Did They Really Say That?!?

Mary, by her spiritual entering into the sacrifice of her Divine Son for men, made atonement for the sins of men, and (de congruo) merited the application of the redemptive grace of Christ. In this manner she co-operates in the subjective redemption of mankind.

Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, p.213.

Again I have to ask, where is this in Scripture? Christ made atonement for the sins of mankind, Mary did NOT! Roman Catholics make Mary into a god.

Agglomeration

The Good - For Education and/or Edification

How Churches Lose the Plot and End Up Liberal.

Are there apostles and prophets today?

No, the communion wafer is NOT the flesh of Christ, regardless of what Francis Chan says.

HMMMM

Tongue-speaking Mormons.  Just shows that “tongues” with charismatics are just as false.

More Wolves and False Teachings

All you need to know about false teacher Michael Brown. There is NOTHING Biblical about his theology.

A review of a book examining the descent of the Episcopal Church into total apostasy.

Francis Chan has gone full-blown heretic. Here’s a good response to Chan (I disagree with Calvinism, but the history explained in this article is very interesting).

The Anglican Church continues its deep dive into total apostasy.

One of my readers felt that the link to the video of Abi Stumvoll at Bethel Reading didn’t properly represent the particular teaching in that it left out a sentence: It sounds like she is saying God can be like the puss explosion. I went to the longer 30 minute version. She is saying God is like the heat. At around 1:20 or so, [here] is the excerpted version.

And, [here] at 8:35 in the original, she says that God is like the heat. Big difference.

The reader agreed that it is a “terrible ‘sermon’” and even noted that the Stumvolls are “tight” with William P. Young, the author of the heretical book, The Shack. For my part, I didn’t give a whole lot of thought to the “puss explosion” because the whole segment was awful. But when you put a woman teaching the assembly in a church which teaches lots of heresy, let alone aberration ideas, then this is what you can expect.

Beth Moore continues her false teachings, now attacking John MacArthur.

Aside from being a heretic, the Pope is a complete disgrace to any semblance of the Christian faith.

I’ve warned before about Max Lucado’s touchy-feely theology. This is what you get with that kind of theology. This is the guy who praised the “Son of God” movie, who promotes heretic Christine Caine, preached at Joel Osteen’s goat pen, and took part in the “Be Still” video.  Another look at the situation, a bit more in depth.

The Jehovah of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The dangers of “charismatic conditioning.” Todd White and his ilk are such horrid false teachers! And Francis Chan is doing his best to emulate them.

This is what happens when you attend an apostate church.

Did They Really Say That?!?

From that great treasure of all graces, which the Lord has brought, nothing, according to the will of God comes to us except through Mary, so that, as nobody can approach the Supreme Father except through the Son, similarly nobody can approach Christ except through the Mother.

Pope Leo XIII, Rosary Encyclical “Octobri mense” (1891)

Why can we not find this claim about Mary in the Bible? This says that unless we go through Mary, we cannot be saved. This is rank HERESY!.

Did They Really Say That?!?

Furthermore we declare, state, define, and pronounce that it is altogether necessary to salvation for every human creature to be subject to the Roman pontiff.

Pope Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam (1302 A.D.)

So if one refuses to accept subjection to the Pope, he cannot be saved? Please show me this from Scripture.

Marriage and Contraception

The topic of this post is a wee bit off the normal apologetic posts, but it is indeed apologetics in that it is about refuting Roman Catholic abuse of Scripture on a serious issue.

About 35 years ago I was having a discussion with a fellow employee who was Roman Catholic. He was trying to covert me to Roman Catholicism so I was doing my best to demonstrate the errors of the RCC.  For ease of communication we ended up writing commentaries back and forth and then trade them at work. I thought I had thrown out the whole file but a couple weeks ago, while digging into some old paperwork, I came across my copy of the two pages I wrote to contradict the RCC ideas about marital sexual relations and contraception—including that every act of sexual intercourse should be open to conception. I decide to share this information, hence this article which is copied verbatim except I will put quotations from Catholic sources in blue. Any necessary commentary to give the context will be in brackets.

