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What You Need to Know First:

• This post is PG-13. It is not explicit, but the topic at hand does deal with human sexuality and some of the books are likely to be fairly explicit in their consideration of this topic.
  
• I named this post “Dancing in the Fire” due to the explosive nature of this discussion. Some will call me a bigot and intolerant for broaching the topic while others will suggest that any attempt to enter into the discussion is a compromise of Scripture.
• I build reading lists – it is what I do – on varied topics. This is my attempt to build a reading list on the topic of homosexuality, its nature, and morality as defined within the Scriptures, Christian tradition, and a historical framework.
• There is significant work yet to do on the subject. This is a reading list, not a read list. My annotations are brief notes mainly to myself, *’s interest books which I thought looked particularly interesting to my interests (I am particularly interested in hermeneutic arguments and historical relationships). *’s are not endorsements of the books – in fact, I may even remove some volumes at a later time if I find their content to be unnecessarily explicit, hateful, or otherwise useless. I still have another 30-40 volumes bookmarked to add to this list.
• The titles below have been culled from approximately 1,163 titles listed on Amazon that return when the query “homosexual christian” is entered in their books division (this search was performed on 1/21/12). I also performed briefer searches on IVP Books and Christian Book Distributors (CBD).

A Challenge to the Reader:

When I undertake a controversial subject, especially one regarding a struggle I do not personally experience, I try to keep these verses in mind:

• “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matt. 7:5, NIV) – I take this to mean that I must do a self-evaluation before attempting an other evaluation. I need to be cognizant of my own weaknesses before criticizing others.
• “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matt. 5:44, NIV) – I take this to mean that I am to love those who hate and injure me…and in most cases we aren’t dealing with people who hate us or purposely injure us…shouldn’t we treat them as nicely as our enemies?

The Reading List:

• *Marin, Andrew. Love is An Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community. IVP Books, 2009. – This may be the book to read if one can read only one book. It took numerous awards when it was published, was printed by the respected publisher IVP, and approaches from a personal perspective a Christian interacting with the LGBT community.
• *Brown, Michael. A Queer Thing Happened to America: And What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been. Equaltime Books, 2011. – Dr. Brown is one of those fascinating figures who defies categorization. He is best known as an academic scholar and one of the foremost apologists for Christianity to Jews (himself being Jewish). But he also works on the outer fringes of the charismatic/pentecostal movement having heavily participated in the Brownsville Revival. This book is likely a must-read simply b/c he brings such a unique perspective to much of what he rights on and speaks both with intense charismatic experience as well as intellectual knowledge.^[1]
• Paris, Jenell Williams. The End of Sexual Identity: Why Sex is Too Important to Define Who We Are. IVP Books, 2011. – An argument has been being advanced that we should not identify ourselves by our sexual identities and/or establish lines of battle established upon them. Paris apparently agrees and offers an explanation of how this concept applies to Christians.
• *Via, Dan O. and Robert A.J. Gagnon. Homosexuality and the Bible: Two Views. Augsburg Fortress, 2003. – Two biblical scholars on opposing sides of the argument offer arguments from the Old and New Testaments for their position.
• *Campbell, W.P. Turning Controversy into Church Ministry: A Christlike Response to Homosexuality. Zondervan, 2010. – This looks like a fascinating work, though it may focus more on the practical ministry than theoretical frameworks.
• *Jones, Stanton L. and Mark A. Yarhouse. Ex-Gays? A Longitudinal Study of Religiously Mediated Change in Sexual Orientation. IVP Books, 2007. – This looks like a must-read, as it provides what appears to be a rigorous study of the effectiveness of the ex-gay movement/treatments which have been heavily criticized as ineffective and harmful.
• *Nicolosi, Joseph J. Shame and Attachment Loss: The Practical Work of Reparative Therapy. IVP Academic, 2009. – Looks at methods of treating from a combination of secular clinical technique and a Judeo-Christian worldview homosexuality.
• *Wold, Donald J. Out of Order: Homosexuality in the Bible and the Ancient Near East. Cedar Leaf Press, 2009.
• *Webb, William J. Slaves, Women, & Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis. IVP Academic, 2001.
• *Thompson, Chad W. Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would. Brazos Press, 2004. – Written by a Christian who has struggled with homosexual attractions.
• *Chambers, Alan. God’s Grace and the Homosexual Next Door: Reaching the Heart of Gay Men and Women in Your World. Harvest House Publishers, 2006. – Chambers is the head of the largest ex-gay organization in the United States and a self-designated former homosexual.
• *Puterbaugh, Geoff. The Crucifixion of Hyacinth: Jews, Christians, and Homosexuals from Classical Greece to Late Antiquity. Authors Choice Press, 2000. – This book appears to be self-published, but reviews indicate it is of high quality and of scholarly type with numerous citations. It provides a history of the anciety attitude toward homosexuality and appears to be written by someone who is pro-homosexual in tenor.
• *Boswell, John. Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century. University of Chicago Press, 2005. – An extensive and scholarly work considering the historical position of the church towards homosexuality.
• Ford, Michael. Wounded Prophet: A Portrait of Henri J.M. Nouwen. Image, 2002. – While not specifically focused on homosexuality, the topic of homosexuality is addressed throughout this biography as Nouwen struggled to respond in a Scriptural manner to homosexuality within his parishioners and students as well as with urges within himself.
• *Dallas, Joe and Nancy Heche. The Complete Guide to Understanding Homosexuality: A Biblical and Compassionate Response to Same-Sex Attraction. Harvest House Publishers, 2010.
• Cannon, Justin R. The Bible, Christianity, & Homosexuality. CreateSpace, 2008. – Appears to be self-published. Cannon is the founder of Inclusive Orthodoxy. The book is written from a Christian LGBT perspective.
• *Rogers, Jack. Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality: Revised and Expanded Edition: Explode the Myths, Heal the Church. Westminster John Knox, 2009.
• Gagnon, Robert A. J. The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics. Abingdon Press, 2002.
• Yarhouse, Mark A. Homosexuality and the Christian: A Guide for Parents, Pastors, and Friends. Bethany House Publishers, 2010.
• Chellew-Hodge, Candace. Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians. Jossey-Bass, 2008. – Written for the homosexual community on living as a Christian in a predominantly condemnatory culture.
• *Hill, Wesley. Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality. Zondervan, 2010. – Hill is a celibate gay Christian and writes about his struggles with God and Scripture.
• *White, Mel. Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America. Plume, 1995.
• Hopko, Thomas. Christian Faith and Same Sex Attraction: Eastern Orthodox Reflections. Conciliar Press, 2006.
• *Erzen, Tanya. Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement. University of California Press, 2006. – Looks at, over time, the lives of individuals who join the ex-gay movement.
• Hamilton, Julie Harren, and Philip J. Henry. Handbook of Therapy for Unwanted Homosexual Attractions. Xulon Press, 2009. – Written from a Christian perspective, it appears to be self-published but includes recommendations from a number of well-known Christian leaders within the conversation on homosexuality.
• Miner, Jeff and John Tyler Connoley. The Children are Free: Reexamining the Biblical Evidence on Same-Sex Relationships. Found Pearl Press, 2002.
• Damian, Peter. Book of Gomorrah: An Eleventh-Century Treatise against Clerical Homosexual Practices. Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2012. – Translated from Latin by Pierre J. Payer.
• *Sharpe, Keith. The Gay Gospels: Good News for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered People. O Books, 2011.
• *De La Torre, Miguel A., ed. Out of the Shadows, Into the Light: Christianity and Homosexuality. Chalice Press, 2009. – Includes arguments from various positions represented by Marvin Ellison, Larry Kent Graham, Janis Hahn, Luis Leon, Irene Monroe, James Oraker, Ken Stone, Mona West.
• Meyers, David G. What God Has Joined Together?: A Christian Case for Gay Marriage. HarperOne, 2005.
• Anderson, Cheryl. Ancient Laws and Contemporary Controversies: The Need for Inclusive Biblical Interpretation. Oxford University Press, 2009.
• Cheng, Patrick S. Radical Love: An Introduction to Queer Theology. Seabury Books, 2011.
• MacNutt, Francis. Can Homosexuality Be Healed? Chosen Books, 2006.
• Anderson, Kerby. A Biblical Point of View on Homosexuality. Harvest House Publishers, 2008.
• Nissinen, Martti. Homoeroticism in the Biblical World. Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1998.
• Greenberg, Steven. Wrestling with God and Men: Homosexuality in Jewish Tradition. University of Wisconsin Press, 2005.
• Boswell, John. Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe. Vintage, 1995.
• Swan, Talbert W. Closing the Closet: Testimonies of Deliverance from Homosexuality. Trumpet in Zion Publishing, 2004.
• Peters, Ted. Playing God? Genetic Determinism and Human Freedom. Routledge, 2002.
• Ellens, J. Harold. Sex in the Bible: A New Consideration. Praeger, 2006.
• Bullough, Vern L., ed. Handbook of Medieval Sexuality. Routledge, 1999. – This book looks at human sexuality in medieval times from multiple perspectives, not just homosexuality.
• Grimsrud, Ted and Mark Thiessen Nation. Reasoning Together: A Conversation on Homosexuality. Herald Pr, 2008.
• Wolkomir, Michelle. Be Not Deceived: The Sacred and Sexual Struggles of Gay and Ex-Gay Christian Men. Rutgers University Press, 2006.
• Roden, Frederick S. Same Sex Desire in Victorian Religious Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

