It is no doubt MLK's speeches are great and did alot
to shape American thinking. Unfortunately, I can only
play the first 2 CDs on my CD player. I have a friend
who has a CD player that can play all of them. Apparently
it has something to do with the index numbering on each
CD. Instead of each CD starting at 1 it starts where the previous CD left off. I wouldn't take a chance that this
product won't play in your CD player. I think it is very
unfortunate that I paid so much for the complete set of speeches
and I can't listen to most of it.
I WOULD WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT VERSION COMES OUT THAT CORRECTS THIS
FLAW.
It would have been also nice to have some text to accompany the
audio CDs.

An outstanding history of the Civil Rights movement through the most famous speeches of MLK. I particularly enjoyed his final speech which we hear words from but was full of inspiration and foresight as to what would become of America and its black citizens and their victory in the struggle for freedom.
A must for every buddding philosopher, peace activist and politician.

Reviewer: Mark Lamendola,... author of over 3500 articles.

Inspiring, informative, and soul-stirring, this tape brings to life the original recordings of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Having grown up in the era of the Vietnam war and civil rights demonstrations, I got this tape thinking it would help me remember some of the key issues of the time and compare them to where we are now.

What I was not expecting was the emotional and spiritual journey this tape took me on--it was a journey at a speed that made me look for my seat belt.

Let me interject a personal note here. I am not an African American. I am not black, but neither am I white. My family name is an "Americanized" version of a Sicilian name. While my family did not emerge from slavery on southern plantations, it did emerge from near slave conditions in Sicily. I would also like to note that Sicily was invaded by the African Moors, as is evident by the curly hair and nose structure of modern Sicilians--and by the fact we get sickle cell anemia (whites do not get this disease).

Italian-Americans, who make up 6% of the USA population also underwent an era of extreme prejudice and discrimination--as did African-Americans, who make up 13% of the American population.

Some people malign Dr. King as "that nigger who riled up all the niggers." Others said he was moving too fast. Others said he was asking for too much. And on and on. What these people fail to realize is Dr. King wasn't riling up anybody. He was not an agitator. He made a call to love. When you listen to his speeches, this all becomes very clear. I am not comparing King the Man to Christ the Lord, but to condemn his call to love does compare him to Christ and does condemn both King the man and Christ the Lord. To my mind, that is hypocritical and presumptuous.

In his speeches, Dr. King presented such concepts as:

*African-American slaves are not rightful property and never were. These people were kidnapped from their homes in the area of the Gold Coast.

*The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 declared all men (grammatical convention makes the pronoun gender-neutral in this context) equal. Yet, 100 years later, American people of color had actually moved backwards in relation to "white people." King presented incontrovertible evidence of the nullification of the Emancipation Proclamation and the abandonment of law and order that allowed suppression and oppression of an entire race of people.

*The segregation movement was part of a "divide and conquer" strategy to keep poor whites--especially poor Southern whites in their place by creating an even lower class.

*As a unit, African-Americans have more wealth than most countries--including France!

*No violent uprising has ever succeeded, unless it had the support of the general population. African-Americans did not have, and could not possibly have, such support in the USA.

*A violent uprising by African-Americans could never come to any possible good. At the outset, it would increase fear and mistrust. The government would be duty-bound to squash it, and had the power to do so. Violent uprisers would have to defeat the local police, then the county police, then the state police, then the state militia, then the National Guard, then the US Armed Forces--not exactly the recipe for success.
But non-violent action could succeed. This is what Dr. King espoused.

Dr. King said two conditions existed:
1. Power without love--this characterized the white system .
2. Love without power--this characterized the black community.

His goal was to combine power with love--not for black people, but for the brotherhood of mankind. His vision was that people would be judged by their character, not by the color of their skin.

This tape concludes with an incredibly moving speech, given to an audience of 10,000 in Tennessee. ...

It was Dr. King's last speech, given the day before a killer stopped Dr. King's campaign of love and brotherhood by severing Dr. King's spine just below his chin.

I sincerely expected a lot more. Be aware that, as of 2000, most websites featured in this book either do not exist any longer or have gone under a complete facelift. The CDROM included was quite disappointing: just a directory of the featured sites with a low resolution graphics of their splash page; there is an option to connect to them but the links are mostly outdated. I think the only value of this book is its inspirational content: some of the sites do indeed look great (I wonder about their loading time though) and will inspire some of us to do "a little more". This book was probably great 2 years ago; it has little value nowadays.

