An in-depth look at a little-known American religious radical. Kenny (The Passion of Ansel Bourne, not reviewed) limns the life and legacy of Elias Smith (1769-1846), a Christian reformer in whom the author became interested while researching a volume on early cases of multiple personality disorder. (The polarities between personalities, he found, often have a religious element.) Smith was the leader of a loose network of reformist radicals who called themselves simply ``Christians.'' While serving as the pastor of an orthodox Baptist Church in Woburn, Mass., Smith became enamored of radical Jeffersonianism and determined to apply its democratic principles to Christianity. In the wake of the French Revolution (itself inspired by America's example), he called for a church free of authoritarian hierarchies and unshackled from centuries of ossified tradition. The Bible, still a principal source of authority for Smith, would be interpreted by ordinary laypeople for themselves without mediation by clergy. Smith's brand of Christianity was strongly premillenarian—looking toward the Second Coming of Christ, which would usher in 1,000 years of the Kingdom of God. In this, the United States had a special messianic role to fulfill; it was called by Providence to be an example to the world in helping to hasten the day. Through his newspaper, The Herald of Gospel Liberty (the first religious newspaper in the US), the New England divine became one of the most important religious figures of his day. Kenny considers Smith as an example of the radical reconstruction of self through religious rebirth, and of the tensions in early America between concepts of individual liberty and the needs of society. Kenny provides a well-researched and readable biography of a man who helped democratize religion and in the process created a truly American Christianity.
Pub Date: May 17, 1994
ISBN: 1-56098-321-3
Page Count: 392
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1994
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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