The Bronze Bow

Hello All-

Sorry it's been so long! Today, I decided to post on "The Bronze Bow," by Elizabeth George Speare. I have read this book so many times it's crazy. I haven't actually read it recently, but I know this is a good book.

This book is set in first century Judaea. The lead character, a young man named Daniel Bar Jamin, lives at the same time as Jesus of Nazareth.

Daniel's father was crucified in front of him by the Roman occupiers (as his uncle did not have money to pay the tax) so even at the age of eight, he immediately hates and distrusts the Romans and vows that he will avenge his father's death. His mother dies of grief after her husband's death. Daniel's younger sister, Leah, is traumatized by these events, possessed by demons, and never leaves the house. The children are both taken in by their grandmother, but as she becomes ill and poor over the years, she sells Daniel to Amalek the blacksmith. Daniel escapes his cruel master, running away to the mountains where he meets Rosh, the leader of an outlaw band of rebels,who plan to someday overtake the Romans.

Several years after these events, he meets two old childhood friends: Joel bar Hezron and his twin sister Malthace, who climb the mountain for a holiday. Joel fiercely wants to join Rosh's band, so he promises Rosh that he will be a spy in Capernaum, the city to which he is moving.

One of Rosh's missions has Daniel capturing a slave. The crew names him Samson (a character in the Biblical book of Judges with immense strength and quite a temper) for his brute strength. Samson doesn't talk or understand anything, but he sees Daniel as his master and follows him. One day, Simon the Zealot, Daniel's friend from the village, comes to tell Daniel his grandmother is dying. He returns to his village of Ketzah and sees his grandmother. She passes on and Daniel is left in charge of Leah. Later, Simon tells Daniel he is going to follow Jesus and leaves Daniel in charge of his shop; Daniel and Leah move. At some point a Roman soldier younger than Daniel (a conquered German) befriends Leah after he sees her. Daniel eventually finds out, and goes into a fit of rage. Leah, who had seemed to be in the process of being cured, falls back into fully being possessed by her demons.

That was from Wikipedia- but I don't want to ruin the ending. I like this book so much, I think we should have a discussion on it. What does every one else think?

~Tony D.

5/5 Recommended

Mere Christianity aka The Case for Christianity

by C.S. Lewis

Well, helloooo, fellow geeks! How have you all been? I'm glad we've had posts from Dewhurst and Dodge of late, so there is some variety. We should probably get organized again as to who posts when and all that...I'll talk to the DC peeps, and we'll see.

Anyway! This is a great book. Basically, Lewis lays down the chief points of Christianity. I love the style in which he wrote this book. He lays down a principle, then he gives examples of things we can easily understand so we can get it. He repeats himself in different ways so one can grasp the point. I like the way he wrote this far better than the way he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia.

My favorite part of the this book was definitely the first book, specifically chapters 4 and 5. I LOVE the way he spoke of agnosticism. What he said about it is precisely my opinion of it, but he wrote it in such a clear and perfect fashion.
Here's probably my favorite quote in the whole book:

"One reason why many people find Creative Evolution so attractive is that it gives on much of the emotional comfort of believing in a God and none of the less pleasant consequences...All the thrills of religion and none of the cost. Is the Life-Force the greatest achievement of wishful thinking the world has yet seen?"

Those words made me tremendously excited, because I have always thought about it exactly like that! It was thrilling to read words that I so fully agree with and am passionate about. Here are some more quotes I loved:

"God is the only comfort, He is also the supreme terror: the thing we most need and the thing we most want to hide from. He is our only possible ally, and we have made ourselves his enemies."

"In religion as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth...in the end, despair. Most of us have got over the pre-war wishful thinking about international politics. It is time we did the same about religion."

So I liked when he talked about the meaning of the universe and about whether there is or is not a God in the first place. As the book moved on, I did not get as much of a thrill, but it was still very good.

I actually disagreed with a bit of what he said. (I don't remember what chapter it was.) He acted as if this one point was a fact, but I disagreed. I won't go into the problems I had with it now, but if you want to talk, I definitely will.

Rated #5 - Watch out for the ninjas.

Thanks for reading. I hope you'll read the book.

Always,
Lady Arwen

Join me in reading "Mere Christianity"!

I have something exciting to tell y'all! I am reading a brilliant book called "Mere Christianity" or "The Case for Christianity" by C.S. Lewis. So far, I have only read five chapters, but I am simply enthralled. Even though it is not on the book list, I am going to post on it after the Artful Dodger posts on his book. (Unless someone else wants to post. Everyone seems really busy, but let me know when you guys want to post on something; I just keep posting cause no one else is.)
Since I am finding this book to be superior, I have a challenge for you all: read it too! That way, when I post on it, we can have a discussion. If not enough people get it read before my post, perhaps we can have a discussion on it just as we did on Romeo and Juliet. Let me know what you guys want to do!
This book is so good! I hope you all will read it. I'm not suggesting it to get any non-Christian peeps to convert, if there are any on the site. In fact, so far this book is not at all about the Bible, or preachy stuff like that. It is simply analyzing people's beliefs on God or whatever life force they believe in and other things. Lewis is analyzing people's views and arguing for both sides. It's really interesting; that's why I recommend it.
Some tips on how to read this: #1. Do NOT read fast. Read it slowly. Perhaps just take one chapter a day. #2. Re-read. I just re-read chapter two slower than before, and I got a ton out of it. #3. I usually don't agree with how teachers make students read stuff like Shakespeare for the first time and make them analyze and dissect the details so that they student can't enjoy it. But for this book, do analyze it! It's that kind of book. Think about what you read and maybe see if you can apply it to people in your life. I sure can. This way, if you ever get in a conversation with those people, you can defend your faith and beliefs!
Ok, well, I will email Dodge and see when he's planning on posting. Thanks for reading.

~Arwen