======================

Purpose of Marriage:

Gen. 2 is an in-depth account of how man was created. Before woman was created Gen. 2:18 gives the primary purpose for marriage: “It is not good for man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Companionship came before “Be fruitful and multiply.” 

I do not think 1 Cor. 7:2 has a bearing since it was written thousands of years after the purpose of marriage was established.

Matt.19:9 says “except for immorality,” suggesting divorce then is all right and marriage again is not adultery! That’s what I read from the context. I agree with the Greek Orthodox Church. Additionally, the staunch Catholic stance against divorce is hypocritical when they have the same thing in “annulment.”  A couple could be married for 30 years when one wants a separation over something “illegal” in Catholic theology and suddenly they were never married and both can be remarried.

Catholic Catechism:

By specifying onanism (p.371) it is obvious the Catholic doctrine against a “natural” birth control method (i.e. withdrawal) stems from Gen. 38:9-10. The problem is that this is a specific incident where Onan did not want to do his duty because he knew it would not be his child. This was not what God wanted for him (Onan), not a policy to be established for all.

Contraception is not comparable to abortion (although abortion is used for that purpose) or infanticide because you have not taken a life, only prevented its conception.

The Popes have a right to their opinion and that is precisely what the anti-contraceptive doctrine is. That opinion is not divinely ordained! Their ideology is that the sex act is to be used only for childbirth, hence abstinence is great if children are unwanted. But abstinence itself can be considered unnatural within marriage.

“The conjugal act is of its very nature designed for” sexual pleasure between married persons [vs only childbearing]. If the orgasmic pleasure were not part of the sexual experience, people would still mate when children were desired. While it’s true that a man normally reaches his climax during intercourse, I have read in numerous places that women frequently are unable to reach a climax through intercourse alone. That tells me that God wanted man to spend time in loving his wife to give her as much pleasure as he derives from the experience. This is not necessary if all that is desired is conception, and for the most part the women would be left out of it pleasure-wise. Lest you say that is the reason love is part of conception, this can be true while at the same time it is apparent that there are two distinct purposes for sexual intercourse: love and procreation. While love does not have to end in procreation, nor should it always, procreation should definitely begin with love.

Many other sexual activities such as oral sex or mutual manual stimulation to orgasm are nowhere proscribed in the scriptures yet do not result in conception, while at the same time are quite natural activities. It can be said then that they are methods of contraception! Withdrawal or condoms, neither of which add to the system by way of “magic potions” or harm the body in any way, cannot be considered unnatural, shameful or immoral.

Merely having the authority to teach morals does not allow the making up of moral standards. Authority can be, and is, abused by those endowed with it.

What about women who can have children only at the risk of losing their own life? If they opt for sterilization or contraception, is it wrong? Are they not allowed to enjoy marriage at its fullest because they may get pregnant and die? “Natural” contraception the Catholic way is not 100% sure and therefore prohibitive in this instance. Should the husband then get an annulment since he can’t consummate the marriage? Or is that something they just forego because of their love for God?

Why should there always be two functions of marital intercourse? What’s wrong with just the unitive function that was so obviously intended for pleasure?  What about when the couple are no longer in childbearing years—are they to no longer have sexual relations because they aren’t open to conception? 

Pleasure within a loving relationship does not necessarily translate into selfishness [as noted in the information provide to me]. That is merely an opinion by someone abusing authority. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but I do not recall reading anywhere in the scriptures where it says a married couple are not to enjoy themselves unless they leave it open for conception. This is such a vital issue that I believe Jesus would have specifically mentioned it.  It therefore seems to be a matter of personal philosophy, not divine rules for living.

