Review: DRACULA by Bram Stoker

This wasn't the first vampire novel, but it's defined the genre like nothing else. Its closest competitor is Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire, and that's a very distant second. For all practical purposes, Count Dracula is the vampire in the English-speaking world, and vice versa.

That said, it's still a very unusual book. It's epistolary, meaning it's written in the form of letters. Since the letters and diary entries are by several different characters, this not only allows Stoker to be an omniscient narrator without seeming like one, but also lends the book a sense of immediacy that raises it from a pretty good story to a classic. It also requires Stoker to juggle several different writing styles, but he's up to the challenge.

It takes some doing to make a book a century old scary, especially when the end is already well-known. That's what this book is, and that's why I recommend it.

MERCY RULE and why "Christian" entertainment generally sucks

I MERCY RULE is a movie starring Kirk Cameron and his family. It is rated G because there is no sex, violence, or foul language in it. More importantly, it doesn't feel like it's missing those things.

BROTHER WHITE, unfortunately, is far more typical of entertainment directed at professing Christians. It's clichéd throughout, and bears no resemblance to biblical Christianity. It makes a big deal about being a "Christian film", but it ultimately tells a story that could be -- and has been -- told by anyone.

Don't get me wrong; MERCY RULE is not a perfect film. There are some obvious directorial tricks, and the daughter's part in particular seems larger than it has to be. But it is a very good one. BROTHER WHITE is not. It just feels like a Christianized version of a secular movie.

And that seems to be the problem with most of the entertainment industry for professing Christians. It just churns out what everyone else likes, sanitized and with a thin veneer of Jesus on top. It's almost as if they were saying, "We know you'd rather watch or read or listen to X, but here's a version without cussing or boobs."

We claim to worship the source of all creativity, so the world has the right to expect more from us than insipid imitations of popular trends. Our ideal has shifted from excellent to good enough, and that's not good enough.

Psalm 26

How perfect is your integrity? Would you proclaim it to God?

That's what David does in this psalm. He not only asks God for things, and thanks God for what he already has. He also boasts about his own faithfulness, in a way that glorifies God and not himself.

Psalm 25

Even when things look bad, God can be there.

David knew this, which is why no matter where he was or what kind of trouble he was in he always called on God. God was there not only because of his omnipresence, but because David had brought him.

Review: WHY DO WE LIVE IN COMMUNITY? by Eberhard Arnold and Thomas Merton

This is a bit of a mixed bag, consisting of a short book by Arnold coupled with two essays by Merton.

I tend to share Arnold's Anabaptist beliefs, but not Merton's Roman ones, and the two don't mesh well. I think Arnold's book should have been offered alone and Merton's essays included in a collection of his work. A German Bruderhof is very different from a monastery in Kentucky.

In the end the current structure hurts both authors. Since Arnold's thoughts on the subject can be found elsewhere, I don't recommend this book.

Psalm 24

David praises God, the King of Glory, and calls on the very walls and gates of the city to praise him as he passes through. And why not? He deserves all the praise he can get.

Even from walls and gates.

Review: THE LORD OF THE RINGS by JRR Tolkein

This is the greatest fantasy epic of all time.

Notice I didn't say it was the best. But in terms of sheer influence, it's a giant among giants. Nothing else even compares. There are very few contemporary fantasy writers who don't imitate it in some way.

All that said, this isn't an easy read, mostly due to Tolkein's highly artificial style. Every utterance sounds like an epic speech, and there are a lot of utterances in this book. It's meant to give it a mythic feel, and it works.

Despite the fact that it's a long book that takes some effort to read, or maybe because of it, I recommend this book.

Psalm 23

In some places this is known as the death psalm, because it's always read at funerals.

It's more than that, though. God is called a shepherd, which says a lot about the relationship between him and David. A shepherd provides for and protects his sheep, and the sheep is to trust and obey his shepherd.

The ninth commandment

16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

-- Exodus 20.16

A simpler way to put this is "Don't lie." I've always told my daughters that lying is the worst thing they can do to someone. It's one thing to do something wrong but lying is like spitting in someone's face while you do it.

And don't try to be technically honest while trying to deceive people. You might fool some human beings in this world, but you'll never fool God.

