OYENTE

Shane Morris

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The Old Testament is one story

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 09-16-22

In this readable whirlwind tour through the Hebrew scriptures, Leithart shows how God’s Word is not a collection of moral fables designed to teach discreet lessons, but ever-deepening variations on a single theme: God seeking to dwell with His people and turn all of creation into Eden. Accounts that are often neglected or puzzle modern readers take on exciting clarity, and Leithart uses his sharp ear for typology to show the organic unity the Holy Spirit has inscribed in its pages, from first Adam to Last.

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A cultural ecology for all who love America's sea

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 09-16-22

Appreciating where you live and knowing its story--both the good and the bad--is a gift. Jack Davis gave this Floridian reader/listener that gift in his brilliant and richly detailed cultural ecology. I grew up with the Gulf lapping at my toes, collecting shells and fossils, tasting its salty water, and watching the sun disappear over the liquid horizon. I instinctively recognized the riches of this unique region, even when I knew little about it. Sanibel Island (whose history and preservation Davis covers) played an especially large role in my childhood. This book sets Florida's beautiful Gulf coast in its larger context, chronicling what we know about this rich sea's origins and sketching a kind of family portrait of the land, water, estuaries, barrier islands, reefs, animals, and communities that make up our emerald cornucopia.

In the smart, smooth prose of a writer as fascinated with his topic as he wants his readers to be, Davis leads us through centuries from native habitation and Spanish conquest to American dominion and industrial exploitation. While his environmental and ethical sensibilities are evident, this is far from a misanthropic and anti-American screed (don't listen to reviewers who say it is). The story he tells shows how generously nature can provide for human needs, if only we respect its integrity. Davis thinks humans have a place on the Gulf, and he acknowledges that place in countless ways, from praising Native ingenuity and sustainable modern fishing practices, to celebrating the art, language and music that have grown up on these shores since conquistadors and colonists first landed.

The impression he leaves readers with is that this underappreciated Eden is not invincible. America has been given an embarrassment of riches in the Gulf, but we can destroy it. We've come close many times. There is still plenty of hope, and what we do matters--not just for our sea and its creatures, but for all of us human creatures who depend on its bounty. The environmental struggles of this region are a microcosm, and even those who've never visited can take precious lessons from the complicated, shell-strewn, bird-festooned, oil-slicked surf of our American sea.

I have only two criticisms of this book. First, Davis often assumes his moral sensibilities are self-evident. Even where he is right, he could have done a better job making the case and heading off those who want to dismiss him as a hippie, mangrove-hugging commie. Second, he neglects to mention one of the most bizarre and potentially disastrous human projects ever undertaken on the the Gulf: the Cross-Florida Canal. This modern monument to the Army Corps of Engineers' hubris would have sliced my state from the nation and connected the Atlantic to the Gulf. Thankfully, the project was scuttled in 1971, but its ghostly remnants haunt the forests of northern Florida, and no story like this is quite complete without such a wacky chapter.

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Reintro to the Bible's supernatural worldview

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 07-07-22

Dr. Heiser's best-known work is the definitive reintroduction to the Bible's supernatural worldview for the devoted Christian or curious student of Scripture. Heiser points out in plain sight what churches and other authors too often forget or ignore: that the human writers of Scripture didn't think like modern Westerners, They saw their world as a theater of cosmic warfare between divine forces of light and darkness locked in combat for dominion over nations. Without compromising orthodoxy or evangelical distinctives, Heiser shows how the biblical authors wouldn't recognize typical, sterilized presentations of the Bible's story. They really believed that angels once had babies with women, that the Creator disinherited the kingdoms of the world at Babel and kept only the Hebrews for Himself, that the "gods" of pagan nations were semi-divine archons in competition with Yahweh, and that Jesus Christ had come not only to win our salvation, but to put these "powers and principalities" under His heel. What's more, Heiser demonstrates that the first Christians took this "supernatural worldview" for granted, having inherited it from intertestimental Judaism. You will never read the Bible the same way after finishing "Unseen Realm."

Like most brilliant expositors, Heiser can be a bit of a contrarian. He is prone to dismissing views he doesn't find personally convincing without giving much evidence that he has given them a fair hearing or taken their historical weight seriously. He privileges intertestimental Judaism and its menagerie of colorful views over the Church Fathers and the Reformation in a way many will criticize as cavalier. And, like N. T. Wright (another favorite of mine), he has a tendency to think his insights are more original and revolutionary than they actually are. Sometimes, he is just saying stuff Christians have always thought.

Even so, the shallow, anti-supernatural religion this book critiques is prevalent enough that Heiser may well electrify your faith and your understanding of the Bible. The library at the heart of the Jewish and Christian faiths is far, far more bizarre and "enchanted" than most readers imagine, and anyone curious to see it through ancient eyes, even if as "through a glass darkly," must read this book.

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Definitive history of FL's environmental folly

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 05-21-22

I'm a Florida native who deeply loves its natural beauty, on shore and off. I tore though this book, sometimes with dismay. Grunwald gives the essential history of the state every resident needs to hear, good, bad, and ugly. He challenges our ideas of what land should look like, where water belongs, and what it means to live in a beautiful but immensely fragile paradise like Florida. He exposes the American tendency to exoticize this landscape and project our ideals onto it, rather than getting to know it on its own terms. He shows the consequences of greed, stupidity, and hubris, but offers hope that people can change if they learn to appreciate this place for its own sake, and not for how it can profit human beings. This book may restructure your ideas about the environment, not just in Florida. Highly recommend, though make sure you catch up on the last 17 years of developments since its publication.

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Reforming Marriage Audiolibro Por Douglas Wilson arte de portada

This book deserves a better recording.

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
3 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 05-02-22

A vital and classic read, but a less than amazing recording. Wilson offers a boldly countercultural and scripturally rich understanding of the marriage relationship. If you can listen to the whole thing muffled through a blanket, you'll love this.

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Best scientific presentation of theism

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 10-15-21

Stephen Meyer has marshalled three astonishingly thorough arguments that theism is not only the simplest explanation for the universe we observe, but that it is the only explanation that justifies the scientific enterprise. If you already believe in God, this book will powerfully bolster your faith, and if you don't believe in God, Meyer will shake your doubt to the core.

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