our time, is also an ode to the purity of poverty that costs $50, a cry against exploitation by the founder of a notorious digital sweatshop and an expression of hubris from a man ostensibly humbled first by his addiction and then by his very public discrediting.

Forget second acts; Frey is, to contradict F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous dictum about American lives, on the third or maybe fourth act of his deeply checkered career. [Read the full article...]

Advertisement

Vampire Ascending

by Lorelei Bell Sabrina Strong is a Touch Clairvoyant who knows a secret. She knows her mother was turned into a vampire when Sabrina was ten. Now that she is grown up, a powerful magnate in the Chicago business world hires her to reveal the identity of who relentlessly murders vampires in his ultra-modern stronghold of a hotel. [Read More...] – Including an excerpt of the first chapter.

Vampire Ascending is now available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, and any other good bookstore.

Veronica Backham – Interview with Jesus Christ (Script)

VB: “Hello, Mr. Christ. Actually, I am not quite sure how to address you…”

JC: “I am the Lord…”

VB (giggling): “No, no, I can’t do that. I only call my husband by that name.”

JC (irritated): “I am Jesus, whom you are inquiring.”

VB: “Okay. Well, Jesus, the reason I am interviewing you today is that you are the author of this vastly successful book titled The Holy Bible.”

JC: “Many of God’s children have contributed…”

VB: “Oh, you had ghost writers, too? You see, I just published my memoirs, which is pretty exciting, considering that I never have read a book in my life. Yes, I understand. I had some help, too. (Laughter) Can you tell me why your book is so appealing to such a vast readership?”

JC: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

VB (swooning): “Ooh! And it helps building your reputation. Right?”

JC: “If I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my father who honors me.”

VB (slightly confused): ”Oh, really?”

JC: “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my father’s name, they bear witness of me.”

VB: “Well, I take your word for it. But, after all, you made a lot of money through the book sales?”

JC: “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?”

VB: “Oh, I don’t know about you, but I need the daily visit to my coiffeur in London. (Fiddling with JC’s hair) I can give you his phone number, if you want. (Sighing) So, are you saying it was wrong that I made profits from my book sales?”

JC: “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light.”

VB (smiling): “You got that right! Now, what’s up for you in the near future? Any photo ops? Or movies? Another book?”

JC: “I will work to help build and to grow our vision for evangelism–to help every congregation who wants the help reach and baptize at least ten percent more people than they’re currently baptizing. That’s a doable goal.”

VB: “Good for you! I hope next time I will have more questions about your book. I just saw the movie, you know, the Mel Brooks version – very funny! But I didn’t have the time to see all the sequels, and there are so many of them.”

JC: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle…”

VB: “Oh, tell me about it! (Pause) Okay… I thank you for this … uhm … interesting interview. I am sure our readers will enjoy it, and I hope to see you again soon.”

JC: “Yes, I am with you always, until the very end of time.”

VB: “No, that’s not necessary. Don’t make me get another restraining order! (Pause) You can leave now.”

Veronica Backham shares her interviews with famous people from all over the world, including Jesus Christ, Che Guevara, Charlie Sheen, and more. As we all know, Veronica’s accomplishments include a long career as a “secret” model plus multiple recordings in the music industry. Veronica has just recently published her memoir, which is pretty good for someone who has never read a book in her life. We are looking forward to her next interview.

Advertisement

Vampire Ascending

by Lorelei Bell

Sabrina Strong is a Touch Clairvoyant who knows a secret. She knows her mother was turned into a vampire when Sabrina was ten. Now that she is grown up, a powerful magnate in the Chicago business world hires her to reveal the identity of who relentlessly murders vampires in his ultra-modern stronghold of a hotel. [Read More...] – Including an excerpt of the first chapter.

Vampire Ascending is now available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, and any other good bookstore.

The articles on this website reveal the truth regarding Jesus of Nazareth. Archaeologists, historians, textual scientists and New Testament scholars examine the wealth of evidence making him the most unique person in the history of our world. You will find answers to questions asked by skeptics about his existence, the credibility of his claims, his true identity, his fulfillment of prophecy, his resurrection, his relevance to our lives today, and the reliability of the New Testament gospels.

So what do the facts tell us? Can we trust the New Testament accounts of Jesus, or are the skeptics right? We invite you to examine the evidence.

Read The Evidence:

The following articles are from Y-Jesus magazine.

• Was Jesus a Real Person?
• Was there a Da Vinci Conspiracy?
• Is Jesus God?
• Are the Gospels True?
• Was Jesus the Messiah?
• Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?
• Is Jesus Relevant Today?

Y-Jesus Magazine

Y-Jesus is a single-issue magazine that deals with the evidence regarding the most controversial person who ever lived. This 100 page, full-color, 8.5X11 magazine, illustrated with dramatic photos and contemporary graphics, will help both youth and adults understand the evidence regarding Jesus Christ and his radical claims.

Read more…