LESSONS OF NATURE, FROM A MODERN-DAY SHEPHERD

Name: LESSONS OF NATURE, FROM A MODERN-DAY SHEPHERD
Author: Don F. Pickett
ISBN: 978-1-5462-2014-5

by Don F. Pickett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 7, 2017

A beautifully crafted, if not entirely convincing, meditation on humanity’s different ways of looking at nature and God.

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A shepherd challenges modern scientists and their ability to capture the works of God in this debut book.

Dedicated to the youth of America, Pickett’s 15 lessons explore nature and God. The author tells of a solitary, wizened figure—the shepherd—whose life exists somewhat outside the realm of popular science and contemporary understandings of the physical world. But his daily interactions with the Earth and its animals have afforded him insights modern scientists might never acquire. For Pickett, the educated people of the world may consider themselves enlightened, but they fail to appreciate how awe-inspiring nature and the God who created it are. “Their self-proclaimed wisdom barely elevates them above the intelligence of a fool, and it will profit them nothing,” he writes. The author questions scientists’ dismissal of the spiritual and their capacity to become true creators, asserting that even if they can claim to understand the processes of plants and cells, they could never perfectly re-create even a small worm. General lessons about life are to be found from the shepherd’s perspective as well. These include the use of shortcuts (the shepherd understands that men with idle time will come to resemble predators) and how life’s greatest dangers will start slowly and then multiply, just like bugs, dirt, and disease. Each lesson begins with a poem that deftly sets the tone for the short chapter through simple rhyming couplets (“There’s another side to living things / that people fail to see, / If earth had only the elements / no life could ever be”). But Pickett’s prose never strays far from poetic, almost transcendental language. His writing is abstract and lovely in comparison to the scientific notions his shepherd is challenging. “This is a world in which all living things inherit the seeds of death,” he writes, delivering the shepherd’s view of disease. While this style creates some elegant passages, it makes the book feel quite lofty and disconnected, which can hamper Pickett’s ability to present persuasive arguments.

A beautifully crafted, if not entirely convincing, meditation on humanity’s different ways of looking at nature and God.

Pub Date: Dec. 7, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-5462-2014-5

Page Count: 118

Publisher: AuthorHouse

Review Posted Online: May 24, 2018

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION

ROSE BOOK OF BIBLE CHARTS, MAPS AND TIME LINES

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ROSE BOOK OF BIBLE CHARTS, MAPS AND TIME LINES

by Timothy Paul Jones ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2005

Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.

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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 â€œHow 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

Categories:

PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION

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THE MYTH OF SISYPHUS

AND OTHER ESSAYS

by Albert Camus ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 26, 1955

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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.