Iacocca said, "A man ahead of his times, is broke." Try and go to these incredible sites and discover the failure rate of cutting edge websites. Great designers none-the-less.

This is an awesome book! I'm a Digital Artist and I was very inspired by the designs featured in this book. It will inspire you! You will look at all your previous work and think their boring! This book is on the cutting edge. The full color pictures are awesome, it's beautifully and it rocks! I recommend it to anyone in the design field! An excellent book to inspire web designers. I love it!

There has to be something lost in the translation anytime you translate poetry into another language, which is difficult enough to understand in the original language it was written in. For example, Chekov's works read radically differently depending on which translator is used.

Not to knock this work, because how else is the estate going to capture a decent return on investment unless they target a wider English speaking audience?

Yes I speak Greek. No I did not read the book. Poetry is not my thing.

Odysseus Elytis (1911 -1996) was a very gifted Greek poet who dedicated his life to a love of hope, beauty, freedom and Greek tradition conveyed in words and imagery that leave the reader thirsting for more. It is this insatiable thirst for droplets of human comfort during life's anguished moments and visionary beauty which together give rise to rainbows of hope that is shared by people of all cultures that has made Elytis a "poete sans frontiers", or a poet without borders.

The Collected Poems of Odysseus Elytis published in 1997 is the first collection of the entire body of poetry of Elytis in any language, including Greek. The translations by Jeffrey Carson and Nikos Sarris do justice to the original poems, providing the reader with the same captivating lyricism and surreal imagery used by Elytis to give voice to the universally human consciousness.

The poetry of Elytis gained the attention of the Swedish Academy which announced in 1979 that Odysseus Elytis had been awarded the Nobel Prize in literature "for his poetry, which, against the background of Greek tradition, depicts with sensuous strength and intellectual clear sightedness modern man's struggle for freedom and creativeness."

Another honorable recognition was bestowed upon Elytis in 1964 when the renown Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis set Elytis' epic poem The Axion Esti to music and the resulting music and lyrics became so popular that today many Greeks know at least part of the song by heart. The Axion Esti was considered to be the poet's most ambitious poem and was described by the Swedish Academy as "one of twentieth century literature's most concentrated and ritually faceted poems". This poem recounts the world of Eros, including his battle against the darkness created by misunderstanding and hatred, his victory, and the ultimate justification and praise.

Elytis possessed an historical as well as a moral awareness that became a pivotal part of his poems and served as a counterweight to his deep and abiding love of the Aegean with all of its spectacular beauty. Elytis faced the prospect of his own human mortality as well as the manifestation of tragic human evil when he served with distinction at the Albanian front during the Second World War when the Greeks defeated the Mussolini's army in the first allied forces victory against the Axis. The horrors of that military campaign, followed by his brutal experiences with the Nazi occupation of Greece, a civil war and a military dictatorship, provided a significant catalyst for this gifted poet to continue to carry the literary torch in the tradition of Greece's best poetry which identified ideal beauty with moral good and truth.

The art, literature, philosophy and religion of pre-Classical Greece also greatly influenced the lifetime work of Elytis. In many of his poems, Elytis wrote about heroism in the context of the ancient hero upon whom risks, danger and even terror are thrust by Fate, after which the hero bravely confronts the challenge and is transformed by the experience. The hero, to whom the reader can relate from his own life's experiences, is given this opportunity for growth and development through the inevitable wounds, wisdom and willfulness that result from his encounter with Fate's challenge ... wounds that will heal and sculpt scars of remembrance; wisdom that is born of reflection, generosity of spirit and adherence to life's values; and willfulness of the inner strength of our spirit. A reader of his poetry cannot help seeing himself in many of these poems that at the same time serve to inspire and throw down the gauntlet.

I will always remember Elytis as the Poet of the Aegean Sea. He was born in 1911 and began writing poetry in 1929 in the Aegean islands. He later established himself as one of the leading voices of a generation of literary giants, including his fellow Nobel Laureate George Seferis and Yannis Ritsos. Unlike Seferis who spent a lifetime struggling against melancholy, Elytis is widely appreciated by his readers because he finds hope even in tragedy. His poetry clearly reflects his relentless search for the paradise that lives deeply within all of us and his conviction that the discovery of paradise is within our capability as well as our grasp. Elytis' poems celebrate the vitality and vibrancy of the Aegean landscape, the energies of man and his soul and the spirit of nature. He uses the power of language to link myth with history and to confront good and evil. His poetry clearly reflects his love of hope, freedom and the beauty that is in all.

