NP? books of possible interest

[Doug Millison]

R FATHER N HVN: Up 2 D8 Txts frm d Bible
Simon Jenkins. Westminster John Knox, $8.95 paper
(144p) ISBN
0-664-22598-5
Ths 1st-r8 bk xplors d idea of wht d bible wd B lk if
it wr ritn in
txt msgs. Once more for the non-Gen Yers among us:
This first-rate
book explores the idea of what the Bible would be like
if it were
written in text messages. Here we find "d be at titudes,"
the "10
com&ments" and the titular Lord's Prayer. The book
opens with "d
bay6," basic info about the standard abbreviations
that are popular
among the text-messaging crowd. Geared with this new
and hip
vernacular, we are then prepared for hilarious
renditions of familiar
biblical stories. (A summary of Lamentations: "Jeruslm
had bn conqd &
d ppl takn in2 Xile. Bring yr own hanky.") Even more
entertaining are
the symbols used for the various biblical characters:
Jeremiah is
represented by an unhappy face, and Lot's wife
gets--you guessed
it--two straight lines representing a pillar of salt.
Bookline says:
v. v. XLent bk, tho not v. EZ 2 read. ROTFL. Not just
4 Kidz. (Nov.)

THE BIG BOOK OF ANGELS: Angelic Encounters, Expert
Answers, Listening
to and Working with Your Guardian Angel
By the editors of Beliefnet. Rodale, $19.95 paper
(408p) ISBN
1-57954-654-4
The strength of this book is its comprehensiveness;
editors at
Beliefnet's (the multifaith Web site) have combed the
vast array of
world religions for stories about angels and the
humans who claim to
have interacted with them. There are Hindu, Jewish,
Protestant,
Muslim, Catholic and Mormon legends here, and all are
presented in an
even-handed and open way. The book's commitment to
diversity also
finds expression in the myriad ways the authors claim
that people
experience angels: in times of crisis, in dreams,
through the words of
children, just before death, through other people,
etc. This is when
the book's comprehensive nature becomes a weakness.
There is simply
too much material here for any kind of depth, and
though all of it is
arguably spiritual, some is repetitive and prosaic.
The closing
"you-too-can-cultivate-an-angelic-rendezvous" sections
feel forced
and, by turns, exhausting. Despite its dizzying
breadth, the book is
wonderfully designed, with sidebars, display quotes
and well-spaced
illustrations to ease the reader overload. (Nov.) --By
Jana Riess

[...] 

AMERICA'S GOD: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham
Lincoln
Mark A. Noll. Oxford, $35 (656p) ISBN 0-19-515111-9
This "social history of theology" in America, from the
colonial era
through the Civil War, promises to reshape the way we
think about
American religion, and, indeed, American history. Noll
embeds theology
in American society, showing how, inter alia, printing
presses,
legislatures and war shaped and were shaped by
theology. His
gauntlet-throwing argument is that American theology
(by which he
means primarily Protestant theology) is markedly
different from
European theology. Although this magnum opus will be
of interest
primarily to scholars, it could certainly be
appreciated by a larger
audience. Noll's trademark clarity--both in analysis
and in prose--is
in evidence here; unlike many academics, he does not
make the reader
hunt and strain to find (and follow) his argument.
Equally obvious is
Noll's erudite mastery of everything from Puritan
ecclesiology to
Scottish moral philosophy. This is, finally, the
magisterial work that
has long been expected from one of our leading
historians. (Oct.)

from:
PW Religion Bookline from Publishers Weekly September
24, 2002

http://publishersweekly.reviewsnews.com/


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