Culture

Scribe Publications, Melbourne , 2009 RRP $32.95 Reviewed by Rev Dr Marian Zaunbrecher, Associate General Secretary of the Queensland Synod     Author Vivienne Ulman decided to journal her mother’s journey with Alzheimer’s disease. As it became harder to communicate with her mother she wrote her letters. These letters became the basis of her chronicle. As we read each letter we ...

Penguin Books, 2009  RRP $35  Reviewed by Karyl Davison, Rural Ministry Coordinator for the Central Queensland and Mary Burnett Presbyteries  What a wonderful resource!  The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Bible Lands is a concise yet comprehensive survey of the relationship between the books of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, the Bible, and the lands from which they came. This ...

Jewish Lights Publishing, Woodstock, Vermont , 2008   RRP $27.95  Reviewed by Greg Ross, Nambour Uniting Church. Rabbi Harvey Rides Again contains 10 stories that have been adapted from their traditional Jewish setting and situated in what North Americans have come to know as the Wild West.  Each story is illustrated in cartoon strip style and contains points that are both ...

Reviewed by Rev Dr Marian Zaunbrecher, Associate General Secretary of the Queensland Synod   Never judge a book by its cover. Expecting a tale of a chaplain attached to an armed forces regiment I presumed The Vicar of Bagdad would be easy night-time reading. Instead I discovered a challenging and inspiring diary of peace seeking efforts. Author Andrew White first ...

A & A Book Publishing, 2007 Reviewed by Rev Dr Marian Zaunbrecher, Associate General Secretary of the Queensland Synod I love a good novel so when I picked up this book and the cover said, “This book bites!” I could not resist it. Faithful to Self is set in Australia and south East Asia. It commences with a murder and ...

FilmPG for Infrequent Mild Violence and Coarse LanguageFilm is in English and Mandarin Reviewed by Matt Gees Mao’s Last Dancer, based on the autobiography of the same name, follows the journey Li Cunxin a peasant boy chosen to train at the Beijing Ballet who later moves to America and defects. Set against a variety of backdrops including Communist China under ...

Acorn Press, 2009 RRP $25.00 (including postage) Reviewed by Dr Brian Edgar, Professor of Theological Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary, New York Another Way to Love is a production of World Vision which not only sets out reasons for Christians being involved in advocacy, aid and development but also delineates some of the specifically Christian attitudes and actions that influence the ...

Monarch Books RRP $24.95 Reviewed by Linda Hamill, Candidate in training for Ministry of Word at The Gap Uniting Church What Have They Done With Jesus? is a book for anyone who has been confused by or is interested in all the theories of Jesus’ life and relationships. Author Ben Witherington sifts through many theories, rumors, historical documents and the ...

Bible Society, 2009 RRP $30 By Andrew Johnson, social justice minister at West End Uniting Church, Brisbane. Launched by the Prime Minister in Parliament House in September the Poverty and Justice Bible seeks to reverse the approach taken to scripture by Jim Wallis of Sojourners. Mr Wallis, during his time at seminary, famously cut out all references to poverty and ...

Self Published RRP $28.00 (including postage) Reviewed by Bruce Mullan, Associate Director Church Solidarity (Pacific) with UnitingWorld. Only a Woman is based on letters the author sent home to her mother and a friend in the 1950s and 60s while she was teaching in the Papuan Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. When Patricia Riddel stumbled across her letters again ...