An enthusiastic account of how the 12th-century labyrinth in Chartres' cathedral has become a tool for rediscovering the feminine in San Francisco. According to Artress, a therapist and the first woman canon of San Francisco's Episcopalian Grace Cathedral, the tyranny of the Age of Reason is losing its grip. Consequently, the Christian Church is faced with the challenge of people who are concerned more with spirituality, ``the inner growth that happens in each of us,'' than with the more outward forms of worship and doctrine. Artress suggests that the medieval labyrinth can give us the kind of integration of reason and imagination that we need today. Thousands of visitors at Grace Cathedral have walked a canvas reproduction of the Chartres labyrinth, and Artress quotes some of their testimonies to deep emotional and psychological healing. She tells us that, unlike a maze, which has many paths and calls on masculine powers of logic to choose the right one, a labyrinth offers only one profound choice and thus gives scope to our intuitive, feminine powers. She explains the effects in Jungian terms: integration of the Shadow and healing of the split between thought and feeling as we rediscover the need for ritual. Although Artress is eloquent in describing the spiritual impasse of many people today, she spoils her case for the labyrinth by basing it partly on a poorly researched view of the Middle Ages. She makes no real attempt to integrate her insights into the Church's tradition, which she caricatures as a kind of patriarchal Deism. Indeed, her credentials as a Christian theologian are undermined by her assertion that intercessory prayer to Mary only came with the 12th-century Cistercians and by equating Mary with the Holy Spirit or the ``feminine aspect of God.'' Sensitive in describing personal experiences but lacking in historical and theological depth—an illustration of how theology can become the handmaid of therapy.
Pub Date: May 1, 1995
ISBN: 1-57322-007-8
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1995
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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