Many readers will find the account of Kabasele’s mysterious illness riveting, but little else in this awkwardly written...
Kabasele’s traditional defense of Christianity blends biblical interpretation with an autobiographical account of a mysterious illness healed by faith.
Kabasele (Jesus Christ is My God, 2011) is a Congolese Muslim by birth and an evangelical Christian by calling. His book is largely an analysis of assorted biblical passages from Jewish and Christian versions of the holy book, although names of translations are omitted. Literal interpretation abounds as does a theological perspective that seems conservative evangelical Protestant. The author uses a simple though non-specific style and rarely strays from brief declarative sentences. He has a keen eye for etymology and offers finely detailed explanations of many of the original Hebrew and Greek terms in the Bible. Kabasele selects an unusual assortment of passages for exegesis: Job, Paul’s Letter to the Romans and Paul’s epistle to Philemon. There are 14 chapters, most of which run little more than a page. Each chapter moves through interpretation to conclude with a prayer culled directly from scripture or a quote to ponder. Interrupting this pattern is a curiously moving account of the author’s nearly yearlong hospital stay due to a disease doctors had difficulty diagnosing. Kabasele credits a bedside visit from Jesus as the spark for his unexpectedly speedy recovery; full healing might be credited, however, to the surgeons who removed his spleen. Unfortunately, Kabasele’s biblical analyses suffer from a lack of interpretative rigor. His understanding of the complex book of Job concludes with “I believe that if God had not used Job, many people in today’s world would not understand what’s going on with them.” This position is not clearly articulated, theologically developed, or framed through specific examples. The author also tends to make sweeping and unsubstantiated generalizations, once going so far as to claim that human beings control other planets.
Many readers will find the account of Kabasele’s mysterious illness riveting, but little else in this awkwardly written evangelical tract is original.Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2011
ISBN: 978-1467879293
Page Count: 80
Publisher: AuthorHouseUK
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
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.
