Revisionist history, albeit inconclusive, that’s interesting, well-made, and should attract much attention.
An examination, sure to provoke controversy, of Christianity’s most powerful symbol.
Does wood from the cross on which Christ was crucified exist in the world today? Many parishioners of Rome’s Santa Croce in Gerusalemme church would say yes. In its recesses, write Swiss papyrologist Thiede and English journalist d’Ancona (Eyewitness to Jesus, 1996), is housed a 25.3-by-14-centimeter section of the titulus, or headboard, that, three of the four Gospels aver, bore mocking words in three languages stating “This is the king of the Jews.” Examining the board without the benefit of dendrochronological and palynological tests, which they urge be undertaken, and arguing instead from linguistic and scriptural evidence, Thiede and d’Ancona assert their belief that the Santa Croce titulus dates from the time of Christ even though other scholars have held it to be a forgery. Their argument, they acknowledge, is in no way definitive, but it at least restores the fragment of wood “to its rightful place in the spectrum of historical probability”—a worthy enough goal given the importance that Christian scholarship places on history and chronology. Of more interest to general readers of biblical and religious history is the authors’ survey of the legend of the cross, bits and pieces of which were traded and fought over even in antiquity, and much of which, it is said, disappeared when the Frankish army that carried the cross as a talisman lost it in battle against the Sultan Saladin. Traditional scholarship holds that the cross itself became a symbol of Christianity only after the Roman emperor Constantine adopted it as his standard, but Thiede and d’Ancona counter, convincingly, that this view is based on questionable evidence and that Constantine (and his mother Helena) simply rediscovered a symbol already widely used by early Christians.
Revisionist history, albeit inconclusive, that’s interesting, well-made, and should attract much attention.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-312-29424-7
Page Count: 205
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2002
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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