NEW BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY - 2011
October
Costing Not Less Than Everything: sustainability and spirituality in challenging times (Swarthmore Lecture 2011)
Pam Lunn
It is no longer possible to ignore that this planet is a finite resource. In our future as a human species we are bound together, worldwide, with each other and with the ‘real global economy' of a fragile natural environment. With quiet urgency and deep honesty, Pam Lunn addresses the unsustainability of the way we all live in the industrialised West, but this is not a counsel of despair or guilt. Realistic and well informed about the evolutionary basis of cooperation as well as the spiritual dimension, she puts forward and unsentimental argument for the possibility as well as the necessity of community.
Being a Quaker: a guide for newcomers
Geoffrey Durham
This is the first substantial introduction to the practical faith of British Quakers to be published in over ten years. Geoffrey Durham has drawn on his own experience and that of many other Friends to create a warm, open and incisive exploration of Quakerism today. Jennifer Kavanagh says: ‘I really do think this is the best book for newcomers. It is personal, practical and very accessible.'
Anger: wisdom for cooling the flames
Thich Nhat Hanh
Anger: it can not only ruin our health and our spirits, but destroy lives as well. In this timely, compassionate and important new book, the great spiritual teacher and author of Living Buddha, Living Christ provides real help for transforming the negative force of anger into a positive and useful energy, bringing harmony and healing to all aspects of our lives.
Streams Of Grace: a selection of the letters of the Abbe de Tourville
Edited and translated by Robin Waterfield
The letters of the Abbe de Tourville, one of the greatest spiritual figures of the nineteenth century, have long been known for their sense of holiness and common sense. Their profoundness and simplicity have brought hope and encouragement to thousands who seek God. In this selection there are resources of wisdom for every Christian, sound guidance and a warm, witty response to our human foibles and failings.
May
On Evil
Terry Eagleton
For many enlightened, liberal-minded thinkers today, and for most on the political left, evil is an outmoded concept. In this witty, accessible study, the prominent Marxist thinker Terry Eagleton launches a surprising defence of the reality of evil, drawing on literary, theological and psychoanalytic sources to suggest that evil is a real phenomenon with palpable force in our contemporary world.
Reclaiming Jesus
Ian Breckenridge
The figure of Jesus many people have today is perfectly unreal, half man half god, unsmiling, apparently in love with death. Can we do better than this sad caricature? This book, subtitled ‘Making sense of the man without the miracles', digs through the evidence and comes up with a few surprises. The author is a member of Norwich meeting.
Journeys in the Light
Jan Arriens
At Firbank Fell in the North of England, beneath the great rock on which George Fox preached, a plaque quotes his words: Let your lives speak. Jan Arriens has written a book of stories that speak of Quakers living faithfully – some historical figures, some fictional, from the seventeenth century to the present day.
Simplicity Made Easy
Jennifer Kavanagh
The appeal of living more simply may be to leave a smaller carbon footprint, to express a compassionate solidarity with those who have least, or just to downsize. Whatever our own motivation, it is likely to spring from within. At heart, simplicity is a focus on what matters.
March
Books from Frank Nolan's library:
The Great Transformation: The World in the time of Buddha, Socrates, Confucius and Jeremiah
Karen Armstrong
The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas during the English Revolution
Christopher Hill
Quakerism: A Theology for our Time
Patricia A. Williams
The Mind of God: Science and the Search for the Ultimate Meaning
Paul Davies
The Case for God: What Religion Really Means
Karen Armstrong
The God Delusion
Richard Dawkins
Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate
Terry Eagleton
February
Quakers and the Search for Peace
Edited by Sharon Hoover
This book is an invaluable resource for those who wish to explore the Quaker peace experience and to better understand and develop their own personal calling for peace. With a careful selection of material approaching peace from many philosophical and practical angles, it will serve as a guide not only for Quakers and their meetings but for readers of all faith traditions who yearn for a more peaceful world. Newcomers to Quakerism will find a diverse and compelling introduction to the Quaker religion in modern practice.
January
A Book of Silence
Sara Maitland
In her late forties Sara Maitland moved out of the city and fell in love with silence. In this profound and evocative book, she explores this fascination, delving into the darkness and euphoria that silence can bring, and considering its cultural history. She contemplates the experience of silence - from her own nights in the Sinai desert and weeks on the Isle of Skye to the accounts of travellers and mystics - and argues for its importance in a world increasingly addicted to noise.
The Spirit of the Quakers
Geoffrey Durham
Who are the Quakers, what do they believe, and what do they practice? Geoffrey Durham introduces Quakerism through quotations from writings that cover 350 years, from the beginnings of the movement to the present day. This anthology shares the religious experience of Quakers both in their worship and in the world. Peacemaking, simplicity, truth and equality are major spiritual themes, but readers will also find rich and varied writing on the Quakers' wide diversity of belief, their collective values, their insistence on taking action for social change, and their understanding that we can ‘answer that of God in everyone'.
Chocolate Wars: from Cadbury to Kraft: 200 years of sweet success and bitter rivalry
Deborah Cadbury
Historian and documentary maker Deborah Cadbury takes a journey into her own family history to uncover the rivalries that have driven 250 years of chocolate empire-building, culminating in a multi-billion-pound showdown pitting independence and Quaker tradition against the cut-throat tactics of a corporate leviathan. Featuring a colourful cast of savvy entrepreneurs, brilliant eccentrics and resourceful visionaries, Chocolate Wars is the story of a uniquely alluring product and the evolution, for better or worse, of modern business.
Spirit Rising: Young Quaker Voices
Ed. Angelica Conti et al.
Spirit Rising celebrates, critiques, questions and reflects on the Quaker faith experience. Writing and visual art by teenage and young adult Quakers from around the world and across the theological and cultural spectrum of the Religious Society of Friends give readers a window on the spiritual riches and witness these Friends offer. The product of the two-year Quakers Uniting in Publishing (QUIP) Quaker Youth book project, it includes over 200 contributions from 17 countries. These voices challenge and inspire, as they witness to and celebrate Quakerism as it has been, as it is, and as it could yet be.
Held in the Light: Norman Morison's sacrifice for peace and his family's journey of healing
Anne Morrison Welsh & Joyce Hollyday
One day in November 1965, Norman Morrison, a devout Quaker, immolated himself on the steps of the Pentagon as a protest against the Vietnam war. His wife and three young children were left struggling to understand his action and to pick up the pieces of their lives. In this moving memoir, his widow recounts Norman 's story as well as her own journey, over a lifetime, to find acceptance, forgiveness and recovery.
Barclay's Apology in Modern English
Ed. Dean Freiday
An Apology for the True Christian Divinity by Robert Barclay, published in 1678, was the first systematic theology of the faith of Friends. It is strongly recommended for those who really want to understand the root of Quaker religious experience. Barclay's points are tightly argued and thoroughly scriptural; as such, the Apology represents a powerful challenge to the conservative trends in Christianity that dominate the present religious scene. |