1. ^[1] Charismatics and Pentecostals are sometimes accused of being too based in subjective and experiential Christianity. Brown is fascinating b/c he is not a “know-nothing” Christian who revolts against academic pursuit – but rather someone who has managed to merge the two together. This perhaps places him in a similar vein to Dr. John White (a famed psychiatrist who also was a member of the Vineyard Movement), Dr. Jack Deere (originally a professor at the conservative Dallas Theological Seminary who would join the Third Wave Movement), or Dr. Wayne Grudem (who is widely respected for his works, especially his systematic theology, but is also associated loosely with Third Wave). ↩

Nicholas Biddle, Image via Wikipedia

I’d never heard of Henry William Brands before reading The Money Men. Despite the late introduction, I suspect that his books will now appear high on my reading list – if they are even able to approach the fascinating quality of this small volume. I do not recall the last time I have read a non-fiction book as voraciously as I have consumed this petite volume – in fact, there are only a few fiction thrillers I can think of which I have consumed in such a compressed fashion.

The Money Men is part of the Atlas Books / W.W. Norton Enterprise series in which “distinguished writers tell the stories of the dynamic innovators and the compelling ideas that create new institutions, new ways of doing business and creating wealth, even new societies.” I will be keeping my eyes open for other volumes in this series as well – hoping that they compare to The Money Men. Especially peaking my interest are Rich Cohen‘s The Record Men: Chess Records and the Birth of Rock & Roll, Tim Parks‘ Medici Money: Banking, Metaphysics, and Art in Fifteen-Century Florence, and James Buchan‘s The Authentic Adam Smith: His Life and Ideas

.

But let us move on to a discussion of the book proper. It was published in 2006 and is a small hardcover book with attractive dustcover. Contains a total of 239 pages, but the first 206 contain the main narrative with additional resources filling the remaining pages – endnotes, a list of suggested further reading, and the indexes, etc.

The volume consists of a Prologue and Epilogue and five long chapters in-between. The first chapter entitled “The Aristocracy of Capital” discusses the nature of money and financial policy during and following the American Revolutionary War with a significant emphasis on  Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.

Chapter 2 continues the thread by telling the events that led up to and the consequences of Andrew Jackson’s decision to end the national bank and Nicholas Biddle‘s (Bank President) extreme efforts to ensure the bank’s survival.

Chapter 3 tells the story of the American Civil War and how it changed the face of financial policy – in part as a consequence of a stronger federal government and the needs of wartime finance.

Chapter 4 tells the story of the severe speculation in gold in the post-Civil War era under President Ulysses S. Grant and Chapter 5 concludes the story by recording the times of J.P. Morgan and his significant effects upon finance.

The volume reads in a very easy manner – it is both professional and yet accessible. At the same time, my endeavors to understand financial history and policy are still not complete and while The Money Men has filled in some gaps, it does not provide the complete picture I had hoped to garner. That is not to say anything negative of the volume – for it is not a primer in financial history or policy.

I oftentimes judge the quantity of a volume on several factors, such as:

• How well the volume holds my attention.
• How quickly I read the volume.
• How much new or interesting information the volume provides.
• The clarity with which the author writes.
• The extent to which I underline, highlight, and write comments or other notations into the text.

