Queen Jin's Hand Book of Pregnancy

Queen Jin's Hand Book of Pregnancy
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A Must Read for any woman considering having children

A Warm Companion & Gentle Counsel during Pregnancy

Misleading Title

Queen Jin's Handbook of Pregnancy

Queen Jin's Hand Book of Pregnancy
Fred Seligson
Manufacturer: North Atlantic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Pregnancy & Childbirth | Women's Health | Personal Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Medicine | Subjects | Books
General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1556434057
Release Date: 2002-01-22

Book Description

This practical manual draws on the teachings of Queen Tae Jin in 12th-century B.C. China. Women in China, Vietnam, Japan, and Korea still follow these rules of pregnancy to benefit the physical health, emotional stability, and spiritual nature of their child while in the womb. This handbook brings together the author's own experiences as a parent in Korea as well as over 20 years of reflection on the various ways of bearing healthy children in Asian societies. The book is divided into three main sections: Preparing Your Seed, Cultivating Your Flower, and Harvesting Your Fruit. Topics covered include exercise and diet, midwifery, after-birth care, and the cultivation of mind and heart through submerging oneself in motherhood, poetry, and the classics. The Association for Pre- and Perinatal Psychology and Health has said that Queen Jin's Handbook of Pregnancy could do a lot to spiritualize the American way of birth.

Customer Reviews:

A Must Read for any woman considering having children.......2003-10-06

As a practicioner of Oriental medicine and specializing in fertility issues for American couples, I have this book in my clinic and recommend it to all my patients. Even in the busy, career oriented lives of my patients, they seem to immediately connect with this book of ancient wisdom surrounding the issue of conception. Since they are all experiencing infertility, this wonderfully written book offers up an entirely new perspective and insights into arenas that we in the West tend to overlook.

The author, Seligson, has no idea of how helpful this book has been to hundreds of women with infertility and an behalf of all my patients, we thank him for taking the time to write it.

A Warm Companion & Gentle Counsel during Pregnancy.......2003-08-25

I recommend Queen Jin's Handbook of Pregnancy to any thoughtful mother (and would-be parents) who value the "emotional intelligence" of the miracles that are babies. The author Jeremy Seligson will lead you on an unpressured tour of personal discovery and illuminating insights into Asian thinking about procreation, pregnancy and the wider circle of natural energies around us. It is much more than a technical manual of pregnancy and child birth.
The Handbook provides information about Chinese and other Asian traditions of birth dreams, child birth and "embryonic education" we never hear about in the West. Modern mothers need to slow down and live with this volume. Please allow yourselves to relax and open to the "new" knowledge that Queen Jin provides. The author has assimilated this very old wisdom about conception, communication with life in the womb and the birth process through his own person during years of marriage and family life in East Asia. The chapters and anecdotes are a series of spiritual offerings that add up to wise and affable guidebook on how to commune more sensitively with our unborn children to whom we owe all the love we can muster.

Misleading Title.......2003-04-16

This is definitely not a handbook.
It is a haphazard collection of the author's poetry and short anecdotes about his life in Asia. Do not buy this book unless you like poetry. The title is a misnomer; there isn't any useful information (from Queen Jin or otherwise) presented.