A brief explanation of why THE SECRET is just stupid

I'm paralyzed from the eyeballs down. There's your explanation.

For those who don't know, The Secret is a self-help book that came out about ten years ago and has fooled a lot of people, including professing Christians. It claims to be the long-hidden wisdom of the ages but is really just another rehash of the Law of Attraction, an old idea that basically says if you think about stuff, you'll get stuff. Of course, if you think about bad things, they'll happen too, so it blames the victims as well.

Who was responsible for millions of dead Jews in the Holocaust? Obviously not the Nazis, but the millions of dead Jews. How about the African children who've had their hands or feet chopped off? Must have been the mutilated kids' fault.

And what about me? Did dwelling on an event I'd never considered leave me in a condition I'd never heard of? That's what The Secret would say.

The Law of Attraction is a vile, vicious, subhuman belief. And it's stupid too.

Psalm 22

it is honestly difficult to see how someone could know this psalm and not see it as a prophecy of Jesus Christ. I understand that it would have meant something else in 1000 BC, but on this side of the resurrection it seems obvious.

Who else could it be about?

Review: THE INFORMATION by James Gleick

I know that Gleick makes his living primarily as a journalist, but I admit that if I've ever seen any of his articles I don't remember it. He's written several books about math and science, though.which have done a great deal to popularize the sometimes-obscure origins of things that affect our everyday lives .

This book is no different. Information theory has become one of the most important branches of mathematics in our time, and involves both a centuries-long history and insanely complex problems. Gleick makes all of it understandable, and I recommend it.

Psalm 21

"Omnipotent" means "all-powerful".

That's what God is. He always saves his people, and he can't be beaten. His strength and power are infinite, and yet he loves and cares for weak and feeble creatures like us. When it comes down to it, all we can do is praise him.

An announcement

I have something new at The Bible Exchange, "This is my Father's fallen world".

www.bibleexchange.com

Psalm 20

If God is for you, it doesn't matter who's against you. If he's not, it doesn't matter who's against you.

The best that we can hope for is that God will hear our prayers and give us what we ask for. He can do that because he's all-powerful, and nothing is too difficult for him. We can hope for it because he's also also all-good.

Review: SALT AND LIGHT by Eberhard Arnold

In this book Arnold looks at how a Christian can positively influence the world around him. First and foremost,Arnold says, he must live as a Christian, which will make him seem very strange to the world around him. It's only by practicing what he preaches that a Christian can hope to get a hearing.

This is a challenging book, even more so when one realizes that Arnold lived this way in the first years of the Third Reich. I recommend it.

Psalm 19

David makes an audacious claim in this psalm. Keep in mind that he's talking about the Five Books of Moses, the Torah, one of the parts of Scripture we least like reading.

He doesn't say the law is good. He says it's perfect.

Review: JACK OF FABLES VOL.1 by Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges, and Tony Akins

This was the first spin-off from the main Fables series, and is much funnier than the original.

A lot of the humor comes from the disconnect between how Jack views himself, as the greatest Fable of all time, and his true self, which is arrogant and a little stupid. Despite his stupidity, his cunning and charisma make him a natural leader and a good comic-book protagonist.

The art is fine. While I might seem to be damning it with faint praise, I'm actually not. It's not as good as that of the main Fables book, but it's at least as good as most others. The art isn't perfect, but it is perfectly suited to the story. It's also worth noting the sheer number and variety of things artist Tony Akin is called on to draw.

The biggest problem with the book lies in its own nature and that of its main character. The book is funny, but in a broad, farcical way, deriving humor from sex and violence (and there are plenty of both. Jack seems to have no inclination to improve his world, instead living only to satisfy his own appetites. The book reflects this empty, adolescent philosophy, and I don't recommend it.

Psalm 18

Remember the song "Count Your Blessings"? That's not a bad idea.

Trusting God isn't just about asking him for stuff for the future. It's also about remembering what he did for us in the past and thanking him for it. After all, why would you depend on someone tomorrow if you couldn't depend on him yesterday?

The eighth commandment

15 "You shall not steal.

-- Exodus 20.15, ESV

This is another commandment that's very simple and very straightforward. But what if I really need something? Don't steal. But what if somebody steals from me? Don't steal. But what if -- ? Don't steal.

