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REVERENCE

Name: REVERENCE
Author: Paul Woodruff
ISBN: 0-19-514778-2

by Paul Woodruff ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2001

Well-intended and often edifying, but also stodgy and pedantic.

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A classical scholar’s tutorial on reverence, toggling between ancient Greek and Chinese teachings and modern life to offer wisdom from the back of the bleachers in the virtue-ethics arena.

Woodruff (Humanities/Univ. of Texas, Austin) sets himself the task of resurrecting reverence from its modern-day slumber with the help of Confucian philosophy, Greek drama and philosophy, and poetry. His thesis is provocative: reverence, a virtue little seen in everyday exchanges, could significantly improve society if properly cultivated. He makes this point aptly through situational sketches, some of which show how a lack of reverence makes a mockery of certain traditions (such as voting), and others that reveal reverence in unexpected places (e.g., in a classical music quartet). Woodruff’s driving argument removes reverence from the clutches of religion, illustrating its status as a virtue unbound by time or custom, an emotional capacity that recognizes human limitations with dignified awe and tends toward doing right out of respect for those limitations. In establishing reverence’s transcendent character, however, Woodruff disappoints. His explanation of bare reverence, for instance, is posited in a dumbed-down question-and-answer format that assumes the worst of its readers. Strong theses fizzle in the deciphering of Greek excerpts and modern moral quagmires. In a discussion that is intended to expound on the pith of a virtue rather than on moral rules, Woodruff spends an awful lot of time scolding (“this is wrong”). His most evident theoretical tangle appears in the chapter on relativism. Given the tenuously established boundaries between showing reverence through tradition and showing reverence for tradition, his argument would be more compelling if it weren’t so hasty.

Well-intended and often edifying, but also stodgy and pedantic.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-19-514778-2

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Oxford Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2001

Categories:

PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION

ROSE BOOK OF BIBLE CHARTS, MAPS AND TIME LINES

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ROSE BOOK OF BIBLE CHARTS, MAPS AND TIME LINES

by Timothy Paul Jones ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2005

Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.

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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 â€œHow 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

Categories:

PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION

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THE MYTH OF SISYPHUS

AND OTHER ESSAYS

by Albert Camus ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 26, 1955

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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.