It took a New Testament scholar and Georgia peanut farmer named Clarence Jordan to make familiar Bible stories new and fresh. Joseph and Mary, from old-line Georgia families, travel from Valdosta to Gainesville, GA, where Mary gives birth and puts the baby to rest in an apple box. Paul and Barney travel to New Orleans and beyond telling the story of Jesus in all the White churches. These spatial and temporal transformations of the Gospel According to Luke ("Jesus' Doings") and the Acts of the Apostles ("The Happenings") rescue the Bible from the dustbin of history and re-instill it with the newness and excitement that the first hearers of these stories experienced. This volume, as well as Jordan's other "versions" of New Testament texts, provide a powerful new understanding of the roots of the Christian faith.

I would like to start off by saying that I know precious little about Clarence Jordan. I found his "Cotton Patch" translation of the New Testament at my university library about 8 years ago, and the book made a definite impression on me. I don't know if Rev. Jordan would be happy with my understanding of his work, but I love it, and am happy to own a copy, and am happy to share with you the thoughts inspired in me by this amazing work.

I don't think that the point of the Cotton Patch translation was to provide yet-another translation of the New Testament. Rev. Jordan was a scholar of NT Greek, and undoubtedly, he knew a lot about the NT. Rather, this work is a photomontage or imposition of images from the New Testament re-created and re-enacted in Gainesville, Georgia, where Governor Herod is seeking to kill the Baby Jesus; Where John the Baptist, "dressed in blue jeans and a leather jacket", "living on corn bread and collard greens" is baptizing Protestants and Catholics in the waters of the Chattahoochee river... You can't help but smile.

But what is this place? Where is this place? What is happening here? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us "For instance, when you make a gift to charity, don't make a lot of noise about it, like the phonies do at church and at civic clubs... The truth is, such praise is all they'll get out of it." Fair enough, but "Church and civic clubs" ?? This isn't even close to being a translation! That a scholar of NT Greek should translate the Sermon on the Mount like that is proof positive that he had something in mind other than providing a translation.

And the Gospel unfolds, and there is no mystery to it, except the mystery of how we could all be so blind: [John, chapter 8]

"But we are blue-blooded white folks, and have never been anybody's slave. Why then are you telling us, 'You'll be liberated'?" Jesus answered, "Everyone who is addicted to sin is sin's slave." ... "Our father was the original white man," they retorted. "If indeed you are sons of the original white man, you would act like it. But here you are trying to lynch me, a man who has told you the truth that I got from the Father. A really good white man would never stoop to that. Yes, you're behaving like your father's children all right."

And now the mystery is revealed, if there ever was any mystery in the first place: The Cotton Patch books are about racism and Christianity, and by extension, racism and religion: Is there room for racism in the Church? Can racists be considered "the children of God" ? I think that to most people living today, the question must seem trivial, but "back then," when the book was written, some time in the 1950's, there were many white seperatists that were comfortable with and saw no contradiction between their racism and with their religion. The Cotton Patch "translations" are Rev. Jordan's way of arguing that there is no room for racism within the Church. Rev. Jordan's argument isn't a theological one, probably because the point isn't worth arguing theologically, and because Rev. Jordan's works seem to have been grounded in practical, everyday human life: Rev. Jordan argues his point by super-imposing New Testament characters -- Jesus, Mary, John the Baptist, Herod, and others, on modern day self-righteous and self-contented racism and bigotry in American society, and he trusts our good judgement to see the screeching, dissonant absurdity of it.

The mystery isn't a very big or complex one, but it is a worthy point that Rev. Jordan is making, and his words are simple and eloquent and beautiful. Besides, we live long after St. John cried out at the end of the book of Revelation, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus". If you ever feel as if the events of the NT happened way too long ago, be confident and happy that the Voice still cries in the Wilderness, and John the Baptist is still baptizing the children of God in the Chattahoochee river. :)

Aiken's examination of the restructuring of settlement in the cotton plantation South from the Civil War to contemporary times captures the complexities of this region's transformation. In three sections he establishes the post Civil War fragmentation of the plantation as tenancy dominates the region, the twentieth century exodus, and finally the contemporary pattern reflecting the changing social and economic structure of the region. Examining the postcolonial explanation for these changes, he opts for a more realistic combination of Faulknerian human failings and failures. Winner of the J B Jackson prize from the Association of American Georgraphers, this book is the culmination of a mature scholar's life work.

The author gives easy-to-follow instructions with lots of pictures. The technique used is great for using up scraps in a crazy quilt, and makes it simple to take a theme and run with it. Adaptable to everything from baby quilts to Victorian lace. This is an excellent book for beginning quilters.

This book tells the story of Dalton, Georgia, and how the textile mill led to its development. It is a very detailed look at the townspeople and their struggles throughout a century. It provides a unique and perceptive view of the South's economic and social transformation beginning during the aftermath of the Civil War and continuing with the rise of technology into the Reagan years.

I have read most of compton's books, including those by cotton. If you like the series about danielle, you will like this addition. I highly reccomend same.

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A Great Read --- A Must for every Entrepreneur, you read tons of book that tell you how to do the deal, but this book tells you what not to do and why....and at the same time what to do and why it works. It is a humorous journey of the life of someone that is always chasing the deal. Bonus: There is even a Business Plan at the back of the book that anyone can follow.

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