Culture

Harper One, 2010, RRP $19.99 Reviewed by Karyl Davison. WITH THE rise of ‘new’ atheism and the often unhelpful debates about faith in God, this collection of writings is timely. Belief is a collection of writings from thoughtful men and women throughout the ages (beginning with Plato) who, using their intellect and reason, explain the basis for their faith-based belief ...

Dover Publications, New York, 2008 RRP $5.95 Reviewed by Bob Warrick. We have heard of Martin Luther King and his “I have a dream” speech, but what about Mary Church Terrell? Mary delivered a speech in Washington DC in October 1906: “What It Means to Be Coloured in the Capital of the United States”. In a similar vein Paul Robeson’s ...

By Robert K. Johnston and J Walker Smith Wild Canyon Press, 2001 RRP $21.95 Reviewed by Con Graves. Con switched to a life of voluntary simplicity aimed at reducing his impact on the earth and reducing stress in his own life and the lives of those around him. He worships at Newlife Uniting on the Gold Coast. This book is ...

Introduced by David Adam Darton, Longman & Todd, 2011 RRP $19.95 Reviewed by Karyl Davison. This little book, part of a new series DLT Books of the Bible, provides the complete book of Psalms, with an original introduction by David Adam in which he reflects on the largest book in the Bible and its importance to the people of Israel ...

By Geza Vermes SCM Press, 2009 RRP $39.95 Reviewed by Karyl Davison. One of the most important “Jesus” scholars of the 20th century, Geza Vermes, it seems to me, is uniquely placed to produce such a work. Born into a Hungarian Jewish family in 1924, he was baptised into the Roman Catholic Church at age seven, lost both his parents ...

CONDIAS Entertainment, 2011 RRP $29.95 Reviewed by John Ruhle. The Trial is based a novel by author Robert Whitlow and, as the back of the DVD says, “follows the story of ‘Mac’ McClain, an emotionally crippled attorney who’s lost his faith in God and himself. That’s when Mac reluctantly decides to take on one last case: a young man facing ...

Sid Harta Publishers, 2009, RRP $24.95 Reviewed by Rev Dr Marian Zaunbrecher. ONE WEEK before Christmas last year my son attempted suicide. My family and I are still trying to sort through the pain, grief, hurt, confusion and guilt. Suicide is the leading cause of death in this country. More people die from suicide than breast cancer or road accidents. ...

Black Ink Press, 2009, RRP $17 Reviewed by the Ruhle family. CRANKY THE Crocodile is a great kid’s book written and illustrated by an Indigenous man from ‘crocodile country’ in far north Queensland. The book tells the story of Cranky trying to find his mother after he became lost once he left his egg. Through unique illustrations and repetitive text ...

Templeton Press, 2010, RRP $57.95 Reviewed by Rev Dr Lew Born, a member of Robina Uniting Church. DIVINE LOVE is a significant contribution to creative dialogue among world faiths. The foreword by Seyyed Nasr, Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University, is an adequate summary of the book, its subject and its agenda as noted in his early quote, ...

Video and internet-based small group resource, RRP $325 Reviewed by Peter Robinson. ONE OF the challenges for church lay people is to update knowledge and ideas in response to new information and insights. In the words of a senior minister, ‘the church has failed its lay people badly by not helping adults develop beyond a childhood Sunday School frame of reference’. ...