Reviews for Heaven's Fractal Net: Retriving Lost Visions in the Humanities

The average rating for Heaven's Fractal Net: Retriving Lost Visions in the Humanities based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-01-06 00:00:00 Ian Fridy Christopher Stead's subject matter is very interesting and he is very knowledgeable about it. I found many parts of this book helpful for understanding some of the controversies in the early church. For example, he clearly explains why the church fathers cared so much about how we spoke about the trinity. They were living in a world where all sorts of damaging things were being taught about the triune God and it was necessary to determine with precision what was actually revealed in scripture. Unfortunately, this book had too many other hang-ups for me which outweighed the positive aspects. Stead constantly felt it was necessary to throw his two cents in along with a condescending tone and hints of intellectual superiority. 2,000 years of hindsight does give you a privileged position but it does not mean you always know better. His frequent and unsolicited plugs for his other books are also tiresome. Stead also uses words like "unoriginal", "derivative", and "amateurish" to describe the philosophical work of the church fathers. With the exception of Augustine (who he still seems reluctant to commend without qualification), he treats the views of Origin, Tertullian, Justin, Irenaeus, and the Cappadocian fathers as lacking the philosophical purity and sophistication of their predecessors. Anything commendable about their ideas, Stead attributes to exceptional "theological" work rather than philosophy. The problem with this is that these categories are ill-defined and if we assume their modern academic meanings, they become anachronistic.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-03-29 00:00:00 Julie Huffman This book opens my eyes about what Treasure laid up in Heaven really means and what kind of eternity are we building. Here it illustrates multiple bible verses and cultural evolution, how they contradict each other and how unfortunately, most Christians have bought into - sterilization, abortion, contraception, etc, to prevent birth of babies when children are blessings from God. It builds faith mainly through childbearing and having numerous children. A lie buster book. Must read for all.