To be leafed through leisurely and used as a gateway to further reading and contemplation.
A comprehensive glossary of spiritual minds, this effort from a husband-and-wife team highlights the similarities between ancient, controversial and contemporary spiritualists.
The Kononenkos land this book right in the sweet spot: Each one- or two-page biographical entry of a historical figure is simple, sincere and without adulation or pretentiousness. The writing is spare and considered, despite the occasional hint of foreign-language syntax and a habit of capitalizing words that aren’t actually proper nouns (e.g., Awakened, Consecrated, Knowledge). In two introductory essays, the authors nonjudgmentally list the commonalities between the numerous teachers’ messages; yet the authors don’t dismiss the characteristics that distinguish one spiritualist from another. The result is not so much homogeneity as a sense of collegiality, giving the reader the space to decide whether Pythagoras, Jesus Christ, Don Juan Matus, Elizabeth Kübler-Ross and more than 70 other distinguished persons really did have the same basic message in mind. Purists may be scandalized by the inclusion of controversial figures like Matus—whom some believe to be a fictional character invented by anthropologist and author Carlos Castaneda—or Osho, who was arrested in the United States for “problems with local residents and due to misunderstanding with the local authorities.” However the diversity of this book’s characters—including not just the Eastern mystics one might expect, but also a number of Western thinkers, healers and philosophers—is one of its greatest strengths. Some spiritually oriented books suffer from a sort of forced humility, but the Kononenkos’ clean, conversational writing style feels genuine.
To be leafed through leisurely and used as a gateway to further reading and contemplation.Pub Date: May 6, 2010
ISBN: 978-1434998989
Page Count: 418
Publisher: Rosedog Books
Review Posted Online: July 10, 2012
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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