By: David Toth on May 7, 2014
Jared Diamond’s book, Germs, Guns and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, is his attempt to answer the question, “Why did history unfold differently on different continents?”* I found the book to be well written, easily understood, and well researched. Diamond writes with a breadth of knowledge and global travel…
By: Sharenda Roam on May 7, 2014
In “Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies,” professor of physiology, Jared Diamond, asks the question, “How, though, did the world get to be the way it was in A.D. 1500?” To rephrase the question …”…why did human development proceed at such different rates on different continents? Those disparate rates constitute history’s broadest…
By: Chris Ellis on May 7, 2014
Guns, Germs and Steel is a fascinating read that tells the history of humanities development from the time we could begin to call ourselves Homo sapiens. There was much in this book I didn’t know, and I feel like I could read it again and find things I missed. The author tries to answer questions centered…
By: Miriam Mendez on May 3, 2014
You don’t have to go very far in the book to identify what Jardine’s argument is all about. In The Making and Unmaking of Technological Society, Jardine wants his readers to know that his argument is that present day Western societies are in the grip of a profound moral crisis.[1] He states that this crisis…
By: Miriam Mendez on May 3, 2014
Are the good intentions of Christians enough to engage and change the world? Can Christians pray long enough, hard enough and loud enough to affect change in the world? Are there enough Christians to fully embrace God’s call on their lives to change the world? Are Christians engaging in enough critical thinking that will help…
By: Richard Volzke on April 26, 2014
My personal interest: The last time I was in London was in the 1980s. I was in the military and spent a two-week in Portsmouth at a Royal Navel Base with the British Navy. During that time some of the British sailors took me to London for the weekend. As I was getting ready to…
By: Stefania Tarasut on April 17, 2014
Zygmunt Bauman’s book Collateral Damage: Social Inequalities in a Global Age, is a collection of essays and lectures given by Bauman at different times. I had a hard time following him and seeing the connection between the chapters. There is one interesting thought that I had while reading this book. As Christians, we cannot get…
By: Stefania Tarasut on April 16, 2014
The way I see it, there are two problems with consumerism. Actually, there are a lot more than two, but for the sake of this post I will only focus on two. First, “Consumerism is a type of spirituality… it is a way of pursuing meaning and identity, a way of connecting with other people.”[1]…
By: Mark Steele on April 13, 2014
Now don’t get me wrong, I love books and they have changed my life for the better; but what about the movies? I thoroughly enjoyed Melvyn Bragg’s book, 12 Books that Changed the World. Bragg is an Englishman who chose all English books by male authors. He summarized the books and shared why they changed…
By: Richard Rhoads on April 12, 2014
Over the years I have come to love reading and books. Throughout my life many books have had great impact on the way I think, process and even the way I live. A few books which stand out as great refiners are, The Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen; Sabbath by Dan Allendar; The Bible; Emotionally…
By: Mitch Arbelaez on April 12, 2014
Reading, or should I say more honestly, perusing, the book The Making and Unmaking of Technological Society by Murray Jardine, I felt I was shifting from reading a book of history to one about political theory, then one on economics, and then on consumerism, then philosophy and another on theology, even a bit on scientific…
By: Telile Fikru Badecha on April 12, 2014
“The Making and Unmaking of Technological Society” by Murray Jardine offers thoughtful analysis on the Western societies current moral crisis as the result of Christianity’s failure to engage with the culture of technology. Jardine writes, “ the present-day Western societies are indeed facing a moral crisis, and that this crisis is far more profound than…
By: Miriam Mendez on April 12, 2014
America’s problem isn’t too much religion, or too little of it. It’s bad religion: the slow-motion collapse of traditional Christianity and the rise of a variety of destructive pseudo-Christianities (PC) in its place. [1] This is Douthat’s argument throughout his book, Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Herectics. Douthat believes that America has…
By: Sam Stephens on April 12, 2014
Major shifts in history are a combination of a variety of elements which would include contemporary political and economic climate, needs and aspirations of the populace, available technology etc. The tipping occurs with a single individual or a group of people with a vision of transformation, passionately committed to something they firmly believe in, willing…
By: John Woodward on April 11, 2014
Murray Jardine’s book The Making of Technological Society: How Christianity Can Save Modernity From Itself got me thinking about my church. Let me describe for you what a typical Sunday morning service is like. About five hundred people swarm into our large building, most arriving within a minute before (and just after) the beginning of…
By: Richard Volzke on April 11, 2014
Jardine explains, in his book Technological Society, that the term liberal was originally associated with one who is free. In contrast, the term conservative was used to define an individual who wanted maintain the status quo.[1] I have always considered myself a conservative, however based on this definition I realize that lean towards being liberal.…
By: rhbaker275 on April 11, 2014
In the early nineteen-eighties, I bought my first computer. I walked into a Radio Shack to buy a white phone jack and observed this “machine” that looked a little bit like an all-in-one television and typewriter. I was mesmerized as the sales person showed me the wonders of the TRS-80 Model III. I went back…
By: Stefania Tarasut on April 11, 2014
I tried to summarize The Making and Unmaking of Technological Society by Murray Jardine, but Walter Mead, former President of the Polanyi Society and Professor Emeritus, Illinois State University, does a much better job than I ever could. Mead sums the book up by saying, Jardine’s discussion is a grand narrative that leads readers from early pagan culture…
By: Carol McLaughlin on April 11, 2014
Picking up this book, The Making and Unmaking of Technological Society: How Christianity Can Save Modernity From Itself by Murray Jardine, reminded me of a cross-country road trip using Google maps to plan travel from point A to point B. Only with this trip finder rather than a direct A to B route, there are…
By: Bill Dobrenen on April 11, 2014
My post this week is out of character for me, so please be patient and forgiving with my seemingly negative attitude for what begins with judgment ends with appreciation and grace. This week’s reading and writing led me down a very unexpected path, one that I hope, will also be an encouragement to my readers.…
