Category Archives: Reviews

‘Year of Biblical Womanhood’ Review – Part 1

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

I have read several books since starting my book reviewing experiment, but this is the first review that I will be posting. Indeed, to my knowledge this is my first ever experiment with audio on this blog. I am not … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Bible, Controversies, Culture, Guest Post, My Reading, Reviews, Society, Theological | 69 Comments

‘Symbol and Sacrament’ Chapter 7: Sacrament and Ethics

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

Symbol and Sacrament Posts: Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2:I, Chapter 2:II, Chapter 3, Chapter 4:I, Chapter 4:II, Chapter 5, Chapter 6 Chauvet frames his seventh chapter with the question: ‘How can we avoid the temptation to oppose ethical practice and ritual practice without yielding to the reverse temptation … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, My Reading, Reviews, The Sacraments, Theological, Worship | 10 Comments

‘Symbol and Sacrament’ Chapter 6: Scripture and Sacrament

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

Symbol and Sacrament Posts: Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2:I, Chapter 2:II, Chapter 3, Chapter 4:I, Chapter 4:II, Chapter 5, Chapter 7 Having established a model for the structure of Christian identity in the previous chapter, Chauvet proceeds to explore the interrelationships of the various elements of the … Continue reading →

Posted in My Reading, Reviews, The Church, The Sacraments, Theological, Worship | 11 Comments

‘Symbol and Sacrament’ Chapter 5: The Structure of Christian Identity

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

Symbol and Sacrament Posts: Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2:I, Chapter 2:II, Chapter 3, Chapter 4:I, Chapter 4:II, Chapter 6, Chapter 7 Chauvet has now established the philosophical foundation for his larger project. Now he will turn more directly to the sacraments themselves. The guiding questions will be: … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian Experience, My Reading, Reviews, The Church, The Sacraments, Theological | 11 Comments

‘Symbol and Sacrament’ Chapter 4:II: Language and the Body

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

Symbol and Sacrament Posts: Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2:I, Chapter 2:II, Chapter 3, Chapter 4:I, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7 The Act of Symbolization To illustrate the act of symbolization, Chauvet gives the example of two secret agents who are given two irregular halves of a five-dollar … Continue reading →

Posted in My Reading, Reviews, The Sacraments, Theological | 11 Comments

‘Symbol and Sacrament’ Chapter 4:I: The Symbol and the Sign

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

Symbol and Sacrament Posts: Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2:I, Chapter 2:II, Chapter 3, Chapter 4:II, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7 Chauvet has now established the methodological foundation for an understanding of the sacraments as mediations, rather than instruments, ‘as expressive media in which the identification and thus … Continue reading →

Posted in My Reading, Reviews, The Sacraments, Theological | 10 Comments

Edwin Friedman’s, ‘A Failure of Nerve’

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

Part 1: How Societies Become Imaginatively Gridlocked and How This Can Be Overcome Part 2: Understanding the Chronically Anxious Society Part 3: The Data Addiction and How to Kick the Habit Part 4: Why Empathy Doesn’t Work Part 5: The … Continue reading →

Posted in My Reading, Reviews | 8 Comments

Summary of Edwin Friedman’s ‘A Failure of Nerve’: Part 6

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

Other Posts in Series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 Emotional Triangles An ‘emotional triangle’ refers to ‘the manner in which the relationship between any two people, or a given individual and his or her symptoms, can be a function … Continue reading →

Posted in My Reading, Reviews | 11 Comments

Summary of Edwin Friedman’s ‘A Failure of Nerve’: Part 5

Posted on January 15, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

Other Posts in Series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 6 The Importance of Self There is a constant struggle in life between the forces that seek to play it safe and merely reproduce the status quo, and the forces … Continue reading →

Posted in My Reading, Reviews, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Summary of Edwin Friedman’s ‘A Failure of Nerve’: Part 4

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

Other Posts in Series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, Part 6 The Fallacy of Empathy Friedman now proceeds to take aim at the ‘fallacy of empathy’. He observes the way in which the political rhetoric of sensitivity can hijack … Continue reading →

Posted in My Reading, Reviews | 8 Comments