Author: Gary Chapman
ISBN-10: 1881273156
Comments By: Al-Hasan
The five love languages is one of those books that help you to understand the people you love in your life. The author attempts to show the reader how to understand and speak the language of love. Not in the way you understand it, but in the way the other person understands it.
The five languages Chapman refers to are "Words of Affirmation", "Quality Time", "Receiving Gifts", "Acts of Service", and "Physical Touch". These are the primary languages (principles) your spouse speaks. The idea is to figure out which of those you need to do more of to make your significant other happy and fall back in love with you
The author relates insightful examples from his and other people’s realities in each principle to explain his premise which makes the book easy and friendly to follow. The book primarily focuses on the husband-wife relationship, but the 5 principles Chapman mentions could be applied in understanding relationships with parents, friends, co-workers, children and anyone who you come in contact with.
It is an insightful book, but it does go on a bit. The author could have mentioned the principles and explained what they are and how to apply them and end it, but I feel it was not going to end.
The are many beneficial points that the author expresses, however there are some flaws; near the end of the book he stipulates that even if the husband hates his wife she should approach him for intimate relationship because the husband might fall in the category of ‘’Physical Touch’’. This is an erroneous, unrealistic and flawed assertion. He even tries to ‘holify’ it by quoting Jesus. Apart from that, it’s a good read.
Friday 16 February 2007
Thursday 15 February 2007
Eight Theories of Religion
Daniel L. Pals
ISBN-10: 0195165705
ISBN-10: 0195165705
Book Description
Why do human beings believe in divinities? Why do some seek eternal life, while others seek escape from recurring lives? Why do the beliefs and behaviors we typically call "religious" so deeply affect the human personality and so subtly weave their way through human society? Revised and updated in this second edition, Eight Theories of Religion considers how these fundamental questions have engaged the most important thinkers of the modern era. Accessible, systematic, and succinct, the text examines the classic interpretations of religion advanced by theorists who have left a major imprint on the intellectual culture of the twentieth century.
The second edition features a new chapter on Max Weber, a revised introduction, and a revised, expanded conclusion that traces the paths of further inquiry and interpretation traveled by theorists in the most recent decades. Eight Theories of Religion, Second Edition, begins with Edward Burnett Tylor and James Frazer--two Victorian pioneers in anthropology and the comparative study of religion. It then considers the great "reductionist" approaches of Sigmund Freud, Emile Durkheim, and Karl Marx, all of whom have exercised wide influence up to the present day. The discussion goes on to examine the leading challenges to reductionism as articulated by sociologist Max Weber (new to this edition) and Romanian-American comparativist Mircea Eliade.
Finally, it explores the newer methods and ideas arising from the African field studies of ethnographer E. E. Evans-Pritchard and the interpretive anthropology of Clifford Geertz. Each chapter offers biographical background, theoretical exposition, conceptual analysis, and critical assessment. This common format allows for close comparison and careful evaluation throughout. Ideal for use as a supplementary text in introductory religion courses or as the central text in sociology of religion and courses centered on the explanation and interpretation of religion, Eight Theories of Religion, Second Edition, offers an illuminating treatment of this controversial and fascinating subject.
Why do human beings believe in divinities? Why do some seek eternal life, while others seek escape from recurring lives? Why do the beliefs and behaviors we typically call "religious" so deeply affect the human personality and so subtly weave their way through human society? Revised and updated in this second edition, Eight Theories of Religion considers how these fundamental questions have engaged the most important thinkers of the modern era. Accessible, systematic, and succinct, the text examines the classic interpretations of religion advanced by theorists who have left a major imprint on the intellectual culture of the twentieth century.
The second edition features a new chapter on Max Weber, a revised introduction, and a revised, expanded conclusion that traces the paths of further inquiry and interpretation traveled by theorists in the most recent decades. Eight Theories of Religion, Second Edition, begins with Edward Burnett Tylor and James Frazer--two Victorian pioneers in anthropology and the comparative study of religion. It then considers the great "reductionist" approaches of Sigmund Freud, Emile Durkheim, and Karl Marx, all of whom have exercised wide influence up to the present day. The discussion goes on to examine the leading challenges to reductionism as articulated by sociologist Max Weber (new to this edition) and Romanian-American comparativist Mircea Eliade.
