Books and Other Things Recently Read

Just finished Patricia Cornwell's "Predator" and still don't know what it was about. I must have missed a book somewhere ... I don't have a clue about what happened to the friendship between Scarpetta and Marino ... nor how Lucy got from the CIA or whatever to the place she is now.

Read the latest Patterson book, "Beach Road." It's a "wicked" mystery ... don't give up on it ... READ to the end.

Jonathan Kellerman's "Monster" was a little much for me but, nevertheless, he's a good
writer.

And my Bible, Sunday School book and Power For Today, plus two newspapers and all the farm journals we get.

On-line readings
1. The Musical Reforms of Martin Luther where I found a reference about hymns and bar tunes. I've still searching and hope to find other references in England and Scotland.

"The first secular melody found in the chorale books is Mein Freud' möcht sich wohl mehren which Luther transformed into Herr Christ, der einig Gotts Sohn (The Only Son from Heaven) (LBW 86). Luther found it necessary to discard some secular chorale melodies, such as Aus fremden Landen komm' ich her, because this and other similarly adapted melodies retained their popularity in the taverns and dance places. As Luther said, he was "compelled to let the devil have it back again."

http://www.carolinaclassical.com/articles/luther2.html,

I knew I remember that some of our favorite hymns were sung to the melodies of bar songs.

2. The Restoration Movement and the biographies of so many preachers in the United States from the 1700's until now.

http://www.therestorationmovement.com/

Especially Hall Laurie Calhoun who has to be a cousin because all Calhoun's in the USA are related somehow.

http://www.therestorationmovement.com/calhoun,hl.htm

3. Notes From History about Psalms and the first worship songs that were not from the book of Psalms.
"The use of uninspired hymns developed gradually. It was not until the fourth century that the practice became widespread. The divinely inspired writers did not instruct first century Christians to write hymns and there are no hymns surviving from the first century. "Shepherd of Tender Youth" was written about 200 A.D. by Clement of Alexandria and is the earliest known uninspired "Christian hymn.""
"During the 1800's uninspired hymns became popular with worshippers and by the 20th Century the Psalms were rarely sung."

http://www.bibleguide.net/notesfromhistory.html

4. Christian History Institute listing important events of each century AD.

http://chi.gospelcom.net/centuries/index.shtml

There are others recently read that I'll talk about later. An on-line computer is like having a large library in your own house. It's as wonderful in its way as getting comfortable is with a good paper back or hard back mystery.

Peace