By all of these measures, H.W. Brand’s The Money Men deserves the highest praise. The one thing I would like to see is an article by Mr. Brands analyzing the recent financial recession (2008 and on) in light of the historical story he weaves in The Money Men.

Brands remains largely neutral throughout his work and yet in the Epilogue I thought I detected an echo of approval for the economic system at the conclusion of his history. Is this a correct interpretation of his Epilogue? If so, could Brands provide us with additional insights or reflections based on recent events?

For anyone who is interested in history, finance, or politics, I would add this to your “must read” list. It is an excellent and fascinating read!

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Image via Wikipedia

recession, OWS, political policy, and other similar topics – and I am still far from understanding it…but this book has been exceptionally insightful.

I include below some of my quotations, notes, and commentary from the second chapter in the book entitled, “The Bank War” but must admit that I was able to include even less of what I considered important in the section below than I did in the last tasting. If one where to open my copy of this small volume you’d find the pages heavily marked – the quality and quantity of the info. being so extensive.

• “The fight over the Bank of the United States marked the beginning of the end of the fondest dream of the Founders: that the country they created might be spared the rancor of partisan politics. Parties, they believed, were artifacts of monarchy, where competing interests vied for the king’s favor. In a republic, based on civic virtue, parties need never emerge, for all good citizens would seek the common weal. What the Founders failed to appreciate was that good citizens might have distinctly different visions of the common weal.” – 57.
• “Heading the camp of capitalism was Hamilton; of democracy, Jefferson.” – 57.
• “Federalists responded by ramming through Congress the Alien and Sedition Acts, outlawing most dissent. Jefferson, Adams’s vice president…secretly penned a protest asserting the right of states to nullify laws they deemed unconstitutional.” – 59.
• I have always heard this was a dark time in  American history, but have never studied it…it is on my list…somewhere.
• “There are great and intrinsic defects in his character which make him unfit for the office of Chief Magistrate.” – Alexander Hamilton on John Adams, pg. 60.
• Lest we think that political name-calling is only for today, it has been going on for a long time.
• Hamilton’s eldest son had died in a duel, and so would Hamilton. – 61.
• Aaron Burr.
• When you see names like this it simply means the individuals were mentioned in the text and I would like to study them further at some juncture. In this manner a single book provides dozens or hundreds of leaping off points for further learning.
• Nicholas Biddle.
• “The violence of party…disgraces our country.” – Nicholas Biddle, 61.
• This commentary would become ironic in light of Biddle’s later endeavors to maintain the existence of the national bank at great cost to the government.
• “…as the fighting persisted [War of 1812] [President James] Madison succumbed to the temptation Hamilton had warned of and began printing unsupported paper money. Interest rates soared, investor confidence plunged, and the national accounts spun into confusion…about the time the British burned the Capitol and the White House, Madison concluded that Hamilton had been right regarding the need for a national bank, at least in time of crisis. Conveniently forgotten were the earlier Republican assertions, most notably by Madison himself, that a national bank contravened the Constitution.” – 63.
• “…in 1816 the second Bank of the United States was chartered.” – 64.
• “That it [the national bank] has been perverted to selfish purposes cannot be doubted. That it may, and must be renovated is equally certain.” – Nicholas Biddle, 64-65.
• “In 1819 the United States suffered its first full-blown financial panic.” – 65.
• “…the…struggle against the Indians of the West culminated in the destruction of nearly all aboriginal resistance to white settlement east of the Mississippi. The sudden availability of vast new reaches of territory, combined with the loose money left over from the war, fueled wild speculation in land. Prices rose and rose, becoming unsustainable…” – 66.
• “Solid figures on the overall shrinkage of the money supply are impossible to reconstruct, but the contraction of the liabilities of the Bank of the United States–from $22 million in the autumn of 1818 to $10 million at the beginning of 1820–is indicative.” – 66.
• “The depression that followed the panic prostrated large parts of the country. Banks folded; merchants liquidated; sailing ships sat idle; commercial buildings stood empty; farmers lost their land and homes. Tens of thousands of Americans took to the roads in vague hope of finding something better than the disaster they fled.” – 66.
• Chief Justice John Marshall.
• “For nearly two decades Marshall had defended and elaborated the Federalist vision of a strong central government.” – 67.
• “Many Republicans disputed Marshall’s interpretation, and decades would pass before the Supreme Court was generally accepted as the final arbiter of the Constitution.” – 68.
• The struggle revolving around a strong central government versus a loose association of states was an ongoing battle throughout the history of the country – resolved in some sense by the American Civil War, though the debate continues to this day.
• John Jacob Astor.
• “One measure of his [Nicholas Biddle] success was the reduction and eventual elimination of the monetary exchange rate between the different regions of the country.” – 70.
• IMHO, this is a pretty impressive achievement.
• “By the 1820s nearly all the old property qualifications for voting had disappeared, as new states entered the Union with constitutions based on the egalitarian rhetoric of the Declaration of Independence, and shamed the existing states into changing their rules. At the same time for similarly democratic reasons, state legislatures conferred the selection of presidential electors upon the people. The result was that presidential campaigns in the 1820s became popularity contests, with the victor the candidate most appealing to the largest number of adult white males.” – 70.
• I’d like to study further the differences between a democratic and republic government and the advantages/disadvantages of each.
• “[Andrew] Jackson adopted the position pioneered by that other general-turned-politician, George Washington, that a candidate’s actions should speak for themselves…As a result, when he assumed the presidency in 1829…he did so unburdened by promises or commitments to anything more specific than the national welfare, however he chose to define it.” – 72.
• I like this manner of achieving one’s ends…might our character speak louder than our words…and, oh that it could be true in our politics.
• “A strict constructionist, Jackson believed that Congress legitimately might charter a bank for the federal District of Columbia, but not for the rest of the country. That John Marshall had ruled otherwise didn’t impress him.” – 72.
• Henry Clay.
• “Presidential vetoes were rare in those early days but not unheard of…” – 73.
• Martin Van Buren.
• “We must endeavor to reach the understandings of our fellow citizens by the diffusion of correct views of a subject which is much misunderstood.” – Nicholas Biddle, concerning the bank, 75.
• Biddle paid newspapers thousands to publish articles written by the bank to promote the bank and also made payments to politicians. – 75.
• “I believe my retainer has not been renewed, or refreshed, as usual. If it be wished that my relation to the Bank should be continued, it may be well to send me the usual retainers.” – Daniel Webster, pp. 75-76.
• “…by way of a warning to the enemies of the Bank to keep hands off, Biddle arranged a contraction of credit in the West. It was there that antipathy for the Bank ran broadest and support for Jackson deepest. Biddle concealed his intentions in the matter, citing financial uncertainty as cause for calling in the loans. The effect wasn’t dramatic but it was unmistakable, as was Biddle’s point: that the Bank would defend itself, by harming its enemies if necessary.” – 76.
• Daniel Webster was oftentimes called by contemporaries the “God-like Daniel.” – 78.
