In the past, I would post only book reviews pertinent to worship, music in the local church, or general Christian leadership and discipleship. Recently, I've been studying many more general topics as well, such as history, economics and scientific thought, some of which end up as reviews here as well.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 1:25PM 
Bernard of Clairvaux was the abbot of Clairvaux monastery (which he built and named) which is located in what is now Northeastern France. Bernard’s writings, sermons and letters proved to be pivotal in the twelfth century. His particular devotional penchant for expounding the love of God invigorated monastic communities in his time, and provided a template for others to come, who would look back on this great Christian mystic. Bernard, like other great minds in the history of the church, was intent on dissecting the components of the human soul. In his work you can see broad areas of focus, such as: understanding our own humanity, explaining our penchant for sin, an exceptional treatise of love, and finally expressing a practical model for personal development when dealing with the aforementioned. Like Gregory before him, much of his writing about our conscience, and internal conflicts led to a fairly comprehensive articulation of the soul and human psychological state.
Bernard focuses an extended amount of time and ink to the book of Song of Songs, where he expounds nearly all of his theories on the relationship of Christ (the Bridegroom) with the Church (his bride). He is especially enamored with the concept and passage declaring “Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth”. He says:
But he, he of whom they speak, let him speak to me. Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth. Let him not speak to me in them or through them, for they are "a watery darkness, a dense cloud" (Ps 17: 12). But let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth, whose gracious presence and eloquence of wonderful teaching causes a "spring of living . Water" to well up in me to eternal life an 4: 14). Shall I not find that a richer grace is poured out upon me from him whom the Father has anointed with the oil of gladness more than all his companions, if he will deign to kiss me with the kiss of his mouth (Ps 44:8)? His living . and effective word (Heb 4: 12) is a kiss; not a meeting of lips, which can sometimes be deceptive about the state of the heart, but a full infusion of joys, a revelation of secrets, a wonderful and inseparable mingling ) of the light from above and the mind on which it is shed, which, when it is joined with God, is one spirit with him (l Cor 6: I 7)..[1]
Perhaps Bernard’s most well-known work is a summarized teaching called the Four Levels of Love. It explained his deep understanding of our souls and their progress to full union with God. One of my favorite things about Bernard, however, was his perception of how sin is always looking for a way to corrupt love. He argues for clarity at every level of the person. He says:
I am suspicious of love which seems to be prompted by hope of gain. It is weak if when hope is gone it either vanishes or diminishes. It is impure when it desires something else, other than the beloved. Pure love does not hope for gain. Pure love does not draw its strength from hope; nor is it weakened by mistrust.[2]
Bernard is not without his issues, however. Though love was that the center of his message, he will forever be remembered for being the outspoken voice to rally support for a crusade, the second Holy War, in the mid 1100’s. He will be later credited, as well, with being one the strong initiators of the veneration of Mary.
Product Link: Bernard of Clairvaux: Selected Works (The Classics of Western Spirituality)
Review by Kim Gentes
[1]Gillian R. Evans, “Bernard of Clairvaux: Selected Works” in The Classics of Western Spirituality: A Libarary of the Great Spiritual Masters, translated Gillian r. Evans (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1987), Pg 216
[2]Ibid., Pg 273
Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 12:50PM 
Francis of Assisi and His World is a historical biographical book on St. Francis, the founding father of the Franciscan order in the Catholic church. The book covers Francis’ entire lifespan and touches on the continuation of the Order after his death. His life reminds us of Antony, Augustine, Gregory the Great, St. Benedict of Nursia and other heroes of the faith- all having the common strand of being rich in worldly position and goods, but abandoning hope in those to serve and follow God with great passion and impact. To sum up his life would be difficult, but I found five themes in Francis life that are especially resonant in this biography: moments of revelation, moments of contrition, self-disciple, submission to authority and intense personal joy.
