An impassioned defense of a logical Christianity that meshes with scientific reality.
Spivey (Stories of Faith and Courage from the Korean War, 2013, etc.) blends personal anecdotes, theology and science in this accessible work of Christian apologetics.
Retired Marine Spivey grew up in what he calls an “Old Testament” household: He knew he was expected to do his duty and never question orders. When he entered college, however, he was drawn to mystical poetry and the work of Ayn Rand, and the pressures of boot camp drove him away from chapel. Once he became a family man, he fulfilled his Bible Belt duty by attending church, but didn’t actually become a Christian until age 53. To provide context for his doubter’s journey, Spivey sidetracks into lengthy discussions of science and the Bible, answering some common objections along the way. Cartoons from The New Yorker and extracts from Ambrose Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary (1911) keep the tone light. His survey of quantum physics and evolution is well-pitched—in-depth, but unlikely to alienate laypeople: “Many [physicists] concede there may be mysteries beyond their understanding,” he notes. Although he’s willing to admit that the theory of evolution is useful, Spivey proposes it as the method God used to fashion humanity. “There need be no contradictions between the findings of science and the beliefs of the great monotheistic religions of the world,” he declares. Indeed, Christianity, as he presents it, could support science by providing the “why” behind biology’s “what” and “how.” Countering thinkers such as Richard Dawkins, who endorse purely empirical worldviews, Spivey makes a strong case for “amazement.” He acknowledges that classical theological proofs for the existence of God, such as those by St. Anselm of Canterbury and St. Thomas Aquinas, are unlikely to convince skeptics, but makes a case that having a sense of wonder about the natural world might. His overview of the Bible is less helpful, however, and the later chapters seem to lose objectivity; the conclusion, especially, reads like an altar call (“If you are able to put your skeptical nature on hold for now and accept Jesus into your heart for who he claims to be, I urge you to say the following prayer”). Some of the theologizing, particularly about the problem of evil, is unconvincing, but most of the author’s points are grounded in hard science and his own experience.
An impassioned defense of a logical Christianity that meshes with scientific reality.Pub Date: June 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-1494848477
Page Count: 190
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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