The rhythm method is a way allowed for contraception solely because it is “natural.” What hypocrisy! It still interferes with procreation in the strictest sense in that you are choosing when to have intercourse. That is not any more natural than using a condom, or any more natural than using withdrawal. Contraception by any other name…….

What the Church says is that contraception is all right — “our way.” Rhythm doesn’t prove a “truly and praiseworthy love” — it only proves you don’t want children. It is self-righteous garbage to say one way of contraception is selfless love while another way is sin. Both interfere with nature in its strictest sense.

I believe you adequately presented the Catholic Church’s stance and reasons for its anti-contraceptive stance. However, I feel I have presented just as good a case for the “natural” contraceptive practices of withdrawal and condoms (especially the made of natural material vs rubber, etc).

One last item to mention on this subject. As mentioned in some of the material, there are many reasons for not wanting children in a marriage, the primary one of which seems to be financial considerations. To deny someone the right to marriage without children is unnatural. The PRIMARY PURPOSE, as noted in Gen. 2:18, is for companionship; full, loving, intimate companionship. This is what God so obviously intended. If children were the primary reason, there would be no need to make two sexes. God could have made mankind hermaphrodite and let him populate the world by himself!

I do not object to abstinence outside of marriage; not being married demands chastity, as so many times demanded by scripture! 

You can find a more thorough examination of the topic of contraception in my article, Is Contraception Unbiblical? (i.e. Sinful?)

Warfare Prayer

Warfare prayer is without a shred of support in the Old Testament, and is specifically prohibited in the New (2 Pet. 2:10-12; Jude 8-10). Then again, nothing is lost in rejecting this technique, because we do not need to defeat Satan.. Christ has defeated him already, and will one day destroy him. He needs no help, which is certainly a relief, because mortals could provide none if it were necessary. Our role is to proclaim Christ boldly, cast out demons as they manifest, resist temptation at all times, and stand fast in persecution. That gives us all we can handle, and sometimes more.

Chuck Lowe, Territorial Spirits and World Evangelisation? Pg.144

Islam

I have discovered that the vast majority of people in the world have no real understanding of Islam (except for the Muslims themselves), thinking that for the most part they are just another religion with some “radicals” who are abusing the religion to commit terrorism.

The truth is that Islam has always been about terrorism, with the goal of conquering the world for Islam. The so-called “radicals” are the true face of Islam. Muslim doctrine says they are to pretend to be peaceful until they are in a position of power and then they will begin jihad.  If you have any doubts as to the true face of Islam, just take a look at Europe since they have let Muslim “refugees” invade.

I have studied Islam ever since “9/11,” and the books noted below are what I have read and that are still on my bookshelf (others I’ve read I have passed on).

A good source for keeping up-to-date with Muslim attacks around the world is the “Geller Report,” by Pamela Geller. Go to the very bottom of the page (past all the advertisements, etc) and subscribe to the email daily news letter.

I’ve read the Qur’an and found it to be one scary book of doctrines of murder and rape, etc. It’s difficult reading because it is not in chronological order. If you are interested in the book, I’d recommend reading about it instead so that you can easily understand it. I recommend the following: 

The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran, by Robert Spencer

What Every American Needs to Know About the Qur’an, by William J. Federer

As for learning about Islam in general, its history and teachings, I recommend the following (if you only want to read one book, read the one I’ve printed in bold red):

Behind the Veil: Unmasking Islam, by Abd El Schafi

The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS, by Robert Spencer

Islam and Terrorism, by Mark A. Gabriel, Ph.D.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), by Robert Spencer

Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, by Raymond Ibrahim.

The Truth About Muhammad, by Robert Spencer

Unveiling Islam, by Ergun Mehmet Caner and Emir Fethi Caner

When it comes to the claims about the “Palestinian” conflict, about which side is in the right (Israel), then I recommend these: 

The Origin of the Palestine-Israel Conflict, by Jews for Justice in the Middle East

Big Lies: Demolishing the Myths of the Propaganda War Against Israel, by David Meir-Levi

Unholy War: America, Israel and Radical Islam, by Randall Price

One other valuable publication which teaches about how Muslim women are treated is Women In Islam, by P. Newton and M. Rafiqul Haqq.  You can also read this booklet on line.

