Conformed to His Image

Conformed to His Image
Average customer rating:

Conformed

Awesome Book!

Great Book

Different aspects in our pursuit of knowing God intimately

Getting to know God

Conformed to His Image
Kenneth D. Boa
Manufacturer: Zondervan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Christian Living | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 031023848X

Book Description

A textbook that offers a comprehensive, balanced, and applicable approach to what it really means to know Christ by presenting a variety of pathways in the spiritual life and showing how each of these pathways can contribute to the dynamic process of spiritual growth.

Customer Reviews:

Conformed.......2007-06-02

I really appreciate the timely manner that I received my Book. It was for an upcoming class and I would recommend this book and any book by Kenneth Boa. If you are concerned about your image and how it is personified, read this.

Awesome Book!.......2007-01-05

This book is meant to be read and studied. It can be life-changing if you let it.

Great Book.......2007-01-03

Kenneth Boa defines 12 facets of the Christian life and deals with each one in a thoroughly practical, yet deeply theological way. He does seem to think that Christians can be demon-possessed, a view which I do not hold. In spite of that, I recommend the book to the seasoned Christan. Written in textbook style, it makes for extended Bible studies for mid-week gatherings, home studies, etc. There are a great number of resources from which he cites quotes, and the cost of the book is worth the resource list alone. I particularly enjoyed the facet about the Christian Disciplines. In a day of hyper-faith, wealth, prosperity, and health gospel, this book is a refreshing return to sanity. I wish I had it years ago.

Different aspects in our pursuit of knowing God intimately.......2006-07-31

Excellent overview of different aspects of the Christian life and following close after God. Looks at different techniques of a hard pursuit of God.

Getting to know God.......2006-03-14

Author, Kenneth Boa, has put together a comprehensive text that covers 12 major approaches that mankind has taken throughout history in an attempt to know and follow God. He stresses our need for a variety of approaches. The text looks overwhelming. But, in actuality, the chapters are short enough to cover in one sitting. Each ends with questions that cause the reader to do some deep personal intropspection. And they lead to some powerful group discussions in our women's Bible study group.

Picasso in his Posters: Image and Work; 4 volume set

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Picasso in his Posters: Image and Work; 4 volume set
Luis Carlos Rodrigo , and Pablo Picasso
Manufacturer: Arte Ediciones
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Binding: Hardcover

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Please Let Me Know You, God: How to Restore a True Image of God and Experience His Love Again (Minirth-Meier Clinic series)

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Please Let Me Know You, God: How to Restore a True Image of God and Experience His Love Again (Minirth-Meier Clinic series)
Larry Stephens , and James D. Denney
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Not in His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, and the Future of Belief

Average customer rating:

Amateurish approach ruins promising text
The Gnostic Revival
Unveiling the Way of Organic Light, Transentience and Sacred Ecology
BRILLIANT
Thank God for Buck Teeth

Not in His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, and the Future of Belief
John Lamb Lash
Manufacturer: Chelsea Green
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 193149892X

Book Description

Basing much of Not in His Image on the Nag Hammadi and other Gnostic writings, John Lamb Lash explains how a little-known messianic sect propelled itself into a dominant world power, systematically wiping out the great Gnostic spiritual teachers, the Druid priests, and the shamanistic healers of Europe and North Africa. They burned libraries and destroyed temples in an attempt to silence the ancient truth-tellers and keep their own secrets. But as Lash reveals, when the truth is the planet Earth it cannot be hidden or destroyed.

Not in His Image delves deeply into the shadows of ancient Gnostic writings to reconstruct the story early Christians tried to scrub from the pages of history, exploring the richness of the ancient European Pagan spirituality—the Pagan Mysteries, the Great Goddess, Gnosis, the myths of Sophia and Gaia—and chronicles the annihilation of this Pagan European culture at the hands of Christianity.

Long before the birth of Christianity, monotheism was an anomaly; Europe and the Near East flourished under the divine guidance of Sophia, the ancient goddess of wisdom. The Earth was the embodiment of Sophia and thus sacred to the people who sought fulfillment in her presence. This ancient philosophy was threatening to the emerging salvation-based creed of Christianity that was based on patriarchal dominion over the Earth and lauded personal suffering as a path to the afterlife. As Derrick Jensen points out in the afterword, in Lash's hands Jesus Christ emerges as the agent provocateur of the ruling classes.

Customer Reviews:

Amateurish approach ruins promising text.......2007-07-08

I came to this book with high hopes, as there are all too few works which take full blooded `anti-Abrahamic' approach to the subject, preferring to try and amalgamate Gnosticism and mystery religions to some grand new age vision shared by Greeks and Jews, Hindus and Christians. And Lash starts off doing a pretty good job, showing just how crazy and evil the Jewish `god' is, along with his later Christian and Islamic transformations.

