Thought-provoking wisdom regarding the natural world.
The renowned scholar of comparative religions explores how we can use religion to meet global challenges.
Armstrong taps into her encyclopedic knowledge to offer a way forward for a hurting world. Though the author primarily addresses environmental concerns, she delves deeper to investigate how the world’s religions have treated the entirety of what is beyond the self. The author examines the ways in which faith traditions are grounded in an understanding and appreciation for the natural world, but the moral lessons involved are broader and more consequential. First, however, Armstrong seeks to convince readers to view nature through nonmodern eyes. “Unlike in our modern environmental discourse,” she writes, “nature was presented and experienced imaginatively and aesthetically rather than scientifically, and this involved the emotions and the body.” In numerous ancient cultures, religious ceremonies “not only expressed a deep anxiety about the sustainability of our world but made great demands on participants, who were expected not just to honor the divine in nature but also to reform themselves.” Throughout the book, the author reminds readers of one of the fundamental differences between modern perceptions of nature as something separate and that of ancient cultures, which sought a close unity with the created world. Tying together dramatic creation tales, complex moral systems, and scriptural musings on the natural world, Armstrong argues for gratitude, mutual caregiving, and stewardship of resources, among other practices, to help bring us closer to our environment and, ultimately, to each other. “We simply need to recognize the sacrality of everything around us and observe how the myriad things tirelessly support one another,” she writes. This concept of interconnectedness permeates many faith traditions as well as this text. While not one of Armstrong’s most original or brilliant works, this book still is worth contemplating and discussing, and it serves as a fitting companion to the author’s earlier work, Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life.
Thought-provoking wisdom regarding the natural world.Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-31943-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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
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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