Finally, if you have an occasion to be able to speak about the Gospel with Muslims, here are two recommended resources:

Answering Islam, by Norman L. Geisler and Abdul Saleeb

Reasoning From the Scriptures with Muslims, by Ron Rhodes

Agglomeration

Here we are again with a collection of links to articles that should be read by those seeking to learn discernment as well as wanting to be aware of how the wolves are eating the sheep.  More sheepdogs are needed!

The Good - For Education and/or Edification

Interesting history about the dating of Christmas.

An interesting series examining the aberrant and often heretical New Apostolic Reformation.  Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Naming Names a New Year Resolution? Nope. Just like Don, I’ve always named names.

HMMMM

Denomination wise, the PCA needs to step in and fix what is happening to their churches.  Discipline them, excommunicate them, but DO SOMETHING!!

More Wolves and False Teachings

Bethel is worse than you could possibly think.  More on them and the dead child.

More proof that the Papist Church is not a church of Christ.

Catholic Charities is an un-Christian “social justice” network helping thousands of illegals get into the USA. I guess Rome has forgotten where the Bible tells us to obey the laws of they land.  But then again they may be just ignoring it so they can enrich themselves.

Then there is the Papist idea of “holy water” being used to sprinkle a whole town! Such superstition causes great harm to the people who believe it.

When it comes to wolves, it is really difficult to keep up with them to expose them. Here’s another one to avoid: Tim Henderson. Portals?!? This guy is a wacky as they come.

Steven Furtick and his “Elevation Church” continue to prove that he is a goat with a goatherd and not a church of Christ.

False teachers get more perverted by the minute. Thaddeus Mathews has his face on women’s underwear.

Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg demonstrates how politicians can often be dangerous false teachers.  The man claims to be a Christian, but he does not worship the Christ of God of the Bible. (You’ll also notice in the article that a Catholic Cardinal is just as bad with false teachings about Christ.)

More about Jen Wilkin. And another episode.

Kari Jobe—sigh!

A good article explaining the dangerous false teacher Francis Chan.

Todd Bentley finally judged as not qualified! Discerning people have been saying this for years. And yet false teacher Michael Brown thinks Bentley was “supernaturally gifted by God”!!!!

Books I Read in 2019

Here I go again with my annual look at the books I’ve read over the past year, letting my readers know what sorts of things I read — well, that is, besides the Bible, newsletters, History Magazine, aviation magazines, NRA magazines, American Legion Magazine, two quarterly apologetics journals, and the quarterly journal of the Air Force Museum, etc! This has actually been a fairly slow year for reading books; hard to find time to fit in all that reading among all the doctor and hospital visits!

As with the past two years, a few books were repeat reads for me for various reasons (some so I could give them away, but mostly just too many years passed to remember what was in them!). Those will be noted in blue. For the most part the titles should tell you what the subject was.  Someone asked me about the length of some of the books I have read, wondering if they weren’t too long for them if they decided to read them. So for the first time I will include how many pages of actual text and endnotes, but not indices. (Something important about how many pages — the size of the print varies. Some 200-page books — such as the Austen books — have small print while some 500-page books have larger print. Most are about average print, though.)

So if you’re interested in seeing what I fill my head with, take a gander below. (These are the order in which they were read, since I build my list as I go).

Back Home, by Michelle Magorian. About 160 pages (threw it out). Novel about a 12-yr-old girl who returns from the USA after having been evacuated there from England five years earlier due to the war. We have the 1990 Disney movie in VHS and had tried to get a DVD version, but what we found was only a 2001 movie version so we bought that. It was so very different from Disney’s that I decided to try to find the book to learn which was closer to the story. I was able to get a copy of the book from England for less than $6, and read it to my wife. The new movie was more true to the book, but the Disney version was very cleaned up, and I couldn’t recommend the book nor the 2001 movie!