What moves me powerfully about Francis is his passion for following the Lord’s direction without hesitation or concern for “balance”. Like Francis, I believe many people (including myself) want to respond without hesitation to God’s voice. But unlike Francis we often convince ourselves (or allow others to convince us) that we must concern ourselves with our future. What Francis did in his life, was completely abandon the thought of taking his life in his own hands. This inspires me. Here was one example in Francis life:
In the midst of his preparations, Francis had a dream. He found himself in his father’s house, which had been transformed into a palace filled with arms. Instead of bales of cloths, he saw saddles, shields and lances. In one room, a beautiful bride waited for her bridegroom. Francis heard a voice saying that all this was for Francis and his knights. When Francis woke, he was ecstatic...[1]
Another thing that impacted me about the biography was Francis’ discipline. Francis ability to master asceticism was not derived from a supernatural gift of sustenance. He had to work at bringing his actions into subjugation of his will. Many of the things Francis did, seemed to come as much from a clear understanding of personal work ethic as it did from a “gift”. And this was a primary thread throughout his Rule, which stipulated such strong adherence that its following could only produce like people. He says:
A little while later, Francis was riding his horse near Assisi (apparently this took place before the rift with his father) when he saw ahead of him a leper standing in the road. He determined immediately to do something sweeping, something dramatic to change his attitude. He dismounted, walked up to the man and personally gave him a coin. But this still was not enough to a man of Francis resolve. So he bent over, drew his lips near the mans decaying hand and kissed it. The man replied by giving Francis a kiss of peace; Francis did not recoil. Then Francis remounted his horse and went on his way.[2]
While it is hard to dislike Francis and his relentless pursuit of God, Francis deep devotion to poverty may have been inordinately self-effacing. Some of his practices and beliefs not only likely led to his early suffering and death, but also brought unnecessary burden on those who followed him with fervor.
Product Link: Francis of Assisi and His World
Review by Kim Gentes
[1]Mark Galli, “Franics and His World”, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), Pg 25
[2]Ibid., Pg 49
assisi, christian, francis, francis of assisi, history, leadership, mark galli, ministry, saint francis, saints, st francis, tradition in Book Review Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 12:35PM 
Pastoral Care is an ancient volume written by Pope Gregory the Great in 591AD. It was written to instruct pastors on the details of their office, warnings to those entering its service and extensive instructions on how to administer spiritual care to parishioners. The primary content of the book is a systematic listing of methodologies for how to evaluate and speak to Christians under the pastoral care of the reader. The methodologies, called admonishments, contain two basic components in each. First, each admonishment contains a paradoxical evaluation of two kinds of people. These are categorizations of the types of people a pastor will encounter. While they are fairly simplistic in name, it is their simplicity that makes them especially effective as diagnostic tools. Each admonishment begins with a listing of the two paradoxical types of people that will be dealt with. A pastor can use those types to help him find (within Gregory’s extensive treatise) and diagnose the kind of person he is trying to help. Second, each admonishment also contains a specific and detailed account of how to treat each person described therein. Especially clear is the assumption that Gregory feels his coverage of the subject as a whole should be sufficient for almost any situation, and he approaches it is an analogous manner to a physician, employing the metaphor extensively, and acting as a instructor to spiritual physicians.
One topic which Gregory deals with that I was particularly impressed by was his understanding of giving. He states it this way:
For when we administer necessities to the needy, we give them what is their own, not what is ours; we pay a debt of justice, rather than do a work of mercy..[1]
His discourse on giving is one of the most extraordinary I have seen. Though not without objectionable points, he perfectly applies a surgical knife to misguided thought about giving when he states:
"[one] gives of his bread to an indigent sinner, not because he is a sinner, but because he is a man. In doing so one actually nourishes a righteous beggar, not a sinner, for he loves in him not his sin but his nature." [2]
Though the work is vastly important and helpful to the pastoral office, it is not without its questionable suggestions:
The married must be admonished to bear in mind that they are united in wedlock for the purpose of procreation, and when they abandon themselves to immoderate intercourse, they transfer the occasion of procreation to the service of pleasure. Let them realise that though they do not then pass beyond the bounds of wedlock, yet in wedlock they exceed its rights. Wherefore, it is necessary that they should efface by frequent prayer what they befoul in the fair form of intercourse by the admixture of pleasure.[3]
Sadly, Gregory’s pre-medieval understanding of the marriage bed will only serve as a template to plunge the church and its leadership into 1300 years of further angst and castigation against sexual fulfillment through marriage in specific, and anything sexual in general.