• “[Thomas Hart] Benton’s alliance with Jackson [against the national bank] couldn’t have been predicted a decade earlier, when he and Jackson took opposite sides in a shooting brawl in Nashville. Jackson’s shoulder caught a bullet that spent years in his flesh before finally popping out…” – 79.
• From other reading I have done it appears Jackson was in a number of duels and shootouts and had several bullets jangling around in his body.
• “They lead to the abduction of its gold and silver. If notes are issued, they are payable at the branch bank and an adequate supply of gold and silver must be kept on hand to redeem them; but these orders being drawn on Philadelphia, the gold and silver of the state must be sent there to meet them.” – Thomas Hart Benton, 79.
• “When the renewed charter [for the national bank] is brought in for us to vote upon, I shall consider myself as voting upon a bill for the establishment of lords and commons in this America, and for the eventual establishment of a King!” – Thomas Hart Benton, 80.
• “I do not mean to say that he was directly bribed to give this vote. From the character he sustained and from what I knew of him, I think he would have resented any thing that he regarded as an attempt to corrupt him. But he wanted the money, and felt grateful for the favor. And perhaps he thought that an institution which was so useful to him, and had behaved with so much kindness, could not be injurious or dangerous to the public, and that it would be as well to continue it.” – Roger Taney, Attorney General for Jackson, pg. 80.
• Brands points out that Jackson on the other hand had a much stronger view – that some supporters of the bank in the political realm had been outright bribed.
• “Each public officer who takes an oath to support the Constitution swears that he will support it as he understands it, and not as it is understood by others. It is as much the duty of the House of Representatives, of the Senate, and of the President to decide upon the constitutionality of any bill or resolution which may be presented to them for passage or approval as it is of the supreme judges.” – Andrew Jackson, 81.
• Fascinating.
• “Jackson’s view of the Constitution and its interpretation was hardly unique at the time; the doctrine of judicial supremacy remained a conceit of John Marshall and a minority in America.” – 82.
• “…Jackson believed the Bank undermined democracy by creating a monopoly of money. Of the Bank’s twenty-five directors, only five were answerable to the people. The rest served the interests of capital.” – 82.
• “It is easy to conceive that great evils to our country and its institutions might flow from such a concentration of power in the hands of a few men irresponsible to the people.” – Andrew Jackson, 82.
• “Nor were the monopolists all Americans; almost a third of the stock of the Bank was owned by foreigners.” – 82.
• “Distinctions in society will always exist under every just government. Equality of talents, of education, or of wealth can not be produced by human institutions….But when the laws undertake to add to these natural and just advantages artificial distinctions, to grant title, gratuities, and exclusive privileges, to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful, the humble members of society–the farmers, mechanics, and laborers–who have neither the time nor the means of securing like favors to themselves, have a right to complain of the injustice of their Government. There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses. If it would confine itself to equal protection and, as Heaven does its rains, shower its favors alike on the high and the low, the rich and the poor, it would be an unqualified blessing.” – Andrew Jackson, pp. 82-83.
• “[Nicholas Biddle] paid to distribute [Henry] Clay’s speeches and provided other financial and logistical support.” – 84.
• See pg. 85ff for information on how Nicholas Biddle and the bank fought tooth and nail against Jackson by attempting to undermine the economy when Jackson attempted to close the bank and was in the end successful.
• This section is especially interesting and illuminative, but I’d have to copy entire pages if I were to do it justice…so you’ll have to get a copy of the book, sorry.
• “The mass of the people have more to fear from combinations of the wealthy and professional classes–from an aristocracy which through the influence of riches and talents, insidiously employed, sometimes succeeds in preventing political institutions, however well adjusted, from securing the freedom of the citizen.” – Andrew Jackson, speaking of the national bank, 87.
• This sounds a bit like what Occupy Wall Street’ers are saying today…
• “Biddle’s Bank had gained ‘almost entire dominion over the circulating medium, and with it, power to increase or diminish the price of property and to levy taxes on the people in the shape of premiums and interest.’ The Founders had fought to free Americans from such arbitrary rule. To continue the fight was the current generation’s ‘sacred duty.’” – 87.
• “The worthy President thinks that because he has scalped Indians…he is to have his way with the Bank. He is mistaken….He may as well send at once and engage lodgings in Arabia.” – Nicholas Biddle, 90.
• “Biddle’s willingness and ability to ravage the economy confirmed Jackson’s judgment of the malignant irresponsibility of the moneyed class. It was precisely this power of the Bank that had determined Jackson to destroy it. And he remained determined to do so, regardless of the pain the destruction produced.” – 90.
• “Were all the worshipers of the golden calf to memorialise me and request a restoration of the deposits I would cut my right hand from my body before I would do such an act. The golden calf may be worshiped by others, but as for myself I will serve the Lord…My conscience told me it was right to stop the career of this destroying monster. I took the step fearlessly, believing it a duty I owed to my God and my country.” – Andrew Jackson, 90.
• I’d like to study more about Jackson’s spiritual life…what was his religion? How did he reconcile his dangerous dueling habits with Christianity?
• “Relief, sir! Come not to me, sir! Go to the monster!…Go to Nicholas Biddle. We have no money here….Biddle has all the money. He has millions of specie in his vaults at this moment, lying idle, and yet you come to me to save you from breaking….It is folly, sir, to talk to Andrew Jackson. The government will not bow to the monster.” – Andrew Jackson, to a spokesman for an assembly of “six thousand bankers, brokers, and merchants requesting relief”, 91.
• “The Bank, Mr. Van Buren, is trying to kill me but I will kill it!” – Andrew Jackson, pg. 91.
• “The congressional campaign of 1834 was the stormiest in memory. In Philadelphia mobs rioted against the Bank and against Biddle, forcing the Bank chief to barricade himself in his home, surrounded by armed guards. He and his family survived, but the Whigs–as the party of capital now called itself–almost did not.” – 91.
• “Jackson’s defeat of Biddle and the Bank restored what the Jacksonians hoped would be democratic control of the money supply, but in fact it left the money supply even more at the mercy of the capitalists than before. The hundreds of state banks, now freed of the oversight of the Bank of the United States, issued bank notes profligately, producing speculative bubbles in all manner of commodities and property. Jackson could do nothing about most of the speculation, but he could curb that in land, and he did so by issues a ‘specie circular’ in July 1836 directing federal officers to accept only gold and silver in exchange for public lands….The measure dampened the speculation in land, but it simultaneously disordered the money system.” – 92-93.
• I like how Brands seems even-handed. He points out the bad points of both sides – where the hopeful endeavors of each side fail miserably – and in this I think he provides us with significant insight into current discussions.
• “The crusade against banks and the discrimination at the Land Offices between specie and bank paper has not been without its effect on the less intelligent part of our population,” Biddle declared. He couldn’t help gloating at the Democrats’ discomfiture, even though it devastate the economy and threatened to swamp his own bank.” – 94.
• “Biddle retired in 1839, claiming ill health but secretly planning a candidacy for president.” – 94.
• William Henry Harrison.
• “He [Nicholas Biddle] suffered another blow when his old bank collapsed amid scandal in 1841.” – 95.

