A welcome resource and fresh voice.
Refreshingly balanced and sober look at the controversial question, “Was Jesus married?”
While authors both popular and scholarly have spent the past several years taking heated sides on this controversial topic, Le Donne (Historical Jesus, 2011, etc.) smartly walks a middle road. He is clear from the outset that given what little we have in solid, original texts, no one can ever know with certainty if Jesus had a wife. The best we can do is to make educated guesses. However, the author also wisely points out that some theories are more valid than others. Early in his work, Le Donne does readers a service by tracing the history of Mary Magdalene’s reputation, arguing that modern writers abuse her memory as much as misogynistic medieval churchmen did when branding her a prostitute. The idea that Magdalene may have been Jesus’ wife—a theory made tremendously popular by Dan Brown—had its origins in Nikos Kazantzakis’ The Last Temptation of Christ (1953). It is a thoroughly modern interpretation of Magdalene’s role, and Le Donne believes that various ancient sources backing up this assertion are easily rendered moot when viewed in their historical contexts. Nevertheless, the author points out that there are many reasons for assuming that Jesus was, at some point at least, married. Quite simply, it would have been highly unusual for a Jewish man in that period not to be married, and in fact in an arranged marriage. A cultural ideal of “civic masculinity” would have dictated this course of action. Still, Le Donne allows that Jesus’ many countercultural stances make it quite possible that he may have eschewed marriage altogether. Despite a subject matter that is sure to be provocative, Le Donne manages not to take sides but also reminds readers that our ideas on Jesus’ sexuality and marital status show more about us than they do about him.
A welcome resource and fresh voice.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-78074-305-9
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Oneworld Publications
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2013
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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