Michael Potts's Blog: Bits and Pieces: Book Reviews and Articles on Writing, Horror Fiction, and Some Philosophy

Review of Carl R. Trueman, "The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self"

The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution by Carl R. Trueman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


From whence did "wokeness" arise? What led to the decline of traditional Christian morality among the elite and the acceptance of gay marriage and transgenderism? Carl Trueman locates the reasons for such cultural changes in the acceptance of "expressive individualism" in the modern world. Such individualism is based on psychological expression and the expression of emotion as automatically being the only valid authorities for living one's life. Trueman traces the historical roots of such a view back to the early modern tradition, beginning with Descartes, through Rousseau, the English romantic poets, especially Percy Shelly, and onward to Marx, Darwin, Freud, Marcuse, second and third wave feminism, and postmodernism. He notes that the logical trajectory of expressive individualism is a view of choice in which every choice is considered morally acceptable and even binding on reality; for example, if a man feels he is a woman, then that is the case, and surgery can be used to confirm the results of the feelings that have already created a state of "womanhood" in that person. Sex and gender are separated. Trueman also points out the reasons for the intolerance of traditional ideas an academia, the media, entertainment, and business is that any world view that does not affirm personal choices as ipso facto valid in bigoted and meant to harm those oppressed by such a world view. Now Trueman is coming from an Evangelical Christian point of view, but his purpose is primarily analysis, not judgment, an attempt to have people understand why western society has changed so radically, since around the mid-1960s in the United States. As such, this book is a valuable addition to the library of any person who wants to understand the changes in society that did not only begin with the sexual revolution, but are the results of assumptions hidden in modernity itself.



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An Informative and Fascinating Account of One of NASA's Worst Disasters

Apollo 1: The Tragedy That Put Us on the Moon by Ryan S. Walters

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Ryan Walters has written an informative and interesting book on one of the great tragedies of the drive toward landing a man on the moon--the Apollo 1 disaster. Three astronauts, in a flight simulation on the ground, were killed when a flash fire dashed through the Command Module. The astronauts could not get out quickly because of the old-fashioned hatch that took minutes to unlock. No one person was at fault, but a series of well-meaning people cut corners to save money; bureaucratic maneuvering also prevented the company with the highest rating from getting the contract to built the spaceship.

Walters details the space program from its beginnings, through Projects Mercury and Gemini, and finally into Project Apollo. He makes a strong case that without the disaster, the United States would not have had a ship safe enough to get astronauts to the moon before 1070. NASA's response then was not the same as NASA's response to more recent disasters (and this is my point, not Walters') due to Americans' growing fear of risk. The three astronauts who died wanted NASA to succeed, and the 1969 landing of Apollo 11, as Walters notes, is a fitting tribute to their sacrifice. Would that the changes could have occurred another way.



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A Unique Horror Novel with an Interesting Twist

Smithy by Amanda Desiree

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"Smithy" is a fine horror book in the tradition of Henry James and M. R. James. The horror is a slow build to the climactic scene, and the result is well worth the wait. The thesis is unique--what if an ape in a sign language study seems to see something that is seemingly not there. Does Smithy (the nickname for Webster the chimpanzee) really see a preternatural apparition or are there other rational explanations that would fit. The use of ambiguity is skilled throughout. The book is also unusual in that, like "Dracula," is is an epistolary novel, in the form of letters and memos. I highly recommend this unique haunted house story.



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Review of "Creepy Cat's Macabre Travels" by Katherine Kerestman

Creepy Cat's Macabre Travels: Prowling Around Haunted Towers, Crumbling Castles, and Ghoulish Graveyards Paperback by Katherine Kerestman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Katherine Kerestman's book is a masterful tour of creepy places that makes the reader want to see every one of them. From Dracula's Castle in Romania to the Bell Witch Cave in the hills of Tennessee, the descriptions in this volume will grip the reader and guide the reader into an eerie and rewarding experience. The descriptive power of Ms. Kerestman is incredible -- I felt as if I were walking through every location she described in the book. It made me want to see all the places I have not seen and revisit those I have. This volume is every bit as good as the best of the classic nineteenth century travel narratives. I cannot recommend it highly enough. You would count yourself lucky to own and read this book.



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Review of "Creepy Cat's Macabre Travels" by Katherine Kerestman

Creepy Cat's Macabre Travels: Prowling Around Haunted Towers, Crumbling Castles, and Ghoulish Graveyards Paperback by Katherine Kerestman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Katherine Kerestman's book is a masterful tour of creepy places that makes the reader want to see every one of them. From Dracula's Castle in Romania to the Bell Witch Cave in the hills of Tennessee, the descriptions in this volume will grip the reader and guide the reader into an eerie and rewarding experience. The descriptive power of Ms. Kerestman is incredible -- I felt as if I were walking through every location she described in the book. It made me want to see all the places I have not seen and revisit those I have. This volume is every bit as good as the best of the classic nineteenth century travel narratives. I cannot recommend it highly enough. You would count yourself lucky to own and read this book.