In his picture, (compatible with the approach of de Benoist and the other European neo-pagans, who are not mentioned in the text) the destruction of the Second Temple led to the creation of the Jewish mentality, in which temporal triumph (a la Rome and other normal people) is replaced by an eventual otherworldly triumph after the destruction of `this world' -- i.e., apocalypse. Like his hero D. H. Lawrence, he suggests that the Jews co-opted the personal transformation offered by pagan mysteries into an endlessly pre-empted national triumph and fleshly rebirth in a new world. His analysis of `the redeemer complex' is intriguing, as is his use of it to explain how Christianity `triumphed' -- by first violently destroying pagan cultures, "turning them into victims," then offering a "reformulated justification of the victim role" which promised that "they would ultimately be saved," a brilliant way to co-opt victims into future victimizers. And his suggestion that the origins of contemporary suicide terror lie in the Jewish Dead Sea cultists is profound, not cheap and easy sensationalism. As my friend Alisdair Clarke has speculated on his Aryan Futurism blog, is there not the suggestion of something deadly, radioactive perhaps, an ageless evil, almost Lovecraftian, sleeping under the sand of that quarrelsome land with its dead sea and endless tribal violence?

Alas, although I obviously endorse much of this book, I find that it fails utterly, when judged as a work of scholarship. Lash, whatever his real qualifications might be, writes like an autodidact, with all of the related faults. No wonder the King of Autodidacticism, Colin Wilson, contributes a blurb saying `Lash's historical and anthropological erudition are [sic!] breathtaking." I'm afraid that grammatical solecism is typical of the book's problems.

First, Lash exhibits the bad habit of citing only evidence that supports him, rather than dealing with (apparent) anomalies. Thus, he suggests that the patriarchal god arises from the Jewish patriarchal family, as if most, if not all, pagan societies were not. Tell that to the Roman pater familias!

More seriously, Lash avoids all discussion or mention (although I'm going by his unreliable index here, see below) of the mysteries of Mithras, even though this was an official religion of the Empire (before Christianity), gave Christianity a run for its money, and last left us the most extensive records of all the mystery religions (such as the famous Mithraic Liturgy, available in the Mead anthology Lash constantly refers to). Could this omission be due to the fact that the Mithras cult does not fit into his simple patriarchal Christianity vs. Goddess/Gaian mystery paradigm?

However, I lost all confidence in Mr. Lash after turning to his `suggestions for reading and research' at the end. First, I only found this at the back because Lash fails to include the bibliography I was looking for, thus making it impossible to track down what editions he's using. The page numbering of my Penguin edition of Lawrence is certainly not his, for instance. I might let that scholarly flaw pass, however, if the "suggestions" were not so flawed as to be insulting. I don't mind his self-described "idiosyncratic" approach to selection and evaluation. I mean that he fails the basic test of being correct about things I know about, thus raising the issue of what he's wrong about elsewhere, where I have to rely on him.

Thus, we read the following incredible claim: "Unfortunately, the sole existing English translation [is] by the English Platonist Thomas Taylor....' Now I have only to half turn to my bookshelf to see the pricey but available paperback of the Clarke/Dillon/Hershell translation, along with a number of works, such as Shaw's Theurgy and the Soul which give quite adequate accounts and many excerpts from Iamblichus. This is not buried in obscure scholarly publications. All Mr. Lash needed to do to verify this claim, or to find himself a better translation, was to do what I did: search Amazon.com! How lazy and incompetent is this guy?

Later, Lash asserts that Harold Bloom gives a "brief, sober, no discounting passage on ... entheogenic practices." Now this intrigues me, so I consult Lash's index to find what he has to say himself. No entries on etheo-anything! And yet, here is at least one right before me. Did it slip by, because Lash in fact never discusses entheogens elsewhere in the text? No, in fact, a few pages later is a whole section of "suggestions" on the subject!

And here is where I throw the book aside onto the `read when bored and nothing else is around` pile. The section is entitled "Entheogenic Theory of Religion" and states "There are hundreds of text-heavy sites and heady forums dedicated to entheogenics on the Internet, but, unfortunately [there's that word again, always a clue to a howler on the way -- Lash mistakes his laziness for empirical restraint], they are all orientated toward recreational use of drugs and sacred plants, rather than sacramental use."

All? All? Now in elementary logic, I learned I could refute an `all' statement by finding one counterexample. Again, is it some obscure site? Well, how obscure is something on the Internet going to be? Get on the Google, as our president would say, and 9 hits come up for "entheogenic theory of religion" (the title of his section, remember), two of which lead to Michael Hoffman's Ego Death website, where his epochal article "Entheogenic Theory of Religion and Ego Death" can be found, along with hundreds of pages of articles and links to similar material. And needless to say, all the really new and useful books are unmentioned as well. Clark Heinrich, anyone?

Alas, Mr. Lash, as Housman said of incompetent textual critics, "the world is no feather bed for the repose of sluggards." If you want convince anyone but the most credulous, or the already convinced, you will have to do more work than this.

Three stars, but only for the Hebrew-bashing!

The Gnostic Revival.......2007-05-18

I first encountered the work of John Lamb Lash through his website, (...), when he posted a series of pieces on "2012" -- the end of the Long Count of the Mayan Calendar -- from astrological and historical perspectives. In his essays, he defined the characteristics of various "end-time tribes" that were embodying aspects of futuristic consciousness. I began a dialogue with him on this subject, and he sent me his new book, Not in His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, and the Future of Belief (Chelsea Green, 2006). This work is a tremendous achievement that reframes the debate about monotheism, offering a radical perspective on the destructive effects that have been unleashed by religious ideologies over the last two millennia.

