Books

Some months ago my wife and I stood in the square facing the dome and western facade of St Mark rsquo s Basilica in Venice We marveled at the intriguing blend of Eastern and Western architecture before us We later visited the chapel in the crypt where the body of St Mark had lain for several ce

Richard Swinburne is a British philosopher who has specialized in defending theism and Christian truth claims Appealing to common human experience biblical writings and the church rsquo s tradition Swinburne argues that it is more likely that God exists than that he does not more likely than not

Patrick Taylor's 'An Irish Country Christmas,' reviewed

This is the third and final volume of a historical and systematic overview of comparative theologies of the church A significant contribution to the contemporary debates on ecclesiology among the churches it follows two comparative historical volumes providing a theology ldquo from below rdquo

Michael O rsquo Neill McGrath O S F S had never heard of the Catholic nun and gospel singer Thea Bowman while she was alive but once he discovered her as we learn in this splendid short memoir she transformed his life ldquo I like to tell folks that I have a little black nun inside of me rd

The new Ireland, courtesy of Anne Enright

Even in the best of times American popular understanding of Muslims has been informed more by stereotype and suspicion than reality But since the terrorist attacks on Sept 11 2001 many perceive the divide between ldquo us rdquo and ldquo them rdquo as a chasm too wide to cross Anti-America

Michael Novak’s ‘No One Sees God,’ reviewed

The conversion of Anne Rice

The fifth general conference of the Latin American bishops Celam in 2007 was a significant event in the history of the church in the Western Hemisphere Its report Disciples and Missionaries of Jesus Christ That Our People May Have Life in Him may be among the most interesting missiological tex