A fascinating and oftentimes mind-bending account of how penny-a-word sci-fi writer L. Ron Hubbard doggedly pursued the “religion angle” in his quest to create the worldwide Church of Scientology.
Urban (Religious Studies/Ohio State Univ.) makes it clear from the outset that he could have written a lot more about Scientology than he has here—perhaps even a few volumes more. Settling on a narrower scope, however, hasn’t precluded the author from presenting a thoroughly absorbing chronicle of Scientology’s 60-year history in America. Beginning in the 1950s with the creation of the self-help system Hubbard dubbed Dianetics, the narrative quickly moves on to the founder’s audacious attempts to turn Scientology into a bona-fide tax-exempt religion, the incredible covert operations Scientologists launched against snooping federal authorities and the relentless war Scientologists still wage against unflinching critics today. Despite its conservative reputation, Urban believes that ’50s America offered Hubbard a “spiritual marketplace” teeming with new possibilities. It was a time of UFO sightings, the Red Menace and the growing influence of Eastern thought on American culture. Suddenly, there was also room for a man with a trunk full of intergalactic space operas, an abiding fascination in the occult and a talent for synthesizing already popular religious beliefs. All of which compels the author to pose the question: Just what, exactly, is religion and who gets to make the determination? Readers are ultimately left to ponder that question on their own, just as they’re left to wonder what Urban has left out. Esoteric knowledge, meanwhile, has always been Scientology’s stock and trade, but the Internet has largely taken that veil of secrecy and shredded it. That leaves another question to be answered: Does Scientology have a future? An intriguing introduction into the labyrinthine world of Scientology and its meaning in American society. For a more entertaining, behind-the-scenes look, check out Janet Reitman’s Inside Scientology (2011).
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-691-14608-9
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Princeton Univ.
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2011
A proper guide and devotional for the Stations of the Cross.
A concise volume of illuminating selections from the Bible.
This precise and thoughtful prayer book offers itself as an unassuming guidebook to the Stations of the Cross. An introductory contention that the theology and rituals of the Stations have continued to be undervalued and underobserved by many of the faithful gives this unpretentious and carefully constructed book an additional rhetorical and spiritual thrust. Included in this slim volume is an easily grasped how-to section that gives readers interested in observing the Stations clear directions for getting the most out of the book and their time. This book has a very specific market–even among Christians–and so its appeal is limited. However, for those more interested in an easily approachable guide to the subject than in a portable seminary, the well-crafted formula of the book makes for an optimal introduction. The book's chapters are devoted to each particular station and contain an opening prayer, an announcement of the station, the call and response to bless God, a fitting passage from the Bible, a meditation on the particular passage and an optional hymn. The book should be useful for private observance, but it is still presented primarily as a text meant to be used in some form of group religious observance. The passages offered are a powerfully concise version of the New Testament's messianic message, but readers should be advised that there is little theological analysis or ancillary commentary provided by the author. Each station is accompanied by a relevant illustration that distills the essential events of the particular station and should aid in observance and preparation for each station. The book is a markedly utilitarian production, and it is in this capacity that it should serve its users most effectively and movingly.
A proper guide and devotional for the Stations of the Cross.Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4415-8964-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A scholarly survey of how the figure of the Antichrist has been understood through the centuries, from Second Temple Judaism to present-day America. McGinn (Historical Theology/Univ. of Chicago Divinity School), editor of the acclaimed 80-volume Classics of Western Spirituality series, argues that the theme of the Antichrist (in its original form, a literal belief in a being of ultimate evil) illuminates much about how people view themselves and evil in society. Beginning with the apocalyptic traditions of Judaism, McGinn moves through early Christianity, Gnosticism, Byzantine apocalypticism, the Western medieval world, the Reformation, and the more subdued references since the Enlightenment. The Antichrist figure can be understood as an external enemy, such as Nero, or, following the thought of Augustine and some modern novelists, as a reality lurking within believers themselves. Another polarity in the theme is that the Antichrist is sometimes seen as inspiring universal dread or, alternatively, as coming under the appearance of good- -hence John Wycliffe's identification of the pope as the Antichrist and the separatist Roger Williams's view that any established Christian society was a form of Antichrist. In modern times, due to the polarities of the Cold War and the specter of nuclear apocalypse, the theme has had a vigorous existence in Russia and the United States; and recent claims, locating evil in apparent sources of power, hold that the Antichrist can be seen at work in the United Nations and in the credit-card system. McGinn notes that, since apocalyptic thought harbors no shades of gray between good and evil, anyone not fully in accord with a given belief may be seen by those who hold that belief as an adherent of absolute evil. An excellent sourcebook for anyone wishing to understand the kind of anxieties that are likely to multiply as we approach the year 2000. (30 b&w photos, not seen).
Pub Date: Dec. 9, 1994
ISBN: 0-06-065543-7
Page Count: 416
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1994
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