A passionate Christian work that will likely only resonate with those who share the author’s zeal.
A catalog of religious experiences, informed by dogma, constitutes this debut memoir.
Need faith be a challenge? Not if God shows himself at every turn of one’s life. Meyer claims just such good fortune, and hopes readers can too. But how do they open themselves to grace? By relating her own miraculous encounters, Meyer’s energetic work is faintly analogous to the epic, and epically personal, spiritual growth in Augustine’s Confessions. But the latter book, written by one of the fathers of Christianity, owes its strength to the depth of Augustine’s doubt in the period before accepting Jesus. Meyer offers no such journey along the titular “path.” Each episode—written with a little more polish than a diary entry—describes a God directly, manifestly involved in every aspect of daily life. The author hears voices, recalls prophetic dreams, and even walks with angels. When she and her husband find prime seats in the pews of an overcrowded church service, she is sure God saved the places expressly for them. Who would think to doubt in such a reality? Unfortunately, without the element of doubt, the reader—in fact, all human experience—is forgotten. Meyer does not address the immemorial paradox of God’s omnipotent hand as coexistent with humankind’s free will. Her perspective does not involve questioning, and she makes no effort to reach out to those who accept this paradox and do not anticipate the same privilege of godly intercourse that she enjoys. Readers should not be surprised, then, by the exhortation to fill out written contracts, supplied by the author, binding them to lives devoted to this volume’s particular conception of the divine. Does Meyer expect readers to readily embrace this view, when the stakes—literal, personal encounters with God—are so high? It is admirable, even refreshing, that she answered the call to share her unique truth so earnestly. And her enthusiastic account provides many comforting assertions about a loving God (“He delights in our laughter. He wants to be in our everyday lives; and if somebody is not well, He is sorry for the pain”). But unvarnished evangelism doesn’t make for intriguing reading, and an obtuse approach diminishes this otherwise worthy investigation into how humans might relate to God.
A passionate Christian work that will likely only resonate with those who share the author’s zeal.Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5043-7591-7
Page Count: 178
Publisher: BalboaPress
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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