An attempt to prove the existence of God with both experiential and scientific evidence.
Debut author Kearns writes that he started finding evidence for the existence of God in 1980, at the age of 25. One night, while living in Florida, he says he woke to a feeling of a “very heavy weight” on top of him that he interpreted as a demon’s attempt to possess him. After two more similar experiences, Kearns says, he woke and saw the image of Jesus Christ on the cross reflected in a mirror. He interpreted this vision as a divine miracle and proof that Jesus was his savior; he says he later heard the voice of God asking him, “Whom will you follow, and / whom will you serve?” The author also provides what he considers to be “irrefutable” scientific proof of God’s existence. First, he endorses a version of the teleological argument, which avers that the world’s complexity can only be explained as the intentional creation of an intelligent being; to this end, he provides a cursory overview of contemporary science, including the Big Bang theory and thermodynamics. He also critiques evolutionary theory, concluding that it’s either poorly evidenced or essentially a hoax. These arguments emerge against the backdrop of a spiritual memoir of sorts, though Kearns insists that he didn’t want to include too much personal information. The prose is clear and accessible and communicates even complex arguments in a breezy, familiar style. However, the book lacks a tight, coherent structure, eclectically comprising poems, prayers, impassioned exhortations to trust in God, and a chart representing 61 biblical prophecies related to Jesus. While the author’s conclusions will fall short of persuasive for most, he raises neglected questions about the probative value of subjective experience as a basis for religious belief. The principal problem, though, with his endeavor to rationally defend his religious worldview is its undemanding view of verification. For example, he says that his claim of hearing God’s voice is proven, in part, by the fact that his then-roommate can verify that he told him about it. Kearns also seems convinced, in this book, that no rational person could possibly draw inferences other than his own. There’s a rich tradition in Christian philosophy of finding common ground between reason and faith, but this work furnishes a series of tendentious declarations of unearned certitude.
A rambling, disappointingly undisciplined religious argument.Pub Date: March 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5127-3279-5
Page Count: 186
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: July 8, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Categories: PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION
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The authors have created a sort of anti-Book of Virtues in this encyclopedic compendium of the ways and means of power.
Everyone wants power and everyone is in a constant duplicitous game to gain more power at the expense of others, according to Greene, a screenwriter and former editor at Esquire (Elffers, a book packager, designed the volume, with its attractive marginalia). We live today as courtiers once did in royal courts: we must appear civil while attempting to crush all those around us. This power game can be played well or poorly, and in these 48 laws culled from the history and wisdom of the world’s greatest power players are the rules that must be followed to win. These laws boil down to being as ruthless, selfish, manipulative, and deceitful as possible. Each law, however, gets its own chapter: “Conceal Your Intentions,” “Always Say Less Than Necessary,” “Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy,” and so on. Each chapter is conveniently broken down into sections on what happened to those who transgressed or observed the particular law, the key elements in this law, and ways to defensively reverse this law when it’s used against you. Quotations in the margins amplify the lesson being taught. While compelling in the way an auto accident might be, the book is simply nonsense. Rules often contradict each other. We are told, for instance, to “be conspicuous at all cost,” then told to “behave like others.” More seriously, Greene never really defines “power,” and he merely asserts, rather than offers evidence for, the Hobbesian world of all against all in which he insists we live. The world may be like this at times, but often it isn’t. To ask why this is so would be a far more useful project.
If the authors are serious, this is a silly, distasteful book. If they are not, it’s a brilliant satire.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-670-88146-5
Page Count: 430
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1998
Categories: GENERAL BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION | PSYCHOLOGY | HISTORICAL & MILITARY
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An exploration of the importance of clarity through calmness in an increasingly fast-paced world.
Austin-based speaker and strategist Holiday (Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue, 2018, etc.) believes in downshifting one’s life and activities in order to fully grasp the wonder of stillness. He bolsters this theory with a wide array of perspectives—some based on ancient wisdom (one of the author’s specialties), others more modern—all with the intent to direct readers toward the essential importance of stillness and its “attainable path to enlightenment and excellence, greatness and happiness, performance as well as presence.” Readers will be encouraged by Holiday’s insistence that his methods are within anyone’s grasp. He acknowledges that this rare and coveted calm is already inside each of us, but it’s been worn down by the hustle of busy lives and distractions. Recognizing that this goal requires immense personal discipline, the author draws on the representational histories of John F. Kennedy, Buddha, Tiger Woods, Fred Rogers, Leonardo da Vinci, and many other creative thinkers and scholarly, scientific texts. These examples demonstrate how others have evolved past the noise of modern life and into the solitude of productive thought and cleansing tranquility. Holiday splits his accessible, empowering, and sporadically meandering narrative into a three-part “timeless trinity of mind, body, soul—the head, the heart, the human body.” He juxtaposes Stoic philosopher Seneca’s internal reflection and wisdom against Donald Trump’s egocentric existence, with much of his time spent “in his bathrobe, ranting about the news.” Holiday stresses that while contemporary life is filled with a dizzying variety of “competing priorities and beliefs,” the frenzy can be quelled and serenity maintained through a deliberative calming of the mind and body. The author shows how “stillness is what aims the arrow,” fostering focus, internal harmony, and the kind of holistic self-examination necessary for optimal contentment and mind-body centeredness. Throughout the narrative, he promotes that concept mindfully and convincingly.
A timely, vividly realized reminder to slow down and harness the restorative wonders of serenity.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-53858-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Portfolio
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
Categories: GENERAL BUSINESS | PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION | SELF-HELP | BUSINESS | MOTIVATIONAL & PERSONAL SUCCESS
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