Queen Jin's Handbook of Pregnancy.......2002-04-13

A soft-spoken scholar, poet, and popular professor, Seligson has been fascinated with the ancient birth traditions of Asia. His last book, Oriental Birth Dreams (1990), was published in both English and Korean.
... Queen Jin's Handbook of Pregnancy, published in January, is a cultural treasure illuminating a high tradition of pregnancy and birth dating back to the 12th century B.C.Paradoxically, the illumination is needed as much in Asia as in the West. The timing of this book is surely auspicious as Western obstetrics, yet in its infancy, threatens to engulf all previous visions of pregnancy in cultures past and present everywhere in the world.
Based on three decades of living and teaching in Asia, and powerfully motivated by the adventure of two pregnancies with Young Im, his Korean wife, Seligson takes us on an enchanting journey through time where voices of Oriental men and women speak to us of their daily lives and ideals for pregnancy and birth. Young Im and her ancestors teach us by their meditations and prayers, their letters, dreams (and dream interpretations), their foods, drinks and herbal formulas, their use of music and color, and in poems and proverbs.
Seligson tells how he fell in love with the idea of nurturing, with his wife, a healthy and compassionate child inspired by the example and rules of Queen Jin-- a woman of towering influence in China, Japan, and Korea for over 3,000 years. Her explosive contribution, Embryonic Education, is a remarkably prescient set of guidelines for royals and aristocrats, for their servants, and eventually for the rest of humanity generation after generation. Her credibility was secured by the birth of her son, the sage-king Wan who wrote the enduring classic I-Ching.
... The stage is therefore set--after fourteen centuries of widespread indifference--for the convergence of intuitive wisdom from the East and scientific verification from the West allowing a full appreciation of the sentient nature of babies in the womb. I hope that Queen Jin's Handbook of Pregnancy will assist with this convergence of East and West which bodes well for the parents and babies of our future world.
Reviewed by David B. Chamberlain, Ph.D. , for the Journal of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health, Volume 16(3), Spring 2002

Book Review for the Journal of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health, Volume 16(3), Spring 2002

Book Description

This book explores the evolution of American war, showing how the first war waged against Indian noncombatant populations and their agricultural resources became the standard method of war employed by early Americans and which ultimately defined their military heritage. The bloodthirsty American conquest of Indian communities east of the Mississippi River helps demonstrate how early Americans embraced warfare shaped by extravagant violence and focused on conquest. Grenier provides a major revision in understanding the place of warfare directed on noncombatants in the American military tradition, and his conclusions are relevant to understand US â€~special operationsâ€™ in the War on Terror.

Customer Reviews:

Half the story.......2005-10-20

Grenier only provides half the story. He ignores a sizeable body of research on Native American warfare that suggests an Indian way of war "waged against Indian noncombatant populations and their agricultural resources" existed long before Europeans ever set foot on the continent. Grenier also overlooks the research on global primative warfare exemplified by Keeley, which suggests war waged on noncombatants has a long history in all societies, not just European or Indian ones. By only providing half of the story, he allows the reader to assume the worst, as all the eminent scholars quoted above certainly did. Recommend Starkey, or Malone, or Chet instead.

Excellant work.......2005-03-10

This is an excellent scholarly work that discusses how Americans waged war against Native Americans on the frontier from 1609 until 1814. The author contends that the early Americans developed a way of war that targeted non-combatants by attacking villages and destroying crops and deliberately targeting women and children. The author does not pull any punches and takes a harsh look at the practice of paying bounties for scalps and the effect that had on the conduct of frontier warfare. He also traces the development of the rangers and discusses how they did or did not integrate with regular forces. My only minor complaint is that the maps could be better in order to follow the narrative, but don't let that stop you from reading this book.

The First Way of War: American War Making on the Frontier, 1607-1814.(Book review): An article from: Journal of Southern History

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The First Way of War: American War Making on the Frontier, 1607-1814.(Book review): An article from: Journal of Southern History
Samuel Watson
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000HWYF7K
Release Date: 2006-08-21

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Southern History, published by Thomson Gale on August 1, 2006. The length of the article is 728 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The First Way of War: American War Making on the Frontier, 1607-1814.(Book review)
Author: Samuel Watson
Publication: Journal of Southern History (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 72 Issue: 3 Page: 640(2)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

A startling portrait of a generation of intellectuals who responded to the civil rights movement with peculiar ambivalence. No other movement in the twentieth century posed a starker moral challenge to the American intellectual tradition than that of civil rights. And yet the response of prominent writers and thinkers was surprisingly hesitant and ambivalent. William Faulkner spoke out for desegregation but, worried about violence, asked the North to "go slow." Richard Wright and W. E. B. Du Bois, marginalized by their radicalism, had difficulty being heard, while editors sought out the more moderate voices of C. Vann Woodward and Robert Penn Warren. Other, less patient voices did struggle to emerge, as Lillian Smith, Lawrence Dunbar Reddick, Howard Zinn, and James Silver put themselves at personal and political risk to air their views. But it was James Baldwin who threw down a gauntlet to other intellectuals in his brilliant and revolutionary The Fire Next Time. Here is a fascinating, untold history of our nation's most important moment, one rife with unaccountable bravery and inexplicable timidity—both often the products of the same divided minds.