This first collection of all the works of the great master is a must for anyone who endeavors to explore the Modern Greek culture and discover its representation of the universal human experience. This book has become a source of constant inspiration and discovery in our home.

This translation by Jeffrey Carson is a delight for the senses. The poetry of Elytis has stimulated a great number of intellectual reviews, but there can be no true appreciation without experiencing the context of his work. These poems present a life that could be lived only in Greece. No translator who has not tasted that life would be able to capture this essence of Elytis. Carson was chosen for this task partly because of his own life in Greece: because he truly does understand.

If you've noticed Carson's stardom recently you owe it to yourself to read this first book. I give it only 3 stars because a lot of the book is actually pretty dull poetry. But about 80 pages of it makes up "The Anthropology of Water," an extraordinary journey in one woman's life, emotionally, poetically, and culturally.

the last section of this book-- the anthropology of water-- is my favorite piece of writing i have ever read. it's amazing. you can read it 50 times and still get something new out of it.

Anne Carson comes from the genre of poetry, but in this book she has mixed that form with essays and come up withy a brilliant hybrid. If you like ideas that sing then this is the book for you! One of my absolute favorites!

D. A. Carson's primary purpose in writing The King James Debate: A Plea for Realism is to refute those who advocate the superiority of the Greek textual tradition behind the King James Version of the Bible. As a consequence, his effort has produced a wonderful primer on textual criticism. The book is divided into two parts: Textual Question and Nontextual Questions. Carson makes every effort to treat the position of his opponents with respect although it is quite evident their position frustrates and even angers him.

The first six chapters are dedicated to surveying the different text-types and their historical traditions. He gives his readers a succinct overview of very complex issues regarding the rise of the four major textual traditions (Byzantine, Western, Alexandrian and Caesarean) and briefly discusses their strengths and weaknesses. Carson also navigates the thorny issue of how variations between these text-types developed.

Carson briefly discusses the origins of the Textus Receptus (TR) and makes the case that the TR is based upon the inferior and late Byzantine text-type. He traces the history of the TR through Erasmus's Greek Testament. He affirms that the KJV translators used the best manuscripts available to them at the time, but subsequent discoveries cast doubt upon the accuracy of the Byzantine text-type vis-à-vis the other traditions. In Chapter 7, Carson methodically summarizes the reasons why the TR is an inferior textual tradition.

Part Two deals with what Carson calls "Nontextual Issues." In actuality, this major division addresses Carson's thoughts on translating scripture. He deals with seven popular arguments some uses to support the superiority of the KJV translation over other modern English translations. Carson respects those who have a deep personal and emotional commitment to the KJV but has harsh words for those who use historically and scholarly fallacious methods to claim KJV superiority over other modern translations. He points out that the KJV is quickly falling out of favor because the Elizabethan English is obscure, confusing and sometime incomprehensible.

Carson includes a lengthy appendix presenting a critique of the book "The Identity of the New Testament Text" by Wilbur N. Pickering. Pickering's thesis is that eclecticism is not a method to be trusted. Pickering objects to the concept of text-typing and supports the majority reading approach to determining the most accurate text. Carson refutes Pickering on eight points. Many of these points refer back to his 14 theses in chapter seven.

D. A. Carson's point-by-point analysis and refutation of the "King James-only" element in American Christianity should be required reading as an introduction to textual criticism. The book is also helpful for anyone entering the pastoral ministry. Carson thoroughly and forcefully presents both sides of the issue with more respect than his interlocutors provide him.

Dr Carson was understandably saddened by having to divert energy from his work of expounding the Word of God to refuting this divisive heterodoxy.

It's a shame that most KJVOs devote far more energy to learning where the modern versions differ from the KJV than in learning what the original Greek and Hebrew teach. Dr Carson in particular has emphatically defended the Deity of Christ far more than any KJVO writer, despite their absurd claims that modern versions undermine this vital doctrine.

I agree with one reviewer that this book has been surpassed by "The King James Only Controversy : Can You Trust the Modern Translations?" by James R. White.

