Book Review: The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine

The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For the educated elite and free thinkers, deism was philosophical position brought to the fore through reason but was not supposed to be disseminated to the masses for the good of society. Then came Thomas Paine’s The Age of Reason, which brought deistic arguments long available to the elites to the general populace in an engaging and irreverent style, thus making them appealing to his targeted readers.

Paine’s argument comes in three parts, the first of which was against revelation of scriptures as proof of God’s existence as it is hearsay—especially of that in the Christian era because it was bent to political circumstances—while God’s existence is testified to in the natural world. The second is that organized religion is corrupted by civil authorities as well as corrupting civil authorities to gain or increase its power. The third is an analysis of selected Biblical texts in the Bible (Old Testament) and New Testament to show it is not the revelation of God. While the structure of the book is somewhat haphazard due to the history of its publication, Paine begins it with his personal creed which includes the belief in one God and what he believes the religious duties of man are then declares what he is personally opposed to institutionalized religion while supporting the rights of others to believe in whatever creed they want to profess. When one reads this book, Paine’s beginning statement on his personal views of religion should be kept in mind so as not get a knee-jerk reaction to call the author an atheist like some—Theodore Roosevelt to name one—have done since this was first published. As for my view on Paine’s arguments, some are easy to agree with like the history of cooperation of civil and religious authorities to prop up one another, my personal belief in the separation of church and state so to keep each from being tainted by the other. While I agree that God’s existence is revealed in nature, it’s Paine’s arguments that revelation as seen in scripture and his proofs that I critique the hardest. Mainly as he went through several texts, out of context in many cases, I could come up with texts in other locations that completely contradict his supposition of what the highlighted text said. And given that it was most of Paine’s argument, it was no doubt better debated at the time of publication and due to space and time I do not have time to write a pamphlet in response to Paine’s mistakes. Beyond the contents of the book itself, this is a concise though thorough argument for 18th-century British deistic thought as well as the anti-clericalism inspired by the French Revolution that began to influence political thought from then to now.

The Age of Reason is Thomas Paine’s argument to general public against organized religion in favor of the deistic beliefs that had long been developed and accepted among the elites who Paine believed propped up corrupt religious organizations to keep the common man from obtaining his full rights as a free man.

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Book Review: The Seekers by Daniel J. Boorstin

The Seekers: The Story of Man's Continuing Quest to Understand His World Knowledge Trilogy by Daniel J. Boorstin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Discoveries, inventions, and creations are a defining part of Western culture, just as important as the material elements are the religious and philosophical ideas, thoughts, and questions. The Seekers by Daniel J. Boorstin is a chronicle of Western culture’s search for the answer to the question “why?” over the millennia and how it influenced Western culture itself.

In a little over 300 pages Boorstin writes and connects 41 mini essays covering the lives, ideas, and impact of seekers from ancient times to the modern. The book is divided into three epochs, the first of which was Ancient Heritage covering the prophets of the Old Testament, the philosophical trinity—Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle—of Ancient Greece, and finally the merger of the two in Christianity. Communal Search was the second as it covered how history was written for communities first in epics following the struggles of heroes then transitioning to the course of events as seen in Herodotus and Thucydides, then how in the context of their society’s seekers look to define the individual within a community. Finally, the Paths to the Future covers the abandonment of the empowerment of the individual to the masses who follow an ideology that eventually led to the abandonment of the state to find answers in culture or in existentialism or in the solace of diversity and eventually to looking past the finite to the infinite in processes of evolution or figuring out scientific universal laws. Unlike the previous two volumes of Boorstin’s “Knowledge” series, the West is specified from the beginning thus not promising or giving a false impression that he’ll cover viewpoints from other cultures. Also in this volume, Boorstin speaks out about certain things especially ideology, the belief that the ideas expressed were true because they could be “proven” leading to not only the lose of influence of the individual but also the meaning of being an individual, which proved the basis for the rise of the totalitarian regimes found at both extremes of the political spectrum. As an introduction or get a summary of the cultural history of Western religious and philosophical thought, Boorstin’s book is a great place to start or read but this shouldn’t be mistaken for an authoritative look into it.

The Seekers is the final volume of Daniel Boorstin’s “Knowledge” series, the shortest of the series but the one that invites the reader to explore further the ideas and thoughts that were shaped by and did shape Western culture.