Customer Reviews:

Slouching Towards Birmingham.......2001-07-31

Carol Polsgrove has written an insightful and provocative commentary on the caution and reserve with which most of the nation's leading liberal intellectuals responded to the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 ruling that institutionalized racial segregation was unconstitutional. She shows how the atmosphere of suspicion and fear of communist subversion generated by the McCarthy Era was used by those opposed to racial equality to smear the academics and intellectuals, both black and white, who spoke publicly in favor of desegregation, ruining their careers and diminishing their influence in the movement for civil rights. A series of personal stories involving public figures as diverse as William Faulkner, Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, and Lorraine Hansberry keep the narrative constantly changing scene. But the central story involves the emergence of James Baldwin as the unlikely intellectual soul of the movement who gave voice to the rising anger and impatience among blacks for true social change. The author weaves a compelling, behind the scenes account of the first dozen years of the civil rights movement that adds deeper meaning to the hateful images of police dogs, fire hosings of marchers, National Guard troops separating black school children from angry white mobs and others that are seared into the collective consciousness. The author concludes with a pointed indictment of academic intellectuals who forsook the risk of invoking moral leadership in outage against the most enduring evil in American society in favor of the comfort and security of ivory tower discourses. Polsgrove has made an important contribution to illuminating what is surely one of the least inspiring eras of American intellectual history.

Slouching Towards Birmingham.......2001-07-27

Carol Polsgrove's excellent work is a compelling account that has the feel of a behind-the-scenes report of how the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling began a slow evolution of political and intellectual thought that initially was muted and cautious in support of the emerging civil rights movement. Well-researched and thoughtfully written, the book fills in around many edges of the mental collage of hateful images that anyone growing up in America in the late 1950s and 1960s carries around with them today. Southern literary fans should particularly find the book illuminating. Anyone that did not grow up during the 1960s will find the book an essential reference. I highly recommend it.

Incisive commentary on key period in American history.......2001-07-09

This book recounts recent history with the excitement of today's news. Participating in the civil rights movement required courage-- some intellectuals had it, and some didn't. The portrait of James Baldwin is particularly interesting, as is the discussion of novelist William Faulkner's off-again on-again public support of what he really knew to be right.

Divided Minds: Intellectuals and the Civil Rights Movement. (Reviews/Comptes Rendus).(Book Review) (book review): An article from: Labour/Le Travail

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Divided Minds: Intellectuals and the Civil Rights Movement. (Reviews/Comptes Rendus).(Book Review) (book review): An article from: Labour/Le Travail
David LaCroix
Manufacturer: Canadian Committee on Labour History
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Labour/Le Travail, published by Canadian Committee on Labour History on March 22, 2003. The length of the article is 1244 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Divided Minds: Intellectuals and the Civil Rights Movement. (Reviews/Comptes Rendus).(Book Review) (book review)
Author: David LaCroix
Publication: Labour/Le Travail (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2003
Publisher: Canadian Committee on Labour History
Page: 319(3)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Divided Minds: Intellectuals and the Civil Rights Movement.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Southern History

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Divided Minds: Intellectuals and the Civil Rights Movement.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Southern History
Jennifer Ritterhouse
Manufacturer: Southern Historical Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008FSB6M
Release Date: 2005-07-30

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Southern History, published by Southern Historical Association on November 1, 2002. The length of the article is 592 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Divided Minds: Intellectuals and the Civil Rights Movement.(Book Review)
Author: Jennifer Ritterhouse
Publication: Journal of Southern History (Refereed)
Date: November 1, 2002
Publisher: Southern Historical Association
Volume: 68 Issue: 4 Page: 1005(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

One of the first interdisciplinary discussions of taphonomy (the study of how fossil assemblages are formed) and paleoecology (the reconstruction of ancient ecosystems), this volume helped establish these relatively new disciplines. It was originally published as part of the influential Prehistoric Archeology and Ecology series.