The Times Complete History of the World, by Richard Overly. A regular tome! 400 pages and coffee-table sized.

The First World War: A Complete History, by Martin Gilbert. 582 pages  I highly recommend this book for anyone studying World War 1.

A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. 324 pages. My first encounter with this story was when I was in my early teens and saw the Shirley Temple version (I discovered later that for the most part it really wasn’t the same story!). Then in 1986 there was a TV version by Wonder Works and shown on PBS, and it was an excellent story! We bought the VHS version when it came out (2 cassettes) and then as our VHS machines died out and DVDs came in I bought a machine to transfer VHS to DVD, and this was one of them because it was one of our favorite movies. But, I still hadn’t read the book! Finally, in 2007, I bought a really nice book for my wife and we read it together; we discovered how closely the Wonder Works version followed it! We had recently watched the DVD again and my wife asked me to read the book to her—after all, it’s been 12 years! It’s a wonderful story.

Dunkirk: Retreat to Victory, by Maj.Gen. Julian Thompson. 322 pages. A good book for understanding what happened at Dunkirk in the early days of World War II.

Transformed: The Life of Ron Hudson, by Daniel Kuhn. About 200 pages (I gave it away). This book was given to me by a pastor friend. Interesting biography of a man who ended up as a representative for New Tribes Missions.

Mrs. Miniver, by Jan Struther. 288 pages. We have the excellent 1942 movie by the same name (and have watched it many times) and found the book at a used book store, so we decided we needed to read it to see how the movie fit it. The only similarity between the book and the movie is the title. The book is a collection of vignettes which were serialized in a British newspaper in 1940, but none of the vignettes were used in the movie!

All the Men of the Bible, by Herbert Lockyer. 369 pages. Alphabetical listing of the names, with their meanings and who they were, where in the Bible to find them, etc. For more important men there are short commentaries.

Hitler’s Monsters: A Supernatural History of the Third Reich, by Eric Kurlander.  About 300 pages (gave it away). How a culture wrapped up in the occult, folk religions, myths, and “border science” ended up with the Nazis and the Holocaust.

Sharing the Good News With Mormons, general editors Eric Johnson & Sean McDowell. 340 pages. Every chapter, by different authors, has good ideas for reaching Mormons. Many of the ideas can be used for any unbeliever.

Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. 205 pages. We have owned the 6-hr miniseries for decades (originally VHS, then DVD, now Blue-Ray restored). I’ve always wondered how closely it followed the book, and am happy to say it is an excellent representation (unlike the horrible 2005 movie version). I read this book to my wife so we could both enjoy it.

Battleground Normandy: Point Du Hoc, by Tim Saunders, 231 pages. The story of the Rangers and their taking of Point Du Hoc during the Normandy invasion on D-Day (June 6, 1944) and after.

The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won, by Victor Davis Hanson. 529 pages, plus 100 pages of end notes. Excellent examination and study of the title topic.

Creation and Change: Genesis 1.1—2.4 in the light of changing scientific paradigms, by Douglas F. Kelly.  252 pages, plus references. Excellent examination of these passages and how science actually supports the Bible. I haven’t read it since I first purchased it and read it in 2002. I will now be passing it to someone else.

Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen. 194 pages.  Read for the same reason as for Pride and Prejudice; we have the movie and decided to see how closely it follows the book. Pretty close, but not as good as P&P. It was Austen’s first book and a bit “long in the tooth” — which is probably why it was changed and condensed for the movie.  

The Wright Brothers, by David McCullough. 267 pages, plus notes and bibliography. An excellent biography of the two men and the invention of the airplane.

The Last Drop: Operation Varsity March 24-25, 1945, by Stephen L. Wright. 309 pages. The story of the last airborne operation of World War II when allied paratroopers and glider troops landed on the east side of the Rhine River.

