A wide-ranging, ultimately quite charming personal manifesto of faith, humor and inquiry.
A series of personal reflections on the nature of faith in the modern world.
At one point in Stemmle’s gently irreverent and highly entertaining debut, one of his fictional interlocutors refers to him as “already 90% atheist,” though readers might have their doubts. Happily married, comfortably retired and congenially inquisitive, Stemmle is deceptively modest and self-deprecating, but in one of his various “puddles,” he reveals extensive reading, not only of the Bible and the great documents of Christian theology, but also of more recent literature of biblical scholarship. In a series of well-paced, smoothly written chapters, he examines various aspects of modern Christian belief—the struggles against internal doubt (and external doubters), the ease with which people resort to one-dimensional labels, and the authority of the Catholic Church, among other things. Many of his conclusions are fairly common-sense, and he saves an extra amount of railing for the fault of righteousness, which he shrewdly says “replaces the search for truth.” (It’s a mark of the book’s winning self-deprecation that Stemmle doesn’t exempt himself from this failing.) He intersperses his philosophical and theological musings with plenty of personal anecdotes and family history, ending each chapter with “Questions for Reflection and Discussion” that reveal a pedagogical impulse otherwise muted throughout the book. The highlight of his narrative comes in the sections in which Stemmle crosses swords with interview characters of his own invention—in fact, he puckishly reminds one of them, Arthur, that he’s invented—testing his knowledge and convictions against well-realized devil’s advocates; a fictional news anchor even has the four Evangelists as guests. The playful inventiveness of these sections highlights rather than obscures the essentially humanist heart of the book, expressed in many variations of Stemmle’s contention that an “informed faith is built on questioning and searching.” There’s a great deal here for readers of any faith to appreciate.
A wide-ranging, ultimately quite charming personal manifesto of faith, humor and inquiry.Pub Date: March 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-1496103994
Page Count: 278
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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