"Taphonomy is plainly here to stay, and this book makes a first class introduction to its range and appeal."—Anthony Smith, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews

Book Description

Full of humor and spunk – just like Esther!

“I could do that,” says six-year-old Esther as she watches her mother making tea. Start her own business at the age of nineteen? Why, she could do that, too. But one thing Esther and other women could NOT do was vote. Only men could do that.

With lively text and humorous illustrations as full of spirit as Esther herself, this striking picture book biography shows how one girl’s gumption propels her through a life filled with challenges until, in 1869, she wins the vote for women in Wyoming Territory – the first time ever in the United States!

Customer Reviews:

Beautifully illustrated inspiring story..........2007-01-22

I would say children as young as 5 would enjoy this story (mine did), but it spans a wide range, as I enjoyed it as well! The atmospheric illustrations drew us into the captivating and inspiring life story of the young Shero as she struggles against the odds to make a difference. My favorite is the tea party/candidate forum in her home that becomes a pivotal moment in this well-told tale of an admirable woman. A delight!

Read for the inspirational history *and* wonderful illustrations.......2006-02-24

This terrific picture book biography introduces readers to Esther Morris, the driving force behind suffrage in Wyoming and the first woman to ever hold elected office. From her earliest days, Esther was daring and smart; her constant refrain when confronted with anything new lead to the title, "I could do that!" We share Esther's sorrow when her mother dies when Esther is only 11 and follow Esther through her life as a wife, mother, and pioneer. Esther's 6-foot stature garnered attention and her intelligence proved her worth. By 1869, Wyoming women had the vote in their territory; the book reminds us, that despite Esther's achievements, she never voted for president. The illustrations are a particularly strong point of this title. The two-page spread depicting Esther's family in mourning has a wonderful shape and color. All is black, white and gray except for the purple settee and Esther's orange-red hair. Esther is part of the family, but apart as well, standing off to one side; she is also the only person in the picture taking action (serving tea) to others who are sipping and/or sniffling. A wonderful read-aloud for grades 2-4.

Book Description

The concept of the farmer and shopkeeper pulling rifles off pegs on the wall to fight the British has been the typical image of the American minuteman. The fact that he may have had military training and drilledâ€”and that April 19, 1775 was not his first battleâ€”usually goes unmentioned. Winner of the American Revolution Round Table Award, The Minute Men will be of keen interest to those curious about the true history of some of Americaâ€™s first soldiers.

Customer Reviews:

The complete description of the battles of Lexington & Concord.......2007-07-04

When George the 3rd decided to impose tyranny upon the American Colonies, one of the many things he did was to begin dismantling the existential threat to his rule: the local militia system. General John Galvin, US Army, Retired, has done a wonderful job of describing not only the Special Forces units of that militia - the Minute Men - but also the first battle of the American Revolution, the 20-mile running ambush called Lexington & Concord.

The self-defense system of the colonial period was composed of two parts: the general militia, which could be considered regular troops, and the Minute Men, a special force of militia ready at a minute's notice and specially trained for rapid response, assault, and communication - much like today's Special Forces. Much of the battle on April 19, 1775 was fought by Minute Men, and it was they who fired the first American shots at the Concord Bridge.

Gen. Galvin spends a few chapters describing the evolution of the minute man concept - a council of war, ready at a minute's warning, with a decentralized command structure and integrated communications system, then proceeds into a detailed description of the battle. Despite their lack of technology, Minute Men were extremely adept at what they trained for, and highly capable - even if their enemy did not think of them as such. This difference in attitude is particularly well described, as Galvin shows not only that it takes training and equipment to be an effective soldier, but attitude as well. The Americans had the attitude of soldiers preparing for war, while the British Redcoats had an attitude of contempt towards their enemy's supposed inferiority.

Fred, of Fred's M14 Stocks, is fond of saying that April 19th, 1775 was the date when "marksmanship met history, and liberty was born". While this is true (the Americans were much better shots than the Redcoats) there were other aspects of the battle that played perfectly into the hands of the Americans. For instance, the British suffered not only from disunited command throughout the day, but also allowed the Americans time to assemble, reinforce, and prepare ambushes. Galvin's description of the battle is extremely detailed, omitting nothing.

