Books

A new book traces the development of human rights.

At a recent viewing of the film ldquo Into Great Silence rdquo I was mesmerized as the camera circled the austere perimeter of a new Carthusian novice rsquo s cell and oratory stripped of any comforts or signs of individuality And then there she was pasted to the wall near a bare cross a sma

ldquo A bright mulatto is stripped to a nude condition and a careful examination is made of all parts of the body by the Dr and she is pronounced by him to be sound The money is then paid and she is transferred to her new owner rdquo With this mid-19th-century description of the sale of a

Now two years into his papacy Pope Benedict XVI has published a work that is fast becoming a bestseller everywhere ldquo This book rdquo he stipulates ldquo is in no way an exercise rdquo of his official magisterium but ldquo solely rdquo a testimony to his ldquo personal search for the f

Ayaan Hirsi Ali was living in Holland on Sept 11 2001 when jetliners piloted by Muslim fanatics crashed into the World Trade Center killing thousands As a Muslim Ali had urgent questions Was this really Islam Did Islam permit even call for this kind of slaughter Did I as a Muslim approv

Watching old movies provokes a strange set of conflicted emotions All those beautiful people up there on the screen are frozen in time locked in eternal youth and bringing joy to yet another generation of viewers Sadly however time slips by as relentlessly as the strip of film through the proje

Dancing in the Streets is a study of the gatherings of people for frenzied communal festivity or what the author Barbara Ehrenreich calls ldquo collective joy rdquo throughout the ages It is a thoroughgoing piece of social history The book should also appeal to students of religion drama pol

The Bible presents many ldquo explanations rdquo for suffering punishment for sin part of the human condition a test of character a discipline to make us better persons an element in God rsquo s mysterious plan and so on But does the Bible contain a distinctively Christ-centered approach to

A book review is meant to give a rough outline of the structure and content of a work some assessment of its merits and a recommendation to those who would most benefit by reading the book Yet as I engage Meeting Mystery and Nathan Mitchell rsquo s exquisite invitation into the realm of Christian