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Review of Everett Ferguson, "Women in the Church: Biblical and Historical Perspectives"

Women in the Church: Biblical and Historical Perspectives by Everett Ferguson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book is primarily for an audience in the noninstrumental Churches of Christ, although it is a useful resource for other Evangelical churches. Ferguson defends the view that St. Paul did forbid women from taking a leadership role in the assembly of the church in the relevant passages in I Corinthians and I Timothy (assuming it was written by Paul--that should not matter since it has been received by the church as canonical and thus authoritative). Ferguson notes that there was ample precedent in Greco-Roman culture for women as priests, thus it was significant that St. Paul was actually being countercultural in opposing such roles for women. To ascribe St. Paul's opponents' views to Paul himself, as is the fashion in "modern" hermeneutics, twists Paul's language to the limit in trying to squeeze him into contemporary egalitarian ideology. Jesus' choice of male apostles was significant in light of the Hellenistic world's acceptance of females in high religious offices and suggests, as Ferguson says, that this was an intentional choice.

I highly recommend this book for its intended audience, and even traditional Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and continuing Anglican Christians can profit from reading it.



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Review of Mark Allen Powell, "Introducing the New Testament"

Introducing the New Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey by Mark Allan Powell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


It is actually the second (2018) edition I am reviewing--this is the finest book surveying the New Testament I have read. It would make an excellent textbook for an undergraduate class in Survey of the New Testament. The author does not take sides in scholarly disputes but lays out all positions and allows the student to decide between them. The clarity of the writing is refreshing--all academics should write so clearly, especially in textbooks for college and university courses. The author's style is also engaging, drawing in the reader. It is clear that the author is excited about the New Testament, believes it to be a fascinating read, and communicates that excitement to the reader. I found no factual errors regarding academic content, though perhaps he should reconsider his story of Psalm 46 in the KJV and Shakespeare since that has been discredited! That is such a minor point, but I figured it worth mentioning (if you're interested, Google "Psalm 46" and "Shakespeare" together and you will find the information you need). Although the author is an Evangelical Protestant, the book is written in such a way that it could be used by teachers of many ideologically different views. I recall the excitement of my seminary courses in New Testament, and this book helped me recapture that excitement. I believe that this is the ideal textbook for students in New Testament even if they have not been exposed to the New Testament before. It has my highest recommendation.



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Review of R. A. Miller, "Merely Academic"

This is a fine novel about an eccentric college professor who by mistake ends up as a first-year undergraduate student at Oxford University. Dr. Brian S. Mossworth, Ph.D., an art historian at a small college in Arkansas, takes eccentricity a bit too far in a number of hilarious incidents, some reaching the point of pathos. The book reminds me a great deal of "A Confederacy of Dunces" combined with a bit of Flannery O'Connor. At Oxford, Mossberg finds his intellectual muddleness whipped into shape by a tough but benevolent tutor, learns how not to get drunk, and learns a lesson on how one gets into trouble by misspelling a person's name. The overall message of the book is far more profound, about the shallowness of trendy intellectual ideas and the need to return to real standards of goodness, truth, and beauty. This is a funny, poignant, and profound book of which I give my highest recommendation.

Review of S. E. Hinton, Hawkes Harbor

Some novels have a traditional plot structure, and others are character studies. Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men" is a well-known character study and a fine novel. "Hawkes Harbor" may not be as literary as McCarthy's novel, but it is a solid piece of work. Hinton was under legal restrictions and had to change the names, but his main character, Jamie, is clearly based on the character from "Dark Shadows," Willie Loomis. The novel gives his backstory concerning his sea voyages and carries on the story from where the TV series left off to cover "Jamie's" entire life, his dealings with "Granville" (Barnabas Collins), and the changes in character he undergoes throughout his life. It is an interesting story, and adventure story, a fictional biography, and a personal and spiritual journey tied into one work. This may not be the book for those into traditional plots, but for someone interested in seeing a person develop in interaction with others and for Dark Shadows fans, this is the perfect book.

Review of Ryzard Legutko, The Demon in Democracy: Totalitarian Temptations in Free Societies

This is, by far, the best book I have read on the contemporary political situation in the United States and Europe. Legutko uses his knowledge of European politics, history, and philosophy to paint a dismal, and I believe accurate, picture of the direction liberal democracy is going. Political correctness and the cancel culture are signs of a growing totalitarianism stemming from the modern philosophical roots and basic assumptions of contemporary liberal democracy. The current totalitarian and ultra-Puritan mindset arises from (1) liberal democracy's hostility to Christianity and to all traditional communities, including the family, and (2) the liberal democratic imperative of equality, interpreted as equality of results, which creates favored classes that become their own political parties. These include blacks, Hispanics, homosexuals, transgendered individuals, women, and any other groups added to this list in the future. These groups have little to do with the concrete and real people living in such diverse communities, but reduces them to power-players in the political game. The list can only grow, for equality is an ideology that eats and eats and eats until all vestiges of traditional culture is gone, replaced by a homogenous population that lacks creativity and lives in constant fear of offending others as well as finding ways to take offense at others' comments. All activities become politicized, even eating and sexuality, and politics invades every secret corner of life. Eventually the power of the state is used against traditional groups, and totalitarianism will become as stifling as it was under Communist governments. Legutko has little home for a quick end to such trends, and I believe he is correct. While there are more people in the United States opposing the totalitarian slant of liberal democracy, ultimately the powers that be in the media, education and entertainment overwhelm them, and sympathetic voices in government make sure outcomes go their way. It is a sad situation, one in which traditionalists will have to practice patience and be willing to suffer persecution for their beliefs. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in political correctness, the cancel culture, and other totalitarian aspects of contemporary culture.