For some reason, I wrote a lot of marginalia in this book, something I'm not prone to do. The text lends itself to that, with it's short and succinct chapters, well summarized ending paragraphs, and easy readability. A war college could easily adopt this as a text for a specialized class on tactics, or general study of the battles of the Revolution. If your interests cover either, you should pick this up, for it is well worth your time.

A Tremendously Good Read!.......2006-12-22

John Galvin's "The Minute Men" is a well researched, well written, and an extremely interesting and important work on the American Revolution.

In his book, Galvin, a soldier of distinction (he retired as a four-star general, having served as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe), a historian, and a native of Massachusetts debunks a number of myths surrounding the New England Minutemen. He shows that both the Minute Man concept and the alarm systems that mustered more than 14,000 men, who, marching and fighting in companies and regiments, defeated a British column of some 1,000 men at Lexington and Concord, were deeply embedded in Colonial history and culture.

The authors makes a strong case that the Minute Men were better led and more experienced than their British counterparts, many of them having served in the Seven Years War alongside the British, against the French and their Indian allies.

In comparison, most of the British soldiers, despite the long history of their regiments, were either new recruits or had never seen combat before. The fact that the first American volley at Concord bridge sent a British company there into headlong flight, stunning their officers, is proof of the inexperience of the red coated regulars.

After Lexington and Concord, British intelligence showed that the New England colonies alone could put some 30,000 men in the field of combat, without affecting the farming ability of the colonies. By the end of the Revolutionary War, Massachusetts alone had contributed some 26 of the 80 regiments raised for the Continental Army. And the small Colony contributed more than 620 private fighting ships to the American cause.

"Minute Men" is an easy and fun read and ranks among the top ten books on the American Revolution. Anyone interested in the beginnings of American independence should start here.

One of the Best.......2006-11-29

I am an admitted history nut of the American Colonial/Revolutionary period and have at least a couple dozen books on the period and this is one of the best. The writer is a career high ranking military member and brings a different slant to the story of the minute men and their place in our country's history. He looks deeply into their origins and their history leading up to and through the battles of Lexington and Concord. If you are going to read only one book on this subject this is the one.

The History behind "Patriot's Day".......2006-03-16

The Minute Men, by Major John R. Galvin

The "embattled farmers" of Concord and Lexington were part of a vast colonial army with a long tradition of organization and training going back to the early 17th century as defenders against Indian attacks. Most of this book is about "the shot heard round the world" on April 19, 1775. The 'Prologue' says a lot of legends and anecdotes have obscured the reality. The Minute Men and militia were well organized, commanded, and controlled from nearly constant warfare over 140 years. The militia system was changed to meet varying conditions (p.13). Minute Men were drawn from the militia, trained and equipped to assemble rapidly for combat (p.14). This concept was adopted by the other colonies (p.15). Chapter 1 tells how the needs of the times created changes in the Colonial militia (pp.21-22). The Indian wars fostered cooperation between the towns (Chapter 2). The end of King Philip's War was followed by 80 years of intermittent warfare (p.31). A bounty was paid for every Indian scalp (p.33); they were vulnerable in winter times but not defenseless (p.35). This training and experience would be needed in the future (Chapter 3). Chapter 4 discusses some of the events in the French and Indian War.

The conquest of Canada saw the Colonies turning to discuss politics and their right of self-governance (p.49). There was a list of common grievances (p.50). Ministers took the lead in opposition to British policies (p.53). The closing of Boston port and the massive attack on the old charter lead to a change in political opinion among the people (Chapter 5). Chapter 6 tells of the demonstration at Worcester against the Intolerable Acts; it show how united the Colonists were in defense of their rights. This led to the new militia system: all officers chosen by the people in each regiment; one-third of the men ready to act at a minute's warning (pp.64-65). Resistance grew in the fall of 1774. Chapter 7 describes how this new militia was adopted (p.71). The adoption of elected officers led to an improved sense of involvement and responsibility, and the elimination of Crown loyalists. Weapon handling was more important than parade drills (p.73), but earnest training began in 1774. The British regular regiments had little combat experience (p.75). General Gage received wishful advice from the Tories of Boston (p.103). On April 16 General Gage was told to attack Concord where the Provincial Congress was meeting, and guns, powder and other supplies were stored.