Finally, it explores the newer methods and ideas arising from the African field studies of ethnographer E. E. Evans-Pritchard and the interpretive anthropology of Clifford Geertz. Each chapter offers biographical background, theoretical exposition, conceptual analysis, and critical assessment. This common format allows for close comparison and careful evaluation throughout. Ideal for use as a supplementary text in introductory religion courses or as the central text in sociology of religion and courses centered on the explanation and interpretation of religion, Eight Theories of Religion, Second Edition, offers an illuminating treatment of this controversial and fascinating subject.
About the Author
Daniel L. Pals is at University of Miami.
The Language of God
The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief
Francis S. Collins
Review by: D. Rigas
The latest popularity of the evangelical fundamentalist position on one hand and the growing response of the scientific atheist faction on the other, have recently brought forth an increasing number of books written by believing scientists. This one is the contribution of Dr. Collins, the head of the Genome Project that mapped the human DNA.
As with other similar authors, Dr Collins first establishes his unquestionable scientific authority, and then uses his detailed knowledge of his field (genetics) to prove that Darwin was right and the literal 6000-year creationists wrong. Part of his proof is based on the existence of so-called "junk DNA" segments of purposeless chance-generated code located between genes, and on their similar location in the DNA of other animals along the evolution scale. The average reader, like me, has to accept all that on blind faith, just as he accepts the explanation of gravity and other scientific Truths.
The author's justification for God's existence, on the other hand, is based on a somewhat less sturdy foundation. It depends almost entirely on what he calls "The Moral Law," the selfless altruism that he finds existing in the entire human race and to nobody else in the animal world. He discusses how the "Golden Rule" is found in all societies and ages and then concludes that the knowledge of right and wrong is inherent in all humankind. He maintains that it is a God-ordained plan, somehow planned from the very beginning of the universe fourteen billion years ago. Personally, I am not convinced that all humans have the same sense of what is right and wrong, and I am even less convinced that altruism is missing among animals. How else can you explain the dog who gives up his life protecting his master or the animals he shepherds? Or the numerous stories of dolphins saving drowning people, often fighting off sharks to do it?
When a scientist discusses God he is forced to specify who that God is, something not required of the Catholic priest or the Baptist minister whose religions define him. The God of Dr. Collins is the creator of a universe specifically designed to evolve mankind. For according to the "Anthropic Principle," if any one of half a dozen universal constants did not have the exact value it does the universe would not have lasted long enough or have been capable of supporting human life. But the author also believes that from the instant of its creation God almost never interfered in the progress of stellar and earthly evolution. And how then does he account for the fact that this evolution has been affected by numerous chance events of defining importance, like the meteor impact on earth 65 million years ago which resulted in the death of the dinosaurs and gave mammals and eventually man an opportunity to develop?
According to Dr. Collins "If God is outside of nature, then He is outside of space and time. In that context, God could in the moment of creation of the universe also know every detail of the future....In that context evolution could appear to us to be driven by chance, but from God's perspective the outcome would be entirely specified." Does that mean that after God created the universe and saw that a meteor did not chance to impact earth at the proper time to enable human evolution, he immediately destroyed that particular universe and started all over again until chance events cooperated with his intent?
The writings of C. S. Lewis have apparently helped resolve many of Dr. Collins's theological puzzlements, and he includes numerous quotations from them. Although these are highly emotional and spiritual I find them to be more philosophically than scientifically inspired. I have the same opinion of most of the author's own arguments in this book.
(The writer is the author of "Christianity without Fairy Tales: When Science and Religion Merge," and of the forthcoming "The Way of the Butterfly: A Scientific Speculation on God and the Hereafter.")
Francis S. Collins
Review by: D. Rigas
The latest popularity of the evangelical fundamentalist position on one hand and the growing response of the scientific atheist faction on the other, have recently brought forth an increasing number of books written by believing scientists. This one is the contribution of Dr. Collins, the head of the Genome Project that mapped the human DNA.
As with other similar authors, Dr Collins first establishes his unquestionable scientific authority, and then uses his detailed knowledge of his field (genetics) to prove that Darwin was right and the literal 6000-year creationists wrong. Part of his proof is based on the existence of so-called "junk DNA" segments of purposeless chance-generated code located between genes, and on their similar location in the DNA of other animals along the evolution scale. The average reader, like me, has to accept all that on blind faith, just as he accepts the explanation of gravity and other scientific Truths.
