Monday, August 31, 2015

Review: Korean documentary -- My Love, Do Not Cross That River

This powerful documentary is not for everyone. Its slow languid tender pace is not only beautiful but it is a death-watch of sorts. We know from the beginning scene that one of the main persons --in this case, the husband Kang Kye-yeol-- in this documentary is going to die.

It is the ending story of married couple Jo Byeong-man and Kang Kye-yeol who have been married for 76 years ever since they met when he was 19 and she was 14. It has been said that if one really loves one's spouse one must be prepared to let that spouse die before one's own death. In that way, the survivng spouse won't have to deal with the horrible loss. Most marriages do not last for 76 years. So one can imagine how harrowing it must be for an 89 year old woman who has loved and known her husband since she was a child.

Korea is good at these intimate documentaries of the human condition. The filmmaker Jin Mo-young filmed the couple through joyful and intimate moments and the viewer wonders about how the fimmaker managed to be afforded this privacy for 15 months. Throughout the 90 minute fim, we see the everyday activity of two people who have lived and loved each other, and who have seen the death of children and the indifference of one particular son. The film will definitely bring you to tears. Not to be missed, especially by romantics who aim to love and live long.

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Review: Rain -- A Natural and Cultural History

 Rain: A Natural and Cultural History 

by Cynthia Barnett 

Hardcover: 368 pages

Publisher: Crown (April 21, 2015)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0804137099

ISBN-13: 978-0804137096

If you're someone who loves non-fiction, especially informational non-fiction about natural phenomenon, you will love this book. 

It's a great solid, beautiful, thoroughly-researched book. And I do mean "thoroughly-reserched." The author writes about Rain in all its forms, function, manifestations, causes, effects, power, powerlessness, cultural, historical forms. Seriously, there is the cinematic power of rain. There is evolution and rain. There is cosmology and rain. There is literature and rain. There is religion and rain. There is geography and rain. There is history and rain.  Rain has changed history, destroyed kingdoms, been responsible for great literature and great films. 

It deals with rain as a chemical, mathematical, biological, nutritional, artistic, and powerful entity.  I seriously cannot tell you how well-researched this book is. But in addition to that, this is one beautifully-written book. 

As a Christian I really liked the discussion of Earth's evolution and rain. Not that the author is a Christian. (There are a few moments when I got antsy with some typical dismissive anti-religion sentences but overall, she was pretty respectful.) But the way Barnett descrbes how rain affected Earth's formation, it reminded me of the Genesis Creation account where Earth is described as having a watery firmament around it. The description of the effect of a great flood also reminded me of the story of Noah's flood where water came up from inside the earth. 

Again, this is not a religious book. But the author does make one see how wonderful and magical and powerful rain is. 

I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Review: NIV Zondervan Study Bible


Review: NIV Zondervan Study Bible
D A Carson, General Editor

 The NIV Zondervan Study Bible is a new study Bible which uses the NIV translation and which is structured in the following manner:
 Quick Start Guide
 Table of Contents which is divided into the following sections:
 Each book of the Bible and its location
 Maps
 Charts
 Illustrations
 List of Articles
 Abbreviations and Transliterations
 Acknowledgments
 Editorial Team
 Editor's Preface
 Preface
 The Bible
 Weights and Measures
 Articles

 The Bible proper is introduced with Chronological maps for both testaments and each Bible book is preceded by an Introduction which generally describes the author and place of the book's composition, the date of the book, the genre to which the book belongs, the style, content, and challenges of the book and the purpose for which it was written. Canonicity, Themes, and Theology of the books are also summarized. Some book introductions have more than these topics, some less. At the end of the Introduction, there is an outline of events in the Bible book.

 Each page of the Bible takes up about --on average-- 50% of the page with verse-by verse commentary taking up the bottom half of the page. Verse cross-references are in tiny columns on the upper right edge of the pages.Illustrations are found throughout. Sub-chapter sections have summary headings that are printed in green. Corresponding Bible stories are listed under each topic heading.

 The Articles in the Study Bible begin after the book of Revelations and are very good for the most part. Some writers write more accessibly than others. There are two or three women contributors, but for the most part the writers are men. The writers are also primarily European and from mainstream seminaries, denominations and theologies.

 Unlike many Bible studies where verse-by-verse commentaries focus more on the spiritual application, exegesis, and meaning of a verse, the study portion of the Study Bible seems to have been written for story or reading comprehension. Historical backgrounds, insights into motivations and actions of Biblical characters as well as analyses of ramifications and consequences are shown for verses, individually or collectively. Most of the explanations are historical and spiritual. And again, there is a feeling of someone beside you telling you what is literally going on in each verse. There are moments, however, when certain cultural biases or ignorance creep in, sometimes at the cost of truth. (This is often the reason why Study Bibles can be detrimental. Because human opinion is placed beside God's word, careless readers will incorporate the assumptions and biases of the Study Bible's editors and writers. )

 For instance, a writer states in the commentary on Daniel 1:8-16:
 "...this refusal of the royal diet has NOTHING to do with keeping kosher, avoiding political connections, or refusing food offered to idols; rather, they are giving God room to work. Their healthy appearance at the end of the chapter is the result not of diet but of God's grace." (The capitalization is my own.) But why does the writer use "NOTHING"? "Nothing" is a big word. In assessing anything, it is often best to edge one bets and not generalize too much.
 and Daniel 1: 13-14:
 "A diet of vegetables and water rather than the royal food and wine would naturally make the four men look worse." NATURALLY? Based on what?