Chapter 12 to 26 tell of the historical events of that day with more details than in any general history. The militia at Lexington were in formation on the green, not blocking the roads or in ambush. They did not expect an attack, but it happened. The British then marched to Concord. Faced with a larger force of militia, they returned back to Boston while under continual fire. They were saved by a relief column from Boston, which was attacked in turn. Chapter 27 tells of the aftermath, Chapter 28 of the use of the concept for the New Army (men ready to assemble on a minute's notice). This ready reserve would "reinforce the continental army".

Chapter 29 sums up the Minute Men. Few then or now realized there was "a well-organized, well-equipped, and relatively well-trained army of 14,000 men". It is a myth that the minute men "fought well with no organization, no equipment, no training, and no planning" (p.256). The minute man concept went back over a century in the various wars. Galvin says the legends and anecdotes often conceal hidden information (p.258) [like history as entertainment rather than information]. I think this legend was created in the late 19th century when our "well-regulated militia" came under attack form the newly powerful corporate aristocracy. History was censored for their purposes.

Very difficult to follow the information in book.......2003-11-30

This book was very difficult to follow.The author jumps around throughout book.
Usally the author calls Tories "Loyalists" and Minutemen "Provincials" But I found places in the book where the terminology is inconsistant. Around page 100 he calls the Loyalist Militia "Provincials" VERY DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND!!!

Book Description

This book explores five major approaches to the relationship between the law and the Gospel, each author presenting his particular perspective on the issue and responding to the other four.

Customer Reviews:

Counterpoint Series.......2004-11-15

I'm going to apply this commentary for the entire Counterpoint Series published by Zondervan Publishing Company. My compliments to that company for creating this series. I initially purchased "Four Views on the Book of Revelation" but soon realized it was only one in a series. I got so much out of that volume, that I decided to purchase the entire set to study and keep for reference. My spiritual growth has been remarkable as a result. Seminary students and professionals would probably enjoy this series, which seems geared for them. But this series is also excellent for those college-educated laypeople who feel inclined to enhance their understanding of Christian theology. That is, with one caveat: Buy a decent theological dictionary to refer to at first. It probably won't get used much after about the third book you choose to read, but initially you will be need it to be confident of some of the terms used among advanced theologians. Then, the Counterpoint series will give you a full understanding of many different concepts and concerns of the Christian faith which have been applicable from early on until the present. I've learned a lot, and the only way I think I could do better is if I were enrolled in Seminary. A list of all the titles I am aware of from this series is:

Are Miraculous Gifts for Today?
Five Views on Law and Gospel
Five Views on Sanctification
Four Views on Hell
Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic World
Four Views on the Book of Revelation
Three Views on Creation and Evolution
Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond
Three Views on the Rapture
Two Views on Women in Ministry

Very Good Overview of Major Evangelical Views.......2003-07-22

Anyone interested in the various views on the Law and Gospel should definitely consult this book. Ever since the groundbreaking book by E. P. Sanders in the late 1970s the issue of the Law's role in the Christian life has exploded in biblical-theological circles. This book will give you five predominant evangelical views on the Law and Gospel. This review will give a concise evaluation of the five views.

The first essay is by William VanGemeren and he expouses the standard Reformed perspective. His approach is very similar to Vos' redemptive-historical approach, and thus, many traditional Reformed people (especially those who are seeped in the WCF) will find some points of disagreement. However, in essential agreement with standard Reformed theology, VanGemeren argues that no person can be justified by the Law and that the Law (the moral aspect) is a rule for the regenerate. This essay was the weakest by far, since VanGemeren argued mostly using logic than exegesis.