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Image of Alexander Hamilton via Wikipedia

Yesterday I dropped by the Sunday Breakfast Gospel Mission’s Thift Store (in Penndel, PA). As usual, they had a large quantity of excellent books to select from and I purchased a few (at $.50 each!). One was H.W. Brands‘ The Money Men. As of late, in part due to the economic turmoil, I have been fascinated by the economic and monetary systems, and attempting to understand how they work. So, I jumped right in and what a fascinating read it is! I’ve only finished the prologue and the first chapter – but already it has had so many insightful historical observations.

As I read through printed books I highlight, write in the margins, circle, asterisk, and so on. I then (sometimes) go back and digitize these notes so that I can refer to them later and search them quickly with the power of the computer. I did this for the prologue and first chapter but found myself moving only what I consider the most intriguing points into my digital document – which I have provided along with some commentary below^[1]. I hope you find this as entertaining and informative as I have…and I’d recommend grabbing a copy of the book or giving it to anyone you know who enjoys history, politics, or economics. Amazon has copies in both hard cover and digital (Kindle) formats.

Prologue:

• “For the first five generations of America’s independent history–from 1776 till the eve of World War I–a single question vexed American politics and the American economy more persistently than any other…The question was the money question.” – 15.
• “This period encompassed the emergence of the two institutions that made modern America what it is today: democracy and capitalism. From the start an inherent tension existed between the two. The driving force of democracy is equality, of capitalism inequality.” – 16.