I also agree that it's good to purchase both, because Carson covers more historical issues and common methodological fallacies, and critiques the Pickering thesis about the Majority Text (which should NOT be confused with the so-called Textus Receptus that disagrees with the majority of manuscripts on a number of places).

One obvious fallacy of KJVOs is begging the question: i.e. produce massive charts comparing the modern versions with the KJV, and use this to prove how horrid they are. But this presupposes that the KJV is the standard. In reality, there's nothing to stop hypothetical NIV-only people using the same methodology to prove the superiority of the NIV. But anyway, wake up, KJVOs -- none of the Bible's human authors spoke any kind of English, let alone the archaic variety!

Note that Carson's book was written before Riplinger came on the scene, so how on earth could Thomas claim that Carson was focusing on her?? Rather, he deals with the very people he claims to have ignored! Also, one of his heroes, Waite stocks Riplinger's material, so it's not so easy to distinguish between factions of the KJV-only camp.

Also, his address KJB1611 is misleading because it's almost certain that he uses the Blayney 1769 revision. That's unless his "1611" version contains words like Iesus, hee, loue, and the Apocrypha.

A response to a previous review:

"Mr. Carson does a good job of defending the modern versions."

Very true.

"Unfortunately, in order to do so, he must misrepresent the KJB only side and make it seem like Mr. Ruckman and Ms. Riplinger are actually representative of the KJB only position, which they are not."

Ruckman and Riplinger are NEVER mentioned in the book, nor are their writings.

"He ignores the scholarship of men like D. A. Waite, D. O. Fuller, Edward F. Hills, etc. to focus on two weirdos, Ruckman and Riplinger."

Carson didn't mention Waite, but he did deal with the theories of Fuller, Hills, Hodges, Ray and Pickering. Carson cannot honestly be accused of employing a straw-man argument. Thomas is either lying in saying he read the book, or lying about the book's contents.

"Of course, since Biblical preservation dictates the KJB only position, since the Textus Receptus is the vast majority text, it is necessary to distort the KJB only position to attack it."

Biblical preservation says nothing about the King James Version. The TR is not the Majority Text. It is never necessary to use a straw-man argument, on this topic or any other, and Carson does not do so. Rather, he deals with the best arguments available in favor of the proposition that the KJV is the best (or only!) Bible translation on earth, and he refutes them calmly and reasonably.

"However, if you want to defend the modern versions, this is as good as you'll get."

Unfortunately, if you are looking for honesty and sanity in KJV-Onlies, Thomas R. is about as good as you will find -- a person who shamelessly fabricates "facts" even though he knows anyone can read the book and discover that he's lying.

I commend D.A. Carson for writing such a calm and irenic book when I consider it's people like Thomas R. that he's responding to. Read the book yourself. Don't let Thomas put you off.

This is a succinct work on an important topic. The categories the author sets up and works within are useful and informative, but require quite a bit of mental acumen to work through. The book's greatest flaw is a Calvinistic presupposition, which the alert reader must recognize and set to one side.

Oh what a great book! Very short you can read it in an afternoon but there is so much wisdom in the pages. Carson is not the greatest writer (in literary terms), but he always has something worthwhile to say. The basic premise of this book is great, and Carson's encouragement to see all the different forms of God's love, is crucial to our understanding of God and his love for us. The other great thing about this book (I think) is that whether a pastor, or (relatively) new Christian, or whatever this book is well worth five stars. I don't think I've read such a great 78 pages on foundational (not in the for 3 yr old sense) doctrines, often obscured by the culture we absorb and area part of.

You can tell that they were adapted talks, and sometimes he assumes a little too much knowledge, or doesn't justify himself enough, but I can't think of a better 3 hours reading. And as for the previous reviewers comment about a Calvinistic presupposition in the book, it doesn't come into the book very much at all, and seeing as it is a biblical supposition it is only right that it is not excluded.

Please buy this book.

This book has only 78 pages of text, but it is worth reading and re-reading. In it, Carson carefully categorises the Bible's message about God's love. He shows how the different strands fit together. He affirms God's love for all the world and his particular love for those he has chosen. He shows how John can tell us in his gospel that God loved the world, but tells us not to in his first letter!