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Book Review: Exploring Mark: A Devotional Commentary by George R. Knight

Exploring Mark: A Devotional Commentary by George R. Knight
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It is most likely the first gospel written and was aimed at Roman Christians during the persecutions of Nero by a follower of Christ in his youth. Exploring Mark: A Devotional Commentary by George R. Knight reveals that why the other Gospels focus on Jesus’ teachings it is Mark shows He is a Man of Action.

Knight divides his study of Mark into 61 segments allowing him to not only explain each passage within the context of the book, the other Gospels and other parts of the Bible, and providing commentary about what the passage means for us today. Throughout Knight brings out themes and threads that Mark sowed throughout his Gospel from showing Jesus doing things and not just teaching, to sandwiching stories in-between two parts of another, Jesus’ continual request to keep his messiahship secret (which comes into relevance at the end of the Gospel), and finally the continual failure of Jesus’ followers to either understand, believe, or to take action which everyone one of us can relate to. As with other books in Knight’s Devotional Commentary series, context of the time of writing gives greater a clearer understanding to Jesus’ teachings and action that gives to us today the same blessing that those 1st-Century Roman Christians received in their time of need.

Exploring Mark is an excellent commentary and devotional by George R. Knight, who gives insight into the shortest and most like the earliest Gospel for the 21st Century.

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Book Review: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by David Hume

Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by David Hume
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

A friend of mine gave me a warning before Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion that David Hume puts all his mental capabilities to bring into the question the existence of a wise and loving creator, that his can be quite compelling and that I needed to be prepared to have my faith severely tested. After reading this essay, my friend could have saved his time warning me because Hume just wrote stuff down like some people just talk to hear themselves talk, in the words of William Shakespeare this was all “sound and fury, signifying nothing”. This book also contained the unpublished essays “Of the Immortality of the Soul” and “Of Suicide” that were impressive, also included was “Of Miracles” that I read in Hume’s Enquires and I decided not to read a second time for the author circular argument. In all honesty, I have found David Hume to be overrated and wish he had taken the hint when his first book had bombed and never written again.

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Book Review: A Treatise on Tolerance and Other Writings by Voltaire

A Treatise on Tolerance and Other Writings by Voltaire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A man loses his son to suicide then the local religious fanatics claim he murdered his son because his son was about to change his religion to theirs and then tortured him to death, no this is not a country in the modern Middle East this is pre-Revolutionary France. A Treatise on Tolerance and Other Writings by the French Enlightenment thinker Voltaire who looks to exonerate a man of accused of killing his son and the religious fanaticism that inspired the injustice.

In reaction to the 1762 miscarriage of justice relating to the suicide of Marc-Antione Calas that ultimately led to the execution of his father Jean by religious fanatics “out for justice”. The whole affair caused a scandal resulting in the philosopher Voltaire became the champion for justice for the surviving Calas family, which brought about this Treatise. Voltaire describes the fatal events of the night of Marc-Antione’s death with evidence that he was for a time had studied how to take his own life, that the timing of his death around the celebration of the anniversary of a well-planned massacre of Huguenots—French Protestants—in Toulouse during the Wars of Religion that led to conspiratorial stories about Jean killing his son because he wanted to convert to Catholicism while ignoring that he had been fine with a younger son already doing that, and the total lack of justice in the entire process. The Treatise of Tolerance then becomes a clarion call for religious toleration while also attacking religious fanaticism—Voltaire specifically points to French Jesuits of his time with able arguments—and the superstition surrounding religion that leads to situations like in Toulouse. Voltaire also writes excellent endnotes that are very informative, though the decision of the publishers of this edition to put those Notes at the end of the book and not at the end of the chapters was a bit annoying. This is one of the most important works of philosophy and religion from the Enlightenment era for those that support the freedom of religion and are opponents to religious fanaticism.

A Treatise on Tolerance and Other Writings is a very well written defense of a wrongly executed man while arguing for religious tolerance and against religious fanaticism by the Enlightenment’s best known philosopher, Voltaire.

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Book Review: The Reformation by Will Durant

The Reformation by Will Durant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Reformation was the outgrowth of and the downfall of the humanism of the Renaissance, together both movements ended the Middle Ages while dividing Europe civilization in the process. The Reformation is the sixth volume of Will Durant’s The Story of Civilization as he explores how the rest of Europe outside of Italy transitioned from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Era as Christendom divided and as Europeans expanded their footprint across the world.

