Religious Books > S Religious Books

Advantages: Easy to read, fascinating life stories, helpful comparative overview
Disadvantages: Are there no happy endings?

...out the facts, and not assume everything will work out alright. Go in with your eyes wide open. = PRACTICAL DETAILS = Stepping into the Shadows: Why women convert to Islam Rosemary Sookhdeo Isaac Publishing 2005 ISBN-10: 0954783530 ISBN-13: 9780954783532 Paperback. 121 pages. £6.99 ... Read review

Advantages: Very well thought out, a good framework for discernment
Disadvantages: A book for scholars moreso than the public

...(1) The canon of Scripture is 'the church's working bibliography.' (2) This canon is 'a faith decision for the church to make in every age and place.' (3) 'The canon establishes discrete writings from the past as this community's Scripture.' (4) 'It is the nature of a canon to be closed.' (5) The canon thus has 'universal and enduring pertinence.' (6) The distinguishing characteristic of the interpreter is in recognition of this as a canon, ...
...have a peculiar and powerful claim on the lives of individuals and above all on the community.' (8) 'They not only speak in the voice of their human authors but also speak for an Other.' (9) 'Divine inspiration' best expresses the 'unique authority' given, that they are 'the real but subtle work of the Holy Spirit.' (10) As a diverse collection, 'it resists reduction to any single unifying principle imposed from without', also from within. (11) ... Read review

Advantages: A spiritual classic
Disadvantages: -

...wrote the first work, `A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life', one of his best-known works, while in retirement as tutor in the Gibbon household (he was tutor to the father of the historian noted for the work on the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire) in the 1720s. He wrote the second, much shorter work, `The Spirit of Love,' in 1750s. The first is a major work of spiritual practice, rightly deserving the description as a `classic' or `masterpiece'. ...
...Law's work in `The Serious Call' takes the form of 24 chapters, each one beginning with a simple spiritual rule, observation or proposition. Sometimes these can take a directive form as a spiritual practice - some chapters, for example, recommend prayer at certain times of day (chapter 16 recommends 9 a.m., chapter 20 recommends 12 noon, etc.) and prescribes the content and the manner of the prayers. Some work from a proposition (chapter 13 - that ... Read review

Advantages: Easy to read, comprehensive, informative.
Disadvantages: You may turn yourself into a tinker,tailor,teacher, toad/prince/cat/queen

Have you ever been interested to read about magic ? I don't mean the variety of magic which includes pulling extremely scared rabbits from hats by the ears. I mean magic, as in creating and performing spells ? I wouldn't normally read a book on magic or spells but my friend sent me this book to read. So in keeping with my "Alice-like" curiousity I read it, and here for you is my experience. The book does have an enticing cover, and although I ...
...can't tell a book by its cover ". Well I am not to sure about that, but we can debate the aesthetics of design at a later date. Yes, so the colour of the cover is a beautiful enticing purple and has a very attractive picture of a table laid out with various items, flowers, a fruitbowl, a candle. The table is set out below an open window, I take this to be a representation of an altar and its relation to the window and the outside world, its symbolism ... Read review

Advantages: A good presentation of a model to follow
Disadvantages: -

...exemplified in the model of St. Francis, who was constantly striving for a life of simple faith and piety. There are three levels of liberation theology: professional, pastoral, and popular. The professional level involves academic theorists and clergy administrator types; the pastoral level involves the teaching and compassionate action of clergy and lay ministers; however, it is the popular level that is most important here, where the action is ...
...from the various forces that oppress. This book is a wonderful introduction to this very influential and occasionally controversial theology, from two of the leading lights in the field professionally, pastorally, and among the people they love. This love certainly is reflected in the life of St. Francis, too. ... Read review