A bone to chew

Being a dog fan, The dog allusion: gods, pets and how to be human, by Martin Rowson, bounded straight off the cataloguing shelf at me.

You will find it in the library under the Dewey number for the humorous treatment of religion. Although the author is also a political cartoonist, don’t search here for the perfect, dog-themed sermon illustration. However, if you are looking for something provocative, thought-provoking, topical and irreverently funny, then maybe this book is for you.

The dog/god, religion/pet-owning comparisons are here, but it’s the nature of human beings that is really under the caricaturist’s spotlight (or should that be ‘floodlight’). Be warned, this self-professed atheist’s ‘rant’ is punctuated by rambling footnotes and helpful appendices such as a list of international animal noises, grouped by language. In his arguments - for example, that religion is really just a subset of politics - Rowson the satirist does not hesitate to take swipes at many, from the Archbishop of Canterbury to Richard Dawkins.

To give you a taste, here is a snapshot of human inconsistency, which is by coincidence taken from what may be the longest sentence in the book: “[I]f your political bent is not totalitarian, or you’re not blinded by Manicheanism or substitute racism…you should have no problem whatsoever in sympathising, or maybe even empathising, with poor and beleaguered Muslims and their families while still deploring the narrowness and short-sightedness of their self-selected spokesmen, while simultaneously supporting the efforts of Muslims in Muslim countries using whatever methods they can to free themselves of the corrupt and incompetent despots who rule them, even if you deplore the wider implications of the political Islamism they resort to, while at exactly the same time utterly deploring the crass interventions of Western powers to bolster those despots, but also actively supporting, advocating and defending the Western way of life to the death”. Yes, there are some big mouthfuls in this bite-sized book!

Liz Tisdall

New journal articles by Carey staff

Myk Habets article titled "Putting the 'extra' back into Calvinism" has been published in the latest issue of
Scottish journal of theology vol. 62, no. 4 2009.

Tim Bulkeley's articles "Teaching the facts, inculcating knowledge, or instilling wisdom? Rationale for a textbook in BS101" and "Worship and Amos : an expository approach" you can find in Teaching theology & religion; October 2009, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 352 and The South African journal of theology; vol. 18 2009.


George M. Wieland's article "Roman Crete and the letter to Titus" published in New Testament studies; vol. 55, no. 3 Jul 2009.

Laurie Guy's article "Moral panic or pejorative labelling" published in Journal of religious history; December 2009, vol. 33, no. 4.

Study skills books in the library

Awesome study skills books are now available for you in the library:

Blogs, wikis, podcasts & more / Andy Pulman.

Referencing & understanding plagiarism / Kate Williams and Jude Carroll.

Getting critical / Kate Williams.

Planning your essay / Janet Godwin.

Brilliant writing tips for students / Julia Copus.

Hot from the press

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel / John H. Walton, general editor.

Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel / John H. Walton, general editor.

The minor prophets, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of songs / John H. Walton, general editor.

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy / John H. Walton, general editor.

1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther / John H. Walton, general editor.

Video / DVD review

I heard about Andrei Tarkovsky's masterpiece "Andrei Rublev" from my media studies teacher while still in high school. A few weeks later I had an opportunity to see it on the big screen and I remember then in spite of not been able to fully understand it's story line, my whole outlook on movies and art in general had turned upside down. It was really one of those rare life changing experiences. "Andrei Rublev" is a visually stunning, almost magical picture. Some of the scenes will stay with you forever. It is also a metaphorical, multi layered portrayal of Russia's greatest icon painter and actually medieval Russia itself. I can compare it only to pure poetry or perhaps, a Bruegel's painting showing a human condition rather than preaching or explaining it. And this picture has it all: envy, betrayal, grace, redemption, evil, bravery, misery and much more. One of the aspects of this movie that strikes me the most is Andrei's attitude towards his art. He is a gifted artist, almost a celebrity in his time but on the other hand he is so humble, almost too shy and completely true to his art; qualities so rare today where almost everything and everyone is commercialised and dehumanised. Throughout this movie which shows great part of his life, he confronts massive responsibility as an artist and someone for whom art is almost theological confession of faith. He was a men who refused to paint Hell because he thought that people suffer too much in this world. What they need is something to give them hope. He was also troubled with the reality of the world he had lived in; authorities who were no better than invading Tatars that were literally reaping Russia at his time. As a consequence he greatly straggled to keep his faith alive and strenght to continue his work. Later, he will find a new hope in life thanks to the most unlikely person, a boy called Borisha. A boy who is not afraid of putting his life on the line in order to make it better and practice another art, the art of bell making.
Finally, this movie is not everyone's cup of tea. It's long, black and white, a foreign language film with subtitles but if you just give it a go you may experience something really different and special.

By Damir Trupinić