This volume is unique in Durant’s series as it was originally supposed to be combined with The Renaissance but given the length and depth of the research would have resulted almost twice the size of the longest book in the series. This volume is a continuation of The Age of Faith outside of Italy as well as paralleling the events through the end of the Council of Trent. After setting the stage for Luther’s protest in the first third of the book, Durant then turned to the period from Luther’s thesis to the death of John Calvin in which northern Christianity split away from Rome and developed into different sects aiming for reform, the final third of the book was Durant looking at Islam and Jewish developments followed by cultural accomplishments and then the Catholic Counter-Reformation. This volume was a change from previous volumes as Durant concentrated most of the text on a 50-year period instead of the ebbs and flows of history and society over the course of centuries. The fact that most of this period centered around religion, Durant is able for the most part to keep his contempt for belief at bay though he does go a little off in the Epilogue in synthesizing the developments of the Renaissance and the Reformation. Yet throughout the book, Durant notes that the religious developments were a reaction the pagan influences of the Renaissance along with the budding of nationalism that would be supercharged once the church came under the purview of the state.

The Reformation is a unique book as Will Durant must literally dedicate the majority of his writing towards religion instead of culture, yet he is able to hide his contempt to look how the reforming of Christianity influenced and was influenced by centralizing of various nation-states as Europe entered the Early Modern Era.

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Book Review: Exploring Galatians and Ephesians by George R. Knight

Exploring Galatians and Ephesians by George R. Knight
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The two books are back-to-back in the New Testament, but they represent the earliest and one of—if not the—last epistles that the Apostle Paul wrote to the churches that stress theology and then living ethically. Exploring Galatians & Ephesians: A Devotional Commentary by George R. Knight explains how these two books each focus on a particular element of the theology of salvation and how to live as a Christian.

Knight divided both Galatians and Ephesians into 25 segments each, allowing him to not only explain each passage within the context of the specific book but within the rest of the Bible as well providing commentary about what the passage means for us today. Throughout Knight stresses throughout Galatians Paul’s message of justification by faith and how we are to live with that knowledge all after defending his original message and apostleship; while focusing on Ephesians Knight notes Paul’s emphasis how God’s grace for an individual’s salvation is equal for everyone and thus puts all believers into a new community, they must live up to no matter their position while on Earth. Though Knight doesn’t emphasize this, Galatians as the first of the epistles reveals Paul’s insistence on the basics of the faith while Ephesians as potentially Paul’s final message is that for a mature believer thus providing an interesting symmetry.

Exploring Galatians & Ephesians is an excellent commentary and devotional by George R. Knight that gives an in-depth understanding of two of Paul’s most important epistles and how their contents apply to us today.

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Book Review: The Age of Faith by Will Durant

The Age of Faith by Will Durant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The death of two men bookends the Middle Ages, one transformed the Roman Empire by injecting Christianity into the government and the other was the man who ended the reign of Latin in the literature of Italy to produce the greatest of medieval Christian books. The Age of Faith is the fourth volume of Will Durant’s The Story of Civilization series focusing on the end of the Western Roman Empire, the rise of Christian Europe, the zenith and slow decline of Byzantium, the birth and stagnation of Islamic civilization, and the continued resilience of Jewish faith and culture.

Unlike the previous volumes of the series, Durant does not need a prologue to introduce anything as the volume beings where the ends the death of Constantine. Over the course of a millennium from the death of the first Christian emperor to the death of Dante the champion of vernacular Italian and champion of the dream of a unified Italy. For Durant this millennium isn’t all about Christianity, but the rise and continuation of the Abrahamic religions so the rise of Islam and the blooming of Islamic civilization as well as the continuation of Judaism are significant portions of the volume and whose contributions would be interwoven into the medieval fabric in the 12th and 13th centuries. However, three-quarters of the volume shows how Christianity fought against, preserved, and built upon the classical heritage of Greece and Roman to form medieval Christendom in culture, science, art, and political theories. Yet, as with previous volumes Durant’s word usage can be problematic though as well as distaste for religion when comparing/contrasting it to philosophy even though he praises the sincerity of those that live their faith while showing the twists and turns of theological development that intertwined what those in power thought was orthodoxy in opposition to those who thought differently. Durant demonstrates that modern Europe is essentially still medieval either as it’s extension of classic antiquity that would birth the Renaissance or it’s civilized barbarity that would bring about a Reformation.

