This book was well written with many fine gems in the end notes. It was and is refreshing to discover what the first millenium of Christianity was really about. It was discouraging to find out where the course of the second millenium has taken us. The recovery of the, probably, true message of Jesus, gives much hope. Creating Paradise here and now is a challenge but is necessary if Christianity is to survive. Be encouraged. Read this awsome work.

The importance of the "world to come" and Christ's death (and resurrection) is of obvious importance to all the early Fathers, not to mention the New Testament writers, so I'm surprised to see people so boldly asserting that these are products of the second millennium (specifically Charlemagne's empire), and actually getting a book published to that effect. To be sure, Christianity is far more in love with the beauty of God's creation than some latter-day Western manifestations would make it seem, and less juridical in its soteriology, but this does nothing to diminish the importance of the crucifixion. The authors would have been on much firmer ground if they had simply pointed out that the Cross is ultimately a symbol of life, and it is inseparable from the Resurrection- but the Orthodox Church has never ceased to proclaim this.

The methodology of this book seems to be sheer intellectual laziness, in the service of modern desires to have a purely human Christ who does not transcend the finite world or demand that we transcend it. One can simply flip open the pages of the New Testament or just about any early Church father to disprove the authors' thesis- the importance of the Cross and Christ crucified is evident for all to see. If all of this started in the second millennium, then why are there crosses dating from well before then (e.g., the 7th century Carndonagh cross)?

Read the decisions of the 7th ecumenical council, which, among other things, exhort Christians to prominently display the "precious and life-giving Cross." Yes, the cross is life-giving, because Christ has "trampled down death by death". Again, read early Christian ascetical works or quotes from the desert fathers- suffering for the sake of Christ is an indelible component of the ancient Christian worldview. This is not because the material world is evil, but because there is a higher, spiritual world too. The authors are largely ignorant of Orthodox Christianity, a major blind-spot for a project like this; they make a few scant and decontextualized references to Orthodox sources, but focus on western Europe, ignoring the fact that the Cross has been venerated in the East since ancient times, completely independent of Charlemagne and the "Holy Roman Empire."

This book won't convince anyone who doesn't already want to be convinced. Anyone with a serious background in Church history, patristics, or iconography will laugh at it. It just goes to show that loads of citations and a lengthy biography are no indication that any actual scholarship is involved.

"Saving Paradise" is a remarkable book and reading it has both deepened and changed my theological and religious perspective. I don't think I will ever look at Christianity in the same way again. Over and over I found myself saying: "so that's what that means." Things that troubled me are now better understood (the authors make clear that in man cases I was right to be troubled!) and thing that I never thought much about now trouble me! I couldn't begin to summarize a book that covers the history, art, and theology of the church; the religious, economic,and political forces Christianity has confronted in 2,000 years; and the reason why the faith needs to save paradise today. More than a history, not a work of abstract theology, it provides a feminist perspective without ever becoming just propaganda for that perspective. "Saving paradise is a call to return to the paradise God created for all of us in this world. All I think I can do is quote the final paragraph of the last chapter: Entering paradise in this life is not an individual achievement but is the gift of communities that train perception and teach ethical grace. Paradise provides deep reservoirs for resistance and joy. It calls us to embrace life's aching tragedies and persistent beauties, to labor for justice and peace, to honor one another's dignity, and to root our lives in the soil of this great and difficult earth."

This book is an event. It breaks free from fundamenalist reading of Chrisitanity and shows its subversive power for justice and peace.

A worthwhile examination of violence and overemphasis on the afterlife as problems for Christianity. Recommended.

However, re: the Kindle edition

One quarter of this book is the extensive notes, and yet they are not hyperlinked in the Kindle edition. This is a major problem for an e-book, and especially one of this length for which you are being essentially charged full regular Amazon.com price, same as the hardbound paper edition.

The notes are so extensive that even an attempt to bookmark/highlight them myself proved too time-consuming and tedious.

I regret I bought the Kindle edition as at this price I probably won't go ahead and buy the paper version after paying[...] for a crippled e version. Shame on the publisher and amazon both for allowing this kind of problem edition to be sold; it can only damage the Kindle & Amazon reputation.