A concise, well-written evangelical study of forgiveness through a biblical lens.
A Christian book examines forgiveness using the ancient story of King Manasseh.
As “one of the most corrupt kings” who appear in biblical narratives, Manasseh is an ideal case study for this work’s exploration of the Christian theology of God’s forgiveness. If the man who “deceived Judah and led them to commit more evil acts than the Canaanite nations which the Lord had destroyed” can be redeemed, argues Baptiste, then no individuals are so far removed from God that they cannot also be forgiven. In just 20 pages of narrative and analysis, this book begins with an introduction to Judah’s history, from the Exodus story and God’s command to the Israelites to “have no other gods before me” to the division of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah following King Solomon’s death. Crowned the 14th king of Judah at the age of 12, Manasseh’s list of offenses included building altars for Baal and other deities, practicing witchcraft, and sacrificing his own children as burnt human offerings. Because many of Manasseh’s subjects followed his example—and not that of his celebrated father, the religiously devout King Hezekiah—God pledged to bring “calamity on Jerusalem.” This culminated in Manasseh’s capture at the hands of the Assyrians. With an emphasis on both God’s punishment and forgiveness, Baptiste concludes the book by persuasively connecting Manasseh’s eventual “rescue” and repentance to the Christian doctrine of salvation. With endnotes that fill just as many pages as the volume’s chapters, this is a well-researched study that relies not only on biblical accounts, but also on scholarship, commentary by evangelical theologians, and a sound analysis of original Hebrew texts. Written for a general audience, the work’s appraisal of Manasseh’s life will not be particularly revelatory to theologians familiar with Judaic lore, who may wish for a more nuanced, academic assessment of the story’s history and place within ancient Jewish literature. Similarly, the book’s distinctly Protestant approach, as indicated in its sources and emphasis on personal salvation (as opposed to the sacrament of reconciliation), may alienate Roman Catholic readers.
A concise, well-written evangelical study of forgiveness through a biblical lens.Pub Date: March 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-66-422187-1
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Some of Avant’s mantras are overstated, but her book is magnanimous, inspiring, and relentlessly optimistic.
Memories and life lessons inspired by the author’s mother, who was murdered in 2021.
“Neither my mother nor I knew that her last text to me would be the words ‘Think you’ll be happy,’ ” Avant writes, "but it is fitting that she left me with a mantra for resiliency.” The author, a filmmaker and former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas, begins her first book on the night she learned her mother, Jacqueline Avant, had been fatally shot during a home invasion. “One of my first thoughts,” she writes, “was, ‘Oh God, please don’t let me hate this man. Give me the strength not to hate him.’ ” Daughter of Clarence Avant, known as the “Black Godfather” due to his work as a pioneering music executive, the author describes growing up “in a house that had a revolving door of famous people,” from Ella Fitzgerald to Muhammad Ali. “I don’t take for granted anything I have achieved in my life as a Black American woman,” writes Avant. “And I recognize my unique upbringing…..I was taught to honor our past and pay forward our fruits.” The book, which is occasionally repetitive, includes tributes to her mother from figures like Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton, but the narrative core is the author’s direct, faith-based, unwaveringly positive messages to readers—e.g., “I don’t want to carry the sadness and anger I have toward the man who did this to my mother…so I’m worshiping God amid the worst storm imaginable”; "Success and feeling good are contagious. I’m all about positive contagious vibrations!” Avant frequently quotes Bible verses, and the bulk of the text reflects the spirit of her daily prayer “that everything is in divine order.” Imploring readers to practice proactive behavior, she writes, “We have to always find the blessing, to be the blessing.”
Some of Avant’s mantras are overstated, but her book is magnanimous, inspiring, and relentlessly optimistic.Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2023
ISBN: 9780063304413
Page Count: 288
Publisher: HarperOne
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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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