The Age of Faith was a millennium of decline, rebirth, preservation, innovation, of change and stability that was needed in Will Durant’s view before the coming of an “age of reason” that would bring about modernity.

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Book Review: Caesar and Christ by Will Durant

Caesar and Christ by Will Durant
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A little village on an inconsequential river eventually expands to command the entire Mediterranean basin and Western Europe creating an economical and cultural exchange while their homeland disintegrated allowing their conquests to eventually rule over them in politics, culture, and religion. Caesar and Christ is the third volume of Will Durant’s The Story of Civilization series focusing on the rise of the Roman Empire and it’s conquest from within by Christianity.

As with the previous two volumes, Durant began the book with a prologue of sorts this time focusing on the Etruscans and other early Italians that would be subsumed by Rome. Covering roughly a millennium of time from the reputed founding of the city in 753 B.C. to the reign of Constantine, Durant covered all aspects of the development of Roman society from government to architecture to religion and philosophy to military conquest to societal and economical interplay. Once on the verge of the Christian era, Durant begins alluding to the conditions in Roman society and religion that would allow Christianity to grow before focusing on the development of Christianity from Jesus’ ministry to Constantine’s conversion. Though comprehensive in his material Durant’s phrasing was problematic due to his use of the ”Roman race” throughout the book, given the original publishing date was in 1944 this suggestion very outdated thinking about the development of human societies. Another important analysis from Durant’s description of the spread of Christianity was the Church’s absorption of practices from other religions that would come to the fore 1200 years later.

Caesar and Christ details the most impactful political and religious institutions that still resonate today in the West.

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Book Review: Exploring Romans: A Devotional Commentary by George R. Knight

Exploring Romans: A Devotional Commentary by George R. Knight
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Christian community in Roman was having issues in the mid-1st century that wasn’t unique to itself like other early churches who were written epistles in the New Testament, what the Romans received was Paul’s perfected sermon on salvation. Exploring Romans: A Devotional Commentary by George R. Knight explains how this Epistle is the clearest explanation of the salvation for Christian throughout the millennia especially during the Reformation.

Knight guides the reader through Romans in 62 segments using various translations to find the most accurate wording for the passage covered in each segment. Each lesson has Knight not only explain the passage within the context of the Romans but also in the whole Bible but also provide commentary about what the passage means to use today. Throughout the book Knight stresses the central theme of Paul’s message, the obtaining of salvation as well all the branching teachings on who needs it and why, the role of the law, and how to implement Christianity into life. Given the issues that Paul addresses two millennia ago are still around in some form or another today within the larger Christianity community, Knight makes sure the reader understands Paul response to these issues and why they are important even today.

Exploring Romans is an excellent commentary and devotional authored by George R. Knight that gives readers an in-depth understanding of Paul’s message on the plan of salvation.

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Book Review: Daily Wisdom for Men 2022 Devotional Collection

Daily Wisdom for Men 2022 Devotional Collection by Barbour Staff
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I received this daily devotional book as a Christmas last year and frankly, I tried my best to find something substantive from it however it was either too generic or stretching the chosen texts a little bit too much. After a job change in the middle of the year upsetting my scheduling I found myself skimming entries after forgetting to read the book for a week and soon became ‘catching’ up at the end of the month.

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Book Review: A Letter Concerning Toleration by John Locke

Locke: Letter Concerning Toleration, a by John Locke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Originally a private letter to a Dutch friend who published it without his knowledge, the political thoughts of John Locke was first introduced to his native England in A Letter Concerning Toleration that would allow his future works to gain a large reading then and now.

In a time of political and religious conflict, Locke’s Letter revealed not only his uncertainty of known the “one true religion” when so many versions of Christianity existed but mixed that uncertainty with practical implications what how the peace in civil society would be affected by religious toleration with a reliance on Biblical analysis in key junctions within his argument. While not explicitly copying Roger Williams’ argument that the state can not enforce the first four commandments of the Decalogue as it would be interfering with God, Locke comes close in his argument that civil magistrates should only focus on keeping the peace of civil society by staying out of God’s purview because it would—though implying it already had—result in oppressed groups disrupting civil society either through civic action against them or them acting out in desperation. Locke’s Letter is not as thoroughly anti-Catholic has it was originally thought—though the criticism of High Church Anglicans that his argument for religious toleration would allow a Catholic takeover of England can be seen as them trying to insert a “boogeyman” to hid the fact they were attempting to do what he opposed—as while he opposed those that followed a “foreign” Prince (the Pope with worldly authority), if others who followed the same religious practices and theology while following their natural civil magistrates (essentially practicing Catholic who view the Pope as authority on spiritual matters only) he saw no reason why the latter could not be tolerated. Only at the end of the Letter when Locke discusses heresy and schism that his thoughts are hard to decipher and what relevance it had in the overall work.

