September 1, 2000 Two very different visions of the Meaning of Jesus

ON THE jacket of this book, Bishop John Shelby Spong describes it as "a magnificent song of faith" sung by a "traditional" (Wright) and "visionary" (Borg) Christian. While The Meaning of Jesus is indeed magnificent, it is...

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September 1, 2000 Roots of church brought to life in diary

THIS BOOK is a pleasant surprise. I didn't think we Canadian Anglicans could merit such attention in this age when it is popular to attack the dedicated ministries of our earlier generations. The well-researched...

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June 1, 2000 Mainline churches may be poised for recovery

FRESH WINDS are blowing across the mainline churches of this land. Many recent books from North American publishers show local congregations seriously engaged in an identity and mission quest, in self-assessment and discernment...

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May 1, 2000 Books honour 75 years of United Church

HERE ARE two books - one for adults, the other for children - honouring the 75th anniversary of the 1925 union that formed the United Church of Canada, being celebrated in May. While aimed primarily at a United Church readership,...

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May 1, 2000 Pastoral care of gays and lesbians

THE AUTHOR writes this book as if he were sitting at a table with each reader, providing pastoral care. He wants every reader to find themselves and their views respected. The first three chapters deal with research into...

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May 1, 2000 Book on religion in environment undermined by ignoring moderate Christian environmentalists

AT FIRST GLANCE this book seemed yet another in the spate of anti-environmentalist backlash books I've reviewed. This is a readable account, more positive than many. Royal states his thesis that the West has a better...

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March 1, 2000 Spong settles old scores in autobiography

A FEW years ago at a convention of diocesan bureaucrats, I met two women from the Diocese of Newark. I remarked that having a high profile bishop like theirs - John Shelby Spong - must make life extra interesting for diocesan...

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March 1, 2000 First detailed biography of ‘prophet of Anglicanism’ is brilliant

RICHARD Hooker is often called the presiding genius of Anglicanism. But the most formative theologian of the Anglican way is a distant figure to many people. Philip Secor has set out to change all this in his brilliant work...

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March 1, 2000 No magic in Christian healing, book says, rather an ability to find joy and peace

JESUS' supernatural healings were a sign to the people of his time that the Kingdom of God had arrived. These practices were continued by the apostles but are no longer a regular feature of worship today. In this book, various...

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March 1, 2000 A primer on the Pope

JT IS PART of the persona of this pope that he manages simultaneously to attract and repel, to enthral and to appal. And so too with books about him. Karol Wojtyla, Bishop of Rome, heir to St. Peter is, undeniably, one of...

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