1. The Aristocracy of Capital.

• Alexander Hamilton, born illegitimate, wrote a friend at thirteen, “I wish there was a war.” – 19.
• Yes, I do sometimes pick the strangest tidbits out.
• “…Hamilton contended that economics ruled the world, eventually if not at once.” – 21.
• George Washington.
• I include in my underlining individuals who I’d like to study more about at some juncture. I may have studied them in the past, but this reminds me to study them again or more extensively in the future. In this way each book provides dozens of jumping off points for further reading.
• “He [Hamilton] fought int he unsuccessful defense of New York…and in Washington’s retreat across New Jersey.” – 21.
• Hamilton is well known for his political endeavors, but at least I was not cognizant of his military endeavors as well. He was apparently quite courageous in battle.
• “He [Hamilton] learned to anticipate his superior’s wishes and to supply them better than anyone else, till he became Washington’s de facto chief of staff.” – 22.
• “Armies in those days took winters off from fighting. Hamilton had time to visit friends and court the ladies.” – 23.
• I find the daily life of folks in the past fascinating. e.g. how did they eat, work, romance, worship?
• “Money is an essential ingredient to happiness in this world….As I have not much of my own, and as I am very little calculated to get more either by my address or industry, it must needs be that my wife, if I get one, bring at least a sufficiency to administer to her own extravagances.” – Alexander Hamilton, 23.
• I wonder if Hamilton ever told his wife about this requirement?
• “The colonial policy of the British government reflected the prevailing mercantilist notion that wealth consisted of gold and silver and that these must be hoarded in the home country. The consequence was colonial starvation for money.” – 24.
• “A national bank was the answer [though Hamilton]. Such a bank could float loans in the form of notes that would circulate as currency, but the extent of the loans would depend on the solid assets–chiefly gold and silver–at the bank’s disposal.” – 26.
• Our currency no longer rests upon any solid asset – gold and silver being removed from involvement some number of years ago.
• Benedict Arnold.
• How could one not be interested in studying Arnold? He was a hero for the Revolution at the Battle of Saratoga, and then turned coat!
• “Elizabeth’s [Hamilton’s wife] wealth freed him from mundane matters of livelihood and let him concentrate on winning fame.” – 29.
• Benjamin Franklin.
• John Adams.
• Thomas Jefferson.
• James Madison.
• “…Hamilton’s [Continental] congressional service was brief and frustrating.” – 30.
• “In June 1783 an angry band of Continental Army soldiers who hadn’t been paid in months surrounded the Philadelphia hall where Congress was meeting. They didn’t exactly threaten mayhem against the delegates, but the latter got the point.” – 30.
• Sounds similar to Occupy Wall Street and other national protest movements?
• Robert Morris.
• “In the 1780s the American economy rested on the twin pillars of agriculture and trade (manufacturing was minuscule as yet).” – 32.
• “The merchants, many being creditors, supported a stronger currency–one that drove prices down and thereby enhanced the value of the debts they were owed. The farmers, most being debtors, analogously wanted a weaker currency and the inflation it entailed. The merchants won out and in several states imposed deflationary policies.” – 32.
• “The farmers then demanded stay laws to prevent the seizure of their farms for nonpayment of debts. When the legislature rejected this too, the farmers took matters into their own battle-tested hands. Daniel Shays led hundreds of other Revolutionary War veterans against the courts of western Massachusetts and forcibly suspended foreclosures and the prosecution of debtors.” – 32.
• Something similar occurred in the area I was raised – Berne, Knox, Westerlo, and so on…There is a book on the topic entitled Tin Horns and Calico.
• James Bowdoin.
• “Hamilton believed the current crisis demanded the creation of the strongest possible central government, which in turn required both that the central government gain power relative to the states and that the national executive be free of popular restraint.” – 34.
• It is easy to forget that the arguments about a strong central government versus a weak one are not new…I sometimes do.
• Hamilton proposed “The American executive should be elected for life.” – 34.
• “Government bonds made investors of those who bought them, and investors naturally looked out for their investments. These were precisely the sort who ought to be looking out for the federal government. ‘Those who are most commonly creditors of a nation are, generally speaking, enlightened men,’ Hamilton asserted.” – 40.
• I’d never heard this argument before…and I ponder how much it holds true. In one sense, I can see it still being true. Foreign countries do not want the United States to fail in order to maintain their investment value (as they have invested heavily in the USA)…on the other hand, this would also appear a significant instrument in war – calling debts due in order to destabilize an enemy country?
• Hamilton believed in a national bank because “It was too much to ask of human nature to expect politicians to raise taxes when they could simply print more money.” – Ward speaking here, not Hamilton, 41.
• Another interesting reason for a national bank…I understand what Hamilton is saying, but I’m not sure how this applied to his ideas, since the money (at that point) was to be tied to the reserves of silver and gold – so it would not have been possible to just keep printing money?
• James Jackson.
• Benjamin Rush.
• William Maclay.
• “[William] Maclay was convinced members of Congress were betting heavily on the bonds. ‘Henceforth we may consider speculation as a congressional employment.’” – 45.
• “The southern states, dominated by planters with their feet firmly in the soil, considered themselves more fiscally responsible than their northern neighbors, where capitalists frolicked in the bustling cities.” – 46.
• I’m not sure much has changed on this front…though this might be more around cities versus rural?
• Adam Smith (Wealth of Nations).
• “Banks were relatively new to America. The first, the Bank of Pennsylvania, hadn’t been founded till 1780, and at the time of Hamilton’s writing, only three banks existed. Banks were mysterious institutions that swallowed specie and regurgitated paper. This by itself made them objects of popular suspicion. The fact that bankers got rich in the process, without doing anything that looked like work to the large majority of Americans who bent and sweated for their living, made the banks seem more suspicious still.” – 49.
• “As useful as gold and silver were when circulated as money, they were essentially dead–unable to multiply–compared to what they became when deposited or invested in a bank.” – 49.
• This is an interesting idea, but one which I still don’t entirely understand. I guess one can easily divide paper notes, but not so easily silver or gold…but still, they are divisible, no?
• “The beauty of a bank was that its paper issues were–or would be, under Hamilton’s scheme–tied to its supply of specie. Only by increasing its reserves could the bank expand the money it circulated.” – 51.
• “If the abuses of a beneficial thing are to determine its condemnation, there is scarcely a source of public prosperity which will not be speedily closed.” – Alexander Hamilton, 52.
• This is a powerful thought. I think we are on dangerous ground whenever we decide not to pursue a course of action simply b/c that course could potentially lead us “down the slippery slope.” I don’t think there is or ever can be a guarantee against the slippery slope – the passing of the baton between generations always involves the potential for the slope to slip.
• “Much of the agrarian South now deemed his bank a plot by the capitalist North to make the federal government its plaything.” – 53.
• Hmm…Wish he had some footnotes on what the thinking was before/during/after the American Civil War in the South?
• “James Madison…portray[ed] the bank as unconstitutional. Madison reminded the House that the Tenth Amendment–which he had drafted, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights–declared that those powers not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution were reserved ‘to the states respectively or the people.’” – 53.
• Madison was an advocate of stronger central government, having written the Federalist papers with Hamilton which were circulated to garner popular support for a stronger federal government.
• “George Washington asked [Thomas] Jefferson whether he agreed that Hamilton’s bank was unconstitutional. The secretary of state [Jefferson] said he did.” – 53-4.
• “A little difference in the degree of convenience cannot constitute the necessity which the Constitution makes the ground for assuming any non-enumerated power. Nothing but a necessity invincible by any other means can justify such a prostration of laws which constitute the pillars of our whole system of jurisprudence.” – Thomas Jefferson, 54.
• “It [Hamilton’s bill] passed both the Senate and the House with relative ease, but partly because many legislators saw it as a way to make a personal profit. Thirty members of Congress–more than a third of the total membership, and half of those who voted in favor–became charter shareholders. This hardly surprised the strict-construction [a method of interpreting the constitution] opponents of the bank.” – 55.

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• What did Alexander Hamilton think will happen if the Constitution is not ratified (wiki.answers.com)
• Constitution Controversy in 1787 (socyberty.com)
• The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp – W.H. Davies (biblioklept.org)

1. ^[1] no, I don’t usually provide any extensive commentary in my personal digital notes ↩

Cover via Amazon

Introduction

I don’t read a lot of fiction…well, let me rephrase that…I read a lot of fiction but not when compared to the amount of non-fiction. I’m always looking for a good fiction read to relax with – and share with my wonderful wife (Charity). When it comes to fiction I’m fairly picky. While I read widely in my childhood and teen years when it came to fiction I’ve since significantly refined my tastes.

Unfortunately, I find it fairly difficult to find good fiction books, so when I find one I want to share it. It is my humble opinion that every individual should seek to maintain a supply of recreational materials (e.g. books, movies, other venues) which they can utilize whenever the need arises. Recently I found another work (and author) to add to my list.

The Awakened is the freshman endeavor by Jason Tesar and is a three-part trilogy. I have only finished the first book (and am currently blazing through the second) – but I’ve read enough to know that I love it!

