Deus Misereatur

The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire Kyle Harper Princeton University Press 41 William Street Princeton, New Jersey 08540 USA https://press.princeton.edu ISBN: 9780691166834; $35; October 2017 Instead of rehearsing the unraveling of late Roman antiquity as a monochromatic and monotonous tale, what would happen if other disciplines were drawn on and brought to bear? How would it change our history of the fall of Rome if we could tease out many of the environmental and biological conditions of the time? Kyle Harper, Professor of Classics and Letters and Senior Vice President and Provost at the University of Oklahoma, has made just such a venture in his new 440 page hardcover “The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire”. Between the covers of this portfolio Harper recounts the mid-second century until the mid-seventh century, hauling in other aspects of human and non-human records, to give a more interwoven, intriguing and insi...

Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550 AD Peter Brown Princeton University Press 41 William Street Princeton, New Jersey 08540 USA https://press.princeton.edu ISBN: 9780691161778; $24.95; 2012 When Jesus remarked, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19.23-24, ESV), how did earlier Christians perceive his statement and engage it? And in what ways would this have coincided or conflicted with their cultural environment? These, and other questions, are addressed in sizable detail by Peter Brown, the Philip and Beulah Rollins Professor of History (Emeritus) and Senior Historian at Princeton University, in his voluminous 792 page paperback, “Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Chr...

Exodus (Apollos Old Testament Commentary Series) T. Desmond Alexander IVP Academic PO Box 1400 Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426 www.ivpress.com ISBN: 978-0-8308-2502-8; $45.00; July 2017 Exodus can be a rather daunting biblical book. From the harshness and inhumanity of the beginning chapters, to the scourges, through the evacuation, up to the heights of Sinai, and climaxing in the splendor of the kavod of YHWH (the glory of the LORD) filling the tent; the reader is taken from a veritable grave through a resurrection of sorts, and on to an ascension. How in the world can a preacher or Bible teacher keep it all together if they are taking their congregation through Exodus? T. Desmond Alexander, senior lecturer in biblical studies and director of postgraduate studies at Union Theological College in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and author, has done painstaking work in his new 708 page hardcover commentary, “Exodus”. This volume is another installment in the Apollos Commentary Series. It is i...

Walking Through Twilight: A Wife's Illness--A Philosopher's Lament by Douglas Groothuis My rating: 5 of 5 stars Alzheimer's and dementia show up in our congregations, academic institutions, corporations and families. According to a recent Science Daily report and others (dated 7 December 2017), it is going to increase from 6 million people in 2017 to some 15 million in 2060. This report, coupled with experiences in my church and in my family, causes me to be on the look out for helpful material that can support caregivers. Therefore I was delighted to pick up and read a new work penned by Douglas Groothuis, professor of philosophy at Denver Seminary and accomplished author. "Walking Through Twilight: A Wife's Illness--A Philosopher's Lament" is a 176 page paperback written from the personal and reflective perspective of the caregiver. "Walking Through Twilight" mildly chronicles the eerie, "odd and mystifying unraveling of" (26) t...

Come Lord Jesus, come quickly and bring your saving grace to bear on all clans, nations, neighborhoods and communities. Execute the office of a Prophet in revealing to us, by your word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation. We pray especially for the Fairhill, Creek Side, Glen Oaks, Redlands and Glen Eagles housing areas, that your Gospel may have full run through every home and up and down every street. May our fellow Christians on each road be valuable assets to their churches and fellowships. May those alienated from your church be restored. And we pray for our friends, acquaintances, neighbors, family members, and co-workers who have never found life and forgiveness…, May they come to faith and turn to you. Come Lord Jesus, come quickly and bring your supporting aid to your church on every continent, Heritage, as well as Exchange Ave Baptist, Fair View Baptist, Faith Crossing Baptist, and Faith Works Baptist Churches. Execute the office of a Priest by your once of...