5 stars (I'm thankful God loves Ragamuffins.) - This is a thought-provoking book, worth reading slowly. The message is pretty simple -- but not easy to internalize. I used the book as a daily spiritual meditation for a time. Then some friends and I reread it and met together weekly to discuss it. There is much in common with Phil Yancey's "What's So Amazing About Grace?" It mixes stories from the author's experience with spiritual insight about God acting in human affairs. The main point is that Christians need to honestly consider God's love and grace and appreciate it for what it is. It is human nature to resist God's grace, to try and prove oneself really "good" and "spiritual", but this is foolishness. Instead, ragamuffins focus on God's grace and enjoy God. If this were EASY to do, you could stop with this review. You wouldn't need Yancey or Manning to explain it again and again. But I find I really need people like Brennan Manning to lay it out for me.... The book has caused some controversy. Both Protestants and Catholics have claimed that it argues for "casual grace" or even that Manning is a universalist. Those charges are false (Manning deals with them in an appendix) but not everyone will agree with Manning's message. The author, a former Catholic priest, an alcoholic, divorced -- has painfully proven himself a ragamuffin and God is still in love with him, so maybe God can work in you and me? Enjoy the book. 5 stars (Enjoyable Read) - There is just something that stays with you when you read a book by Brennan Manning. Before digesting the Ragamuffin Gospel, I had never heard of the author. After reading the book, I was challenged to remove God from the box I had put him in, and I was drawn to explore more of Manning's writings. The Ragamuffin Gospel isn't just another book that will fill you full of God's expectations, and cram your "to do for God" list full of activities. Nor will the Ragamuffin Gospel remind you of all the Christ... Multnomah :: Christianity :: Spirituality :: Grace (Theology) :: Christian Life :: Religion & Inspirational :: CHRISTIAN LIVING & PRACTICAL LIFE & GENERAL :: Theology :: Spiritu :: The Ragamuffin Gospel
5 stars (funny and intelligent- it hurts!!) - This is one of the funnier books I have read in a long time. My family kept coming in the room to see what I was laughing at. Someone gave me this book when I was really ill and the laughter was sorely needed. It served it's purpose. Even to the religious, I imagine it would be hard not to laugh. If you can't laugh at yourself... especially when someone is so intelligently poking fun at you? Then it's just a shame- because this book is too funny to be missed... it has been circulated through my family and friends and everyone has had a good laugh! 5 stars (Biff is THE MAN) - I laughed out loud until it hurt - and it felt great. I would never have left xtianity if the followers I encountered were full of the good humor Biff displays. For all of the laughs, there are also insights to be gainned here as to how to answer the obnoxiouly overused question of WWJD? 4 stars (Laugh out loud, wet your pants funny!!) - If you want to read a book that will make you laugh until you cry, read 'Lamb'. This the book that will make you laugh so hard, that others around you will think your crazy. The subject matter is irreverant, but meant in fun. I really don't think anyone would be offended. Biff, is the loveable idiot friend of Jesus. And what an idiot he is! I love that guy. ... Harper Paperbacks :: Fiction & General :: Religious - General :: N T :: N T :: Jesus Christ :: History of Biblical events :: Historical - General :: Gospels :: Friends and associates :: Fi :: Lamb - The Gospel According to Biff- Christ-s Childhood Pal
5 stars (Important text, but not for beginners) - One thing to understand about this book - it was not written with amazon.com beginners in mind. It is a college-level theory textbook, and is probably one of the few books that present basic theory concepts in a coherent, unified fashion. The "restrictions" some reviewers complain about, are actually part of a time-honored approach to teaching theory (think "species counterpoint"). To understand the book, a teacher needs to understand something of the ideas and approach of Heinrich Schenker (Schachter was one of Schenker's students). Unlike many theory books, which are into quick summaries and labels, this book is based on a deep understanding of how western tonal music works (at least from the Schenkerian perspective). Even basic concepts like scale degrees, intervals, and triads, are presented in such a way that important relationships among tones become evident. Chords are not merely chunks of notes that deserve a label, but are part of a larger, contrapuntal whole. Sticking with the early chapters, and especially getting a good grasp of the contrapuntal nature of even the most basic chords (insights gained into the similar "passing chord" functions of the V4/3 and viio6 chords, for example) are well worth the effort. Upon successful completion of the first 10 or 11 chapters, a student should have a new understanding of how tonal music works. 5 stars (A very strong text teaching the foundations of tonal music) - When I was a student at the University of Michigan School of Music in the late seventies and early eighties, we used the then brand new first edition of this book. I thought it was quite good then, and I believe this third edition to be an even better book. It treats the subjects of tonal harmony and voice leading quite well. There have been some solid improvements in the way a few things are explained and some changes in the musical examples. However, it is still fundamentally the same soun... Wadsworth Publishing :: Music & General :: Religious - Gospel :: Music :: Instruction & Study - Theory :: Harmony :: General :: Edward Aldwell :: Carl Schachter :: :: Harmony and Voice Leading
5 stars (A fresh look at Jesus the man) - I really enjoyed reading this book and discovering many aspects about Jesus the man and the sociological context in which he lived. I particularly appreciated that this book has no theological agenda. It presents conflicting views of Jesus'life, yet no sides are taken. 1 stars (A modern gnostic view of Jesus' life) - If you are not a Christian, this book would be a poor introduction to Christianity and will probably have little appeal to you since it does not present Jesus as a religious figure. If you are a Christian, the mere assumption that there are "literary creations" within the Gospels will draw you away from this book. Of course, if you're an atheist, this book will hold no appeal for you. So this book begs the question: who is it written for? The writer tries his best to pretend to be impartial in his view of Jesus, but to say he comes up short would be a stretch. Rule number one of an impartial approach to any study is not to bring your own assumptions into your subject. But that is not what the author does. In fact, from page one he assumes that the Gospels are full of mere "literary creations", and that dooms the book from the start. Bottom line about any study performed on the figure, historical or otherwise, of Jesus is to approach the subject willing to consider that whoever wrote the Gospels was either a)inspired by the Holy Spirit as it is widely believed by Christians or b)that the authors had no need to embelish the life of Jesus since His teachings and works were pretty amazing of themselves. If you're not willing to consider any of these two possibilities, you will end up with the biased study contained in this book. This book takes the gnostic approach to Jesus: that he was simply a man. A great man, whose teachings were intended to start a theological revolution much like Muhammad (Mohammed) or Confucius, but just a man. It casts doubt upon the veracity of the works of Jesus, including... Inner Traditions :: Body :: Mind & Spirit & Mysticism :: Theology :: Teachings :: New Age :: Mysticism :: Jesus Christ :: Christianity - Theology - History :: Christianity - Theology - C :: Jesus the Rabbi Prophet - A New Light on the Gospel Message
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