Synopsis

I prefer not to know much about the storyline from the books I am about to read. For those who are like me here are a few key themes that may peak your interest: ancient, nephilim, angels, mythology, parallel worlds (maybe?), action, intrigue, ethics. For those who are interested in a real synopsis, here is the description from Jason Tesar’s page:

“THE HISTORY: Over five thousand years ago, a renegade faction of angels abandoned the spiritual realm and began their inhabitation of earth. Worshiped as gods for their wisdom and power, they corrupted the realm of the physical and forever altered the course of history.
THE PROPHECY: Amidst the chaos of a dying world, a lone voice foretold the awakening of a warrior who would bring an end to this evil perpetrated against all of creation. But with the cataclysmic destruction of earth and rebirth of humanity, the prophecy went unfulfilled and eventually faded from the memory of our kind—until now!
THE AWAKENED: The physical dimension is fractured. What remain now are numerous fragmented worlds moving simultaneously through time, sharing a common history, connected only by a guarded portal. On a parallel earth, in the city of Bastul, Colonel Adair Lorus disappears while investigating the death of an informant, triggering a series of events which will tear his family apart and set in motion the resolution of an ancient struggle.
Kael, sentenced to death after rising up against the cruel leadership of his new step-father, is rescued from prison and trained in the arts of war by a mystical order of clerics. Excelling in every aspect of his training, Kael inwardly struggles to give himself fully to the methods of his new family, or the god they worship.
Maeryn, bitter over the disappearance of her husband and supposed execution of her son, fears for her life at the hands of her newly appointed husband. Finding comfort and purpose in her unborn child, she determines to undermine his authority by reaching out to an underground social movement known as the Resistance.
After being forced from his home, Kael’s former mentor, Saba, uncovers a clue to Adair’s disappearance. Sensing a connection to his own forgotten past, Saba begins an investigation which leads to the discovery of a secret military organization operating within the Orudan Empire.
In book one of his debut series, Jason Tesar delves into the heart of an ancient legend, embarking on an epic saga that will journey from earth’s mythological past to its post-apocalyptic future, blending the genres of fantasy, sci-fi, and military/political suspense.”

Review

Jason Tesar has a great future as an author – if his works continue to maintain the quality and innovation of The Awakened. The novels offer consistently quality wordmanship, a compelling storyline, intriguing mysteries, and a sweet balance of story progression and parallel threads^[1]

Tesar’s work is likely to appeal to a wide variety of readers. His works should attract fans of C.S. Lewis‘ Chronicles of Narnia and Space Trilogy. They may also attract fans of J.R.R. Tolkien, though the works are not in the strict fantasy realm, being much more along the lines of Lewis’ Space Trilogy. More contemporaneously, I would recommend Tesar’s works to fans of Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child, Michael Crichton, James Rollins, Frank Peretti, Ted Dekker, and Tosca Lee.

If you like cerebral, action-packed page-turners – Tesar’s work should immediately hit the top of your reading list. I’m really excited at the quantity of work Tesar is turning out and optimistic that he will continue to deliver the quality of work he has demonstrated thus far.

Ohh, and did I mention the books are available for $2.99 for the Amazon Kindle and even better the first book is free!?!

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1. ^[1] Many authors abuse parallel threads to offer ‘page-turning’ suspense instead of real suspense. The flipping between threads is done to force the reader to turn the pages, in an endeavor to get back to another thread in the story…to get to those threads which advance the story. Tesar uses parallel threads but not to create this forced reading experience, but as a means of advancing the story and maintaining a complex and thrilling plot. ↩

Cover via Amazon

If you are a member of a local library it is likely that library provides you with remote access to a number of electronic resources – one of which may be Overdrive. Overdrive is a digital collection of audio books and ebooks you can download to your computer and listen to/read, as long as you have a library card with a participating library. The Bucks County Free Libraries, where I am a cardholder, offers this service. Its easy and free.

I figured I’d compile a quick list of some of the volumes I think look fairly fascinating…perhaps this will encourage others to take advantage of this nifty resource. =)

• Palfrey, John. Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives.
• Krakuer, John. Into the Wild. – This has since been made into a popular movie of the same name.
• Bryson, Bill. A Short History of Nearly Everything.
• Rigby, Rhymer. 28 Business Thinkers Who Changed the World.
• Leman, Kevin. How to Have a New Teenager by Friday. – On parenting teenagers.
• Kessler, Ronald. The Secrets of the FBI.
• Mortenson, Greg. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations…One School at a Time.
• Eide, Brock L. The Dyslexic Advantage.
• Marx, Karl. The Communist Manifesto.
• Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City. – The 1893 World’s Fair and a serial killer.
• Larson, Erick. In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin.
• Eagleman, Dave. Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain.
• Huckabee, Mike. A Simple Government.
• Allen, Paul. Idea Man: A Memoir by the Cofounder of Microsoft.
• Van Dyke, Dick. My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business: A Memoir.
• Schickel, Richard. Clint Eastwood: A Biography.
• Marable, Manning. Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention.
• Hallowell, Edward M. Worry: Hope and Help for a Common Condition.
• Greene, Brian. The Hidden Reality.
• Sounes, Howard. Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney.
• Morris, Edmund. Colonel Roosevelt.
• Irwin, William. House and Philosophy: Everybody Lies.
• McGilligan, Patrick. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light.
• Wiesel, Elie. All Rivers Run to the Sea: A Memoir.
• Wiesel, Elie. And the Sea is Never Full.
• Bryson, Bill. At Home: An Informal History of Private Life.
• Washburn, Kim. Breaking Through By Grace: The Bono Story.
• Glasser, William. Choice Theory: A New Psychology of Personal Freedom.
• Bush, George W. Decision Points.
• Hersh, Burton. Edward Kennedy: An Intimate Biography.
• Zimmer, Carl. Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea.
• Hawking, Stephen. The Grand Design.
• Korda, Michael. Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia.
• Stiles, T.J. Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War.
• Sorensen, Ted. Kennedy: The Classic Biography.
• Wang, Dora Calott. The Kitchen Sink: A Psychiatrist’s Reflections on Healing in a Changing World.
• Smiley, Jane. The Man Who Invented the Computer.
• Hawking, Stephen. The Nature of Space and Time.
• Farrell, Chris. The New Frugality.
• Bojowald, Martin. Once Before Time: A Whole Story of the Universe.
• O’Brien, Cormac. Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents.
• Bryson, Bill. Seeing Further: The Story of Science and the Royal Society.
• Cappello, Mary. Swallow.
• Wolf, Fred A. Taking the Quantum Leap.
• Krakauer, John. Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman.
• Cohan, William. The House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street.
• Burrough, Bryan. Public Enemies.
• Maxwell, John C. How Successful People Think.
• Cullen, Dave. Columbine.
• White Jr., Ronald C. A. Lincoln: A Biography.
• Holmes, Richard. The Age of Wonder.
• Kennedy, Edward M. True Compass: A Memoir.
• Pollan, Michael. Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual.
• Brooks, Michael. 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense.
• Small, Gary. The Naked Lady Who Stood On Her Head.
• Weil, Andrew. You Can’t Afford to Get Sick.
• Monahan, John. They Called Me Mad.
• Chernow, Ron. Washington: A Life.