You're not allowed an excuse. That's why they're called the Ten Commandments, not the Ten Suggestions.

Psalm 17

David isn't worried about his standing with God, because as far as he knows there's nothing to worry about. Though Israelite kings could and did fall from God's favor, David isn't concerned, any more than a dutiful son would be concerned that his father might disown him.

Not being eternally secure doesn't mean that you're eternally insecure.

Psalm 16

Those who say God is cold and joyless have obviously never read the Bible.

In The Screwtape Letters the senior devil Screwtape quotes this psalm specifically when he accuses God of hedonism. It's worth noting that those who know God best are always talking about his joys and gifts; it's only those who don't know him who think he's harsh or cruel.

Review: THE ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES by Charles Darwin

For many years I didn't read this, because I didn't think I needed to. After all, I had already heard all about it. The professing Christians I knew (mostly Fundamentalist Baptists) thought it was the worst book ever written because it has been used to prove evolution and disprove the existence of God. The evolutionists I knew (mostly intellectual atheists) thought it was the best book ever written for exactly the same reason So I never got around to reading it.

Until I did.

I'm convinced that both its friends and its enemies make such grandiose claims because few of them have actually read it. The fact is that it is a product neither of Heaven nor of Hell. It's a book, and an old and dull one at that. Charles Darwin was neither a great genius nor the Antichrist. He was a man who wrote some observations and opinions in a book.

Since by his own standards these opinions have been proven wrong, I don't recommend this book.

Bread

Of all the good things God's given us to eat, I think I miss bread the most.

I miss all kinds of food: cereal, cheeseburgers, apples, devil's food cake, raw spinach, catfish, oatmeal, steak, pizza, pancakes, black-eyed peas, granola, cherry pie, pork chops, bananas, donuts, bacon ... but for some reason, I really want bread. I can spend hours thinking about it, from loaf bread to biscuits to pizza crust,

A better person (and a better writer) would tie this into how Jesus said, "I am the bread of life," and make some life-changing point. I'll just say this:

I miss bread.

Psalm 15

Who can dwell with God? The one who does what God says. That means a lot of people are in for a rude awakening.

You're not saved by works. But you're not saved just because you say you are, either. Your outward works reflect your inward beliefs. Besides, who'd want to spend eternity with a God with whom you disagree? It would be like an ant dancing with an elephant; no matter how careful the elephant is, it's not going to end well for the ant.

Review: THE DIVINE COMEDY by Dante Aghlieri

This is another of those great classics that I haven't gotten around to reading until the last couple of years. And I'm mostly doing it now so I can say I did.

Frankly, I didn't think it was worth the effort. The poetry did nothing for me, and since I don't care for Roman theology or 13th century Italian politics, there's not much else to pay attention to, and I don't recommend it.

Psalm 14

If not for God, the righteous would have no chance. In this psalm, David describes God's people as surrounded by evil men, but also by the protection of God.

And if you have the second, the first doesn't matter.

Review: THE PRAYER GOD ANSWERS by Eberhard Arnold

Plough.com has a great many books for free so as you'll see I've read a lot of Eberhard Arnold books.

Arnold was the founder of the Bruderhof movement, which has become a worldwide network of Christians living communally. This book looks at the relationship of prayer to such a life, and determines that the prayer God answers is the one that already matches up with his will.

Since Arnold made his living as a teacher, lecturer, and editor, it's not surprising that the book is well-written. It's also worth every penny I spent on it. I recommend this book.

Psalm 13

If God has always come through in the past, it makes sense that he would do so in the future. 

David starts by questioning God and ends by praising his faithfulness. This is only natural. The normal reaction to someone who's already proven himself trustworthy is to keep trusting him.

The seventh commandment

14 "You shall not commit adultery.

-- Exodus 20.14, ESV 

This is very simple. Adultery is just sex with someone you aren't married to. Therefore, don't have sex with with someone you're not married to.

That's black and white. Only people make it complicated.

Psalm 12

The phrase "purified seven times" is sometimes used by those who believe the King James Version is the only real Bible. Since the KJV was the seventh major English translation, they say, this is proof of their case.

This overlooks the simple fact that their "proof" is silly.