Not In His Image attacks the salvationist theology of the Judeo-Christian tradition from a Gnostic perspective, making a devastating critique of the moral conditioning and deep-buried suppositions of this heritage, which has shaped the modern Western psyche. As substitute, Lash presents a counter-myth and alternative cosmology drawn from the tradition of Gnosticism, featuring the goddess Sophia, who plunged from the Pleroma to become the physical and generative Earth, and the Archons, soulless off-planet entities who use the human propensity for error to lead us into increasingly destructive deviations from our evolutionary path.

The populist and academic conception of Gnosticism considers it a radical offshoot from Christianity that was stamped out as the Holy Roman Empire gave way to the Dark Ages. Lash has a different perspective. In his view, the Gnostics were the inheritors of the wisdom and initiatory training of the Mystery Schools that flourished across the Classical World. This learned, pagan tradition had roots in the shamanic practices that predated the rise of Greece and Rome, and could be considered the indigenous spirituality of Europe. In some respects similar to Buddhism, the Gnostic tradition valued philosophical debate and direct mystical experience over received wisdom and authority vested in religious hierarchy. Lash connects Sophia to the modern "Gaia hypothesis," developed by the scientists James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis, and argues that the Gnostic seers of the Mystery Schools were "deep ecologists" who taught "coevolution with Gaia." The alienation from the natural world and the body that developed in Christianity was the result of a deception, leading to the "enslavement of humanity to an alien, off-planet agenda." The Gnostics understood the basis of this error, and were persecuted for voicing their opposition to it.

Lash is ruthless in analyzing the moral precepts and core concepts of the Old and New Testament. He shows the ways in which these texts were designed to appeal to the highest aspirations and ideals of humanity, but subtly twisted to create impossible incongruities. Humans were tricked into trying to conform to an inhuman code of perfection, which doomed them to continual failure in relation to an absolutist abstraction. Borrowing a concept from Tibetan Buddhism, Lash suggests substituting the concept of "basic goodness" for "original sin," and argues that Gnostics were horrified by the Christian belief in the redemptive value of suffering.

He argues that the moral ethos expressed by Jesus Christ -- the "Divine Victim" -- in the New Testament has the unfortunate effect of aiding what he calls our "victim/perpetrator" bond. The concept of "turning the other cheek," for instance, only makes sense in world without aggressors. This precept instills a sense of otherworldly superiority in the victims of violence, while it helps the agenda of those who seek to dominate. "The ethic of cheek turning is utterly wrong because it obliges people who are not inclined to harm others to rely on those who do harm to embrace the same practice of nondefense."

The commandmant to "love thy God with all thy heart" is similarly distorted: "Who really needs to be commanded to love?" Lash asks. "We love spontaneously, through the power of love itself, which cannot be commanded." Throughout the Gospels, Lash finds "a monumental effort to convert the human mind to the bad faith of betrayed humanity." In our secular culture, it seems, the belief in a salvationist power that will liberate humanity at some future point has been transferred, unconsciously, from divinity to technology. In order to reconnect with our earthly powers, we have to deprogram ourselves from all concepts of a redemptive or divine force waiting outside of this realm.

While Lash evinces a tendency to romanticize traditional and indigenous cultures, while ignoring some of the progress made by modern civilization, his critique still goes to the heart of the crisis of our current world, where disconnection from nature and entrenched belief systems have brought us to the brink of global chaos. It seems that we can't find our way forward until we find our way back, utilizing that discriminatory intelligence -- what the Gnostics called "nous" -- that is our particular human gift.

(...)

Unveiling the Way of Organic Light, Transentience and Sacred Ecology.......2007-04-01

Not in His Image is indeed one of the "most important books of our time", or of any time. John Lamb Lash has created a textual masterpiece of historical documentation, mythopoeic vision and penetrating critique of the Abrahamic monotheistic religions. Lash digs deep into the roots of Paganism and skillfully reveals how the Gnostic tradition pre-dates and stands separately from the then emerging Christian religion. The Pagan Mysteries and Gnostic wisdom celebrated and honored the divinity of the Earth, and by so doing were anathema to Christianity. The subsequent genocide and ecocide of earth-based spiritual communities continues to this day, resulting in a world on the brink of disaster due to mankind's separation from the very planet that sustains all life. Lash's critique of patriarchal monotheism shows us the lie that people have accepted (and been forced to accept) for thousands of years.

As presented in Not in His Image, the ongoing creation story of Gaia-Sophia offers us a shift in perspective, an alternative reading of the history of the earth, and a mythopoeic narrative that invites humanity to re-imagine our sacred connection with the natural world. John Lash celebrates the fact that there are and always have been other ways of being and relating to the earth and each other. In the author's own words, "My primary purpose in writing this book is to show that Gnosis, taken as a path of experimental mysticism, and the Sophianic vision, taken as a guiding narrative for coevolution, can provide the spiritual dimension for deep ecology independently of the three mainstream religions derived from the Abrahamic tradition."

