Steven D. Paulson

Round about 2007-2008 my son was graduating from Prescott College with a degree in environmental studies and was searching for his place in the workforce. Judging by the magazine covers on my coffee table at the time, I thought Nick might be catching a wave. Going "green" was all the rage. Then the Great Recession hit, the smartphone came out, and the culture wars erupted, knocking the nascent environmental movement off the front page and on to the back of the bus, perhaps under the bus. "Environmentalist" weirdly even became a negative, dismissive epithet.

Which is absurd. Who is against clean, safe water and fresh, breathable air? And who thinks such things happen by themselves? Nobody who thinks.

I predict that once the fouled air of this election has blown over a broad and healthy movement to protect the environment will return with vigor. This is the book to help you catch the wave, to help you kick-start the movement, to help you remember who you are, to remind you that you love your beautiful surroundings and that you don't want to lose them.

Steve Paulson has 40 years of experience as a citizen who makes a difference and the world is better for him being here. I hope to be able to say the same for myself and for my kids. Reading ENVIRONMENTALISTS gave me the constant feeling that I need and want to meet the author. By the time I was done with the book, which I have now read twice, I felt I had made a new friend. An inspiring one. Steve just doesn't know it yet.

Read this and pass it around. Help rekindle a movement in your own local. Make a new friend. Then tell me all about it.

You are welcome.… (más)

Round about 2007-2008 my son was graduating from Prescott College with a degree in environmental studies and was searching for his place in the workforce. Judging by the magazine covers on my coffee table at the time, I thought Nick might be catching a wave. Going "green" was all the rage. Then the Great Recession hit, the smartphone came out, and the culture wars erupted, knocking the nascent environmental movement off the front page and on to the back of the bus, perhaps under the bus. "Environmentalist" weirdly even became a negative, dismissive epithet.

Which is absurd. Who is against clean, safe water and fresh, breathable air? And who thinks such things happen by themselves? Nobody who thinks.

I predict that once the fouled air of this election has blown over a broad and healthy movement to protect the environment will return with vigor. This is the book to help you catch the wave, to help you kick-start the movement, to help you remember who you are, to remind you that you love your beautiful surroundings and that you don't want to lose them.

Steve Paulson has 40 years of experience as a citizen who makes a difference and the world is better for him being here. I hope to be able to say the same for myself and for my kids. Reading ENVIRONMENTALISTS gave me the constant feeling that I need and want to meet the author. By the time I was done with the book, which I have now read twice, I felt I had made a new friend. An inspiring one. Steve just doesn't know it yet.

Read this and pass it around. Help rekindle a movement in your own local. Make a new friend. Then tell me all about it.

You are welcome.… (más)

2.5 stars out of 5. The book would more properly be titled "The Gospel According to Luther," as the author focuses on Luther's theological evolution towards the understanding of the Gospel that caused him to nail his theses to the church door and work out his understanding of the Gospel in everyday life. I have become more interested in the Luther's views on work recently, and that is mentioned toward the end of the book.

In many places it is not clear what thinking is the author's and what is Luther's. Luther said a lot of disturbing things or supported some causes that in hindsight were not very Gospel-centered (as this website shows). But the author doesn't give much biographical information as the context for these or explain their theological underpinnings. That said, his quotes from various Luther writings inspires the reader to dig deeper.

This is the third Armchair Theologians book I have read. It contained some cursory biographical material, mostly at the beginning and end (paraphrase, "oh, by the way, he got married and it meant a lot.") I would recommend reading something like Civilization of the Middle Ages for the pre-Lutheran context so you can better understand Germany and the state of doctrine in the Roman Catholic Church when Luther came onto the scene.… (más)