Hotheaded, ill-mannered attack against the Catholic Church, by a disaffected doctor. Barber (director of obstetrics and gynecology at Lenox Hill Hospital in N.Y.C.) grew up a faithful Catholic. His rebellion against the Church hierarchy came when the archdiocese of New York blocked the hiring, at a Catholic-affiliated hospital, of a doctor with controversial views on abortion. As time passed, Barber's alienation ripened, culminating in this bitter manifesto. When dealing with subjects within his professional competence, such as abortion, contraception, and other quasi-medical issues, Barber's views carry weight. More often, however, he wanders far afield and invariably takes the low road, offering little beyond anger and contempt. Unlike such dissenters as Hans KÅng or Charles Curran, who present a serious critique of Catholic doctrine with a firm grasp of the theology involved, Barber revels in crude generalizations (``The Catholic Church has always ruled by fear''), skewed history (the Nicene Creed asserts that ``Jesus came down from heaven for men, not for women''), ad hominem arguments (the Pope travels to soak in ``the cheers of foreign idolaters''), and name-calling (Church doctrine is ``pathological'') that sound strikingly like anti-Catholic bigotry from centuries past. The author aims his buckshot at every imaginable Church position, including papal infallibility, priestly celibacy, divorce, euthanasia, liberation theology, separation of church and state, and the role of women. His solution to all this perceived heinousness? He intends to ``bring the Vatican to its knees'' through economic boycott, forcing a Third Vatican Council that will institute a papacy akin to the US presidency, with direct election of bishops by the laity, and of the pope by bishops (Barber is devoting part of his royalties to a ``World Committee for Vatican Three''). Not likely to be favorite bedtime reading for John Paul II—or for anyone who believes in mature debate.
Pub Date: April 1, 1993
ISBN: 1-55972-162-6
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Birch Lane Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1993
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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