Books
A Dictionary Of Devotions
Book Review: Michael Walsh, A Dictionary of Devotions, Burns & Oates, 1993. If someone, say, from the Methodist tradition picked up this book, they’d soon be disappointed. The ‘devotional practices’ here are not what Protestant evangelicals practise in their ‘quiet times’. Rather, it’s a fascinating collection of articles about relics, special prayers for special occasions, […]
The Harpercollins Dictionary Of Religion
Book Review: Jonathan Smith (ed.), The HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion, HarperSanFrancisco, 1996. Ever been in a trivia game when you needed an authority – just one authority – on a bit of religious knowledge? Here ’tis. Did you know: * Christian fundamentalists comprise only 15% of the broader Christian evangelical community? (They make so much […]
Matthew Fox
I wrote these reflections on Matthew Fox’s ideas after interviewing him for an Australian TV program: Matthew Fox doesn’t aim to keep cardinals awake at night, but in matters of theology, spirituality, feminism and ecology he certainly does that. He remains a Catholic, he says, because he has both a sense of history and a […]
Confessions Of A Parish Priest (Andrew Greeley)
(Andrew Greeley, New York: Pocket Books, 1987) The kindest thing you can say about a nation or church which cannot tolerate dissent is that it’s to be pitied. Charles Curran, the American theologian whose licence to teach was revoked by the Vatican wrote in his book Faithful Dissent: ‘Clarity, honesty and truth require that positions be labelled as dissent when […]
C.S.Lewis
On various religious/atheists’ newsgroups, an assertion sometimes appears that goes something like this: ‘If your reason for believing in God or being a Christian is that you are impressed by Jesus, how can you know whether he really did or said those things? Haven’t modern scholars debunked the historicity of the Gospels? The real Jesus […]
Manning Clark
Manning Clark, The Quest for Grace, Puzzles of Childhood (both Penguin 1990). One way I judge the worth of a book is the number of ‘quotable quotes’ I file from it. These two autobiographies rank among the best, with about 200 categories of memorable sayings, and about 300 to file altogether… Manning Clark describes himself […]
M. Scott Peck
BOOK REVIEW: M. Scott Peck, In Search of Stones: A Pilgrimage of Faith, Reason and Discovery, London: Simon & Schuster, 1996 (pb. 422pp). I like Scott Peck. He’s a maverick (and an INTJ, as I am). I read his best-known (and first) book The Road Less Traveled back in the early 1980’s and loved his […]
The Stranger
A few months before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small Tennessee town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few […]
Book Review: Matthew Fox: Confessions: The Making Of A Postdenominational Priest
BOOK REVIEW: Matthew Fox: Confessions: The Making of a Postdenominational Priest, HarperSanFrancisco, 1996. Among Influential/thoughtful Living White North American Male Writers, Matthew Fox has to be in the top ten (with Wendell Berry, John Updike, M.Scott Peck, Richard Rohr, Robert Bly, the humorist Garrison Keillor (?) – who else?). If you haven’t been living on […]
‘Dead Man Walking’
I am surprised this movie didn’t last longer in our Australian cinemas. It’s brilliant: get it on a video, and watch it with a discussion group. I won’t give too many details, but briefly: # Its theme is a dramatic commentary on the adage: ‘The power of love over hate, or good over evil is […]
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