A Letter Concerning Toleration was John Locke’s call for government not to concern itself with the spiritual salvation of its citizens and only on their civic wellbeing, while implying that religion should focus the spiritual not the civil. This short piece gives the reader an introduction into Locke’s writing before going on to longer pieces.

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Book Review: A Theologico-Political Treatise and A Political Treatise by Baruch Spinoza

A Theologico-Political Treatise and A Political Treatise by Baruch Spinoza
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A scion of Jewish refugees from the Iberian Peninsula living in the Dutch Golden Age, brought to print one of the most controversial texts of the early modern period. A Theologico-Political Treatise and A Political Treatise by Benedict de Spinoza are one of the most controversial texts of its time and an unfinished—by the author’s death—text that would have expounded upon the author’s political thoughts.

In his Theologico-Political, Spinoza argues what the best roles of state and religion concluding that a bit of democracy, freedom of speech and religion within a state that remains supreme in governance of the populace without the meddling of religious leaders. To bring about his conclusions, Spinoza critiqued the Bible, organized religion, and the meddling of philosophy and Scriptural interpretation. Yet Spinoza spent so much time in his criticism that his quick turn to his conclusions almost seemed like an add on even though this reader loved his conclusion. The unfinished Political Treatise dealt with how a monarchal or aristocratic form of government—his was just beginning his discussion of democracy at his death—could function without devolving into tyranny and not violating the liberty of its citizens. How Spinoza’s ideal governmental forms of monarchy and aristocracy were constituted were intriguing, but the treatise unfinished status leaves a reader a lot of questions without how Spinoza would incorporate his previous ideas in Theologico-Political. Of the two treatises presented, the completed Theologico-Political is of better value yet is appears to harbor Spinoza’s resentment in falling out with the Jewish community of Amsterdam, however his ending argument for the secularization of state governance along with the freedom of speech and religion are highly valuable.

This book is important for those interested in political thought and the role of religion—if any—in government. While Benedict de Spinoza’s own personal issues due come through the text the Theologico-Political Treatise is important in the evolution of thought in freedom of religion.

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Book Review: Exploring Hebrews by George R. Knight

Exploring Hebrews: A Devotional Commentary by George R. Knight
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Old Testament allusions, Jewish rituals, and comparisons between Jesus and leaders like Moses makes reading the Epistles to the Hebrews seem daunting and confusing but within shows the grandeur of Christ’s sacrifice. Exploring Hebrews: A Devotional Commentary by George R. Knight explains the Epistle in through scripture and plain language to give readers a better understanding of the Biblical author’s sermon to 1st Century Jewish Christians and how its applicable to Christians today.

Knight guides the reader through the Epistle to the Hebrews using his own translation—though he consulted several English versions during the process—in 53 segments. Each lesson focuses on a passage of the Epistle with Knight’s giving commentary as well as giving it a practical application for the reader today. Throughout the book, Knight highlighted various themes that the Epistle’s author—most likely Paul—along with emphasizing when the book switches from theological exposition and practical exhortation to its readers. Two of the keys takeaways that Knight brings forth is the shadow that the Tabernacle/Temple ceremonies were of the events in the Heavenly Sanctuary upon Jesus’ ascension along with how readers then and now need to have the faith of the great heroes that could only look forward towards Christ than knowing what Christ had done.

Exploring Hebrews is an excellent commentary and devotional authored by George R. Knight that gives the readers a deeper understanding of the Epistle.

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Book Review: Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul by John M. Barry

Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty by John M. Barry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The founding of the smallest state and its secular character are directly attributed to him and inspired the Founding Fathers, but Roger Williams is a man from a complex time in both England and colonial America. John M. Barry’s Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty is not only a biography of Williams but a cultural, political, and religious history of his time.

