An approachable work that delivers reasoned critiques of organized Christianity despite embracing some fringe theories.
A Christian book offers eclectic takes on religious doctrine, ethics, and history.
A clinical psychologist, Slobodzien has studied Christian history and theology for decades after a spiritual conversion in the 1970s. He has written over a half-dozen works on Christianity and biblical counseling. In this volume, he challenges the stereotype of Jesus “as a meek, mild, peaceful, loving, hippie type of person” and provides an alternate vision of a “divine Warrior who first came to start an anti-religious revolution.” Indeed, in the work’s reading of the book of Revelation, Jesus will return at the battle of Armageddon as the head of an army that includes “the Royal Priesthood of all believers,” or his true disciples. But not all who call themselves “Christian,” the book claims in one of its central arguments, will be included in this apocalyptic roll call. Raised in an Italian/Polish Catholic family, the author has since determined that Roman Catholicism’s dogmas are not only incorrect, but that “Satan is still being worshipped today” in the religion’s “worship” of the dead (“All Hallows Eve”) and its veneration of the Virgin Mary (a cleverly disguised reinterpretation of the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar). Critical of all “organized religion” that bases salvation on codes of conduct and “membership rules,” Slobodzien does not pull any punches regarding Protestant churches either. Entire chapters are devoted to condemning megachurches and high-profile pastors who line their bank accounts via “spiritual financial extortion” and mislead their flocks through promoting Covid-19 conspiracy theories. While following a literalist approach to the Bible similar to evangelicals, the author critiques conservative Christians who use “false religious guilt…to attack God’s People” and presents refreshingly nuanced takes on incendiary culture war issues like abortion and sexuality. And while the book supplies several eccentric theories, such as Satan’s role in mass extinction events in Earth’s history and the conjecture that Neanderthals were the “Nephilim” of biblical lore, Slobodzien’s honest discussions of the “brutal Systemic Racism in our nation” are welcome views from a White Christian author.
An approachable work that delivers reasoned critiques of organized Christianity despite embracing some fringe theories.Pub Date: June 11, 2021
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 446
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.
All right, all right, all right: The affable, laconic actor delivers a combination of memoir and self-help book.
“This is an approach book,” writes McConaughey, adding that it contains “philosophies that can be objectively understood, and if you choose, subjectively adopted, by either changing your reality, or changing how you see it. This is a playbook, based on adventures in my life.” Some of those philosophies come in the form of apothegms: “When you can design your own weather, blow in the breeze”; “Simplify, focus, conserve to liberate.” Others come in the form of sometimes rambling stories that never take the shortest route from point A to point B, as when he recounts a dream-spurred, challenging visit to the Malian musician Ali Farka Touré, who offered a significant lesson in how disagreement can be expressed politely and without rancor. Fans of McConaughey will enjoy his memories—which line up squarely with other accounts in Melissa Maerz’s recent oral history, Alright, Alright, Alright—of his debut in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, to which he contributed not just that signature phrase, but also a kind of too-cool-for-school hipness that dissolves a bit upon realizing that he’s an older guy on the prowl for teenage girls. McConaughey’s prep to settle into the role of Wooderson involved inhabiting the mind of a dude who digs cars, rock ’n’ roll, and “chicks,” and he ran with it, reminding readers that the film originally had only three scripted scenes for his character. The lesson: “Do one thing well, then another. Once, then once more.” It’s clear that the author is a thoughtful man, even an intellectual of sorts, though without the earnestness of Ethan Hawke or James Franco. Though some of the sentiments are greeting card–ish, this book is entertaining and full of good lessons.
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-13913-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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