Important

The library will be closed on

Wednesday 10 February 2010.

Re-open on Thursday 11 February 2010.

New & old books in the library

Old, unwanted books displayed for sale in our library.

Library circle of life. Fresh new books are still in the boxes, unpacked, waiting to be catalogued and displayed on library shelves.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from the library staff!

As you can see we are already in a Summer mood. Hope you are too. So take it easy, grab some good books and hit the beach!

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

Celebrating animal month

For those of you who did not know October is National Animal Month
below is our little dedication to all of those beautiful creatures who find
their way into our life.



The Lost Gnostic Gospel of Feline Mercy

By Jane Lebak

While many have heard of the Gnostic Gospels, such as the recently recovered third century manuscript of “The Gospel of Judas,” few know the early Christians specialized in animal rescue. The previously unknown Epistle of Philip to the Rescuers is excerpted below.

Chapter Four:
(1) As for those who rescue cats, thou shalt keep as many cats in thy home as thou reasonably can.

(2) Thou shalt estimate how much thou canst reasonably handle by dividing the number of rooms in thy house by 1.5 and acquiring one litter box per cat.

(3) This number is iron-clad and must not be violated unless one sees a cat which is unbearably cute, or sick and cannot survive without tender loving care, or which butteth his head against thy chin in a very sweet way while thou attemptest to clean his cage, or has an adorable meow,

(4) or someone asketh thee for help with a box of abandoned kittens, or the cat wandereth up onto thy porch one cold night and thou thinkest of his little bare feet being chilly in the brisk air of the night.

(5) Nay, I tell thee, increase not the number of cats thou shalt have, but only if God droppeth the cat in thy lap, or if thou really wantest the cat, or if thy co-worker is getting rid of his seventeen-year-old cat because he lay with his wife and she hath conceived, or if thou thinkest thou might know someone who knoweth someone who might take the cat off thy hands in the next few days.
(6) Neither shalt thou take in additional guinea pigs, parakeets, tiny dogs, reptiles, gerbils, hamsters, nor tropical fish whose owners are simply tired of them, unless thou feelest sorry for the animals.

(7) When thou art asked if thou hast room in thy home, this is how thou must answer:

(8) “No, I’m afraid I can’t. I really can’t. I’d like to, but no. Oh, he’s so cute. Well, maybe if I move my bed out of the bedroom and sleep on the floor in the kitchen I could make a place for him, but only this once.”

(9) For I tell you, no one shall give up one cat in this lifetime for his own selfishness who shall not be “rewarded” in the next life by seeing what sparse love he gave and received.

(10) And lo the Very Angry Cats will torment him with much nibbling of their needle-like teeth.

(11) But for thee, the rescuer who dost sacrifice time and money and dost endure much eye-rolling from thy spouse for thy feeding and worrying about homeless cats, I say to thee,

( 12) Be glad and rejoice. Thy reward is great in Paradise.

Published in WittenburgDoor magazine and also on the web at

http://www.wittenburgdoor.com/lost-gnostic-gospel-feline-mercy

Launch invitation

You are invited to the launch of Baptist Life

Venue: Carey Baptist College Chapel
473 Great South Road, Penrose
Date: Thursday 1st October 2009
Time: 2.30pm

Rsvp to Siong Ng. siong.ng@carey.ac.nz or 526 0347 for catering purposes.

E-Books in the Library

First electronic books have finally arrived in the library and can be accessed through the library catalogue.

Studying Christian spirituality [electronic resource] / David B. Perrin.

The Blackwell companion to Christian spirituality [electronic resource] / edited by Arthur Holder.

The divine conspiracy [electronic resource] : rediscovering our hidden life in God / Dallas Willard.

Book review

Satisfy your soul: restoring the heart of Christian spirituality by
Dr. Bruce Demarest

Dr Bruce Demarest is a man of great talents, with great achievements and so rich in life. Also gifted with extra-ordinary insights and ability in the care of the inner man. Bruce is a Christian raised from childhood who has firm grounding in the bible. He was educated at Wheaton College, received seminary training at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and earned doctorate in biblical and historical theology at the University of Manchester, England. Thereafter, developed a passion to live as a follower of Christ, because of this passion he has served as missionary educator and university worker in both Africa and Europe. His primary call is to be a professor at Denver Seminary where he teaches courses in theology, Christian spiritually, and mentoring. Dr Demarest is also an author for some books and many articles on various aspects of Christian theology and Spirituality. The goal of his teaching and writings has been to defend orthodox Christianity against unbiblical challenges and to instruct and edify others in the gospel. Bruce and his wife Elsie and their three children live in Littleton, Colorado.

In Dr Demarest’s own soul, he has wrestled with questions about deeper Christian walk with Christ. And with the mind of a biblical scholar, he has thought through the distinctions between authentic Christian Spirituality with it soul-building practices and the misleading counterfeits. ‘Satisfy your soul’ is a book of information and formation for the deeper walk with Christ. It gives us insights on how to identify ourselves as Christians and our needs for spiritual growth (Ch 1-3), Psalm 42:1-2 Gives us insights on how to develop and nourish our souls as Christians by developing a deeper relationship with God (Ch 4-6), Psalm 63: 1-2. It also gives us insights on why we need spiritual formation and how to maintain that growth for the rest of our journey (Ch 7-9), Psalm 126: 5-6. And on the last chapter Dr Demarest is challenging us to start our journey with Christ as all Christians should do.

Dr Demarest believed that God’s grace was something that you experienced at the moment of salvation and you relied on that grace for a future with God in heaven until he began to experience a deeper formative work of God in his life in the mid-1980s. Since the 1980s a new journey for Dr Demarest started and now he is taking us through his personal experience and his knowledge of how to restore the heart of Christian spirituality. He believed that the path to discovery and transformation is trough balancing our understanding of what brings a soul to conversion with what keeps us on the path of growth in Spirit. Dr Demarest believes that restoring the hearts is by knowing God as Intimates. To know God is to connect with Christ through relationship, intimacy, face to face by dwelling in the presence of God, communion, a deep sense of connectedness with Christ through the Spirit, and an encounter with God in the Words. To know God is to cultivate a love relationship with Him. This relationship is thru feeding the soul with the Words and by exploring the power of contemplation. Dr Demarest mentioned the art of meditating on God’s word by quieting and composing the soul, the formative reading of scripture, and by imagination in meditation. So if we want to be so in love with God, so “new” that we can turn from our deadness and our sins, we must come under the influence of the Spirit of God.

This book gave me new insights for a better understanding of Christian formation. I knew that our souls need growth but I did not know how to develop that growth. I knew about reading the bible and prayers but not in depth as how Dr Demarest described it. With my understanding now, Christian spirituality involves the whole person: knowing, being, and doing. The mind’s understanding of God from the Word must seep down to the heart so that we engage Christ intimately in a transforming relationship of love. The spiritual vision and passion fired by knowledge of the heart then propels us into the world as the hands, feet, and lips of Jesus. In this way we fulfil our calling as knowers of God’s Word, lovers of Jesus, and doers of the Father’s will.

I would be happy to recommend this book to everyone who wants to follow Christ. We can only fulfil God’s purpose for us is by restoring the heart of Christian spirituality. I strongly believed that this is the tool that we need for his work. Knowing God and letting him be known in our lives is the way to breach the gospel.

“May the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until that day when our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23

By Lopeline Tonga