by Leon Brathwaite ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 17, 2016
A thought-provoking, but imperfect call to a revolution in Christian thinking.
A debut book offers a reinterpretation of Christian theology.
In an appraisal of virtually the entirety of Christian thinking, Brathwaite argues that the church has spent centuries misleading the faithful into a belief in false and distorted teachings. Chief among these is the existence of hell. The author argues that Scripture clearly teaches that God’s love and mercy cancel out any possibility that souls might be cast into an eternity of suffering in payment for their sins. He builds upon this assertion by also arguing that souls are not formed at conception or birth, but that all souls have existed since the start of creation. This fact, then, would lead to a reevaluation of the soul’s fate after it has lived in a human body. Eventually, Brathwaite comes to his ultimate thesis, that the soul lives more than one life. Rather than label this as reincarnation, he calls it regeneration. Brathwaite declares throughout this work that the established Christian church has knowingly ignored obvious Scriptures on regeneration to control believers with the promise of heaven or hell, earned through a single life. Various discussions stem from the regeneration argument. For instance, the author theorizes that the priest Melchizedek was an early manifestation of Jesus, and that John the Baptist was indeed Elijah the Prophet. Brathwaite also asks how the spirit of sin is supposed to have spread through every generation of the human race, whereas individual spirits are supposedly confined to single lives. Brathwaite’s arguments have the potential to be revolutionary in nature; but his rhetoric toward the established faith is so caustic that it detracts from the strength of his arguments. Speaking throughout of an “impostor God” and theology taught by “bearers of false witness” who act as “pallbearers” for the faith, Braithwaite is strangely harsh toward the basic thinking of the global church, even if he feels it has always been in error. A lack of academic rigor (for instance, little if any use of original Greek and Hebrew) also handicaps this otherwise promising work.
A thought-provoking, but imperfect call to a revolution in Christian thinking.Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5355-4995-0
Page Count: 216
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Share your opinion of this book
by Robert Greene ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1998
If the authors are serious, this is a silly, distasteful book. If they are not, it’s a brilliant satire.
The authors have created a sort of anti-Book of Virtues in this encyclopedic compendium of the ways and means of power.
Everyone wants power and everyone is in a constant duplicitous game to gain more power at the expense of others, according to Greene, a screenwriter and former editor at Esquire (Elffers, a book packager, designed the volume, with its attractive marginalia). We live today as courtiers once did in royal courts: we must appear civil while attempting to crush all those around us. This power game can be played well or poorly, and in these 48 laws culled from the history and wisdom of the world’s greatest power players are the rules that must be followed to win. These laws boil down to being as ruthless, selfish, manipulative, and deceitful as possible. Each law, however, gets its own chapter: “Conceal Your Intentions,” “Always Say Less Than Necessary,” “Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy,” and so on. Each chapter is conveniently broken down into sections on what happened to those who transgressed or observed the particular law, the key elements in this law, and ways to defensively reverse this law when it’s used against you. Quotations in the margins amplify the lesson being taught. While compelling in the way an auto accident might be, the book is simply nonsense. Rules often contradict each other. We are told, for instance, to “be conspicuous at all cost,” then told to “behave like others.” More seriously, Greene never really defines “power,” and he merely asserts, rather than offers evidence for, the Hobbesian world of all against all in which he insists we live. The world may be like this at times, but often it isn’t. To ask why this is so would be a far more useful project.
If the authors are serious, this is a silly, distasteful book. If they are not, it’s a brilliant satire.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-670-88146-5
Page Count: 430
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1998
Share your opinion of this book
More About This Book
BOOK TO SCREEN
by R. Crumb ; illustrated by R. Crumb ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 19, 2009
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
Share your opinion of this book
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.