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grasse_matinee's review against another edition
3.0
Great book for understanding the origins of violence and suffering in the bible and religion in general.
cookingwithelsa's review
4.0
After their first collaborative writing, I was eager to read this book and though it took me 6 months to finish it was rather enjoyable. Through the theological evolution of Paradise from the early to modern church, Brock and Parker offer a charge to Christians that is compelling and empowering. Each chapter marks a particular time in history -- though I wish that each chapter linked more closely to the previous themes on Paradise. I wanted it to be more cohesive which it may have been had I not taken so long to read it. All in all, an excellent read for any progressive Christian willing to be challenged in their faith assumptions.
gnome_friend's review
5.0
A wonderfully detailed exploration of what Christianity has been and could be. Focusing on religion's relationship to joy, suffering, and community, the first half of the book traces the development of the earliest forms of Christianity; their commitment to experiencing and creating communities of paradise among us and to putting justice and resurrection rather than crucifixion and salvation at the center of faith. The second half then shows how the colonialism and crusades of the Holy Roman Empire justified the glorification of suffering and violence, and how this mindset has permeated itself into the cultures of western Europe and North America. By finding elements of Christianity from all times that are life-sustaining, rather than identifying one pristine moment, the authors also propose steps forward to creating a religion of paradise again.
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