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They Shall Not Grow Old A Review by Sutton

They Shall Not Grow Old is a profoundly moving tribute to the soldiers of World War I. Peter Jackson (Director; coproducer with Clare Olssen) and his team combine enhanced archival films, photos, audio recordings, and artwork to bring us face to face with the adolescents and young men living and dying along the Western Front . On the brief skeleton of the sequence of the war years, this documentary tells an extraordinary tale of ordinairy men from the farms, factories, and shops of Great Britain to the muddy graves of the ragged pattern of muddy trenches along the Western Front. Humour and games offer parenthetical relief from the abysmal struggle. The colourisation and 3D conversion along with other technological modifications help us glimpse the soldier's world of 100 years ago. Many of us have read about the war and seen the old black and white clips bounce by at unnatural speeds. The marvel of technology helps us get closer to real people living and dying on orders fr

Inheritance A Legacy of Hatred and the Journey to Change It Book Review

Inheritance A Legacy of Hatred and the Journey to Change It By James Moll, Director This 2006 documentary tells the story of two women with very different “inheritances” from Amon Goeth, the Nazi commandant of the Plaszow Concentration Camp in Poland. Goeth was known for his brutal murders of thousands of Jews. Monika Hertwig is the daughter of Amon Goeth and Ruth Kalder. She gradually learned bits and pieces about her father’s horrific treatment of the Jews. It would be a mistake to overlook the role of her mother who had an affair with Goeth and a troubled relationship with Monika. The Spielberg film, Schindler’s List (1993), appears at a pivotal moment in Monika’s efforts to come to grips with her family history and her own identity. Monika learns of a Jew, Helen Jonas-Rosenweig, who was a kitchen slave in her father’s manor house. Helen survived the holocaust with assistance from Oskar Schindler, whom she describes as a different kind of Nazi. Helen is in

Fear: Trump in the White House - Book Review

Fear: Trump  in the White House By   Bob Woodward Reviewed by    Geoffrey W. Sutton After reading Woodward’s Fear , I am wondering about the contribution of this book to its cover-stated category, Political Science . Like behavioral scientists who analyze interviews, the anonymity of the participants is protected. Like readers of behavioral science interviews, we are dependent on the author and his team for accuracy. Unfortunately, like readers of scientific journals, we do not know the accuracy of the memories of those who provided the interview content to Woodward. Neither do we know how well Woodward was able to detect lies and biases in those who provided the content on which this book was based. Woodward’s purpose is summarized at the end of the prologue. The reality was that the United States in 2017 was tethered to the words and actions of an emotionally overwrought, mercurial, and unpredictable leader. Members of his staff had joined to

Moral Teaching of Paul --A Book Review

THE MORAL TEACHING   OF PAUL SELECTED ISSUES 3RD EDITION      BY VICTOR PAUL FURNISH Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton The Moral Teaching of Paul is one of the books I cited in A House Divided.   This third edition comes some 30 years after the first edition and aims to expand our understanding of the sociocultural context of Paul's Ministry related to contemporary moral issues. Before discussing the moral topics, Furnish reminds readers in Chapter 1 about Paul's authorship, which at this point appears firm for Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon. Disputed works include Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy. The disputed works have been variously dated in a range from the 70s to the early second century. The importance of identifying Paul's works is a matter of emphasis thus, Furnish focuses attention on the undisputed texts to understand Paul's moral theology. Furnish advises readers

Psychopaths and Leadership - Wisdom of Psychopaths Book Review

The Wisdom of Psychopaths By Kevin Dutton Review by Geoffrey W. Sutton My mother was sixty-five when she retired. Each month she faithfully wrote a check for $20.00 to Rev. Televangelist whom she loved to watch on her aging blond console TV. She had his special version red leather, red letter edition, of the Holy Bible beside her favorite 1970s orangey fabric chair. Each month she received his newsletter, which she read to learn of God’s blessing on his ministries. She and many others were sending those showers of blessing on him and all who dwelt beneath the roof of his fabulous mansion. After moving to Rev. Televangelist’s community of followers, the scandalous news brought the house down. And she was manifestly depressed. My encounters with psychopaths began during the early years of my clinical practice. I learned the most during supervision by clinical forensic psychologist, Dr.  Julianne Lockwood, professor of psychology at the University of New Mex

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Christian Clients with Depression Book Review

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy   for Christian Clients   with Depression: A Practical, Tool-Based Primer By Michelle Pearce, Ph.D. Reviewed By    Geoffrey W. Sutton I received Pearce’s book from the Templeton Press for the purposes of review. I submitted the review manuscript in 2016 to the Journal of Psychology and Theology , which was then reviewed and subsequently accepted for publication, March 1, 2017. I will provide links to the academic review below. Michelle Pearce, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and assistant professor at the University of Maryland. Her book provides a useful summary of cognitive-behavioral therapy and shows how it may be adapted to help Christian clients draw upon Bible practices and teachings to cope with depression. I graduated from a school (University of Missouri-Columbia) where cognitive behavioral psychotherapy was the mainstay of treatment. But, like others from my era, we found our own way when it c

God's Bestseller: William Tyndale... Book Review

GOD’S BESTSELLER William Tyndale, Thomas More, and the Writing of the English Bible— A Story of Martyrdom and Betrayal By Brian Moynahan Reviewed By Geoffrey W. Sutton God’s Bestseller is a plot-driven biography of William Tyndale (1494-1536) and his ruthless antagonist, Thomas More. Character development is lacking due to the limited reliable information about Tyndale’s interactions with others. This is no fault of Moynahan because once Tyndale became known as an evangelical, aka heretic, he fled England to hide in Germany and the Netherlands to achieve his calling—the translation of the Bible into the vulgar tongue of English. Even for readers who don’t know much about history, the book’s subtitle reveals the outcome—Tyndale was a martyr. What Moynahan treats us to is the life and death struggle between Tyndale and More, staged against political and religious battles for control of the Bible, money, and the lives of men and women. Early o