The author's justification for God's existence, on the other hand, is based on a somewhat less sturdy foundation. It depends almost entirely on what he calls "The Moral Law," the selfless altruism that he finds existing in the entire human race and to nobody else in the animal world. He discusses how the "Golden Rule" is found in all societies and ages and then concludes that the knowledge of right and wrong is inherent in all humankind. He maintains that it is a God-ordained plan, somehow planned from the very beginning of the universe fourteen billion years ago. Personally, I am not convinced that all humans have the same sense of what is right and wrong, and I am even less convinced that altruism is missing among animals. How else can you explain the dog who gives up his life protecting his master or the animals he shepherds? Or the numerous stories of dolphins saving drowning people, often fighting off sharks to do it?
When a scientist discusses God he is forced to specify who that God is, something not required of the Catholic priest or the Baptist minister whose religions define him. The God of Dr. Collins is the creator of a universe specifically designed to evolve mankind. For according to the "Anthropic Principle," if any one of half a dozen universal constants did not have the exact value it does the universe would not have lasted long enough or have been capable of supporting human life. But the author also believes that from the instant of its creation God almost never interfered in the progress of stellar and earthly evolution. And how then does he account for the fact that this evolution has been affected by numerous chance events of defining importance, like the meteor impact on earth 65 million years ago which resulted in the death of the dinosaurs and gave mammals and eventually man an opportunity to develop?
According to Dr. Collins "If God is outside of nature, then He is outside of space and time. In that context, God could in the moment of creation of the universe also know every detail of the future....In that context evolution could appear to us to be driven by chance, but from God's perspective the outcome would be entirely specified." Does that mean that after God created the universe and saw that a meteor did not chance to impact earth at the proper time to enable human evolution, he immediately destroyed that particular universe and started all over again until chance events cooperated with his intent?
The writings of C. S. Lewis have apparently helped resolve many of Dr. Collins's theological puzzlements, and he includes numerous quotations from them. Although these are highly emotional and spiritual I find them to be more philosophically than scientifically inspired. I have the same opinion of most of the author's own arguments in this book.
(The writer is the author of "Christianity without Fairy Tales: When Science and Religion Merge," and of the forthcoming "The Way of the Butterfly: A Scientific Speculation on God and the Hereafter.")
Wednesday 14 February 2007
UNDERSTANDING POWER: The Indispensable Chomsky
Discussions of Noam Chomsky
Edited by Peter R. Mitchell and John Schoeffel.
Noam Chomsky is universally accepted as one of the preeminent public intellectuals of the modern era. Over the past thirty years, broadly diverse audiences have gathered to attend his sold-out lectures. Now, in Understanding Power, Peter R. Mitchell and John Schoeffel have assembled the best of Chomsky's talks on the past, present, and future of the politics of power.
In a series of enlightening and wide-ranging discussions--published here for the first time--Chomsky radically reinterprets the events of the past three decades, covering topics from foreign policy during the Vietnam War to the decline of welfare under the Clinton administration. And as he elucidates the connection between America's imperialistic foreign policy and social inequalities at home, Chomsky also discerns the necessary steps to take toward social change. With an eye to political activism and the media's role in popular struggle, as well as U.S. foreign and domestic policy, Understanding Power is definitive Chomsky.
Characterized by Chomsky's accessible and informative style, Understanding Power is the ideal book for those new to his work as well as for those who have been listening for years.
Peter R. Mitchell and John Schoeffel are public defenders in New York City.
Edited by Peter R. Mitchell and John Schoeffel.
Noam Chomsky is universally accepted as one of the preeminent public intellectuals of the modern era. Over the past thirty years, broadly diverse audiences have gathered to attend his sold-out lectures. Now, in Understanding Power, Peter R. Mitchell and John Schoeffel have assembled the best of Chomsky's talks on the past, present, and future of the politics of power.
In a series of enlightening and wide-ranging discussions--published here for the first time--Chomsky radically reinterprets the events of the past three decades, covering topics from foreign policy during the Vietnam War to the decline of welfare under the Clinton administration. And as he elucidates the connection between America's imperialistic foreign policy and social inequalities at home, Chomsky also discerns the necessary steps to take toward social change. With an eye to political activism and the media's role in popular struggle, as well as U.S. foreign and domestic policy, Understanding Power is definitive Chomsky.
