Culture

Monarch Books RRP $19.95 In Through the Dark Woods, Jo Swinney shares her experiences as a sufferer of depression and offers insights from a Christian perspective. Her intention is to help fellow sufferers and the people who care for them. She considers the causes of depression, the symptoms, its effects on relationships, work and faith, and the sensitive issue of ...

Pan Macmillan 2007 RRP: $24.95 Although attributed to Benjamin Iscariot, the alleged son of Judas Iscariot, The Gospel According to Judas is a 21st century work of fiction written by Jeffrey Archer and Francis Maloney. Now at the outset I’ve got to confess that I’m a Jeffrey Archer fan – he is one of my favourite fiction authors. However, Archer ...

WaterBrook Press RRP: $18.95 Written and illustrated by the De Villiers family, Purple Spot Sickness is another book in the “Sprout” series designed to help children grow with God. It is a delightful story which teaches children aged 4 to 7 the value of treating others as they themselves want to be treated. (Matthew 7:12) The illustrations give the characters ...

Self-publishedRRP: $25 A year ago Australia was stirred by the news of an accident at the Beaconsfield goldmine. In the weeks that followed, stories began to filter through the media of the significant role local churches in Beaconsfield (especially the Uniting Church) were playing as they responded to the needs of a community struggling to deal with a prolonged tragedy. ...

The Centre for Progressive Religious Thought (Sydney) RRP: Lyrics Edition $20 Newcastle resident George Stuart offers a hymnbook providing 103 sets of lyrics “written to well-loved traditional hymn tunes”. The hymnbook provides full piano score, though without guitar chords. Accompanying the collection are four CDs, with organ accompaniment. In assessing this collection, I found myself torn, as I am passionate ...

The Columba PressRRP $19.95 In this simple book, Mary Malone reclaims the voices of twenty-six women mystics. Their writings, which were often birthed from experiences of suffering, offer glimpses into the ways in which Christian women experienced and expressed their faith. Malone invites us to share something of the mystic journey through seventy-five prayer-poems from these women. Praying with the ...

Hodder & Stoughton RRP$ 19.95 Christian fans of comic books might remember the picture Bibles from the 1980s, an ambitious attempt to illustrate the whole Bible in comic book form. I haven’t seen anything like it since – until now. I love comics. Let’s just get that out of the way at the beginning. Anything I say from here on ...

Scribe Publications RRP $35.00 This is an intriguing, fascinating, beautifully written, but ultimately unpersuasive book. Carroll is LaTrobe University’s Professor of Sociology, and one of Australia’s leading public intellectuals. He is an agnostic fascinated by Jesus. Acknowledging Jesus’ pivotal place in the formation of Western culture, he proposes (surprisingly for an agnostic) that the present ills of modern Western culture ...

HarperSanFrancisco RRP $39.95 The cover of Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary displaying a statue of Christ enclosed in a scaffold makes a great deal of sense as you work your way through Borg’s writing. For Borg, the Jesus we know is constructed. Borg is quite confronting as he tackles important questions concerning the construction ...

Published by Burns & Oates 2006 RRP $35.99 Are we to be Mary or Martha? Carmelite Nun Ruth Burrows, challenges the way we pray. Calling on well known past and more contemporary Religious figures, Burrows puts the case for being more like Mary. As Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, so we, at any time, like a child, easily, can allow ...