One of the organizations I belong to is the Religion Newswriters
Association. A perk of my membership fee is that from time to time
publishers send me books to read and (hopefully) review for my
readers. Here are three brief reviews of some very new books you
might enjoy.
One of the organizations I belong to is the Religion Newswriters Association. A perk of my membership fee is that from time to time publishers send me books to read and (hopefully) review for my readers. Here are three brief reviews of some very new books you might enjoy.
“God’s Secretaries” by Adam Nicholson (HarperCollins, $24.95) is a remarkably popular book written about a topic many people would find intolerably obscure: “the making of the King James Bible.”
Seventeenth century England was a time of great religious controversy; England’s new King, James I, came from Scotland in 1603 with the goal of unifying his realm. One of his first projects was to appoint a committee of some 50 scholars and clergymen to create a new English translation of the Bible. “God’s Secretaries” is the story of the seven years devoted to his task and of the clashing personalities of the men involved. It brings alive the process they used: examining the Greek and Hebrew texts and comparing them with earlier English translations to arrive at a more accurate text.
But, as Nicholson is at great pains to emphasize, the great gift of the King James Version ( referred to as the “Authorized Version” in the United Kingdom), is not its accuracy, but the majesty of its language: “What governs acceptability… is euphony” because the new Bible’s “main function was to be read aloud in church on Sundays.”
Although it has been supplanted by more modern translations, Christians who grew up reading or hearing the KJV will find this account of its creation fascinating.
“The Fundamentals of Extremism” (New Boston Books, $15.95) by syndicated writer Kimberly Blaker with chapters by other authors, is sure to be controversial because it attempts to document the dangers to American liberty posed by Christian “fundamentalists.”
In chapter two she denies the claims of religious conservatives that the U.S. was meant to be a “Christian nation:
There is no mention of God in the Preamble or anywhere in the constitution This was conscious and deliberate. The Constitution intended to establish the United States as a secular state, rejecting all attempts to make it otherwise.”
A fascinating chapter by Herb Silberman documents his successful attempt to hold pubic office despite being an atheist, a right which the Attorney General and Governor of South Carolina fought against for seven years.
This provocative book offers evidence of the dangers society faces when allowing church and state, religion and politics, to intermingle too closely.
I met Bart Sargeant in Palo Alto when he was a young curate and I was a college student . Since then he has spent 30-plus years in Christian ministry, retired, and written a book of memoirs: “Do You Have to Wear a Collar?” (Regent Press, &21.95).
Although Father Bart is an Episcopal priest, his book contains a series of brief stories which relate to the everyday life of clergy doing ministry in any denomination, stories grouped into categories like “Work with Youth,” “Life and Death,” and “Advice, Given and Received.”
This book is perfect for people who wonder what the preacher does all week when he/she isn’t behind the pulpit. It shows the many touching, happy, sad, humorous moments between clergy and laity which combine to form the deep relationships shared among those in religious congregations.