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One of the leading evangelical theologians and philosophers of contemporary times was Francis Schaeffer. His son, Frank Schaeffer, was once a leader in the evangelical movement along with his father Francis but has since distanced himself from the evangelical movement. Crazy for God is Schaeffer’s raw memoir of life as a Schaeffer. The volume is sure to offend many on a number of levels:

• There is a steady stream of strong profanities throughout the work, mainly as utilized by Frank.
• There is a steady focus on Frank’s sexual escapades – which were frequent – and a hefty focus on his obsession with ogling the opposite gender.
• Frank portrays his mother (Edith) as controlling, perfectionistic, demeaning, and self-centered. Not a flattering portrait for one of the leading female evangelical figures.
• Frank portays his father (Francis) as depressed, physically abusive, suicidal, demeaning of fellow evangelical leaders, and questioning of his own faith.

Some will be disappointed by Francis Schaeffer’s breaks with traditional evangelicism while others will be elated. For example, Schaeffer believed that homosexuality was a physiological/biological issue rather than primarily a sin issue. While he didn’t support homosexual relations he also didn’t believe that salvation would cure one of homosexuality.

He also was privately frustrated with the actions of numerous well-known evangelical leaders such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. Depending on where you sit, this is either a positive or negative to Schaeffer’s ledger.

I’d recommend the volume as a worthwhile read to anyone who is serious about honestly evaluating their life. The work can be either overwhelmingly depressing or an opportunity to consider the junctures at which evangelicalism has gone astray, and more importantly, how we as individuals are perhaps perpetuating sin in our midst that fosters hatred toward the gospel.

Not that this was why Frank wrote the book – nor what one will necessarily draw from the book. Rather, one has to be intentional in reading the volume to use it for positive purposes – for it certainly can push us into a cynical perspective which I think offers little hope or opportunity for the future of the gospel.

For those who choose to read the volume, here are a few guiding thoughts that I found helpful while reading the book and hope may be of use to you as well:

Frank Has Deep Wounds.

Frank doesn’t hide the wounds he has received throughout his life – many at the hands of his parents (figuratively). As someone who has been deeply injured at times by others I could empathize with Frank’s woundedness…but also recognized the ways in which my woundedness affects what I say and write and how Frank’s woundedness likely affected his writings.

When we are deeply hurt it is the hurt that bubbles over and spills around. As time passes we gain perspective and the ability to reflect and bubble over some of the better aspects of broken relationships – but the hurt is what has the deepest well and seems to flow unceasing.

Frank’s portrayal of his father demonstrates both a deep love and respect for him as well as a deep injury. It provides keen insight into who Francis Schaeffer was but also fails to portray Schaeffer as he was. I think Frank acknowledges this within his book and interviews following the book. He is portraying his subjective experiences, which provide insight into the complete reality – but must be considered one component in creating a complete portrait.

Hope in God, Not Man.

Frank’s book can make one feel like evangelicism is all a sham. Similar exposes can do the same in almost any sector – political, religious, and so on. Yet the issue exposed here is not God’s failure, but rather God’s faithfulness to a broken people. Crazy for God in many ways reflects the same story as is found in Scripture. Who was the man after God’s own heart? King David. Yet, compared to David, Schaeffer looks like a saint!

That said, the deeper theological issue which concerns us is why the believer’s life is not more transformed by God. Why do we continue to struggle with the depression, the anger, the self-centeredness, the pride even after we are saved? Is the Spirit of God impotent? I suspect that the answer to this question for now is faith. I would like to answer it and believe developing theories in systems theory and so on provide remarkable insight, but that our human intelligence is incapable of understanding the manifold and infinite ways in which God is intimately involved in and working through His creation…but I have faith that God is not impotent, that He is able, and that He is moving.

Self-Depreciation as Excuse.

Some years ago I began sharing more openly a number of my struggles – including that I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Major Depressive Episodes and Dysthymia. At first I felt proud (and received with cheery heart applause) that I was courageous enough to share my weaknesses. As time passed I realized that while the better part of me was sharing to provide transparency, to encourage others that to struggle is not to be worthless, that there is hope, and so on that on the lower part of me there was the desire to excuse and explain my failures. To push my weaknesses off as not my own.

There is something self-preserving about explaining why we are the way we are. I think it is oftentimes healthy. There is no use pretending we can live up to others expectations. Schaeffer’s book has a good bit of self-depreciation and blatant honesty thrown in. As with everyone, I am sure he struggles between the higher and lower calls of his nature.

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• Beliefs: Son of Evangelical Royalty Turns His Back, and Tells the Tale (nytimes.com)
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• Christianism – And Its Defenders (andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com)

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The Authors’ Guild is suing a number of well-known universities for copyright violations – partially associated with the universities’ attempts to determine “orphaned works” and to make them freely available to students. These are works for which the status of the copyright for any number of reasons (e.g. it is unclear whether the copyright was renewed, if the work was every copyrighted, to whom the copyright belongs, and so on) is unknown. These works are not going to be your best-sellers or your most recent books (generally) rather they will be niche volumes, many of which are out-of-print.

IMHO, I understand the Authors’ Guild to hand over the decision of what books are “orphaned” to the Universities – setting a precedent which it might later regret…but I also think the unavailability of orphaned works is a great shame. There are massive numbers of works not making any significant revenue for anyone and with uncertain copyright status which are currently unavailable…something should be done about this.

I’d suggest that the Authors’ Guild attempt to reach an agreement with Universities to establish an independent review panel. This review panel could consist of representatives from both educational and authoring/publishing concerns as well as various other independent observers which would determine the status of orphaned works and also provide a method for removing works are later found not to be orphaned from the digitization archives as necessary.

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