The second essay by Greg Bahnsen argues for the Reformed theonomic approach. I found Bahnsen using logic and "God's nature" a lot rather than exegesis to argue for his position. It is no surprise then that most Christians reject this view because it fails to take into account the redemptive-historical shift after the Cross. Also, those who do accept this position do so because of social-cultural-political distate of our secular world than biblical exegesis.

The third essay is by Walter Kaiser. Though his essay is the shortest of all (only 22 pp.) he argues most effectively for the continuous position than VanGemeren and Bahnsen. Kaiser argues that the moral aspect of the Law continues to have relevance for the new covenant Christian for sanctification. For Kaiser the Law was a gift given by God because of His grace (not a legalistic enactment). However, doing the Law does not confer salvation, but is an expression of faith by the redeemed.

The fourth essay is by Wayne Strickland. This is another weak essay and does not represent all dispensationalists (especially progressive dispensationalists). Strickland argues for a strict discontinuous view where the "law of Moses" is replaced with the "law of Christ" (his dispensational view comes out quite obviously in his essay). However, his argument that "telos" in Romans 10:4 means "termination" is quite well-argued and his exposition of Galatians 3:10-12 is very well presented too.

The fifth essay is by Douglas Moo and advocates a "modified Lutheran" view. I found this to be the most convincing and well-written essay. Moo argues that the distinction between Law and Gospel is a "salvation-historical" issue. The Mosaic Law is abrogated because no person can obey ALL its requirements to inherit eternal life. Thus, Christ is the only possible way sinners can receive justification and salvation. However, believers are still bound to live with the moral requirements of the new covenant. Moo's exegesis is quite persuasive.

Hopefully there will be an updated edition where a sixth position will be expoused: The "New Perspective" view (or the "Anti-Protestant" view). Perhaps someone who has gripes with the Reformation can contribute to that essay. Overall, though, this essay still does the job of presenting major evangelical views on the Law and Gospel accurately.

Helpful.......2002-11-01

While this collaborative counterpoint effort has a number of negative aspects to it, I still found this book to be very helpful in assessing the relationship between the OT Mosaic law and the NT Gospel message.

First, the positives. Five contributors are asked to provide their views on this question. Of the 5, I found Kaiser to be the most persuasive, followed by Bahnsen and then Moo. All of the contributors do a good job of sufficiently nuancing the issue to reveal the many points upon which scholars depart from each other. I felt that each scholar made a solid attempt to deal with the whole counsel of Scripture as it relates to this question, which is a definite plus since this is not a given. Given this, the reader might well conclude that each view presented has strengths and weaknesses in light of Scripture.

I felt that Kaiser's main essay was the most persuasive, as well as his rebuttals to the other essays. I thought that Bahnsen, while regretably employing a rather harsh tone here that pervades many of his writings, was nonetheless accurate in many of his critiques of the other views. I also felt that Bahnsen did a very good job of arguing for a theonomic position that is widely rejected because of the discomfort such a position tends to create on our modern sensitivities. But in many ways, Bahnsen made a good case for this view. Both Kaiser and Bahnsen argued in favor of continuity between law and gospel and applicability of portions of the law on the believer today, although they disagreed with each other mainly over how much of the law is applicable today. Moo offered the antithetical approach, and while I don't agree with him, I thought his essay was well done, although not without its problems. Strickland offered the dispensational view, which I found unpersuasive and mostly incoherent. VanGemeren offered a continuity proposal that was not well written, nor were his critiques of the other views persuasive. In my view, his efforts here were the weakest of the five scholars.

There are a number of negatives that need to be pointed out. First, the book often gets very technical, and while this will be profitable for a more advanced reader familiar with theological terms, the beginner may have some trouble with this because many non-common theological words which are heavily used throughout each essay go undefined. Second, the diversity of views is overstated here. Ostensibly, this book is supposed to present five different views on this question. But really, VanGemeren, Bahnsen, and Kaiser are very close to each other in arguing the continuity position and disagreeing only in the details, while Strickland and Moo are very close to each other in arguing for discontinuity. So the diversity in approaches is not as diverse as it might seem on the surface. Lastly, there were a number of typos, particularly in Moo's essay, that should have been caught in the editing process. This negative is quite minor though.

