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| (Photo by Roberta F.) |
Ray Silverman, author of The
Core of Johnny Appleseed: The Unknown
Story of a Spiritual Trailblazer, has
planted a number of his own fruitful seeds.
Silverman's Amazon.com biography tells us that he is well versed in spiritual topics. He has been instrumental in bringing some of Helen Keller's most inspirational works to the world, and has also authored a book on Spiritual Development
Through the Ten Commandments. He is currently Associate Professor of Religion, English, and Moral Philosophy at Bryn Athyn College – as well as an adjunct instructor at Urbana University ("home of the Johnny Appleseed Education Center and Museum, and the Chapman School of Leadership in Sustainability").
It therefore comes as no surprise that Silverman has managed to peel away the myths of Johnny Appleseed in order to get at the core of John Chapman. In his Patheos review of Silverman's Chapman biography, Christian Piatt explains that Chapman was "driven by the ingenious theological teachings of Emmanuel Swedenborg, who was a bit of a heretical radical for his time." Silverman himself has described the "basics" of Swedenborg's theology as "love God, love your neighbor" – but has warned that Swedenborg's explanations of these basics are "complex and vast."
Nevertheless, Silverman's book "is fairly simple and to the point" – which could serve to whet the reader's appetite for John Chapman, Emmanuel Swedenborg, and – of course – apples…
Resources
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/christianpiatt/2012/10/getting-to-know-the-core-of-johnny-appleseed/
http://www.amazon.com/The-Core-Johnny-Appleseed-Trailblazer/dp/0877853452
Copyright June 22, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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