“Stories to Guide Us”

A Review of
Patron Saints for Postmoderns:
Ten from the Past Who Speak to Our Future.
By Chris Armstrong.

Reviewed by Austen Sandifer-Williams.

Patron Saints for Postmoderns:
Ten from the Past Who Speak to Our Future.
By Chris Armstrong.
Paperback: IVP Books, 2009.
Buy now: [ ChristianBooks.com ]

In Patron Saints for Postmoderns: Ten from the Past Who Speak to Our Future, author Chris Armstrong offers ten portraits of Christians from history to inspire readers to live their faith more fully. Using a mixed definition of “saint” that falls somewhere between the canonized saints of Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy, and the Protestant definition of the sainthood of all believers, Armstrong focuses on “certain special people to pierce our complacency and hold up for us the possibility of a better way—not only for us individually, but for the whole church (8).” The book includes a chapter each on each of the following: Antony of Egypt, Gregory the Great, Dante, Alighieri, Margery Kempe, John Amos Comenius, John Newton, Charles Simeon, Amanda Berry Smith, Charles M. Sheldon and Dorothy L. Sayers.

As a professor of Christian history, Armstrong’s passion for history and for the saints he selected shines throughout the book, with each story brimming with dramatic and interesting details that bring the characters to life. However, Armstrong’s list of saints is somewhat surprising in that it does not include some of those individuals who one might most expect to speak to postmodern readers. And it does not become clear until later in the book exactly what Armstrong’s agenda is in making his selection.

He states that his choice is partly so that “we can learn from so many more people than just the usual Protestant heroes, such as Billy Graham, Adoniram Judson, John Wesley and others, and even such usual giants of our earlier history as Augustine, Francis, and Ignatius Loyola (14).” However, this argument for overlooking some of the “big heroes” loses some punch when Armstrong also bemoans the lack of sense of history in many postmodern Christians’ lives.

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A Brief Review of

Augustine and the Jews:
A Christian Defense of Jews and Judaism.
Paula Fredriksen
Hardback: Doubleday, 2008.
Buy now:  [ ChristianBook.com ]

Reviewed by James Spinti.

This review originally appeared on James’s blog:
http://anebooks.blogspot.com/
It is reprinted here with the reviewer’s permission.

The book is divided into three sections: The legacy of Alexander, which describes the cultural background of Augustine’s world, The prodigal son, which is a biography of Augustine, and God and Israel, which deals with Augustine’s evolving theology of what to do with the Jews.

The first section could almost be a book on its own. The cultural background, with the importance of paideia (the way society educated its young, especially wealthy, males) for worldview, the importance of rhetoric in daily life, the role of the gods in society, are all laid out in a very coherent and understandable way. The heavy influence of the Platonic/Neo-platonic disdain for the physical is highlighted, as it will have an important role in the development of Christian theology.  I could recommend the book for this section alone. I only have one complaint, and that is that she has bought the current academic fad that there were multiple christianities that were all equally valid prior to “the triumph of orthodoxy.” But, that is another argument for another day.

Since I have lived with this material for so long, I tend to forget that most people don’t know about the multiplicity of gods and their role in the ancient world. I was reminded of it just the other day while on vacation. I made some statement, which I thought would be self-evident, and had to spend the next ½ hour explaining polytheism and the concept of placating the deities. This section of the book would make a good read on that subject.

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A Brief Review of

Augustine of Hippo: A Life.
Henry Chadwick.
Hardback: Oxford UP,  2009.
Buy now: [ ChristianBook.com ]

Reviewed by Chris Smith.

Twenty-eight years after its completion, Oxford University Press has finally brought Henry Chadwick’s introductory biography of Augustine to print.  Chadwick was one of the most renowned twentieth century scholars of Early Church history and the author of what is probably the finest contemporary translation of Augustine’s Confessions (Oxford UP, 1991).  Augustine of Hippo: A Life is a perfect companion to the Confessions, illuminating Augustine’s life in its historical and philosophical context.  One of the best qualities of Chadwick’s interpretation of Augustine’s life is its emphasis on understanding Augustine in the context of the Church.  In his narration of the dimensions of Augustine’s conversion, Chadwick observes:

Augustine wants to be a monk, but it must be in a community of brothers.  For him solitude is a necessary periodic withdrawal, but not a normal road to truth, which is not something religious men find on their own.  Because ‘God’s truth does not belong to any one man’, truth is found by a dialectic of question and answer (30).

