Powell’s Books Reviews
Harvey Cox’s THE FUTURE OF FAITH

http://www.powells.com/review/2009_09_12.html

In book after book, Harvard University’s Harvey Cox has proven himself one of the most astute observers of contemporary religious life. From The Secular City to Fire from Heaven, from Feast of Fools to The Silencing of Leonardo Boff, Cox has persuasively demonstrated depth of knowledge, acquaintance with relevant texts and movements, and an overall inspiring level of both passion and compassion for the peoples of the world and their journeys through the landscape of belief. In his new book, The Future of Faith, Cox takes his wisdom and commitment one step further, painting an engaging and convincing portrait of a Christianity on the verge of something utterly new, completely transformative, and thoroughly grounded in the very best that 2,000 years of the religion has to offer.

Cox’s thesis, in short, is that there have been three great ages in the history of Christianity. The first of these, which he calls the Age of Faith, roughly corresponds to the early days of the Christian movement, when followers were less concerned with doctrinal orthodoxy than with living out the great message of liberation and transformation of Jesus of Nazareth. This was a radical and exciting time in the history of the church, the time of martyrs and great theologians, and a period when people of very different ways of practicing Jesus’ message coexisted in a broad and diffuse movement. In Cox’s words, “as the Christian movement entered the second century, it continued to thrive, sometimes in the face of severe persecution, with a polyglot of theologies and numerous different styles of governance.”

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Read the full review:
http://www.powells.com/review/2009_09_12.html

The Future of Faith
Harvey Cox.
Hardback: HarperOne, 2009
Buy now: [ Amazon ]

http://ndpr.nd.edu/review.cfm?id=17605

Materialism just isn’t what it used to be. Nowadays everyone wants to be a materialist, even the theologians, while the materialists want to look like they lead a spiritual life. The battle that is joined today is no longer between materialism and idealism, or hard-nosed Newtonians and far out spirit-seers, but between “materialist materialism” and “theological materialism”, between crude soulless materialism and materialism with spirit, a materialism of the spirit, a religious materialism (93). “Materialist materialism is simply not as materialist as theological materialism”, says John Milbank, the leading Anglo-Catholic theologian of the day, in this published debate with Slavoj Žižek, a Lacanian neo-Marxist writer and something of a Slovenian philosophical sensation in the Anglophone world (206). Theological materialism goes back to Christology, the materialism of the Logos made matter, in which matter really matters. Žižek would agree, but he would stand this statement on its head in a resuscitated and refashioned neo-Hegelian death of God theology. The debate that unfolds is strikingly Christological, in which both parties agree that Christianity is the absolute truth (Hegel), where Milbank takes his Christology straight up (treating Žižek’s as a “counterfeit”) and Žižek takes his on the rocks (treating Milbank’s version as “imaginary” (153, 245). The book is a splendid condensation and cross section of a contemporary debate between writers who seek to position themselves beyond the postmodernism or poststructuralism that dominated the last few decades of European thought. Whatever one thinks of the views of Milbank or Žižek, we may be very grateful to editor Creston Davis for crafting such a first rate exchange.

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Read the full review:
http://ndpr.nd.edu/review.cfm?id=17605

THE MONSTROSITY OF CHRIST
Slavoj Žižek and John Millbank.
Hardback: MIT Press, 2009.
Buy now: [ Amazon ]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/books/review/Browning-t.html

We live in noise. The world is a booming, rustling, buzzing place to begin with (though many of us have shut out nature’s clamor), and to that we have added every conceivable vibration of our own making and every possible means of assault, whether it’s the vast, thrumming climate-controlling systems of our sealed buildings or the tiny earbuds nestled against our cochleae. What chance does quiet have against all this?

Plenty, it turns out. Sara Maitland has scaled the heights (or is it depths?) of what might be the only frontier humankind will never conquer and cannot, in spite of itself, destroy — silence. Infinite, fathomless, terrifying, uplifting, unknowable, gorgeous silence. It’s difficult to convey the thrill of “A Book of Silence,” an adventure story that doesn’t involve roaring crowds or screaming headlines, doesn’t depict a heroine climbing high mountains or sailing vast oceans, doesn’t chronicle racing pulses or sweaty palms, and yet is every bit as awe-inspiring, death-defying and mind-blowing as any trip up Everest. Rarely have I been so amazed at the splendor of a new landscape unfolding before my eyes, and felt so tense wondering what was going to happen as this intrepid writer pushed her way across the pages.

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Read the full review:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/books/review/Browning-t.html

A BOOK OF SILENCE
Sara Maitland.
Hardback: Counterpoint, 2009.
Buy now: [ Amazon ]

Register Now!
Only a week left to get the earlybird rate!