He discusses the popular, but recent interpretation of the meaning of two Greek words used in John 21 in more detail than he did in his excellent, earlier book "Exegetical Fallacies." Since reading his argument, I have become convinced of his view that the two words do not have great differences in meaning in the New Testament (or in the Greek translation of the Old Testament).

At times, Carson's writing is not easy to read, but this book is one of his most lucid.

Highly recommended.

Let me begin by saying that D.A. Carson is easily one of my favorite writers. I own most of the books he has written and his commentary on John's gospel is my absolute favorite. A New Testament commentary survey by an evangelical scholar was certainly a terrific idea and I am glad to have this fifth edition. I found it very helpful with deciding on a couple of commentaries over the last few months.

However, while I am giving it three stars, I must point out some of the problems with this "survey." First, the work is simply uneven throughout. At times the comments are informative, even though brief. Consider Carson's comments on Howard Marshall's NIGTC on Luke: "Unfortunately, the prose is so densely packed, owing not least to the fact that the notes are incorporated into the text, that some will make heavy weather of it. Moreover, it presupposes a reasonable proficiency in the Greek text. Those with the requisite Greek skills will benefit greatly from reading it." Concise, but well put! But now consider Carson's incredibly brief note on Thomas Schreiner's massive BECNT commentary on Romans (the note follows comments on Doug Moo's Romans commentary):
"The combination of the strong exegesis and the rigorous interaction makes the work superior to another recent commentary of similar length, that of Thomas R. Schreiner." That's it! Nothing else is said about Schreiner's massive and recent work! In fact, Carson's comments on *most* commentaries are so thin that one is often left wondering what Carson actually thinks of it! Note the publisher's blurb on the back cover: "Serious students of the Bible want to know which resources are most valuable to add to their growing libraries. With an abundance of available tools, students often turn to trusted professors for advice. This book provides such advice from D.A. Carson..." To the contrary, we are often left hanging on a brief comment that can only be understood if one owns the book on which Carson is commenting. We are warned about "serious breaches and misinterpretations" as well as "unfounded idiosyncrasies" in the Anchor commentary on Galatians by J. Louis Martyn, but are given not a clue as to what Carson is referring.

There are also blatant errors in this book. After a word about Ben Witherington's commentary on John's gospel (John's Wisdom), Carson tells us that "Witherington's other commentary on this gospel is in the NIV Application series." Wrong: the NIV Application Commentary on John's gospel is by Gary Burge. After commenting on the NAC on the Pastoral Epistles by Thomas Lea, we are told that "the contribution of Robert H. Mounce (WBC; 1997... is considerably stronger..." The problem is, the WBC on the Pastorals was written by William D. Mounce, the son of Robert H. Mounce. Incidentally, the price is also incorrect.

Finally, one of the worst faux pas in the book is Carson's failure to include even a recognition of the colossal work on Acts by Joseph Fitzmyer (Anchor). This was surely a mistake since Dr. Carson comments on Fitzmyer's Romans commentary.

This work is quite uncharacteristic of what we are accustomed to seeing from D.A. Carson. It looks very much like Baker Academic dropped the ball on this one. Hopefully, they will get the errors corrected and perhaps we will see a more thorough survey in the near future. I agree with another reviewer that rather than a brief quip about twenty different commentaries I would rather see Carson's serious thoughts on his top six or eight.

D.A. Carson has given us a piece of his mind concerning the world of New Testament commentaries, and in a surprisingly entertaining fashion. He covers NT introductions, surveys, and theologies, then tells us what he thinks about almost every commentary series that you would know of (and some you don't know of), and goes book-by-book through the NT recommending (and rejecting) which commentaries are worth buying and reading. This resource is a must for all would-be expositors of the Bible.
What makes the book so readable is Carson's fresh and lively style. It is as if he sat down and just punched out a long essay on what he really thought about the resources available for New Testament exposition. His quips and succinct summaries are excellent, and sometimes quite humorous. Besides the glitches stated in the review above by Buddy Boone, this is an excellent work. Admittingly, Carson does not give equal space to all commentaries, but that's fine since all commentaries are not created equally. Of course, the author was probably constrained by the goals and size of the survey, and if you are left wondering what he really recommends about any NT book check the Best Buy section that he includes. If you wish to jump into the world of New Testament study, this is the place to leap (in other words buy the book).

