by James L. Kearns ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 19, 2016
A rambling, disappointingly undisciplined religious argument.
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
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by Stephen Batchelor ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 18, 2020
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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BOOK REVIEW
by R. Crumb ; illustrated by R. Crumb ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 19, 2009
An erudite and artful, though frustratingly restrained, look at Old Testament stories.
The Book of Genesis as imagined by a veteran voice of underground comics.
R. Crumb’s pass at the opening chapters of the Bible isn’t nearly the act of heresy the comic artist’s reputation might suggest. In fact, the creator of Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural is fastidiously respectful. Crumb took pains to preserve every word of Genesis—drawing from numerous source texts, but mainly Robert Alter’s translation, The Five Books of Moses (2004)—and he clearly did his homework on the clothing, shelter and landscapes that surrounded Noah, Abraham and Isaac. This dedication to faithful representation makes the book, as Crumb writes in his introduction, a “straight illustration job, with no intention to ridicule or make visual jokes.” But his efforts are in their own way irreverent, and Crumb feels no particular need to deify even the most divine characters. God Himself is not much taller than Adam and Eve, and instead of omnisciently imparting orders and judgment He stands beside them in Eden, speaking to them directly. Jacob wrestles not with an angel, as is so often depicted in paintings, but with a man who looks not much different from himself. The women are uniformly Crumbian, voluptuous Earth goddesses who are both sexualized and strong-willed. (The endnotes offer a close study of the kinds of power women wielded in Genesis.) The downside of fitting all the text in is that many pages are packed tight with small panels, and too rarely—as with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah—does Crumb expand his lens and treat signature events dramatically. Even the Flood is fairly restrained, though the exodus of the animals from the Ark is beautifully detailed. The author’s respect for Genesis is admirable, but it may leave readers wishing he had taken a few more chances with his interpretation, as when he draws the serpent in the Garden of Eden as a provocative half-man/half-lizard. On the whole, though, the book is largely a tribute to Crumb’s immense talents as a draftsman and stubborn adherence to the script.
An erudite and artful, though frustratingly restrained, look at Old Testament stories.Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-393-06102-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2009
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