Product Link : Ancient Christian Writers - The Works Of The Fathers In Translation - St Gregory The Great: Pastoral Care
Review by Kim Gentes
[1]Johannes Quasten, “St Gregory The Great: Pastoral Care” in Ancient Christian Writers - The Works Of The Fathers In Translation, translated Henry Davis, SJ (Westminster, MD: Newman Press, 1950), Pg 159
[2]Ibid., Pg 155
[3]Ibid., Pg 188
christian, counseling, gregory, gregory the great, history, leadership, ministry, pastor, pastoral care, theology in Book Review Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 12:15PM 
Care of Souls was an excellent book that introduces a history of pastoral care. In it Thomas Oden reviews the current state of modern pastoral caregiving (as of 1984). In his first section of the book, he broadly covers what he sees as some deficiencies in current practices, especially related to the concentration on psychological therapies being incorporated into the pastoral sphere of practice. Oden adds warnings about the ineffectiveness of these therapies (both in application by experts in that field, but also in the specific realm of church pastoral care). Warnings about the secular incorporation of care therapies being introduced into the pastoral field are coupled with a short explanation of lack of influence from the classical literature of the Christian tradition on the same pastoral leaders. Oden presents his concern that the psychotherapies are replacing the historically proven methods of the classical pastoral care writings and wisdom. This was a surprising (and impactive) concept that I took from the book- the idea that psychological methods were replacing pastoral care among pastors. Oden states it this way:
What curious fate has befallen the classical tradition of pastoral care in the last five decades? It has been steadily accommodated to a series of psychotherapies.[1]
In the second main section of the book Oden gives a brief biography of Gregory the Great, the pope who lived in the 6th and early 7th centuries. This overview was helpful in understanding the context and time of Gregory’s life and his impact on the broader church and western world.
The final section of the book is specifically dedicated to a sketch of the main findings taken from Gregory’s most well known writing, “Pastoral Care”. He covers a myriad of topics, all sourced in Gregory’s treatise. Of particular importance to Oden was Gregory’s keen mind, analytical abilities, and dialectic model of teaching pastors how they might evaluate, diagnose and administer pastoral care. Oden, queuing from Gregory, fixates most of this section on the paradoxical personality and behavioural traits taken on by major styles of people. It is almost uncanny, the level of perceptive understanding that Gregory reveals almost 1400 years before modern psychology would draw some similar conclusions about personalities, behaviours and understanding of the inner self.
One point that was significant to me in this section was the idea that the key to proper pastoral critique is to draw analogies and arch-types, allowing the person to see themselves in such symbolisms allowing the to make personal discovery of their own faults based on their own conscience. Oden say it succinctly here:
The pastor proceeds by analogy so that the person being challenged will come up with a self-judgment based on the person's own conscience... Enabling one's conscience to become transparent to oneself constitutes a more significant pastoral service than harangue or castigation.[2]
Oden reviews many other concepts of Gregory’s extensive and insightful pre-modern study of the human soul and emotions, and his practical help for pastors who are working to care for them. It is an excellent book with little questionable or objectionable materials.
Product Link: Care of the Souls in the Classic Tradition (Theology and pastoral care series)
Review by Kim Gentes
[1]Thomas C. Oden, Care of Souls in the Classic Tradition (Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press, 1984), Pg 28
[2]Ibid., Pg 90
