A collection that offers a range of insights into some of the most difficult metaphysical questions.
A posthumous collection of essays by an author who carefully dissects human relationships with God.
The anonymous author whose essays Smith collects here grapples with difficult questions about the nature of God and existence. Simple assertions about the essays’ purposes, however, would seem inappropriate, out of sync with the spirit of the author’s inquiry. The central essay looks at a cloud of questions that surround the idea of God, approaching each from multiple perspectives. The author takes on several traditions, addressing ideas of nihilistic or hedonistic philosophy, Buddhism, Taoism, and the author’s own religion, Christianity. Among the topics the essay covers are the efficacy of prayer; the nature of truth and whether it contains a valuable concept of God; and the use of the God concept as a model for understanding reality and the utility of that model. If this subject matter sounds somewhat nebulous, it’s because the discussion occasionally is; the author was unable to finish the work before dying and so leaves many questions unanswered. However, the author clearly cares about the sticky nature of these issues, and the discourses’ many mays and coulds show tolerance of various schools of thought and seem agnostic to any grand metaphysical scheme. On more clear-cut issues, however, the author seems more comfortable making assertions: “One must nevertheless beware of false religious, or spiritual, experience.” The collection does favor discussion of specifically Christian concepts and doctrines such as the Fall, but the author is willing to cast aside formulas that don’t seem useful; for example, he writes that a literal Fall is impossible, wondering if it would “be more instructive to look at the issues again, unencumbered by a story that is so contrary to what we now understand about prehistory.” Thoughtful readers may find the essays’ measured tone a refreshing break from more strident texts on either side of the debate about the existence of God.
A collection that offers a range of insights into some of the most difficult metaphysical questions.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1492285304
Page Count: 84
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2013
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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