It is this need to be in community, and thereby in conversation, that gives shape to Chadwick’s telling of Augustine’s life.  Augustine is portrayed in conversation with those inside the Church, those in marginal sects (Manichees, Donatists), as well as with contemporary philosophies (especially neoplatonism) and those outside the Church.  Given Augustine’s pre-conversion labors as a teacher of rhetoric and the centrality of the virtue of dialogue, it is not surprising that Chadwick frequently returns to issues related to Augustine’s use of language, among which is one of the book’s finest passages, a brief exploration of Augustine’s principles for scriptural hermeneutics (82-86).

Highly readable and thoroughly enjoyable, Chadwick’s Augustine of Hippo: A Life is marked by its clarity, economy of words and Chadwick’s narrative tone.  It deserves to become the primary introductory biography of Augustine, and is well-worth reading in our churches, colleges and seminaries!

A Brief Review of

The Early Preaching of Karl Barth:
Fourteen Sermons with Commentary by William H. Willimon.
Paperback: WJK Books, 2009.
Buy Now:  [ ChristianBook.com ]

Reviewed by Bob Cornwall.

This review originally appeared on Bob’s blog:
http://pastorbobcornwall.blogspot.com/
It is reprinted here with the reviewer’s permission.

Preaching has changed over the years, whether for the good or ill is difficult to say. In an earlier day, at least as seen from reading sermons by the young Karl Barth, preachers demanded more of the listeners than is normally expected of someone sitting in the pews today. There is less emphasis on the “practical” and more on the “theological.”

This book contains fourteen sermons preached by Karl Barth to the people of the small Swiss village of Safenwil between 1917 and 1920. They have been carefully selected by William Willimon, and translated by John E. Wilson. Barth began his pastorate in 1911, but the sermons come from the end of Barth’s tenure in the pastorate – just before he left for a teaching post at Gottingen. They also come from an interesting period of European history – from the closing years of World War I through the immediate aftermath. It is a period of transition, marked by the Revolution in Russia – an event that is very much present in Barth’s mind and preaching. Both the war and the revolution seem to represent the movement into a new age, where old paradigms no longer hold true.

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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 Christmas gifts!

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

	The Early Church Fathers, 38 Volumes By Hendrickson Publishers $199 – Save 80% !!!! Broken into three sections, this authoritative collection of writings by the Early Church Fathers is essential for understanding patristic thought.
	Biographical Dictionary of Christian Theologians By Patrick W. Carey & Joseph T. Lienhard, eds. / Hendrickson Publishers $3.99 – Save 89% !!!! Discover essential information on over 450 theologians from antiquity through the 20th century. Articles include biographical details and summaries of major writings and contributions. Particularly helpful are bibliographies that list the most important editions of primary works and secondary materials that interpret the theologian’s thought and influence. An invaluable reference for students and scholars. 608 pages, softcover from Hendrickson.
	Library of Christian Classics – Cyril of Jerusalem and Nemesius of Emesa By Edited by William Telfer / Westminster John Knox Press $3.99 – Save 90% !!!! An important addition to The Library of Christian Classics, this volume contains works by Cyril of Jerusalem and Nemesius of Emesa. Cyril of Jerusalem was a distinguished theologians in the early Church. His famous work, Catechetical Lectures is included in this volume. Nemesius was a Christian philosopher, whose work On the Nature of Man is included in this volume. His book is an interesting attempt to compile a system of anthropology from a philosophical perspective. 466 Pages. Softcover from Westminster John Knox Press.