While it takes a while for Barry to focus on Williams and his soon-to-be very revolutionary thinking, he sets the groundwork not only for Williams intellectual and religious development but also the political and cultural context of his life. First and foremost is the political view of the early Stuart monarchs of divine right of kings going up against Magna Carta and Parliament that will eventually set off the English Civil War, and alongside it was the struggle over the Church of England and those Puritans who would not conform to practices that looked decidedly “popish”. It is easy to forget sometimes that England and its American colonies interacted before 1763 and the lead up to the American Revolution, but Barry plainly illustrates that events in each did have an impact on one another whether religiously or politically. Roger Williams’ vision of separation of church and state has come up against John Winthrop’s “city on a hill”, ironically a Puritan version of conform or else mirroring what was happening in England, throughout American history and this was central to Barry’s book even as he followed the live and struggles of Williams. One of the biggest takeaways from the book is that history does not happen in a vacuum as the development of Roger Williams’ revolutionary idea came from a messy political and religious background.

Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul is not only a book about the life of Williams, but Barry shows how Williams was influenced by not only important personages he came in contact with but also how he influenced them.

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Book Review: Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

To raise from his short, brutish existence man willing give up his freedom and rights to protect himself if others do the same to one strong man who promises to protect them. Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan revolves around this idea but leading up to it and expounding upon it is a surprising amount of insight of both political and religious thought.

Hobbes’ work is divided into four parts with the first, “Of Man”, covering human nature and why men form governments not for the greater good as other postulate but to protect themselves and their stuff. Hobbes essentially says that men give up their freedom to the government to be protected from other men so they can keep their life and possessions that they can add to. In the second part, “Of Commonwealth”, Hobbes argues that the perfect government is under one absolute sovereign—whether a monarch or legislative body—that will control all aspects of the government with the aim to preserve the persons of the governed by any means necessary and that the govern must obey the sovereign in all aspects of life including in religion and taxation, the later must be used to support those unable to maintain themselves. In part three, “Of a Christian Commonwealth”, Hobbes discusses how a Christian commonwealth should be governed and essentially says that the civil power is the final arbiter of all spiritual revelation and thus the religious power is subordinate to the sovereign as seen in the Holy Scriptures. In the final part, “Of the Kingdom of Darkness”, Hobbes turns his focus towards ignorance of the true light of knowledge and its causes which stem from religious deceivers through four things—misinterpretation, demonology and saints, the mixing of religion with erroneous Greek philosophy, and mixing of these false doctrines and traditions with feigned history. Hobbes blames all the churches and churchmen for these causes as they are the beneficiaries at the expense of the civil power which endangers the commonwealth and the preservation of every man in them.

As one of the earliest and most influential works on social contract theory, Hobbes’ political ideas are often cited and quoted. However, the fact that almost half the work is a religious discourse was a surprise and insightful. That Hobbes discredited church-led states was gratifying, though he then recommended state control of religion was a disappointment but not surprising given the theme of his work. Besides his views on the church-state relationship, Hobbes’ work is primary to understanding how the political thought of today began and how his contemporaries and those that followed him reacted to his views.

Leviathan is Thomas Hobbes’ magnum opus of political thought and has been influential for centuries, whether one agrees with his conclusions or vehemently disagrees.

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Book Review: America 1844 by John Bicknell

America 1844: Religious Fervor, Westward Expansion, and the Presidential Election That Transformed a Nation by John Bicknell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Every four years the course of American history can be changed along with the political landscape being upended, but sometimes those years are not just about politics. America 1844: Religious Fervor, Westward Expansion, and the Presidential Election that Transformed the Nation by John Bicknell follows the various strands of events that were independent of one another yet influenced each other with long term consequences.

In the United States the year of 1844 was already going to be important due to the upcoming Presidential Election, yet the political maneuvering by the President without a party John Tyler would entirely change the upcoming campaign. Through attempts to put potential rivals on the Supreme Court to kickstarting the issue of the annexation of Texas, Tyler’s actions aided by southern slave-owning politicians upended the Presidential campaign as little-known Tennessean James K. Polk took the Democratic nomination to face off with longstanding Whig stalwart Henry Clay whose self-imposed wounds would help cost him the White House and change American history. Another politically costly mistake for Clay and the Whigs was cozying up to nativists whose mob violence against Catholics particularly in Philadelphia not only sent the Catholic vote to the Democrats but also future Irish Catholic immigrants to New York and Boston. A candidate for President that many today did not know ran was the founder of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, Joseph Smith, who to protect his followers ran to bring their constitutional rights to the fore only for an anti-Mormon mob to storm the jail he was housed in and kill him. The resulting succession crisis led to Brigham Young’s ascension to leadership and later his decision to head to the Great Salt Lake. Young’s decision was based on the pamphlets written by John C. Fremont explored the uncharted western portions of the North American continent along with numerous emigres journeying from the East to the West for a better more prosperous future. And yet some Americans believed a better future was not on Earth but in Heaven as they eagerly anticipated the Second Coming based on the teachings of William Miller and his associates, while confused after the passing of Miller’s belief it would occur in the spring of that year the news that Miller had been off by seven months ignited hope throughout the extended Millerite community only for the Great Disappointment of October 22 to bring confusion to their beliefs. By the end of the year the course of America’s future would be set, the expansion westward would cause war with Mexican and later Civil War that would uproot slavery while allowing the two largest indigenous American founded religions to grow and expand in the Church of Latter-Day Saints and the Seventh-day Adventist church, the largest successor of the Millerite movement.