Characterized by Chomsky's accessible and informative style, Understanding Power is the ideal book for those new to his work as well as for those who have been listening for years.
Peter R. Mitchell and John Schoeffel are public defenders in New York City.
Islam and the Destiny of Man By GAI EATON
Islam and the Destiny of Man
CHARLES LE GAI EATONPAPERBACK 262 pages size: 234 x 156mmPublished: 1994 by The Islamic Texts Society, Cambridge UKISBN: 0 946621 47 0
Islam and the Destiny of Man is a wide-ranging study of the religion of Islam from a unique point of view. The author was brought up as an agnostic and embraced Islam at an early age after writing a book (commissioned by T.S.Eliot) on Eastern religions and their influence upon Western thinkers. The aim of this book is to explain what it means to be a Muslim, a member of a community which embraces a quarter of the world's population and to describe the forces which have shaped their hearts and minds. Throughout the book the author is concerned not simply with Islam in isolation, but with the very nature of religious faith, its spiritual and intellectual foundations and the light it casts upon the mysteries and paradoxes of the human condition. 'Considered essential by [those] seeking to understand Islam.' Sunday Telegraph
Charles Le Gai Eaton was born in Switzerland and educated at Charterhouse and King’s College, Cambridge. He worked for many years as a teacher and journalist in Jamaica and Egypt (where he embraced Islam in 1951) before joining the British Diplomatic Service. He is now consultant to the Islamic Cultural Centre in London .
Islam and the Destiny of Man is a wide-ranging study of the religion of Islam from a unique point of view. The author was brought up as an agnostic and embraced Islam at an early age after writing a book (commissioned by T.S.Eliot) on Eastern religions and their influence upon Western thinkers. The aim of this book is to explain what it means to be a Muslim, a member of a community which embraces a quarter of the world's population and to describe the forces which have shaped their hearts and minds. Throughout the book the author is concerned not simply with Islam in isolation, but with the very nature of religious faith, its spiritual and intellectual foundations and the light it casts upon the mysteries and paradoxes of the human condition. 'Considered essential by [those] seeking to understand Islam.' Sunday Telegraph
Charles Le Gai Eaton was born in Switzerland and educated at Charterhouse and King’s College, Cambridge. He worked for many years as a teacher and journalist in Jamaica and Egypt (where he embraced Islam in 1951) before joining the British Diplomatic Service. He is now consultant to the Islamic Cultural Centre in London .
IBN ASHUR: TREATISE ON MAQASID AL-SHARIAH
Goals, Objectives, Higher Objectives, principles, Intent, Purpose..
Paperback 489 Pages
Published by the International Institute of Islamic Thought IIIT, London, Washington
ISBN: 1-56564-422-0
Ibn Ashur’s famous and pioneering study of the Shariah’s higher objectives and goals. To restore the intimate contact between Muslims and the Qur’an scholars developed the study of the objectives of Islam. The Shariah is marked by a universal wisdom whereby every legal ruling has a function which it performs, an aim which it realises, an intention which it seeks to fulfill and all of this in order to realise benefit to human beings or to ward off harm or corruption.
Muhammad al-Tahir ibn ‘Ashur (1879 -1973~)was an eminent figure in the institution of the Tunisian scholars for most of the twentieth century. He is also highly regarded as a Muslim reformist and his Qur’anic tafsir al-Tahrir wa’l-tanwir, is among the influential tafsirs produced in the modern era.
Since he lived during the colonial period, as well as the early period of Tunisian independence, Ibn ‘Ashur’s intellectual output reflects different forces and stands witness to the dilemma experienced by the ‘ulama’ in a time of unprecedented change.
Influenced by Muhammad ‘Abduh, and responding to modern challenges to Islamic traditions, Ibn ‘Ashur called for substantive reforms in Islamic education. His work on the ultimate purposes of the Shari‘a represents not only an attempt to revive the maqasid theory of Shatibi, but also a significant addition to modern efforts to renew Islamic legal theory. Ibn ‘Ashur, however, seems to have become disappointed with the independent state’s drive for modernisation and radical secularisation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
