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GOD, CHRIST JESUS, AND I

Name: GOD, CHRIST JESUS, AND I
Author: Bud Yeiser
ISBN: 978-1-4363-6135-4

: THE TRUTH

by Bud Yeiser ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

A book that casts ineffective stones at the contemporary world.

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A lay minister collects 15 years worth of writing about the Bible’s relationship to daily life to create a meditation on faith and God.

Beginning in March 1990, Yeiser began writing down his thoughts and reflections on faith, religion, the Bible and the contemporary world. These writings vary in scope, but none achieves any kind of depth–they are deliberate, but serve no purpose. The most taxing entry is comprised solely of selected passages from the Bible that relate to the concept of heaven, with the author providing no further explanation or analysis. If Yeiser doesn’t contribute any analysis, one may wonder why readers will bother. Other entries are more interesting, but the quality of the work doesn’t exactly improve. His meditations on modern phenomena like teen sex–in which he posits that the number of teen girls having premarital sex is directly related to the number of teen girls attempting suicide–definitely raise some questions. These questions, however, are not about the promiscuous, suicidal teens lambasted here, but rather the author of this out-of-touch and insensitive rumination. Throughout, Yeiser reveals–either directly or indirectly–that he’s had a hard life, including a near-death experience in 1984 and his ex-wife’s betrayal of his trust. These emerge as defining moments that shaped him into the person who’d pen this book. The author’s musings are too shallow to be considered â€œconservative” or â€œfundamentalist”–their myopic focus on religion and propriety is marked by an offensive ignorance and naÃ¯vetÃ©.

A book that casts ineffective stones at the contemporary world.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: 978-1-4363-6135-4

Page Count: -

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION

ROSE BOOK OF BIBLE CHARTS, MAPS AND TIME LINES

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ROSE BOOK OF BIBLE CHARTS, MAPS AND TIME LINES

by Timothy Paul Jones ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2005

Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.

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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 â€œHow 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

Categories:

PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION

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THE MYTH OF SISYPHUS

AND OTHER ESSAYS

by Albert Camus ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 26, 1955

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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.