37 Page Excerpt from
A THEOLOGY OF JOHN’S GOSPEL AND LETTERS.
by Andreas Koestenberger.
Hardback: Doubleday, 2009.
Buy now: [ ChristianBook.com ]

Two striking Thanksgiving prayers from THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER:

“A Litany of Thanksgiving”

Let us give thanks to God our Father for all his gifts so freely bestowed upon us.

For the beauty and wonder of your creation, in earth and sky and sea.
We thank you, Lord.

For all that is gracious in the lives of men and women, revealing the image of Christ,
We thank you, Lord.

For our daily food and drink, our homes and families, and our friends,
We thank you, Lord.

For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve,
We thank you, Lord.

For health and strength to work, and leisure to rest and play,
We thank you, Lord.

For the brave and courageous, who are patient in suffering and faithful in adversity,
We thank you, Lord.

For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice,
We thank you, Lord.

For the communion of saints, in all times and places,
We thank you, Lord.

Above all, we give you thanks for the great mercies and promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord;
To him be praise and glory, with you, O Father, and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

“Thanksgiving for the Harvest”

Most gracious God, by whose knowledge the depths are broken up and the clouds drop down the dew: We yield thee hearty thanks and praise for the return of seed time and harvest, for the increase of the ground and the gathering in of its fruits, and for all other blessings of thy merciful providence bestowed upon this nation and people. And, we beseech thee, give us a just sense of these great mercies, such as may appear in our lives by a humble, holy, and obedient walking before thee all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost be all glory and honor, world without end. Amen.

A Brief Review of

The Bible Among The Myths:
Unique Revelation or Just Ancient Literature?
John Oswalt.
Paperback: Zondervan, 2009.
Buy now:  [ ChristianBook.com ]

Reviewed by John Schaaf.

According to John Oswalt, modern scholarship states that “Israelite religion is simply one more of the complex West Semitic religions,” and its origins can be “explained on the basis of evolutionary change” (11). He, therefore, presents a case for reexamining such assumptions and calls for “the evidence supporting the Bible’s claims to have been revealed” to be “given the attention that it deserves” (18).

In part one, “The Bible and Myth,” Oswalt engages Greek and Hebrew thought before examining the varied definitions of myth. This provides a definition to work from before exposing the underlying bases for mythical thinking; namely continuity. In contrast to this worldview, Oswalt reveals the uniqueness of the Bible in comparison to surrounding ancient religions. Though he admits similarities, he draws attention to the differences in Israel’s underlying worldview. In part two, “The Bible and History,” Oswalt examines definitions of history and considers what understandings of reality history writing depends upon (113). This prepares the reader for his discussion of Israel’s uniqueness.

Oswalt later examines and evaluates the Bultmannian and Process approaches to history before presenting the alternative views of John Van Seters, Frank Moore Cross, William Dever, and Mark Smith pertaining to the origins of the biblical worldview. With each view Oswalt leaves the reader with questions concerning their theories which, he contends, do not “present a convincing explanation for the unique features of the biblical worldview and the ways in which that worldview affects the understanding of reality in the Bible” (184).

A strength of the volume is the author’s ability to familiarize the reader with basic understandings of the ancient world while exposing the reader to an array of modern scholarship that leaves fodder for discussion. Oswalt assumes, however, that discussion of the Old Testament necessarily flows into the New Testament but, in general, there is no true examination of the later Testament. This volume would be valuable to any lay person, budding seminarian, or minister looking for an alternative to some modern scholarship while also valuable to the scholar as Oswalt attempts to begin a dialogue with contemporary scholarship on the ancient world.

ERB Editor Chris Smith
Reviews Nora Gallagher’s THE SACRED MEAL

http://weblog.englewoodcc.com/?p=72

The “Ancient Practices” series from Thomas Nelson – with its deep historical rooting and careful theological attentiveness – is rapidly becoming one of my favorite ongoing series of books. Thus, I was pleased to see the release of two new volumes. The first of these volumes is Nora Gallagher’s THE SACRED MEAL, which explores the meaning of the practice of Eucharist (or communion, as it is called here Englewood and in many other churches). Gallagher eloquently reflects upon the communal nature of the Eucharist, the stages of participating in the Eucharist (waiting, receiving and afterward) and then explores the theological meaning of the bread and the cup as it has been honored in various traditions at various times in church history.