Bicknell covers all the above in almost 260 pages, attempting—for the most part successfully—to give cover the year chronologically through separating themes in each chapter. The overall history is generally correct and the addition of journeys of western pioneers gives the book more “life” then the sometimes stall retellings of political maneuverings back in the 19th Century. There are some little nitpick items related to the Millerites’ “spring disappointment”, but nothing that is majorly erroneous.

America 1844 is a concise look at 366 days in the life of the United States that saw its political and religious life changed dramatically with significant influence on the future, not only immediately but long term.

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Book Review: Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes

Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy by René Descartes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Modern philosophy began in the Netherlands by a French mathematician inspired by the events of the Thirty-Years War in Germany. Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy are the first two treatise by French mathematician and philosopher Rene Descartes that would that would not only start modern philosophy but also the use of reason which lead to the development of natural sciences both of which impact the world in the 21st Century.

The “founding” document of Cartesian philosophical and scientific method is “Discourse on Method” in which Rene Descartes tackles the problem of skepticism while also acknowledging that a truth can be found incontrovertible. Descartes started his line of reasoning, and thus his “method”, by doubting everything so to assess everything from a fresh perspective, clear of any preconceived notions. To test his new method, he uses it on itself which leads to the famous quote of the work, “I think, therefore I am”. Descartes second work, “Meditations on First Philosophy”, expands upon his philosophical system introduced in “Discourse” and presents Descartes metaphysical system at its most detailed level. Within this series of meditations, Descartes sets further the arguments for the three substances that all existence consisted of which formed the basis of Cartesian ontology—matter, mind, and God.

Rene Descartes significance to modern philosophy and the development of the natural science means this two-treatise collection is important in the history of the development of both philosophy and the scientific method. Yet this book is simply the two treatises without an introduction or explanation to the uninitiated about the importance of the works or the author. Also a significant element of “Meditations of First Philosophy” was missing at least from Descartes perspective, particular the objections from scholars around Europe that he submitted the unpublished manuscript to and his replies that were printed when he officially published the work. Though the book comes in at 130 pages without the two features, it hurts the overall product.

Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy are the first two treatise of Cartesian philosophy that Rene Descartes and many after developed and refined over the course of the seventeenth century. While the treatise themselves are five-star worthy, without context or adherence to authorial intent the way they are presented in this book lessens their impact.

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Book Review: Discovering the City of Sodom by Steven Collins and Latayne C. Scott

Discovering the City of Sodom: The Fascinating, True Account of the Discovery of the Old Testament's Most Infamous City by Steven Collins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Genesis 18-19 account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah has become part of the Western cultural zeitgeist and its location a mystery ever since the beginning of Biblical archaeology. Discovering the City of Sodom: The Fascinating, True Account of the Old Testament’s Most Infamous City by Steven Collins and Latayne C. Scott goes into the decade-long excavation of a site in Jordan that Collins purposes the evidence points towards it being the location of the destroyed city.

Much of the book is written by Collins who first explores the everything around the account of Sodom in Genesis and denoting that it must be read “authentically” not “literally”. One of Collin’s most important points early on is looking at the actual Hebrew wording of the text and what important words actually mean, this factors into where Collins believes the Bible locates the city of Sodom not at what is the bottom of the southern Dead Sea or on its southeast coast but on the eastern side of the Jordan River opposite Jericho. After laying out what the Bible actually says about Sodom and the historical era the Bible describes it in—the Middle Bronze Age—Collins then goes into the what his numerous archaeological excavations at Tall el-Hammam have made him believes he’s found Biblical Sodom including the fact that after the large city that was located there was destroyed in the Middle Bronze Age, nothing was rebuilt there until the Iron Age around 700 years later. Scott’s contribution was related Collin’s professional journey giving tours that located Sodom at the traditional southern Dead Sea location to his letting reading of the Bible lead him to look for a large prosperous city in the Jordan plain across from Jericho and the discoveries made at el-Hammam that made Collins realize he had found the city of Sodom.