The human race is destroying itself and desecrating the earth in the name of monotheistic religions. It's past time to stop the infantile and patriarchal posturing and practices that characterize the "great" religions of the world; those same religions that breed division, materialism, genocide and ecocide in the name of off-planet deities. Or "annihilation theology" in John Lamb Lash's descriptive term. The earth will take care of itself. If and when mankind emerges from this dark time of scientific materialism, monotheistic fundamentalism and personal greed, Not in His Image will be looked back on as one of the most important and brightest signal flares that lit up the skies of darkness, revealing the divinity of the earth and Sophia's call for our participation in the ongoing dance of sacred life.

BRILLIANT.......2007-02-11

I have only just started this book but can not put it down. It is brilliant and life affirming. It is also BRAVE... Lash uses history, personal experience, common sense and a mind that is not afraid to ask the hard questions and find the real answers about Christianity. He puts Paganism in its true perspective -- not the vapid New Age-type fad cliche and not the ridiculous evil one, either... Lash shows the power, beauty, joy, SENSE of Paganism and what he calls sacred ecology. It is one of those rare books that one can call truly illuminating. Very intelligent, well written... the more I read , the more fascinated I am..

Thank God for Buck Teeth.......2006-12-19

Lash claims his life's work evolved from orthodontic visits that gave him time to think. [A little like Stephen Hawkings' claim that ALS made him so slow at getting dressed that it gave him time to think.] One third of Lash's book echoes things I've thought over a 72 year lifetime. The other two thirds comprise insights I can't claim to have arrived at before Lash did but which mesh perfectly with the one third just referenced. The book is an amazingly incisive summary of what the JudeoChristianIslamic monotheistic mainstream belief system has done to us all in 2000 years. Someone has finally caught on to the problems but it may be too late for rescue. Systems theorist Ervin Laszlo thinks we may have about 7 years to save ourselves and the others with whom we share the planet. Lash's JudeoChristianIslamic off-planet God definitely won't do it for us. I have serious doubts that we'll make it. But Lash and Laszlo offer rays of hope that younger people might "get it" soon enough to make some powerful corrective moves. If I were still teaching graduate students in psychology and related fields, I would make their books required reading. But I'm not. So I pray that someone will do whatever it takes to get the wisdom of Lash amd Laszlo before the people who can engineer needed changes.

Average customer rating:

Hope for the destitute
Just Awesome
In His Image!
Excellent reading
Get 'em both!

In His Image
Paul Brand , and Philip Yancey
Manufacturer: Zondervan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 031035501X

Book Description

THE VOICE OF GOD IS A HEARTBEAT AWAY

In Fearfully & Wonderfully Made, Philip Yancey and Dr. Paul Brand revealed how God’s voice is encoded in the very structure of our bodies. In His Image takes up where its predecessor left off, beckoning us once again inward and onward to fresh exploration and discovery.

Yancey and Brand show how accurately and intricately the human body portrays the Body of Christ. In five sections—Image, Blood, Head, Spirit, and Pain—the acclaimed surgeon and the award-winning writer unlock the remarkable, living lessons contained in our physical makeup. This Gold Medallion Award-winning book will open your eyes to the complex miracle of the human body, and the even more compelling spiritual truths that it reflects.

Customer Reviews:

Hope for the destitute .......2007-02-22

Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey explain how God is in everything that happens to us, wither we are in great pain, or overcome by joy. The stories that he told about when he was in India are astounding, wither he was trying to repair a Leper victims hands, or just trying to persuade his mother to stop living in the mountains by herself when she was taking care of the natives.

In the United States Dr. Paul Brand has the title, Chief of Rehabilitation of the U.S. Public Health in Carville, Louisiana, Clinical Professor of Surgery at Louisiana State University Medical School, he was also awarded the prestigious Albert Lasker Award and appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire. But in this book you will find him in India with the title, Dr. Brand, who was never too proud to do the dirtiest jobs, like bandaging the blistered feet of lepers or cleaning puss from a boils victim. If you want to read about a man who was a true servant sent by God to help the poorest of the poor and to give hope to the destitute, you'll find this book irresistible.

Just Awesome.......2005-10-13

I started reading this book last week.I would say I am still in an ecstasy.How wondefully God has made the mankind.Even though I am not good reader, I couldn't stop reading it..it's just awesome.
I thank God for this book.

In His Image!.......2004-09-13

No one can claim that evolution is true after reading this spritually and educationally written book. It is an eye opener of the human body and what God and the bible has to do with it.This book was an edification and encouragement to me and I hope that you will find the inspiration that I have found from this book.I don't regret buying this book and garuntee you won't to!

Excellent reading.......2004-06-17

This is a lovely book, entertaining to read, and thought-provoking. Once you set it down, it's likely you'll wonder how anyone can believe we're an "accident" of the Big Bang and evolution. :)

Get 'em both!.......2002-02-12

Note: This review refers to an additional book, "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made" by the same author that I consider a "companion" to this one.