 The commentator even states that Daniel not eating the king's choice food was only temporary and cites Daniel 10:3 as proof that Daniel later ate the king's food. But "choice food" is not the same as the king's choice food. And one can eat choice food according to the Torah without it being choice food from the king's table..even if one returns to meat-eating. Seems like a big leap to me.
 Reading such a line makes the reader wonder if this is someone out to defend the meat diet. Is the writer speaking against vegetarianism? Has he had some run-in with a Seventh Day Adventist or some person who took the Daniel Fast to the extreme? Additionally, the writer's parochial American notion of what is healthy also causes him to dismiss the possibility of Daniel being healthy without meat. Not to mention he goes so far as to deny Daniel is actually keeping the diet prescribed by the law. The writer has a good point; God is the ultimate keeper of one's health. But in attempting to show this truth, he goes overboard. "NOTHING to do with keeping kosher?" I think this is a big leap.
 
I found myself thinking: Did this man in one commentary on a verse totally dismiss Daniel's allegiance to the Kosher diet? What about the verse where Daniel decided he would not defile himself with the king's meat?

 This kind of questionable opining is everywhere in this study Bible.
 For instance, the description of what a spiritual mystery is in the commentary on  1 Corinthians 14:2 reads as follows: "Because nobody understands the language [when someone is speaking in tongues] what is being said is a mystery."

 The writer is saying that Paul says speaking in tongues is a spiritual mystery because no one understands what is being said. The writer is wrong, I think. Certainly the word "mystery" turns up in other Bible books. "Great is the Mystery of our faith" is mentioned in Phillipians for instance. And as used in the Bible, "mystery" doesn't mean simply not understanding anything, much less a language spoken in tongues. And here, the author doesn't use the Bible to define the Bible. He doesn't use mystery as it is not defined in other Biblical Scripture. Why not? For me, and for many other commentators in other Bible commentaries, "someone who is speaking mysteries in an unknown language" would still be speaking mysteries in known language. It is not the lack of comprehension of the language that makes the mystery. It is the deep truth itself, a truth that is so high and unattainable to mere human reasoning. But why did the reviewer write his weak explanation? Is he simply unaware of the general meaning of the verse? Or is he trying to downplay the power of speaking in tongues. One gets the unsettled feeling that some of the writers of this Bible Study don't read the Bible much. Or that they are not writing so much to explain the Bible but are writing to lead the reader to their own denominations.

For the most part, though, it's a good Bible. The analyses are very insightful and helpful OR sometimes just plain obvious to a longtime Bible reader. Or sometimes --on rare occasions-- downright questionable. Although nothing in this Study Bible will cause anyone to stray from theological truth, it's best if the reader of Study Bibles use two or three Study Bibles --from different denominations-- instead of just one. It is not a bad book. It is even a good and helpful book but it could be better.

 The font used for Scripture is thin and perhaps should've been heavier but it is still readable. This book was sent to me free of charge in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Review: Exploring Christian Theology Vol 2: Creation, Fall, and Salvation

Exploring Christian Theology Vol 2: Creation, Fall, and Salvation  
Nathan D Holsteen & Michael J Svigel, Editors
Bethany House
www.bethanyhouse.com
$16.99

The editors of Exploring Christian Theology Vol 2: Creation, Fall, and Salvation are affiliated with Dallas Theological Seminary.

This book is written for mainstream Christians who want to understand the historic battles and debates that have occurred among Christian theologians. The writers are
concerned with showing the many shades and permutations of Christian theology throughout the ages. Because of this, there are clarifications which might help the reader understand if he/she has subtly veered from the right theological path.  It might also be good for atheists who want to understand what Christianity really says and not what popular theology says it is. Roman Catholics may not agree with some of the author's conclusions. Sects such as Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists might also disagree with some conclusions but all groups will probably agree on the historical facts. This book also shows the various pitfalls and wrong near-miss theologies that Christians can fall into without quite knowing it.

For some people, theology is a head game. For others, knowledge of true Christian traditiona beliefs is a matter of life and death. It is possible that many people have changed denominations because the doctrine of one denomiation -- whether true or false-- suited their itching ears or aching hearts better. Indeed, Christians who hated doctrines -- such as hell, eternal punishment, etc-- have created whole doctrines in order to have their Christianity and their own emotional peace as well.

The importance of Christian theology to daily life is first seen in the first sections where the various philosophies on the origin of the soul is presented. Many Christians have wondered, "When is the soul created?" Perhaps they lost a child to abortion or miscarriage and wanted to understand.

The editors and writers are clearly educated but they make an effort to make Christian theology accessible, although there are some chapters which might be difficult for pastors and teachers who do not have good reading comprehension skills.

The book is divided into the following sections:

The Christian Story in Four Acts
Part One: From Dust to Dust
Part Two: Wise Unto Salvation
These two parts are further divided into chapters entitled: High Altitude Survey, Passages to Master, Humanity and Sin in Retrospect, Facts to Never Forget, Dangers to Avoid, Principles to Put into Practice, Voices from the Past and Present, Shelf Space: Recommendations for your Library. These chapters are also then divided into subsections.
The book ends with a very large glossary of Christian theological terms

There are scripture memory boxes, charts of ideas, and footnotes at the end of each chapter.

In addition to their own words, the authors have also compiled quotes from famous theologians throughout the ages such as Aquinas, Wesley, Pascal, Jonathan Edwards, Whitefield, Augustine, Martin Luther, and of course Calvin among many others.  This is mostly in the section entitled Voices from the Past to the Present athough the book contains quotes throughout.

The book also speaks of salvation and shows the way of salvation throughout. Highly recommended.

This book was sent to me free of charge by Bethany Publishers in exchange for a fair and honest review.




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