Overall, this book is a helpful addition to the recent explosion of works that have been produced on the law and its relationship to the believer today. This book is rather lengthy (better than 400 pages), but there is a sufficient amount of meat here for the reader to chew on as a springboard for further study.

Limited Theological Circle: Only Reformed View Defended.......2001-02-27

Not all the parties have weighed in on this subject. Especially my own confession, the Lutherans were not given a fair hearing. As one reviewer of the book said: "The Lutheran insights regarding Law and Gospel are caricatured, sometimes distorted, often ignored, but never truly given a fair hearing."

How can this be a fair and accurate representation, when the Lutheran position has this quick disclaimer "modified Lutheran" from a non-Lutheran? How can one then proceed to represent even a modified-Lutheran presentation and only cite Luther three times out of 129, and none from Walther? Three from Calvin?

This is like a Lutheran dominated book which has all Lutheran authors, then letting a Lutheran present the Calvinist position, but with the disclaimer "modifed Calvinist position."

For the Lutheran view, see C.F.W. Walther's, Law and Gospel. For a faith body that majors in distinguishing and not intermingling law and gospel, this interaction would have been interesting. Unfortunately, this is an interesting but nonetheless impoverished view.

Detailed but incomplete.......2000-09-17

This debate in the Counterpoint Series, whilst informative as a look at how 'Law & Gospel' can be viewed through various theological grids, lacks greatly in the area of historical and sociological analysis.

The book opens with three authors arguing for basic continuity between Law and Gospel : Willem A. VanGemeren starts with a Reformed perspective which emphasizes that the Law is the `perfection of righteousness in Jesus Christ'. He precedes Greg L. Bahnsen who advocates the minority-held Theonomic view i.e. OT civil laws (especially the penal sanctions) are timeless and absolute and therefore should be enforced by the government. Walter C. Kaiser Jr., undoubtedly the biggest fish in the pond, then teaches that it is the `weightier' moral matters of the Law which the post-OT Christian must obey (a'la Matthew 23:23).

The final two essays uphold that the relation between Law and Gospel is generally one of discontinuity and antithesis: Wayne G. Strickland (who is also the editor) presents a Dispensational view i.e. the OT Law was meant as a rule of life for Israel and is no longer binding on the church saint. Douglas J. Moo wraps up with a modified Lutheran approach which states that given the salvation-historical framework the Mosaic Law, being tied to the Sinaitic covenant, has been completely abrogated in Christ.

Taking a cue from Kaiser's very systematic responses, here's a listing of the issues over which the battle ensued:

a) Does the Mosaic Law put forth a hypothetical offer of salvation?

b) Is the Mosaic Law a unified whole which disallows any distinction between its ceremonial, legal moral/ethical aspects? Can the moral elements remain without the ceremonial ones?

c) Is Christ the `end' or the `goal' of the Mosaic Law? What about the Law & Prophets did Jesus say He came to fulfil, and which commandments did He warn everyone against breaking the least of (Matthew 5:17-20)?

d) Was Paul's charge against the Jews for their continued allegiance to the Law or for their misuse of it (i.e. their legalistic righteousness)? Does the `law of righteousness' in Rom 9:31 refer to the Mosaic Law or not?

As mentioned earlier, my biggest complaint is the total absence of interaction with the work of E.P. Sanders and the issues prevalent in Second-Temple Judaism. There is no discussion about Paul's criticism of the 'works of the law' as possibly representing an ethnocentric barrier to inclusion into the people of God; as a Jewish denial of equality to Gentiles as co-participants in the eschatalogical age of God.

A far more interesting book (especially given the present theological climate), IMO, should contain dialogues with the works of Dunn, Wright, Stendahl, Nanos (but his contribution only appeared in '97, a few years after this book came out), Raisanen, Schreiner, Westerholm, Thielman and, of course, Sanders.

To be fair, Kaiser et al take into account the entirety of Scripture and their efforts are aimed at producing big 'systematic theology' pictures on how Law relates to Gospel, whereas the 'Paul & the Law' authors work almost exclusively with the Pauline epistles and Acts.

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