In both these books the authors take us into the world of medicine as seen through spiritual eyes. The parallels between our own bodies and the Body of Christ are fascinating to say the least. Read, for example, how when one area of our physical body is injured an urgent call goes out and hundreds of thousands of cells respond by plugging the holes in the walls, protecting the weak, cleansing the area and rebuilding itself. Read also how the body responds when there is rebellion loose within it. The list includes the workings of: (Fearfully and Wonderfully Made) cells, bones, skin, motion, (In His Image) image, blood, head, spirit and pain.

The reading style is very relaxed and everything is explained simply so that you don't need a degree in chemistry to understand what's going on. A special bonus is Dr. Brand's focus on his life's work with lepers which is interwoven throughout both books. If you've got an interest in how the physical body works and how it relates to biblical concepts, get these books - you won't be disappointed. -- Moza

In His Image (Book One of The Christ Clone Trilogy)
Average customer rating:

Alone Good, As trilogy not so good!!!

Clone Cold Sober

Not impressed but interested.

Wish I hadn't bought it.

So Jesus is cloned again

In His Image (Book One of The Christ Clone Trilogy)
James BeauSeigneur
Manufacturer: FaithWords
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0446613274

Amazon.com

It's the end of life on earth as we know it in this page-turning apocalyptic novel In His Image, the first installment of the Christ Clone Trilogy. Newspaper editor Decker wangles his way onto a scientific expedition that examines the Shroud of Turin, believed by many to be the burial shroud of Jesus Christ. When body cells stuck to the shroud are found to be "alive," they are cloned, and the resulting baby, Christopher, changes the course of history. The book is an interesting mix of fact and fiction (when was the last time you read a novel with footnotes?). There are nice touches of humor, and a dollop of prophetic scripture. It's difficult to peg who's "good" and who's "evil," which admirably sustains the suspense. A good edit might have smoothed some of the rough spots, and the use of bold type for emphasis is distracting. However, those less interested in the nuances of fine literature than in a fast-paced thriller will find that this novel covers all the bases. --Cindy Crosby

Book Description

It's the end of life on earth as we know it in this page-turningapocalyptic novel In His Image, the first installment of the Christ Clone Trilogy. Newspaper editor Decker wangles his way onto a scientificexpedition that examines the Shroud of Turin, believed by many to be the burialshroud of Jesus Christ. When body cells stuck to the shroud are found to be"alive," they are cloned, and the resulting baby, Christopher, changes thecourse of history. The book is an interesting mix of fact and fiction (when wasthe last time you read a novel with footnotes?). There are nice touches ofhumor, and a dollop of prophetic scripture. It's difficult to peg who's "good" and who's "evil," which admirably sustains the suspense. A goodedit might have smoothed some of the rough spots, and the use of bold type foremphasis is distracting. However, those less interested in the nuances of fineliterature than in a fast-paced thriller will find that this novel covers allthe bases. --Cindy Crosby

Customer Reviews:

Alone Good, As trilogy not so good!!!.......2007-09-01

After reading the first two books I was very happy with my purchase. The story was great, the imagery was good, and it was deffinately controversial. I'd say worth reading except I don't want to promote the third.

Clone Cold Sober.......2007-08-16

Voltaire said that if God didn't exist, it would be necessary for Man to invent Him.

In "In His Image", Man does exactly that.

James Beauseigneur may very well have put literary form to the old bumper sticker "Christ is Coming: Look Busy!", with "In His Image", the first little broadside in a wickedly absorbing trilogy that dares ask the question: "hey, izzat JESUS you got in this here petri dish, Doctor?"

Bottom line: bewhiskered professor of Genetics Harry Goodman goes on a little combo Holy Land walkabout & research project to do a full genetic & biological scrape of the Shroud of Turin, supposedly the cerement of Jesus Christ, which bears the image of Christ left from the energy unleashed in His supposed Resurrection.

The Shroud doesn't mind. The genetic Scrape & Peel, I mean. About the Resurrection, I have no idea.

Anyway, let's just say while they're scraping the Shroud, a little something extra comes off. And let's just say that the Good Professor saves that little something extra, because in this life, if it's not about getting the Little Something Extra, it's about nothing at all.

Faster than you can say "beam me up Scotty!" you've got a precocious kid running around, a smart little tyke with a keen interest in the UN and an astonishing ability to levitate and walk on water.

I'm kidding about those last two things, but I couldn't help myself.

Look: I think it's awesome that something called "Christ the Clone" exists. I *dig* the idea. And whereas the "Left Behind" series from LaHaye & Jenkins concerns itself with the tactical of the New Messiah and his foes, BeauSeigneur is focused more on the strategic: the book reads more like the highpoints of an Apocalyptic powerpoint presentation than the down & dirty everyday drama of a Left Behind.

If that sounds bad---well, depends on what you're after. I found "In His Image" completely absorbing and compulsively readable: indeed, I polished it off in about three hours and I'm getting ready to dig into #2.

But be warned: BeauSeigneur might as well be writing what amounts to a Pentagon briefing: his style is pulpy but bland, and the characterization---particularly, oddly, of the 'Christ' child---is brief and shallow. Actual physical descriptions, of locations, events, and characters, are either non-existent, or told secondhand---from a news report, for example, as happens when Moscow learns an entirely new meaning of "Scorched Earth". BeauSeigneur is a much better plotter than he is a writer.

