A readable and highly detailed inquiry into the roots and values of Christianity.
A writer searches for the existence and nature of the Christian God.
The “Club” mentioned in the subtitle of Smith’s nonfiction debut is, according to the author, “the (multi-denominational) Christian Church” that was “founded” by Jesus and uses the Bible as its “charter”—meaning, presumably, Christianity. Smith came to his current examination of the Club after a time of being a “lukewarm” Roman Catholic, employing a process called “Experiential Learning” (Using your life experiences “to re-examine and evaluate assertions, ideas, and beliefs”). In his 40s, the author reached a point where he considered it “somewhat likely” that Jesus was not the son of God and that the Gospels may have been altered over the centuries. During the ensuing years, he pursued these questions, reading famous atheist books by Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris and always looking for some kind of intellectual confirmation—through experiential learning—that the basic tenets of the Catholicism of his upbringing were actually true. It’s not many pages later when his doubts have apparently been resolved enough for him to write “we do know we were created by something we call God.” The rest of the book breaks down the exegesis of that belief and provides the author’s intriguing rundown on a wide array of controversial topics on which the Catholic Church has pronounced dogma over the centuries. Masturbation is “a sin,” for instance, and abortion and euthanasia are “against God’s will.” But many of Smith’s readers will be surprised and perhaps pleased at how often he finds the position of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to be a “misinterpretation” of God’s will as expressed in Scripture—the author countenances things like contraception and gay sexuality. Those same readers will find Smith’s lucid analytical approach to all of the teachings of the Club endlessly thought-provoking.
A readable and highly detailed inquiry into the roots and values of Christianity.Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5456-1204-0
Page Count: 414
Publisher: Xulon Press
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2020
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
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