A lucid, thought-provoking treatise, if one that likely won’t sway readers to change their views on what lies beyond.
A nuanced philosophical investigation of belief and nonbelief.
Former Harper’s editor Beha here offers a long retort to Bertrand Russell, whose Why I Am Not a Christian fueled much discussion for its elemental thesis: People believe in gods and the afterlife because they are afraid of death. Acknowledging that motive, Beha takes a long tour through religious belief and its polar twin, scientific materialism, which Beha finds simply “unsatisfactory.” That materialism, “part of the much larger shift from the medieval Christian worldview to what we now understand as modernity,” Beha holds, is metaphysical, for all its claims to be rooted in the tangible. On the other hand, modern-day atheists, descendants of Descartes, hold that nothing exists that cannot be explained by the laws of physics. Taking a different tack, Beha ventures a variation on Blaise Pascal’s notion that it makes statistical sense to believe in God, since there’s no real downside to doing so while betting on the wrong horse can lead to the crackling fires of the inferno. As Beha puts it, with respect to divine law, “The only rational cause for obedience to it is the promise of reward and the threat of punishment.” Beha is no Bible thumper, and his tour through various philosophers—Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Spinoza, and other usual suspects—is well informed, but in the end, he doesn’t really refute Kant’s notion that the reason we try to behave on the mortal plane is simply to exercise “prudential tools for getting along in life.” He’s a smart and fluent interpreter, yet his argument doesn’t quite escape Russell’s fear theory, as when he writes, “The hope of eternal life allows us to deny finitude rather than facing the possible impossibility of our own existence.”
A lucid, thought-provoking treatise, if one that likely won’t sway readers to change their views on what lies beyond.Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2026
ISBN: 9780593490471
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Penguin Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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