A confident, if not always persuasive, guidebook to following God’s will.
Murray emphasizes the primacy of God’s will in this debut nonfiction work.
As a Christian speaker, blogger, and spiritual counselor, the author notes how her willingness to “always listen to God” and follow his will rather than her own personal desires has allowed her to know that “he knows what’s best.” Her book, born of a lifetime of prayer and study of Christian Scripture, seeks to impart the author’s spiritual wisdom to readers. Though the text is nondenominational in its theology, its approach is decisively charismatic, particularly in its emphasis on spiritual warfare. Demons (who “can guide you to make bad decisions”) and angels play central roles in its narrative. Entire chapters are devoted to helping readers “discern the difference between demons and honorable angels” and describing “how Satan and demons defiled the kingdom of heaven” before the Earth was created. Other chapters focus on more conventional Christian themes, such as wisdom, recognizing God’s will, and the dangers of material wealth. Murray is unafraid to tackle some of the paradoxes of Christianity, such as how a loving God “allowed Sin and Destruction” to prosper on Earth. The book’s arguments are centered around “God’s word,” with Bible verses adorning nearly every page, as well as God’s personal revelations to the author during her multiple decades as a faithful Christian. Readers may find the book’s absolute confidence in its answers to difficult questions comforting, though non-Christians may not find its arguments convincing. More scholarly-minded readers may look skeptically upon a book that lacks references, citations, or any meaningful engagement with the thousands of years of Christian scholarship and theology that have grappled with the same complicated questions as this work. Those looking for Christian-informed commentary on divining God’s will as it relates to contemporary social issues, from systemic racism and reproductive rights to sexuality and LGBTQ+ issues, will not find answers here.
A confident, if not always persuasive, guidebook to following God’s will.Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2023
ISBN: 9798886440836
Page Count: 186
Publisher: Covenant Books
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