Discrimination and Disparities, by Thomas Sowell. 228 pages, plus notes. An excellent examination of why disparities in human living will never be eradicated, and are rarely due to discrimination.  Many historical examples of disparities are demonstrated to understand the current situations.

You Gotta Be Tough: A Paratrooper’s Story, by Michael JW Sells. 147 pages. An autobiography of the author’s tour of duty in Vietnam in the late 1960s. My wife and I had gone to Culver’s for lunch and this man, with his wife, was coming out of the dining area and heading for the parking lot. As he was about to pass us I noticed by insignia on his hat that he had been a paratrooper. Now, there is a tradition in the Airborne (paratroop) units that when a lower ranking trooper is passing an officer, the trooper (or lower ranking officer) salutes the officer and loudly exclaims, “ALL THE WAY, SIR”; when the saluted person returns their salute he responds in the same tone, “AIRBORNE!”  With us veterans in the civil world, if we recognize a veteran as a paratrooper we acknowledge that with “AIRBORNE,” to which the person addressed responds with “ALL THE WAY.” And that is what happened when I recognized the veteran as an ex-paratrooper; I said “AIRBORNE” and he replied “ALL THE WAY.” And then we began to chat (he was a couple years older than me, and I got in the Army as the war was winding down so I wasn’t sent) and after sharing our periods of service he asked me if I read much about the Vietnam War. I told him I had, and that I read a lot of books on military history. He asked if I ever read “You Gotta Be Tough” and I responded that I hadn’t.  He gave me a synopsis of the story and asked if I’d be interested in reading it and I asked for the author and told him I’d check into it.  Big grin from the guy as he responded “I wrote it.” Then he said he had a bunch of copies in his car and would happily sell me one for $25. I figured this was his way of earning money in his retirement (like I earn money bagpiping) so accepted his offer and joined him at his car and took one off his hands. It isn’t a scholarly book, but it does keep one’s attention. His tour in Vietnam was near its end when he was unfortunate to be severely wounded.

1812: The War That Forged a Nation, by Walter R. Borneman. 304 pages plus end notes.  The title says it all.

World War I: The Definitive Visual History From Sarajevo to Versailles, by R.G. Grant (Smithsonian). 363 pages. Good condensed study with hundreds of photos. Coffee-table sized.

Why I Write, by George Orwell. 120 pages. I’ve read many excerpts of Orwell’s book “1984” and finally decided to get the book to read the whole thing. So when my next 20% off coupon came in the mail (I have a Barnes and Noble membership and get 10% off everything and they send a couple 20% off — on top of the regular 10% — coupons about every 6-weeks) I headed to B&N to buy a copy. Right next to it was this book, which piqued my interest, so I purchased it also (just the 10% off). Written during the early part of WWII and during the Battle of Britain, he comments a lot about how England was unprepared for war. But for the most part the book was a continuous rant for socialism as he soundly condemned capitalism as well as the whole peerage system in England. He considered those who earned their money as bankers, brokers, loan institutions, factories, etc, to be lazy and not working to earn their pay. Claiming to be a “democratic socialist,” he wanted to see a total takeover by the government of all industries and other businesses, and then have a minimum as well as maximum wage — and no one should be allowed to earn more than 10 times the amount of the lowest paid worker!!  I couldn’t help but wonder just how wealthy he got by writing his books! I can only recommend this book for those interested in understanding where Orwell stood politically.

The Story of Britain From the Romans to the Present: A Narrative History, by Rebecca Fraser. 800 pages.

Devil’s Gate: Brigham Young & the Great Mormon Handcart Tragedy, by David Roberts. 337 pages, plus endnotes.  I read this book when it first came out in 2008 and decided to read it again to see if I wanted to keep it. I do. It’s an in-depth study of Mormon handcart companies trekking from Iowa City to Salt Lake City. There were ten companies total, all enduring all sorts of trials and tragedies but the worst ones were the Willie and Martin companies, which started too late and got trapped in the snow in the mountains. All because Brigham Young wanted to save money.