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Read the full review:
http://weblog.englewoodcc.com/?p=72

The Sacred Meal (Ancient Practices Series).
Nora Gallagher.
Hardback: Thomas Nelson, 2009.
Buy Now: [ ChristianBook.com ]

The Roman Empire and the Renaissance loom large on the timeline of human history, two great epochs of accomplishment and achievement that demonstrate our ability to shape and exert control over our world. The Middle Ages, so titled because they exist between those two monumental pillars of civilization, are often seen as the inverse, when humankind languished in an uncertain, anarchic world.

Chris Wickham, professor of medieval history at Oxford, challenges this point-of-view, arguing that the Middle Ages must be considered not just as a speed bump on the path of progress but rather on its own merits, as a complex and intricate system that emerged in response to a changing environment. His book, The Inheritance of Rome, is a very meticulous, overwhelmingly detailed account of an era largely unfamiliar to modern readers. It is, at times, exhausting and cluttered, but also laden with interesting passages that shed light on this volatile period in history.

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Read the full review:
http://bit.ly/596oPD

The Inheritance of Rome:
Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000.
Chris Wickham.
Hardcover: Viking, 2009.
Buy now: [ Amazon ]

http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/review/4954/

THE POEMS in Wright’s astonishing nineteenth collection of poetry serve as a loyal lighthouse to the reader: a sure and steady beam that pulses, discovers, and searches out—all while allowing the reader that important and necessary pause to let his lines haunt and delight. When one thinks of “sestets,” six-lined poems, one would normally assume compression and density of taut lines. Not so: these expansive and gratifying poems often perform a sort of intimate “aside” to the reader. Wright breaks or “drops” the line part way into a singular line, as if to nudge the reader to pause for a bit and contemplate the themes of mortality and nature that often appear in these poems. What comes after the visual drop on the page is usually a somber reflection or a surprising twist on the previous image. The poems are almost bursting with notions of what it means to be at once at odds and in harmony with nature, and the visual drop deftly allows for this juxtaposition. Consider: “This is the light its wings dissolve in / if it ever gets out from underground.”

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Read the full review:
http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/review/4954/

SESTETS: Poems.
Charles Wright.
Hardback, FSG, 2009.
Buy now:  [ Amazon ]

FREE FILM SHOWING / DISCUSSION
Friday December 11
Englewood Christian Church
Indianapolis

THE TREACHERY OF TECHNOLOGY: A Portrait of Jacques Ellul
by Jan van Boeckel
Sub-titled in English

CLICK HERE for the Facebook e-vite…

6PM – Light soup dinner ($2/person donation requested)
7PM – Film Screening
8PM – Discussion of the film

Jacques Ellul is one of the thinkers who has been most influential on our theology here at Englewood. Come view and discuss this essential documentary with us.

Description of the movie:

J. Ellul, The Technological Society, Intro:

“The term technique, as I use it, does not mean machines, technology, or this or that procedure for attaining an end. In our technological society, technique is the totality of methods rationally arrived at and having absolute efficiency (for a given stage of development) in every field of human activity. Its characteristics are new; the technique of the present has no common measure with that of the past.” (p. xxv)

In 1950, Ellul finished his manuscript La Technique ou l’enjeu du siecle (The Technological Society), his seminal analysis of the way technology shapes every aspect of society. As contemporary thinker, he was strongly influenced by Kierkegaard, Marx and Barth. After a live, in which he wrote close to fifty books, Ellul died in the summer of 1994, at the age of 82.

The team of ReRun Produkties visited Ellul in 1990. During five subsequent days, long interview sessions were held with him in his old mansion in Pessac. The Betrayal by Technology is one of the very few existing filmed recordings of Jacques Ellul speaking.

1992, 54 minutes