Review: CHAOS by James Gleick

I think books on math and physics are very interesting, especially the theoretical aspects. Unfortunately, I've never had any aptitude for those subjects, and I never learned to do the math necessary to really understand them. What this usually means is that I generally understand them until the equations come out, and then I get lost.

Gleick's books are different, in that he's not a mathematician or physicist either. What they may lack in precision -- which would be lost on me anyway -- they more than gain in readability. This book is particularly good in this regard, both because it's nearly 30 years old and because there are a great many illustrations of Mandelbrot sets, as well as many photographs and charts that make the text clearer.

Chaos may not have lived up to the rapturous expectations of the 1980s, but it has still proven to be an important concept, and this book does a good job of introducing it. I recommend it.

Psalm 11

Evil people can do what they like. God is still God.

They can scatter the righteous, slander them, and even try to kill them. In the end it just doesn't matter. God will always be God, and he'll always take care of his people.

What "Built for Glory" means

First, it comes from one of my favorite songs, "Built for Glory, Made to Last", by one of my favorite bands, the Lost Dogs. Go on and look it up. I'll wait.

Now that you've heard a good song, I'll continue. It also means that though we've adapted ourselves wonderfully to the world in which we live, it's not the world in which we were meant to live.. It's been marred by sin; it's hard and hostile, and while we survive here, we were designed for something else.

We were designed for a perfect world, and for communion with God. Instead, we're just strangers in a strange land, stumbling blindly behind him.

An announcement

The Bible Exchange has let me put something else up there. Here's the link.

Psalm 10

You're not getting away with anything, you know.

This psalm is both a prayer that God would see the deeds of the wicked and a promise that he will. God sees everything; that's what omniscience means. It's not like anyone can slip something by him.

Review: HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad

This is the book that took me the longest to read. I started it my senior year of high school, and finished it 17 years later. And it's not that it's long, either. A dead-tree copy is about 75 pages long, so it's barely a novella.

The fact is that I found it boring. I still do, and I don't recommend it.

Psalm 9

If God does something for you, tell people. The last eight psalms have asked God for justice, and here David is thankful for what he's received and what he will receive.

Like I said, if God does something for you, tell people.

Review: THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS by John Bunyan

This is without a doubt the most famous allegory in the world, and other than the Bible it's the most-translated book in history. But is it any good?

The first thing to notice is that this is an old book. Between the outdated spelling and vocabulary and the archaic punctuation, it can be a challenge to read. Because it's been in the public domain for so long, though, there are plenty of audio and modernized versions that pretty much eliminate that problem.

A second consideration is the story, which is divided into two parts. The first, the tale of Christian's journey to Heaven, is the best-known and better of the two, while the other, which tells about his wife Christiana and their children as they follow him, is both somewhat repetitive and less interesting.

Overall, this is a book that rewards the effort put into it, and which deserves its status as a classic. I highly recommend it.

Psalm 8

God is the one who made the universe, and that's who wants to speak with you.

We've sent spacecraft billions of miles. We've seen trillions of miles. Some of what we think are stars in the night sky are actually galaxies of tens of millions of stars. Everywhere we look we see the handiwork of God, even though he's that great he still cares about each one of us.

The sixth commandment

13 "You shall not murder.

-- Exodus 20.13, ESV 

While governments were given the right of capital punishment immediately after the Flood, and unintentional killing could be forgiven under the law, premeditated homicide has always been strictly forbidden. The murder of an image-bearer of God is extremely serious, and should be treated extremely seriously 

Psalm 7

Why do we think only evil can hurt us? Good can too, and when it has to be it's far more terrible than evil. If your enemy is Satan or one of his minions, you can pray to God for deliverance, but when God is your enemy,where do you turn?

After all, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Review: BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL by Friedrich Nietzsche

There are atheists, and then there's Nietzsche.

While our modern atheists tend to want the benefits of religion without a God telling them what to do, Nietzsche looked at a world without God and was horrified. When he had a character in another work say that God is dead, it was a cry not of triumph but of despair.

This book explores more of what it would mean to live in a universe where man is the only authority. Specifically, since morality tends to come from religion, without religion mankind would be beyond morality, too. While part of me thinks everyone should read this just to see what lies behind celebrity atheists like Richard Dawkins and Penn Gillette. Another part, though, knows it's pretty dull. Evil, it seems, really is banal.