All posts filed under: Books

The Seven Gifts of Aslan: Sacraments in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader | Tor.com

April 29, 2020
by Nicholas Knisely
Books / Religion

I just came across a lovely article by Matt Mikalatos that’s part of series he’s writing on the children’s series of Narnia books. The books were written by C.S. Lewis back in the middle of the last century. They were written at roughly the same time as Lewis was working on his popular presentation of Christianity: “Mere Christianity” and there are some obvious connections between Lewis work on Christianity and his Narnia books. I remember […]

Entangled States, the book

September 3, 2014
by Nicholas Knisely
Books

I was talking with the publisher of Entangled States (the book that grew out of the blog, sermons and other writings I’ve done over the years) and he told me that we have just about sold out of the first printing. The book was really his idea, and he’s the one who managed to take a pile of things that I’ve said over the years and turn them into something coherent and readable. Once he […]

The new Amazon Kindle (quick review)

September 30, 2011
by Nicholas Knisely
Books / Web/Tech

I ordered the original Kindle the day it was released. I’d been dreaming of a device like that for years; a small, energy efficient tool optimized for reading long form writing. I’ve not been disappointed. I ordered the iPad the day it came out. I ordered it for the iBookstore and the Kindle application. Adding color, email, web browsing, etc, to the ability to carry my whole library with me seemed like the next step […]

The eternal textbook and the Episcopal Church

June 27, 2011
by Nicholas Knisely
Books / Religion / Web/Tech

I remember the first time I picked up a copy of an anthology of St. Thomas Aquinas’ writings. I was honestly astonished at the intelligence and the insight. It wasn’t so much the discovery that Thomas was an intellect for the ages, it was that his ideas still made me think and reconsider what I thought I had settled even though they were written nearly 800 years ago. The idea that it would be worth […]

Harry Potter e-books? What does this mean?

June 24, 2011
by Nicholas Knisely
Books / Religion / Web/Tech

I’m not sure if it’s a sign of the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning, but on the new Harry Potter fan-site and e-commerce store that goes live late next month, you can finally by digital versions of all seven volumes of J.K. Rowling’s series. “Until recently, reports have been speculating that the rights to sell the e-books would be worth as much as $160 million. By retaining the rights and […]

Jesus Wars: Phillip Jenkins

March 30, 2011
by Nicholas Knisely
Books / Religion

Every year it’s always a bit of trial to find a good book for Lenten study, but it was a little easier this year than most. Late last year I finished Jenkins book on the lost history of Eastern Christianity and was so impressed by it that I decided to take a shot on his newest book; “The Jesus Wars: How Four Patriarchs, Three Queens, and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Would Believe for the […]

How fast is the Beacon of Gondor? : Dot Physics

August 10, 2010
by Nicholas Knisely
Books / Science

It’s been a long summer already. How long? Physics professors, waiting around for classes to start, have enough time on their hands to answer important (to me) for questions about events in the Lord of the Rings. In the film there’s a beautiful cinematic sequence that shows the signal beacons being lit in Gondor and then the signal fires being lit along the tops of the mountains until the alarm is raised in Rohan: Video […]

McLaren responds to critiques of “A New Kind of Christianity”

March 11, 2010
by Nicholas Knisely
Books / Religion

I’m leading a group here in the Diocese of Arizona that’s reading through Brian McLaren’s newest book. At the beginning of the week I posted a critique of his criticism of the Graeco-Roman world view and its effect on reading the Bible properly. Apparently I wasn’t the only one to have the reaction I had. So McLaren has posted a response to the critics. “1. I would encourage people who are critical of the chapter […]