Frank, engaging discussion of the book of Job’s poetic and theological complexities.
A fresh commentary about Job, one of the most puzzling books of the Old Testament.
Horne (Religion/William Jewell Coll.; Proverbs-Ecclesiastes, 2003, etc.), an author of Bible commentaries, and Eades, a licensed counselor and ordained minister, combine biblical scholarship and contemporary case studies to create a “homiletic reading” of the book of Job, which tells the story of God’s perplexing interaction with Satan and a religious man. In 30 brief chapters, each split into four sections (Connections, Homily, Case Study, Reflections), the authors wonder if “the whole test of Job is whether his or any person’s moral behavior should be offered to God with no expectation of a personal benefit” in a world where often “justice fails.” These scholarly homilies, combined with real-world cases, encourage readers to consider the question of “holding faith when nearly everything around congregants challenges it.” Along the way, the struggle between the “Authentic self” and the “small self” affects choices between good and evil, the authors write. Eades once told a grieving father that while Jesus Christ redeemed the broken world, the Bible “never says that the brokenness isn’t going to kick the shit out of us, or the people we love, in the process”—a statement that fits with the story of Job, a man who loses everything, including his children. Sometimes the authors agree to disagree; one of their conversations even ends with a slangy “Whatever.” Overall, however, their intent seems to be to avoid lectures and start conversations: “Speaking from a Christian viewpoint, there is something wonderfully refreshing about Job’s perspective. It means that life here and now is what humanity has been given.” There’s also something wonderfully refreshing about biblical commentary that avoids both heavy-handed didacticism and pie-in-the-sky cheerfulness, as when the authors write: “Why, do you suppose, do we persist in our belief that God must behave in ways that make sense to us—especially when our own experience tells us that we can’t even expect the people we know best to behave in ways that make sense to us?”
Frank, engaging discussion of the book of Job’s poetic and theological complexities.Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2013
ISBN: 978-1480202788
Page Count: 234
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Nov. 7, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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