THROUGH THE CONSUMING FIRE:
ECONOMIC FAITHFULNESS IN AN AGE OF CONSUMERISM
COMMUNITY – CONTENTMENT – CREATIVITY
Friday Nov. 13 and Saturday Nov. 14
Englewood Christian Church
57 N. Rural St. Indianapolis
Main Speakers:
Shane Claiborne   –   Will Samson    –  Kelly Johnson

The website is now up and registration is open!
http://www.englewoodcc.com/consumingfire/

Consumerism is one of the greatest challenges facing the church in North America today.  Ultimately, consumerism is a form of self-indulgence that does great harm to our brothers and sisters around the world and indeed to all of Creation.  At the Through the Consuming Fire conference, we will explore what economic faithfulness would look like – particularly as shaped by denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Jesus.

Facebook Invite and More details:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=73979927805&ref=share#/event.php?eid=70646854370

A Brief Review of

The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement.
Jean Twenge and Keith Campbell.
Hardback: Free Press, 2009.
Buy now: [ Amazon ]

Slavoj Zizek gives a talk at the Harvard Book store related to his recent book The Monstrosity of Christ: Paradox or Dialectic? (a conversation with John Milbank).

Part 1/8:

Part 2/8:

Click here for Parts 3-8

“Two Essential Books
For the Birder’s Library”

A Review of
Birdscapes: Birds in our Imagination and Experience.
by Jeremy Mynott
and The Princeton Encyclopedia of Birds.

Reviewed by Chris Smith.

Birdscapes:
Birds in our Imagination and Experience.
Jeremy Mynott.
Hardback: Princeton UP, 2009.
Buy now: [ Amazon ]

The Princeton Encyclopedia of Birds.
Christopher Perrins.
Paperback: Princeton UP, 2009.
Buy now: [ Amazon ]

Princeton University Press has recently released two books that are essential for the library of any birder.  Jeremy Mynott’s Birdscapes: Birds in our Imagination and Experience and The Princeton Encyclopedia of Birds. Mynott’s Birdscapes is a broad, sweeping collection of reflections —from a variety of sources— on birds and the practices of birding.  Mynott is a philosopher at heart and one of his main tasks here is to explore the meaning of birds in human experience.   He is particularly interested in tackling questions about the aesthetics of birds over the course of the book.  For instance, he devotes chapters to the questions:  “How does the beauty of a bird

differ from that of a butterfly, a tree, or a landscape?”  and “can you enjoy a bird’s song just as much if you don’t know what it is?”  He also raises some pointed questions about birding as a human pursuit – e.g. “Why does the act of identification play such a large role in the experience (of birding)?  And why is that more about species than individual birds?”  or “Does our concern with lists and counting indicate something we should worry about in ourselves?” However, despite Mynott’s probing tone, this volume should not be dismissed as an obtuse, philosophical work; it is anything but that; although he is inquisitive throughout, Mynott is driven more by a child-like sense of wonder than the philosophers compulsion to analyze.  In fact, in the book’s first chapter Mynott examines the wonder of the birder and thus lays a foundation for the rest of the text.  Following in the footsteps of naturalists past and present (e.g. Liberty Hyde Bailey and Lyanda Lyn Haupt), Mynott demonstrates a keen sense that wonder is the driving force behind all the explorations of the naturalist.  In this chapter, Mynott looks to the British poet-naturalists John Clare (referencing his poem, “The Landrail” – see below) and John Keats as key examples whose writings reveal a deep wonder about the mysteries of birds.

(more…)

A Brief Review of
Can Poetry Save the Earth:
A Field Guide to Nature Poems.
John Felstiner.
Hardback:  Yale UP, 2009.
Buy now: [ Amazon ]

Reviewed by Chris Smith.

John Felstiner’s recent book Can Poetry Save The Earth?: A Field Guide to Nature Poems, belies its unimaginative title, and offers us a rich, historical look at how the poetic imagination has inspired a deeper appreciation and stewardship of nature.  In the book’s preface Felstiner hones his focus:

Can poems help, when times demand environmental science and history, governmental leadership, corporate and consumer moderation, nonprofit activism, local initiatives?  Why call on the pleasures of poetry, when the time has come for an all out response?  … Because we are what the beauty and firce of the poems reach toward, we’ve a chance to recognize and lighten our footprint in a world where all of nature matters vitally (xiii).

