An inside view of the Catholic Church—not the Church of official dogma, but the Church as it lives and breathes daily in America. Freelance journalist Bowman (What a Modern Catholic Believes About Prayer, not reviewed) interviewed 34 priests in an attempt to discover just how the Church's teachings are applied amid the realities of American life. He presented the priests with a set of 10 questions, ranging from how they deal with the bans on contraception and divorce to their personal views on issues such as the ordination of women and the work of the present Pope. Their replies, mostly given under assumed names, are surprisingly frank and uniform. We hear from men like Fr. Grey, who sometimes grants his own ``annulments'' to divorced people and admits them to Holy Communion and even a second marriage, and Fr. Bowen, who when asked by his parishioners about birth control simply presents the values underlying the Church's position and then leaves couples to make their own decisions. Some of the priests will bless the house of a homosexual couple, and nearly all are in favor of the eventual ordination of women. They tend to admire the Pope's gifts but regard him as hopelessly out of touch with American conditions. Bowman's priests come across as somewhat weary men deeply devoted to their people and the faith of their Church. The study is limited by being confined to a homogeneous group of priests, nearly all of them formed by the anti-authoritarianism of the 1960s. Further, Bowman does not present any conservative clergy, merely alluding to them as detached careerists. The reader is presumed to be familiar with Vatican II and with Catholic notions and terminology. The volume has an introduction by bestselling Father Andrew M. Greeley. A heavily partisan but still valuable contribution to current debates within the American Catholic Church.
Pub Date: July 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-8245-1360-6
Page Count: 216
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1994
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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