Book News

Transfiguration: A Meditation on Transforming Ourselves and Our World by John Dear (Image Books, soft cover, 238 pages, $14.95 list)

If there is one lesson we can never learn too many times it is how to read the Bible. Jesuit Father John Dear’s Transfiguration shows us clearly and concretely how it’s done.

Fr. Stan Chu Ilo is a Catholic priest from Nigeria, now based in the diocese of Peterborough. He is an Igbo, a tribe from the Eastern part of Nigeria. The aim of his book is to present a true story of Africa, with a message that “Beyond the shadows of the present gloom lies the true face of Africa.”

Jesus: A Meditation on His Stories and His Relationships with Women, by Andrew M. Greeley (Forge Books, 176 pages, $21.95, hardcover).

Many know Andrew Greeley primarily as as the writer of a long-running series of crime novels featuring Irish-American sleuths such as Fr. Blackie Ryan. Others know him as a sociologist of religion, a frequent political and spiritual pundit on network TV. But what is often forgotten is that, first and foremost, Andrew Greeley is a diocesan priest — Fr. Andrew Greeley — with more than 40 years experience as a pastor and homilist.

The title of this book may be surprising. When the terms “secularity” and “Gospel” are included in the same sentence, they are usually contrasted. We naturally look  for the word  “versus”  between them. 

WATERLOO, Ont. - Hollywood has portrayed Jesus in various ways over the years in film but none has managed to adequately illustrate both His humanity and His divinity.

God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement by David W. Miller (Oxford University Press, 222 pages, hardcover, $38.95).

In God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement, David W. Miller commits "to recognize the faith at work movement as a movement; to understand its roots and historical trajectory leading to its current form and substance; to offer a framework and language to analyse it, challenge it and assist it to realize its significant social possibilities; and to raise questions for further research." This is a tall order. 

When I first saw the title of this book of essays, my heart sank. Was it going to be full of whining about that faceless entity, "The Church," meaning that other faceless entity, "The Magisterium"? And indeed, one clever contributor, BBC radio presenter Edward Stourton, points out the dark connotations of the word still: "…I detect a whiff of prejudicing the argument in the use of the word 'still'; it suggests a 'despite' in the sub-text, a conviction that we apologists must make our case in the face of overwhelming evidence of the general ghastliness of the church under the long reign of John Paul II."

The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, by Francis S. Collins (Free Press  304 pages, hardcover, $32.95).

The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins (Houghton Mifflin, 288 pages, hardcover, $35.95).

Challenging Nature: The Clash of Science and Spirituality at the New Frontiers of Life, by Lee M. Silver (Ecco, 464 pages, hardcover, $34.95).

The relationship between science and religion is the focus of a small swarm of new books. Almost all of these books are written by scientists, suggesting that the scientific community is feeling some pressure to articulate just how its work relates to religion.

BRANTFORD, Ont. - Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, meet Ruben the Donkey.

This Christmas season some radio stations in Ontario will be adding a new Christmas jingle to their play list: "Ruben" sung by Belle River, Ont. country singer Gabe Gagnon.   

Accompanied by Angels: Poems of the Incarnation, by Luci Shaw (Eerdmans Publishing, 110 pages, softcover, $18.99).

Accompanied by Angels, subtitled Poems of the Incarnation, grew out of poet Luci Shaw's childhood collection of Advent poems. At the age of 11, and anticipating the great festivities of the season, Shaw determined to make her own Christmas cards. To go with the pictures and illustrations on the cards, she composed short greetings to evoke the message of this holy season.