Witchcraft: B-24 Liberator, by Kenny Kemp.128 slick pages, 8X10 horizontal format. The history of the WWII B-24 Liberator bomber, and then the history of the Collings Foundation’s restored and flying B-24J in the markings of one historical aircraft. We went to Waterloo, IA, to see this plane and Collings’ sister ship, a fully restored B-17G Flying Fortress, as well as their TP-51D Mustang. That’s where I bought the book. (Sadly, just a couple weeks later their B-17 crashed with some fatalities; cause is still under investigation.)

Iowa Firefighters Memorial History, compiled by Joan Reuman. 92 pages, 8X10 format. Dedicated in April 1994, they began having annual memorial services the 2nd Sunday in June. Because other memorial services for firefighters around the country had bagpipers, for their 2000 service I was contacted to play for their honor guard. I thought it was a one-time thing but the following year I was contacted again and I decided that it was an honor to play for this service and have played for them since. In 2010 I was given an statuette and made an honorary firefighter; in 2014 I was given an award for 15 years of service on their 20th Anniversary, and then this year I was given another award for 20 years. The book has many photos and tells the whole story of the ideas to build and all the processes to get to the completion, a brief examination of each service and who had died in service over the past year and had their names carved in the wall. This book was sold as fundraising during the 2019 service so I bought one.

First Christmas, by Paul Maier. 125 pages including end notes.  Paul Maier is (well, retired at 89 years old) a professor of history, and a novelist. He has written several works of scholarly and popular non-fiction and novels about Christianity. I picked up this book at a used book give-away; it’s copyright 1971. Very interesting historical look at events and places surrounding the birth of Christ.

The Hospitality Commands, by Alexander Strauch, More of a booklet than a book at 64 pages. A study of the Bible reviewing all the commands of how Christians are to be hospitable.  It was an interesting book.

Decoding the Bible Code: Can We Trust the Message? By John Weldon, 166 pages plus end notes. Pretty good analysis of the “Bible codes” nonsense.

Emma, by Jane Austen. 256 pages.  As with the other Austen books, we wanted to see how closely the movie followed it. Very good, and we recognized where they compressed parts of the book.

WASPs: Women Airforce. Service Pilots of World War II, by Vera S. Williams. 155 slick pages, 10 1/4” square book. Small print but lots of photos. I’ve known about the WASPs because I’ve studied WWII aviation. For our first time, we were at the Stearman (mid-1930s through WWII primary trainers) Fly-In at Galesburg, IL this summer. The National WASP WWII Museum had a table in a hangar and this was one of the books for sale. I figured I could learn the whole story if I bought the book, and it was well worth it.  The sad thing is the way the government treated these women once their job was finished; virtually no recognition. They provided a very valuable service in training and  ferrying warplanes from factories to fields where crews could take them overseas, etc. They were 100% military in the way they were trained and outfitted yet they were later “discarded” unwanted civilians. It was decade later before they got recognition.

American Soldier of World War II: D-Day, A Visual Reference, by Denis Hambucken.  101 shiny pages with about one-third print and two-thirds photos. Part of a series on WWII, this one highlights equipment, uniforms, etc of troops who participated in the D-Day (6/6/44) invasion of Europe.

Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1933-1945, by Saul Friedlander. Paperback, 422 pages plus endnotes and bibliography. This book is an abridged version of two books: The Years of Persecution and The Years of Extermination.  You can’t imagine what this book covers in depth — horrors beyond imagination.

For next year, the book I’ve just started upstairs is Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War Between Islam and the West, by Raymond Ibrahim. I saw a review of it this a few months ago and decided I needed it. Downstairs I’ve begun The Illustrated History of the Vietnam War, by Andrew Wiest and Chris McNab.