An intriguing biography of the founder of the Paulist order, unfolding a rich chronicle of the intellectual and religious controversies of 19th-century America. No mean polemicist himself, O'Brien (The Renewal of American Catholicism, 1972) keeps his head close to the ground here and provides a thorough, scholarly, and impartial accounting of his subject. Hecker was the type of ``earnest seeker'' that is rarely found beyond these shores. The son of a prosperous New York tradesman, he extended his meager formal education through an elaborate and voracious reading of Scripture, political science, and German philosophy. His youthful involvement in the political reform movements of the 1830's brought him into contact with Orestes Brownson, who invited him to visit the Brook Farm commune in Massachusetts. There, under the tutelage of Emerson and Thoreau, Hecker tried to work out a new mode of living founded upon the primacy of personal experience and intuition. The same frustration with formality and abstraction that drove most of the New England transcendentalists away from Protestant Christianity, however, carried both Brownson and Hecker along a circuitous route to Catholicism—where they cut rather curious figures. Catholic intellectuals were rare in 19th-century America—mistrusted by their native-born peers and misunderstood by their largely immigrant church. Hecker attempted to bridge the gap by directing his efforts toward the conversion of America, founding the Paulists to accomplish this goal. His attempts to reformulate the tenets of Catholicism in more distinctly ``American'' tones brought him into strenuous and protracted controversy, however—not only with nativist bigotry, but with the Roman magisterium and prominent American Catholics as well. The detailed history of his bureaucratic squabbles with Vatican congregations and the US hierarchy is a bit trying, but it will be important to scholars of the period, and can be bypassed easily by others. A fascinating account of an exceptional man. (Twenty-five photographs—not seen.)
Pub Date: July 22, 1992
ISBN: 0-8091-0397-4
Page Count: 480
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1992
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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