Our fallible interpretation of the Bible is always subject to improvement, and this is where good commentaries are invaluable. Carson helps the reader separate the wheat from the chaff in this regard.
The "Introductory Notes" set the stage by reminding the reader that there are distinct types of commentaries. (Some commentaries include practical application while others do not, etc.) The "Introductory Notes" also help the reader wrestle with the important decision of whether to purchase individual commentaries or a series. The remaining three sections analyze "supplements" to commentaries, many individual commentaries themselves, and some "best buys."
Carson's brisk and pointed style keeps the analysis moving rapidly; however, this style results at times in a certain lack of nuance, as when he contends that, "In the Campbellite tradition, water baptism is necessary for salvation" (p. 74). But overall, this clipped style helps the reader get to the heart of the matter rapidly in every instance-a big plus.
Those still using commentaries from the 1950s and 1960s need to throw most of those relics out! Carson's book is just the tool you need to know which, why, and what to replace them with.

This book is artistic inspiration in every sense of the word. The graphical lay out of the book is exceptional and was the basses of multiple pieces of coursework for myself. I love his use of quotations and expression through graphical design. He is a true legend and I will continue to buy his books for may years to come.

If you liked his first book you are sure to love this one. Carson clearly maintains his position as the most cutting-edge designer today.

His unique attack at graphic design is displayed again in awsome splender

You know, it used to be that historians would content themselves with wandering into the university or national library to idly pore over musty and ancient tomes and monographs, and that this would constitute the bulk of their research. These days, though, historians are a hardier breed, and they like to race excitedly across the countryside, getting a firsthand glimpse at historical sites and badgering old codgers for oral accounts.

David Roberts is of this latter breed, and it shows in his work. Evidently, he is a mountaineer of some accomplishment: he co-wrote one book with Conrad Anker, who was on the expedition that found Mallory's body on Everest, and yet another with Jon Krakauer of "Into Thin Air" fame. So he was not one to merely read about the exploits of Fremont and Carson; he decided to personally travel in their footsteps, across plain and desert and mountain. Consequently, his book is informed by his own knowledge of travel conditions in the West and his assessment of the various camp sites and surrounding terrain. He has visited most of the key locations and knowledgeably discusses their current conditions.

As for archival material and existing biographies of the duo, Roberts is not at all shy about repeatedly proclaiming his opinions of their merits. Many previous works on Fremont and Carson are dismissed as being factually flawed, overly Freudian, or hopelessly biased. Unlike some previous authors in this field, Roberts was able to draw upon the long-lost secret diaries of Charles Preuss, who accompanied Fremont on his first, second, and fourth expeditions. The Preuss material is an invaluable corrective to the self-serving official histories penned jointly by Fremont and his wife Jessie, and the documents cast Fremont in a far worse light.

Roberts is also sensitive to the Native American side of the story, and goes to considerable lengths to discuss the involvement of Fremont and particularly of Carson in Indian affairs. This might not sit well with readers who uncritically buy into the "Manifest Destiny" school of thought.

On the whole, Carson comes off rather well in this account, as Roberts strives to shift popular opinion away from the revisionist view of the scout as a savage and barbaric Indian killer. Fremont, however, gets relentlessly mauled, and based on the surviving independent accounts of his fourth expedition, rightfully so. His historical accomplishments may have been significant (not so much for original discoveries as for the popularization of westward expansion), but he seems to have been very much lacking as a man.

This is a boldly written and robust survey of the accomplishments of Carson and Fremont, and it definitely has a lot to recommend it. Readers of exploration literature or of the American West will want to pick it up.

I'm beginning to think that one of Dave Roberts' favorite pastimes is debunking, or at the very least shedding new light on, old myths. He did a bang up job in "Great Exploration Hoaxes," and continues here with his examination of John Charles Fremont and Kit Carson.

Fremont, (in case you were like me and had no idea who he was), was a surveyor and leader of 5 expeditions into the west. His fame was due mostly to the fact that he was in the right place at the right time. He also had an industrious, wordsmith for a wife who turned his reports into interesting accounts of his journeys. These, when published, were instantly popular with a public that was just beginning to catch the Wild West Fever.

Nicknamed "The Pathfinder," Fremont actually did very little original exploring. Instead he followed the trails pioneered by the early mountain men who had crisscrossed the western frontier in search of beaver. Fremont's guide on these expeditions was Kit Carson.