Beginning with the biblical witness to nature – particularly that of Genesis and the Psalms – Felstiner launches into a historical survey of nature poetry, and does so with a deep passion for both nature and nature poetry.  My main disappointment is that he typically only includes snippets of poems, presumably for the sake of brevity.  This survey wends its way through history ending with Gary Snyder’s work in the mid-twentieth century.  In a brief afterword, Felstiner waxes philosophic:

How then to find a way of living on earth?  Our animal bodies are “of the earth, earthy,” as the Good Book says, yet in experiencing nonhuman nature we don’t truly know it.  We sense but can’t really grasp stone or tree, let alone stream or bird.  Still, at times, the saving grace of attentiveness, and the way poems hold things still for a moment, makes us mindful of fragile resilient life” (357).

Can Poetry Save The Earth?: A Field Guide to Nature Poems is a valuable book that not only serves as a superb introduction to the tradition of nature poetry, but also just might serve to provide a deep rooting and inspiration for a new generation of nature poets.

A Brief Review of
Hand Mending Made Easy:
Save Time and Money Repairing Your Own Clothes.
Nan Ides.
Paperback: Palmer/Pletsch Publications, 2008.
Buy now: [ Amazon ]

Reviewed by Chris Smith.

In the present age of planned obsolescence, cheap goods and disposability, one of the most radical economic acts is the fixing, mending or repurposing of worn goods.  Thus, I was very excited to learn of the recent book Hand Mending Made Easy: Save Time and Money Repairing Your Own Clothes by Nan Ides, a clear and simple introduction to mending clothes or other fabric goods by hand

Ides spells out her purpose in the book’s introduction:

This is not a “learn to sew” book.  This is for the person who wants to save some money and not continue to take simple fixes to the tailor.  It was written specifically for nonsewers, so you can understand the process and complete simple sewing fixes.  This book is for everyone – children, adults, men and women alike. Everyone can learn to do basic hand mending.

And the book does not disappoint!  Using the simplest and clearest terms and helpful color illustrations and photographs, Ides lists the basic supplies one will need for mending (including some non-essentials that might be nice to have in some situations).  She begins by showing us how to thread a needle and make basic stitches, and then demonstrates how to fix basic closures – buttons, snaps zippers. She also introduces hemming, fixing seams and holes in pockets and patching clothes.  Recognizing the book’s introductory nature, Ides closes the book with a useful list of situations in which you should “not try to fix your garment” (72).

This small book is an excellent resource for those who are committed to living simply and redemptively.  It has inspired me to be more careful about taking care of my clothes and I look forward to digging it out next time my clothes malfunction!

In our continuing effort to fund the publication and free distribution of The Englewood Review, we are going to be collaborating more intentionally with Christian Book Distributors.  Primarily, we will be offering you the opportunity to buy bargain books from CBD that we think of are interest.  Buying books this way is a win / win / win proposition.  You get great books for a great price,  CBD gets the sale and we get an excellent referral fee from CBD.  These books make great gifts!

This week’s bargain books (Click to learn more/purchase):

THE RAW MILK REVOLUTION.
David Gumpert.
Paperback: Chelsea Green, 2009.
Pre-order now:  [ Amazon ]

39 Page excerpt, including the full foreword by Joel Salatin!

Win a Free Conference Registration!!!

Through the Consuming Fire:
Economic Faithfulness
in An Age of Consumerism

November 13-14, 2009 – Indianapolis

http://englewoodcc.com/consumingfire/

Through the month of September, we will be running a contest to see who can refer the most people to register for the Through the Consuming Fire conference. The grand prize will be a free conference registration! We will also give away three book prizes!

So, tell your friends and urge them to register listing you as their reference! Feel free to use your blog, twitter, the Facebook e-vite, the conference flyer, or whatever other means (legal, of course…) you want to spread the word. You are welcome to use any of the images/logos on our site to assist in spreading the word.

Here are the full details:

1. The contest will run from September 1 through 11:59PM ET on September 30, 2009.
2. Listing yourself as your referrer will not count toward your total.
3. All winners must have referred at least TWO people. (NOTE: A spouse is a valid referal…)
4. The grand prize winner will be the person who has referred the most registrants. If there is a tie, the winner will be drawn at random.
5. A registration is not complete, and will not count toward your total, until payment is received. Although the contest ends on September 30, we will continue to accept payments for people who registered for the contest through Wednesday Oct 7. Any registration for which we have not received payment by Oct 7 will be eliminated from the contest totals.
6. If the grand prize winner has already registered and paid, we will refund his/her money.
7. The book prizes for the runners-up will be awarded to the three people who have the second, third and fourth most referrals. Any ties will be resolved by picking a winner at random.

QUESTIONS?
Email us:
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