Interdisciplinary Book and Film Reviews

Catch the Fire:  Soaking Prayer       and  Charismatic Renewal         By Michael Wilkinson  &  Peter Althouse Reviewed by    Geoffrey W. Sutton,  Soaking prayer is claimed by charismatics to facilitate and expand the reception of divine love in order to give it away in acts of forgiveness, reconciliation, compassion, and benevolence. Soaking is a metaphor that supports charismatic spirituality and practices like resting in the Spirit, prayer for spiritual gifts, healing, prophecy, and impartation, which we describe and explain in this book (p. 4). The authors offer readers an integrated sociological and theological perspective on soaking prayer as practiced by charismatic Christians associated with Catch the Fire (CTF), a church in Toronto, Canada and a worldwide movement. Wilkinson and Althouse contextualize soaking prayer in two primary ways.  1. Dramatic presentations of praying were documented among the adherents of the modern Pentecost

Godly Love:       Impediments  & Possibilities By Matthew Lee & Amos Yong Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton The possibility of linking godly love to measurable outcomes intrigued me. As a psychological scientist teaching research methods and psychology of religion, I was eager to examine developments in this emerging field. The titles of two journals in my discipline ( Journal of Psychology and Christianity, Journal of Psychology and Theology ) focus on  ways that Christian faith and scientific knowledge can be integrated. In Godly Love: Impediments & Possibilities , Amos Yong’s introduction offers an historical context relevant to both volumes. The interest in godly love has been inspired by social scientists affiliated with the Institute for Research on Unlimited love. These scientists and affiliated colleagues trace at least part of their heritage to work on altruism by former Harvard University sociologist, Pitirim Sorokin. In recent y

The Science and Theology of Godly Love   By Matthew Lee & Amos Yong Reviewed  by Geoffrey W. Sutton The interest in godly love has been inspired by social scientists affiliated with the Institute for Research on Unlimited love. These scientists and affiliated colleagues trace at least part of their heritage to work on altruism by former Harvard University sociologist, Pitirim Sorokin. The Science and Theology of Godly Love includes an Introduction by Lee, Poloma, and Post followed by ten chapters. The first five chapters were written by theologians. Each presents challenges to dimensions of godly love. Stephen Post discusses universality; Michael McClymond explores mutuality and self-sacrifice; Peter Althouse proposes the importance of a Christological focus to understanding godly love; Paul Alexander critiques theologies that support violence and asserts that understanding godly love entails an active nonviolence. Finally, Thomas Oord offers two contributions: Consid

Testing Prayer:  Science and Healing   By Candy Gunther Brown Reviewed  by Geoffrey W. Sutton I'm posting this review in the early stages of the 2020 Coronavirus. China has quarantined large portions of their population. Italy has been shut down. Europe is preparing for trouble. The US health agencies have issued warnings. Europeans are banned from entering the USA.  On social media, some Christians are minimizing the problem to temper reports they see as exaggeration. Others are talking about God's protection and still others remind people of God's healing power. Meanwhile, people are engaged in panic buying of cleaning agents and toilet paper. Panic is in the air. "It's a pandemic," we are told. Do you believe in God’s power to heal?  I have lived with and studied Pentecostals for most of my life so, I am interested in the scientific study of their beliefs, practices, and experiences. Pentecostals are not alone in believing in div

THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE:     WHY VIOLENCE HAS DECLINED.       By Steven Pinker  Reviewed by    Kayla Jordan*  & Geoffrey W. Sutton There's a shooting in a mall, a restaurant, a school. Christians or Muslims are being killed here or there. It looks like things are getting worse. But Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker doesn't think so as he explains in, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined. Kayla Jordan was one of my research students interested in moral psychology. We decided to read The Better Angels of Our Nature and write a review, which was published in 2012. I'm drawing on our joint review for this blog post. I listed her name above because she was the lead author in the published book review. I'll give the reference to the academic review below. ***** Steven Pinker combines historical and psychological research to argue the case for a decline in global violence. Pinker observes that many people think

Ravensbrück : Life and Death  in Hitler’s Concentration Camp      by Sarah Helm Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton, Ph.D. Ravensbrück  offers an organized collection of women’s voices documenting the diverse ways individuals and tribal groups of European women responded to Nazi enslavement, violence, and murder. The collection of stories is organized chronologically. But themes emerge because policies and war events change.   Changes in policy sometimes mean changes in leaders. But changes in policy also reflect changes in the war, which in turn, result in changes in the size and character of the camp’s victims. We have heard stories of the brutality of Nazi leaders in the death camps focused on the extermination of Jews. But at   Ravensbrück  we learn that Nazis, governed by superiority myths and emboldened by conquest, systematically destroyed the lives of European women after extracting every ounce of strength as they labored for the Reich on the trail