Those glaring weaknesses would normally doom a book for me, but "In His Image" is furiously engaging, bristingly with a lot of very juicy, intriguing ideas, ample Machiavellian gamesmanship at the UN, and an interesting subplot developing about the Messianic Jews.

There's even a dastardly, scheming French villain; speaking of which, there's a moment where BeauSeigneur takes his characterization gloves off & bobs and weaves with the story---you'll know it when you read it. It's a wicked moment, but all too brief: here's hoping the author loosens up going forward.

Whether you're pulpy tales of Apocalyptic doom (who isn't?), or always wondered what a test-tube Jesus would look like, "In His Image" is juicy stuff.

JSG

Not impressed but interested........2007-07-02

After reading this book I felt like I only had part of a whole. This must be a trilogy (The Christ Clone Trilogy) that you have to read together. `In His Image' by itself is interesting but not very impressive. The time lags and story switching are not smooth, but I again must stress that the concept is thought provoking. Many readers seem to draw comparisons between this series and the `Left Behind' series. I have not read the `Left Behind' books but none of its advertisements, movies, or word of mouth ever interested me. This series, on the other hand, still has my attention and respect.

Wish I hadn't bought it........2007-05-07

This book is totally wack. The research was impressive, but that's about it. The only reason I even finished was because I bought the book and felt obligated to finish it- I'm not even interested in finishing the trilogy. Decades are skipped and connection to the characters is non-existant. On the back of the book one reviewer wrote, "C.S. Lewis couldn't have done it better." C.S. Lewis wouldn't do it in the first place.

So Jesus is cloned again.......2007-03-24

The idea of having Jesus cloned is a compelling theme for any story. I have read some of them, and they are quite original. One book had Jesus cloned as a female!

BeauSeigneur's story lacks interest. The characters are just a little too shallow, the beginning is full of "convenient coincidences," and I thought these coincidences were just used to get the story started. But just when the story gains momentum, there is a gap. Then another, and in every other chapter, there are gaps everywhere. There's nothing better than a story with a sound continuity and a structured development.

Then the story takes place in the UN, and it just becomes monotonous. It was around here when I gave up.
The dialogs are too contrived, forced, and contributes very little to the story.

But not all of it is bad. Loved Rosen and his theory of the Covenant and loved also the footnotes.
BeauSeigneur researched this topic very well, but he just can't write a novel.

I recommend "Divine Blood" by Martinez Helwett or "The Miracle Strain" by Michael Cordy

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vis-à-vis Scripture
His Image..My Image
The truth will really set you free
great book!
One of the most encouraging books I have read.

His Image, My Image
Josh McDowell
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Inspirational | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

See Yourself as God Sees You
Boundaries: When to say Yes, When to Say No, To Take Control of Your Life (Inspirio/Zondervan Miniature Editions)

ASIN: 0840744455

Customer Reviews:

vis-à-vis Scripture.......2004-05-25

...Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
[Romans 12:3]

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
[2 Timothy 4:3]

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves...
[2 Timothy 3:1-2]

He must increase, but I must decrease.
[John 3:30]

His Image..My Image.......2004-01-05

This is a great book!! If you are feeling badly about yourself and cannot seem to see how you will ever achieve your dreams, then you MUST read this book.
I have the hardback volume. I have kept this book on my shelf for years. As a child, I did not receive praise from my parents. In brief, I was surrounded by perfectionistic, critical, dysfunctional adults. My salvation was this book. I found it in my late twenties and it changed my life. But, I made one BIG mistake, I did not read the entire book. I just read enough to explain why I had such a poor internal feeling of self-worth. I thought if I understood why and whom was responsible,that I would be fine, but I wasn't. It was like putting a band aid on a child.
Now, I am in my early forties and facing the same problems again. Actually, my life is a pattern of repeated failures in both my career goals and my relationships. Yesterday, something made me remember this book, (the power of prayer). I found it still on my shelf, despite frequent re-locations. I started reading it again, tonight and said to myself,"Wow, no wonder I've kept this book! It explains everything!". Not only will it reveal the answers to your feelings of self-doubt and poor self-worth, it will give you the steps you need to conquer those feelings and move forward to positive, self-affirming feelings.
Trust me, this will be the best investment in time and money you will ever make. I am delighted to find that there is now a paperback edition, as I plan to purchase additional copies for friends, who are haunted with feelings of self-doubt and despair.

The truth will really set you free.......2003-06-15

Such an easy book to read but filled with some great truths. Josh McDowell knows exactly how to put things into perspective. The way we live our lives is based on our identity. This book will help you to see yourself as God sees you. This book can transform the way you look at yourself in a healthy balanced manner.

great book!.......2003-04-28

This is a wonderful book but is the exact same book, word for word as Building your SElf-image. It was just re-published with a different title.