Frankly, Kit Carson is by far the more interesting of the two men, and Roberts does a good job of reconstructing a personality which was by nature very private. His job was complicated by the fact that Carson was illiterate and disliked being in the limelight. Nevertheless his actions, which were recorded by many (including Fremont) speak eloquently about the man. This is a fascinating read for anyone who enjoys redisovering history through the eyes of a talented writer.

Somewhere in the American psyche there must be a special place for mildering heroes-those who have't quite turned to dust from complete neglect, kept alive by the constant refocusing of the distorting lens of time and history. John C. Fremont and Kit Carson are prominant among the inhabitants of that place. David Roberts has written a remarkable book that examines these two flawed men who were great American heroes at one time. This is good because both men are too fascinating to be left behind.Kit Carson is examined as the Indian Killer (a perfectly acceptable occupation in 1870) turned advocate(a perfectly acceptable occupation in 2000). Fremont, "The Pathfinder"'s is examined for its brillance-he more than anyone else made manifest destiny possible with the mapping of trails west but popular through his avidly read (but probably written by his wife, Jessie)accounts of his expeditions. Fremont and Kit Carson had a symbiotic relationship on their way to fame. The one time Fremont tried to mount an expedition without Kit Carson as his guide makes for one of the most graphic chapters in this book. Stuck in the mountains in the snow several men die, some resort to cannibalism. This contains well researched information,because Fremont himself convieniently decided not to write a book about that crossing. It might have made the 1856 presidential campaign more raucus than it was(The Pathfinder as the Cannibal Candidate?) A fascinating look at these men, this book was read in a day, and now goes into my reference library. I know I will go back to it often.

I bought this commentary on John, and this is not a bad one, and Carson gives you several good insights, but he follows one of the routes of the protestant tradition, the worst one, the zwinglian. He tries to hide any sacramental sign of the Gospel of John: He says that the water and Spirit of Jn 3:5 is not about baptism. He says that water and Spirit is a reference only to the Spirit, and that we to understand Jn 3:5 as pointing to Ezekiel and the divine promise of the gift of Spirit and water. But Carson can't avoid the fact that Ez could refer to the giving of the Spirit via the sacrament of Baptism. Carson is a baptist, so he follows the bias of his tradition. George Beasley Murray is a Baptist exegete, but he admits as the christians of the first 3 centuries that Jn 3:5 is about the One Baptism: the sacrament of baptism, which wash away sins and gives the Spirit.
Carson tries to twist Jn 6, to avoid the obvius: that Jesus is the Bread of Life who must be believed, and Who can gives us life by eating His flesh and drinking His blood at Lord's Supper. Carson tries to convince the reader that Jn 6,53-58 isn't about Eucharist, and he fights against the clear meaning of the text and the reading of the first christians as Ignatius, but, Carson finally gives up and says, "well, this text is about the Eucharist as any other text of the Gospels". Even though he is a follower of Ulrich Zwingly, he at least admits that John 6 has an alussion to the Eucharist. Beasley Murray also a baptist says clearly that the firs readers of John could understand that John was talking about Lord's Supper. Carso'ns interpretation of Jn 20,23 is wrong as the Translator's Handbook on the Gospel of John shows. Well, you better buy George Beasley Murray commentary on John or C.K. Barrett, which is better.

One of the strengths of this commentary is its introduction covering issues such as authorship and date. For those who prefer commentaries with a more conservative approach, Carson's argument for the authorship of this gospel is helpful. He argues that the beloved disciple is the primary author of the gospel, and that the beloved disciple is John, the son of Zebedee. Carson also arrives at a date of composition around 80-85 C.E. and sees no reason to doubt the tradition of Ephesus as the probable place of origin.

Another strength of this commentary was the theological insights provided by Carson. He does a good job of bringing out John's message and I'm sure this would be a helpful aspect for preachers. The NIV is the text used by Carson. There are frequent discussions of Greek terminology, and thankfully the commentary was written with footnotes instead of endnotes. This helped to make for a much smoother read. While not an excellent work on John, Carson does an above average job in providing a work written from a conservative, evangelical perspective.

Athough Carson's on the gender-inclusive bandwagon, this commentary on John is excellent. Leon Morris' commentary on John is equally valuable. I would highly recommend either of these, both extremely well written and both by conservatives.

Eric