Brian Arthur Brown’s first book was the publication of his 1966 masters thesis, The Sacramental Ministry to the Sick, a study of the use of sacraments as “spiritual medicine,” years before the power of the spirit in healing was rediscovered at Harvard University and other places.  The appeal of this book was limited to church circles, becoming a text for training of priests in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

The Burning Bush was a classic of Canada’s northern frontier, well received as an ethical investigation of northern development, written in 1975 during the Burger inquiry into the feasibility of the proposed Mckenzie Valley Pipeline. This US-Canada project was delayed for thirty-five years due to its potential impact on native communities and the environment along the route bringing gas and oil to southern markets.

A year after The Burning Bush Brian Arthur Brown became established in Canadian literature through his “scoop” of the national unity question in the publication of Separatism, the hot issue of the time.  During his years at McGill University, the author had become connected politically with the social democratic politics of Rene Levesque, then Liberal cabinet minister in Quebec. Later, as the first elected “separatist” premier of Quebec, Levesque contributed a foreword to Separatism, a 17 page presentation of the aspirations of French Canada, taken by some commentators as a definitive articulation of Sovereignty-Association, an arrangement not much different from that continuing to evolve between the Quebec “nation” and the country of Canada.

Other books in the intervening years include The New Confederation (foreword by BC Premier WAC Bennett), The Canadian Challenge (100 national unity radio editorials), A Special Way of Loving (marriage manual), The Oracle at Corinth (marriage counseling), Opening Tomorrow’s Doors (history of public education in western Canada), No Distance Too Far (Mennonite education on the prairies), The Canadian Quest for Peace (foreword by Princess Anne), A Light Shining in the Darkness (church history) and Your Neighbor as Yourself (US-Canada relations, foreword by John Kenneth Galbraith). Each book fulfilled a niche, but none acquired the “bestseller” status of Separatism and are now out of print, though they are carried in many public libraries in Canada.

In 2007 the work of Brian Arthur Brown achieved bestseller status again with Noah’s Other Son, Bridging the Gap Between the Bible and the Qur’an, a timely exploration of relations between Jews, Christians and Muslims, based not on the religions as they are, but on their scriptures about the way things were meant to be.  Published simultaneously by Continuum in the USA and T&T Clark in the UK, and available from Amazon.com and elsewhere, Noah’s Other Son is used by congregational book clubs, as well as university departments of religion and seminaries for the training of ministers.

Forensic Scriptures is a sequel to Noah’s Other Son, featuring a critical analysis of the Old and New Testaments and the Qur’an. Launched at a three-day conference on the theme at The Riverside Church in New York City in May 2009, Forensic Scriptures is ideal for congregational study groups and university classes, as well as personal study. It is available direct from the publisher, Amazon.com and many theological bookstores.