One of the most encouraging books I have read........1998-07-15

The author is very easy to read and humourous. He has a unique ability to draw one into the situations and give advice at the same time. Not a preachy book, but one full of ways to encourage and uplift the reader. The audio version is even better!! The author voice is especially pleasing and this is a good travel book - lighthearted with a profound message of wisdom and warmth. It leaves the reader refreshed and encourages a positive outlook.

The Marble Man: Robert E. Lee and His Image in American Society

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A Disappointment
The Marble Man
The marble man
Beyond the Facade
A Hard Look at Lee and The Lost Vause Syndrome

The Marble Man: Robert E. Lee and His Image in American Society
Thomas Lawrence Connelly
Manufacturer: Louisiana State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Lee Considered: General Robert E. Lee and Civil War History
The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History
The Gettysburg Nobody Knows (Gettysburg Lectures)
For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War
General James Longstreet: The Confederacy's Most Controversial Soldier

ASIN: 0807104744

Customer Reviews:

A Disappointment.......2006-03-06

I found the book "The Marble Man" to be disappointing in several ways. The author, Thomas L Connelly, attempts to illustrate that the modern notion of Robert E. Lee as a selfless leader, great general, noble gentleman, and devoted family man is the result of a vast Virginian conspiracy.
Connelly's composition leaves something to be desired. The prologue, chapters, and epilogue seem to be thrown together in a way that shouldn't be described as "seamless". He is repetitive with quotes, often using the same quote from the same person several times (sometimes to convey different meanings). Throughout the book, one is waiting for the big "hook", or the "zinger" where Connelly will finally show his indisputable truth that Lee is not what he seems to be. This never arrives.
Connelly is certainly a well known historian, but not much of a Theologian. The "God thing" is throughout the book and really bothers/baffles Connelly. At various times he identifies Robert E Lee as a Calvinist, an Episcopalian, and a Puritan. Lee was a very devout Christian and attended the Episcopalian denominational churches most of his life. Connelly describes many of Lee's beliefs as "other-worldliness" and a "fixation on death". No time here to go into this in depth, but Connelly scratched the surface of something his just doesn't get.
One huge goal of many post modern historians is to bring the great down (no evidence necessary) and to elevate the base. "Lincoln was a homosexual"..."Clinton a great leader for his time" The beat goes on.

The Marble Man.......2005-10-12

I must say that the Marble Man is a good read. I can say this from two perspectives. First, I read the book and thouroughly enjoyed it. Second, Dr. Connelly was my professor and advisor at the University of South Carolina from 1986 until 1988. I cannot express enough what an experience it was to sit in one of his classes and listen to his lectures. It was like being transported back in time to the battle or period we were covering that day. The students would wait with anticipation before he arrived and didn't want to leave when the class was over because the transportation back in time would end when we'd leave the classroom. I remember Dr. Connelly's assessment of Lee quite well. While Lee was a good general, he did tend to be wasteful with resources and has become overrated with time. I strongly encourage the reader of this review to read anything written by Dr. Connelly. He was an amazing man.

The marble man.......2005-03-14

Connelly argues that Robert E. Lee's heroic image was largely created post-war by a small group of Virginians, and goes on to give what he regards as a more accurate assessment.

While agreeing that the post-war canonization of Lee imposed some distortions upon historians which modern scholars do well to avoid, several things about this study didn't convince me. Firstly, Connelly spends little time analyzing Lee's popularity during the war, which rose after the Peninsula campaign and remained high through the end; Lee and his army were a significant image and source of morale to all Southerners, not just Virginians, at that time.

Secondly, Connelly makes various statements about personalities and psychological quirks -- Mary Custis Lee was "unpleasant", Lee was morbid and death-obsessed -- in the presence of limited supporting evidence and of no discussion of the mentalities, religious faith, and social norms of the time. (His idiosyncratic assessment of individuals includes a characterization of Fitz Lee as the worst of Lee's cavalry commanders -- even considering the shadbake incident, that seems like too strong a statement when one considers that Fitz' competition for the worst would include candidates such as Grumble Jones and the luckless Lunsford Lomax.)

This study does reveal the ugly post-war squabble for the portrayal of history in all its inglory.

Beyond the Facade.......2003-06-13

This book might be approached as an examination of how a well-known personality is transformed for a human being into a cultural icon. Sequentially and chronologically Connelly takes his readers through that process using Robert E. Lee as the item of investigation. Along the way, Connelly makes commentary on the differences between the cultures of the north and south and how Lee's legion spread because of those cultural differences. That context has been well-established by numerous writers. Connelly simply uses it for a closer examination of Lee. For example, on page 102 he quotes another historian, Bradley T. Johnson in writing "Environmental factors had forced North and South to develop contrasting socieites. The North, 'invigorated' by constant struggle with nature, became materialistic, grasping for wealth and power. The South's 'more generous climate' had wrought a life-style based upon non-materialism and adherence to a finer code of 'veracity and honor in man, chastity and fidelity in women'"
This book helps a person to understand how history evolves in the process of retelling over a period of several generations.

