A History of Christianity

I just finished this book by Paul Johnson, and I do recommend it. I have read quite a few books on the same subject, but this one has a rather different perspective from the others.

Following the book's progress, Christianity's history is a series of great strides, followed by "bozos" (my term) coming along to mess things up. Read it and see if you don't agree.

For Unitarians, there is one interesting conclusion that Johnson makes that I have never heard before this. He believes that Islam made easy headway into North Africa, Syria and nearby areas, because many people there were never comfortable with the Trinity doctrines and were much happier with a more truly monotheistic religion. Food for thought.

I also found his take on Christian missionay work in Asia, especially Japan, and what might have been, really interesting. Johnson is British and his take on American Christianity is a new one on me; I think I agree with him. I don't want to spoil it with an inadequate summary, so I won't say any more here.

The book seemed to start off on a positive note, but got progressively more negative in tone. The Epilogue did go to a positive conclusion and was hopeful for the future. Johnson has a lot of good to say about Christianity here, and the book should be viewed in this context I think.

One drawback of the book is that there is a lot to cover in 500 or so pages, and the books seems to gloss over certain events. There seems to be more detail on the early years.

The book was written in the 1970's, but a new edition was brought out recently. Give it a try.

How to Know God

This book is by Deepak Chopra. Catchy title, no?

I do recommend the book, but I must say that some more editing would have helped. There were many spots that were not written very clearly. In addition, there seemed to be several dead ends where his argument stopped without being completed. I think that much of what Mr. Chopra had to say was worth reading, but it was a little painful at times to extract it from the wording.

That being said, the book is worth the effort. His major premise is that we (at least as our souls) come to know God in seven stages: protector, almighty, peace, redeemer, creator, miracles and pure being (I am). Our personalities seem to develop accordingly. Lots of good stuff here. I have to agree that he is on to something, because I have seen some of this progression in my own life and in history.

He also discusses the concept of three worlds: material (ours), quantum (transition) and virtual (God's). If you like modern physics, this could be of great interest. Maybe still even if you are not a fan of physics. Personally, I liked it and have written about something similar in an earlier posting.

I think it fair to say that the book is centered around these seven stages and three worlds. There is a lot that can be said about these and what follows from them. Mr. Chopra says a lot of it. Gives a lot for food for thought too.

Take a look and see what you think.

The Fatal Harvest Reader

I guess the best way to summarize this book is to let you know that the subtitle is "The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture". The main issues tackled are pesticides, fertilizers, genetic engineering and industrialization/globalization of agriculture. Solutions presented involve using organic methods, reduction of corporate power through changes in the law, support of small growers and the like.

This book may seem somewhat of a departure from what I usually read and write about here. I decided to read it as background for an article I want to write on morality and the patent system; I am a patent lawyer.

There is a lot of interesting information/viewpoints presented here. For more conservative readers, there are only a few places that might shock or irritate. I found some of the arguments a bit hard to accept, but I think the issues discussed are ones that all of us should be concerned with, even if we don't agree with the solutions offered in this book.

One thing that I have to mention is that I cannot understand the praise for "organic" fruits and vegetables in this book. I mean how they supposedly taste. In my experience, you pay a very high price for often ugly produce that amost always tastes odd. I am from the country and do know what "home grown" (non-industrial) tastes like, and it is better than this organic stuff. I just don't get it.

Anyway, the book is worth a read if the topic is of interest. I did find some of the websites listed at the end to be worth a look too.

Let me know what you think.