From time to time I get questions about a negative review of my book, The Lost Religion of Jesus, posted on Amazon.com by Shemayah Phillips, as well as about his web site, Ebionite.org. [UPDATE 2021: the web site “Ebionite.org” has ceased existence and has now been taken over by someone else not interested in the Ebionites; it was last functioning during 2016.] Phillips says that my book is terrible, suggests that the Ebionites were not vegetarian, and that I’m advocating gnostic views!
Phillips’ review is cast as a response to the vegetarian issue: “Firstly, it is an apologetic book for vegetarianism with a religious ‘seal of approval’ applied . . . the author’s previous loyalty to vegetarianism and non-violence . . . makes him jump at questionable sources identified as ‘Jewish-Christian’ which he lumps all together as ‘ebionite.'”
What is going on here? Have I got the Ebionites completely wrong? Were the Ebionites really vegetarian? (And, worse yet, am I really “gnostic”? Are my parents reading this?) Continue reading “About Shemayah Phillips and Ebionite.org”
Take this Bread is an absolutely marvelous book. O. K., the author isn’t vegetarian (more about that later), but this book really conveys, better than anything else I’ve read recently, what it means to be a “believer.” If you want to get into Christian mysticism (a term that I do not recall she ever uses), but can’t handle St. John of the Cross, I’d really take a look at this book first. Belief is not something that happens to the mind, as if you have a vision of Jesus out of nowhere saying “hey, believe in me, already,” or read Thomas Aquinas and discover that he really does have the long-sought-after knock-down proof of God’s existence. 
From about 2003 to 2005 we had an old-time band called “Peachbottom Creek.” This was the list of all the tunes that we thought we knew at one time. We even produced a low-budget CD. The members were Jennifer Duncan (d. 2006), Doug Rippey, Kate Lawrence, and Keith Akers.
Note: this essay gives away several key elements of the plot of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. If you haven’t read the books or seen the movies and don’t want the plot spoiled, don’t read this essay. 
(UPDATE May 1, 2018: This article was first published on this web site when it went “live” in 2001 (as a static page). Before that it had circulated, in various versions, in print form at talks I gave during the 1990’s and early 2000’s. When I converted the web site to WordPress in 2012, though, it somehow got lost, and I am now inserting into my blog backdated to its original date. This list is essentially what I had in 2004, with a few extra comments.)