An elaborate and intriguing—if overly detailed—spiritual cosmology.
A psychiatrist offers an overview of humanity’s place in the physical and spiritual universe.
Rotaru begins his ambitious nonfiction debut with a series of elemental questions that have plagued humans for centuries: Who are we? Where do we come from, and where do we go? “How can the paths we choose determine the destiny of our lives?” In the long and comprehensive book that follows, the author seeks to provide his readers with the means to answer those questions through a deeper understanding of the relationship between God and what Rotaru conceives as God’s “wife,” the physical matter of the universe. Fusing generous autobiographical elements from his own life with a kind of popular version of Eastern philosophy (“negative energies” corresponding to chakras and other such ideas), the author lays out a vision of what he sees as humanity’s potential—and the obstacles to realizing that potential. “Our lust for money and wealth and physical satisfaction,” he writes at one point, “is clouding our thinking and hinders our vision of our true destiny.” There are aspects of Rotaru’s own vision that will likely rankle some 21st-century readers. His view of the universe is blandly heterosexual, for example. “Just as God-matter and soul-body couples cannot separate from one another,” he writes when forbidding married couples from separating, “so men and women in the period of spiritual evolution cannot divorce.” Those same readers may question the author’s conviction that the voices he hears in his dreams are messages from God or his rather controversial belief that “every time a stranger comes to you to confess his problems and idiosyncrasies, he is carrying a message from God.” But the author’s enthusiasm and conviction carry a charm of their own, and his many ideas are thought-provoking.
An elaborate and intriguing—if overly detailed—spiritual cosmology.Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-66320-363-2
Page Count: 534
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2021
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
