Meticulous in its research; forensic in its reasoning; robust in its argument; and often hilarious in its debunking... a highly entertaining rumble with the century's major conspiracy theorists and their theories. --John Lahr; National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of Tennessee WilliamsFrom an award-winning journalist; a history so funny; so true; so scary; it's bound to be called a conspiracy. Our age is obsessed by the idea of conspiracy. We see it everywhere- from Pearl Harbor to 9/11; from the assassination of Kennedy to the death of Diana. In this age of terrorism we live in; the role of conspiracy is a serious one; one that can fuel radical or fringe elements to violence. For David Aaronovitch; there came a time when he started to see a pattern among these inflammatory theories. these theories used similarly murky methods with which to insinuÂate their claims: they linked themselves to the supposed conspiracies of the past (it happened then so it can happen now); they carefully manipulated their evidence to hide its holes; they relied on the authority of dubious acaÂdemic sources. Most important; they elevated their believers to membership of an elite- a group of people able to see beyond lies to a higher reality. But why believe something that entails stretching the bounds of probabilÂity so far?In this entertaining and enlightening book; he examines why people believe conspiracy theories; and makes an argument for a true skepticism: one based on a thorough knowledge of history and a strong dose of common sense.
#207366 in Books Aquilina; Mike 2007-06-05Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 7.50 x 5.00 x .50l; .61 #File Name: 1592763200256 pages
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. A wonderful primer on what the early Church had to say about the Mass.By ARGA wonderful primer on what the early Church had to say about the Mass. It is beautiful to read words that mirror or at least echo what we still use to this day throughout the world at Mass from the mouths of those who lived within a generation or two of Jesus and the Apostles. Amazing to see the preservation of Tradition that the Church Jesus established has accomplished over two thousand years uncorrupted. Mike Aquilina spends most of the book giving a chapter to a different person who lived during the first 300 years or so after Jesus. A summary of the person and what it is we will read in the source material starts the chapter and then actual words written so long ago. Some are early liturgies; other are pagans declaiming what the Christians were up to; others heretics speaking to the practices of the true Church. Beautiful to see as a Catholic the continuity to the times of Jesus that Holy Mother Church has preserved. I imagine this would be quite instructive to any Protestants open to reading about the early Church and seeing them profess the same dogmas of transubstantiation and importance of the Eucharist that the Protestant Reformers dismissed as unChristian 1500 years after Jesus established such practices.11 of 11 people found the following review helpful. Great resource on so many levelsBy Jeffrey MillerI had been looking forward to reading the 2nd edition of Mike Aquilina's The Mass of the Early Christians and I certainly was not disappointed. This is absolutely a great book and I believe required reading for anybody who wants to read on the early form and development of the Mass.Mike Aquilina takes us sequentially through history using documented sources to give us a good idea of how the Mass was originally celebrated. We of course have some idea of this from the New Testament and the book goes thoroughly through both Old and New Testament sources in reference to the Mass and we see over and over again how the Church Fathers did the same. Part of the development of the Mass is shrouded in history; especially concerning the Eucharistic celebration. Early Christians kept the Eucharistic celebration secret and seekers and catechumen were required to leave prior to the Eucharistic celebration. Early writers pretty much kept to this tradition and so often we only have oblique references to this and it only becomes more explicit after the Edict of Milan. I think this practice is a good thing to meditate on in how sacred the early Christians viewed this celebration and how cavalier we can think of it.Despite this lack of openness regarding the liturgy there are still a lot of good clues to give us an insight into these early celebrations and we of course find that they are not much different in structured compared to our current celebrations. Part II - The Testimony of Witnesses is the largest part of the book and starts with the New Testament; the Didache and then then chapters focusing on individuals such as Church Fathers and other historical sources including some Pagan and Gnostic ones. I really like how he laid out the book because instead of getting brief texts from multiple sources we get much fuller texts from these authors when they reference the liturgy. This book is not a listing of all the texts available on the early church; but does contain a prominent sampling of them. As Mike Aquilina mentions including all of them would have made the book twice as large and I think he came up with a great compromise. I much prefer the fuller texts along with full scriptural texts.I found some of the Pagan sources quite fascinating along with some of the early accusations made against the Christians. I had of course heard of the cannibalism charges; but some of the other charges made makes Church reporting by the modern media quite tame in contrast. The best part those are of the Church's witnesses and the insights they had towards the Mass and the view they give us of the early liturgies. This book can be used both for apologetics purposes and for spiritual reading. What I found most fascinating though was the texts from the Mass that still exist and the variety of them from the various geographical liturgies.The last section of the book gives us a short and imaginative look at what it would have been like to go to a Mass in North Africa and a good idea of what it would have been like to go to one of these house Churches during the time the Church was being heavily persecuted.Highly recommended for anybody.21 of 21 people found the following review helpful. CompellingBy Stratiotes Doxha TheonThrough the use of primary sources with minimum interjection of commentary; Mr. Aquilina provides a compelling account of the early mass. It is a challenge to the idea of a primitive and simplistic church model that instead shows us how well-formed the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist were very early in the church. From the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist to the development of church government and use of scripture; this will be a serious challenge for inquisitive non-Catholic believers. Mr. Aquilina does a fine job of letting the early church speak for itself in describing the heart of worship in spirit and truth. This little book is packed and will be a great resource for church historians and theologians of the mass. Very readable yet profound and engaging.The early martyrs asserted that they could not live without the mass. You may find yourself drawn to the same conclusion. Be forewarned; Mr. Aquilina's passion for the early church and the mass is infectious. But you will not be sorry if you catch it. You will also want his other superb work; The Fathers of the Church; Expanded Edition.