A Hard Look at Lee and The Lost Vause Syndrome.......2001-12-10

This book is not just a revisionist look at Robet E. Lee but also an objective evaluation of the Southern Lost Cause Syndrome that utilzed Lee as their flagship for a just cause. Thomas Connelly is a great writer of the western theater notably the history of the Army of the Tennessee and of the western Confederate cabal that had conflicts with Jefferson Davis. Connelly offers what southerners and partiucularly Virginians may find as a harsh evaluation of Lee during the war. This book also includes some psycho-analysis that offers some reasoning for Lee's very formal demeanor which is in far contrast's to Joe Johnston whose troops would pat him on the head on occasion but not dare approach Lee in such an informal manner. In my opinion the book demonstrates that Lee was simply not infallible like amy man who has overall responsibility, he must accept some of the blame for failure. There is also the question of whether Lee was too aggressive with limited manpower (Gary Gallagher has referred to this as crucial, that the Confederacy was in serious need of military victories for morale). The Lost Cause contingent made up of Jubal Early and company always gave Lee total credit for victory but not in defeat, Early & company always made someone other than Lee a scapegoat in their version of history. Gettysburg serves as the grand indictment of this philosophy where Longstreet becomes the total goat at Gettysburg in the 1870's while one of his accusers, Early, covers his own lackluster performance by publicly hanging Longstreet. Early raps himself with the cloak of Robert E. Lee to deflect criticism of his own actions and post war exile. To my mind, Connaly expolores better than anyone else the self serving relationship of Jubal Early to the Lost Cause syndrome in Early's attempt to rewite history. Connelly brings out that Jackson was the south's great hero until Lee's death and the emergence of Lee's rise among southern writers. He also argues that Lee lacked a national picture of how to best serve the Confederacy by his opposing transferring troops west to bolster those failing armies with limited resources. He argues that Virginia was Lee's first and main focus. Highly reccommend this book, whether you agree or not, Connelly makes you look at the facts presented and while not meaning to destroy Lee's image of a competent and charismatic general, it tends to show him as human and mortal who like everyone made some mistakes. We all have to look at historians presentations carefully, even Douglas Freeman in Lee's Lieutanents slightly diminishes Jackson's role and he makes Longstreet shorter, fatter and a plotter of self grandization. This is an intellectually challenging book best appreciated by those that have an open mind. This book most likely helped foster Alan Nolan's "Lee Considered."

Mistaken Identity/Clear Up Your Image of God and Enjoy His Love

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Mistaken Identity/Clear Up Your Image of God and Enjoy His Love
William Gaultiere , and Kristi Gaultiere
Manufacturer: Fleming H Revell Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Inspirational | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Average customer rating:

The best of the best
KRD
Great, but long

In the Likeness of God: The Dr. Paul Brand Tribute Edition of Fearfully and Wonderfully Made and In His Image
Philip Yancey , and Paul Brand
Manufacturer: Zondervan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Gift of Pain, The
Ten Fingers for God: The Life and Work of Dr. Paul Brand
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
In His Image
Granny Brand: Her Story

ASIN: 0310257425

Book Description

The human body is a likeness of God, its design revealing insights into the church, the “body of Christ”

For bestselling author Philip Yancey, the late Dr. Paul Brand—the brilliant hand surgeon who devoted his life to the poorest people of India and Louisiana—was also a likeness of God, living the kind of Christian life that exemplified what God must have had in mind. In the Likeness of God combines the complete texts of Fearfully and Wonderfully Made and In His Image—both Gold Medallion Award–winners which together have sold more than half a million copies—into one volume. Also included for the first time are eight beautiful litanies of praise on the human body by Dr. Brand.

In Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, Dr. Paul Brand and bestselling writer Philip Yancey explore the wonder of the human body and uncover the eternal statements that God has made in the very structure of our bodies. Their remarkable journey through inner space—the world of cells, systems, and chemistry—points to a still deeper unseen reality of God’s work in our lives. In His Image takes up where the first book leaves off. In five sections—Image, Blood, Head, Spirit, and Pain—the authors unlock the remarkable living lessons contained in our physical makeup.

Customer Reviews:

The best of the best.......2007-07-07

I have been reading everything I can get my hands on for the last 50 some years. This book explains God better than 10 years of going to church. Especially the blood section. I buy the book and give it as gifts.

KRD.......2006-05-20

I borrowed these books (in their separate form) years ago and enjoyed them very much. I now want to buy this, so that I may read them again. I am an RN, so the details of anatomy and physiology (though not heavy with medical jargon) were facinating to me. God has revealed Himself in all creation; perhaps the human body is the most amazing example. Reading these has given me a richer, deeper appreciation for the complexity of God's human creation as well as how that creation relates to one another as the body of Christ.

Great, but long.......2005-04-11

Learned a lot, although I have to admit I was grateful for the end- it seemed like I had been reading it forever. It's inspiring, though, to be able to glean from someone who has lived a full and generally expansive (in the sense that he's experienced quite a bit more than most) life. In retrospect, it probably would have been wiser to have read Fearfully and Wonderfully Made and In His Image instead- the two books of which this is an revised edition- for the simple reason that it wouldn't have seemed like a project due to it's length. But, on the whole, I enjoyed it. It also provides a lot of great examples and illustrations; promotes a new outlook on the human body and the Church; and prompts a greater appreciation for the complex magnificence of our mortal frame.

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