Both Collins and Scott did a very good job with their respective parts of the book with Collins focused on the academic side and Scott doing a biographical look at Collins’ personal journey over several decades when connected to this subject. The biggest positive of the book is Collins’ balance of keeping to the authenticity of the Biblical account and dealing with facts found in the dirt, not only at el-Hammam but across the Levant. The biggest issue with the book is the same as another book by Collins’ and that is layout as the maps were placed in the back of the book and not nearer to the relevant text where they would be helpful. However, given that there were two authors the change of font style denoting when each author was writing was a very choice.

Discovering the City of Sodom is an enlightening read with Collins’ engaging writing that made what could have been dry academic details lively while Scott’s biographical sketches give a more personal touch. While the layout of the book is a bit of a mixed bag with differing fonts denoting which author was writing is a positive, the placing of maps in the back of the book instead of near the text that they illustrated is a negative. Whether you agree with Collins’ archaeological discoveries and research, this is a informative read about the era of the Middle Bronze Age in the Levant.

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Book Review: Let My People Go! by Steven Collins

Let My People Go!: Using Historical Synchronisms to Identify the Pharaoh of the Exodus by Steven Collins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The debate on if the Bible is historical comes down to one event for proponents on both sides, The Exodus, not only if it happened but when. Let My People Go!: Using Historical Synchronisms to Identify the Pharaoh of the Exodus by Steven Collins combines what the Biblical text says with the historical record that Egyptologists and other historians have pieced together from numerous ancient sources in search of the man who Moses confronted.

Collins begins by examining the variables of the problem at hand from the actual Biblical account of events as well as the geographic extent of place names used, the propagandic nature of Pharaonic Egypt, and the on-the-ground facts that modern Egyptologists have constructed to get at actual history behind the propaganda. Using the Biblical account of the events from the time of Joseph to Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, in particular the consequences and impact of the Exodus events on Egypt, Collins looked to see if they matched up with Egyptian and wider Middle Eastern history at anytime to see if the Bible was historically accurate. Using this “synchronism” method, Collins pinpointed the 18th Dynasty’s rise as an anti-Semitic, due to the foreign Hyksos, empire that reached the Euphrates to it’s suddenly rapid fall internationally with domestic upheaval as seen with Akhenaten to the era that matched most of the points of reference. Collins then eliminated one-by-one the established candidates of the 18th Dynasty, as well as Ramesses II given popular culture, that Biblical scholars and mainstream Egyptologists put forward as the Pharaoh of the Exodus then showed how the “synchronism” timeline didn’t match the historical timeline. Collins ends the main body of the text with establishing Thutmose IV, the last Pharaoh of the powerful Thutmosid empire before it’s dramatic decline under his son Amenhotep III and grandson Akhenaten, as fitting perfectly the events of the Bible to go with the historical record.

In roughly 142 pages filled with text as well as tables and charts, Collins puts forward his case for the Pharaoh of the Exodus. Overall the scholarly portion of this monograph is very good for familiar with the Bible and the general history of the era, yet Collins unfortunately tried to find a middle ground between his main audience of Christians (fundamentalists or otherwise) and general readers that did not work as he explained a tad too much for one and too little for the other. The short length of the book and its layout between the covers were also problematic. In lengthening the book to explain certain things like the avenue of mainstream research he was comparing the Biblical events to and the leading Egyptologists behind them, even if those same individuals find the Exodus dubious; the book’s layout was unfortunately a mess considering it had very informative tables and charts, but those items were times with the text explaining them and at others back in the appendixes resulting the use of numerous bookmarks or looking back and forth.

Let My People Go! is an informative look at the Biblical narrative of the Israelite sojourn in Egypt, the Exodus, and the beginning of the Conquest in comparison to the mainstream view of ancient Egyptian and Middle Eastern history. While Steven Collins brings a lot of knowledge to the subject and does well to bring it across to the reader, his efforts are undercut by length and layout of the book which doesn’t do justice to his argument.

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