No one sees the American (and world) scene so steadily and whole as Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr. His Christian critique of modern man and his world must be reckoned with by any serious student of human affairs. This is his latest contribution to a large volume of incisive writing which holds a clear and unflattering mirror up before the face of Americans who do not always like what they see. The book's title is taken from the first of a collection of essays in which Dr. Niebuhr analyzes the phenomenon that America seems to be growing more religious and more secular at the same time. His keen mind next explores such related subjects as, "Frustration in Mid-century", "Higher Education in America", "Russia and America", "Liberty and Equality", "Justice to the American Negro from State, Community and Church", "The Relations of Christians and Jews in Western Civilization", "The Impulse for Perfection and the Impulse for Community", and "Mystery and Meaning". Dr. Niebuhr has never written so that he who runs may read, and often his theological writing can reward only the most careful and patient student. Nor has he now written in a popular style. Nevertheless, the careful reader of these essays will not have to subject himself to a determined re-reading to learn their meaning. Instead he will be tempted to rejoice that here is a man who can reflect and express the reader's innermost thoughts, disturbed though they are, and bring them all together on a hopeful note of potential triumph. In Christ, Dr. Niebuhr affirms repeatedly, is to be found that assurance of final forgiveness for the ineradicable evil in the human heart that can lift the self from despair to newness of life. This is the final answer to the mystery of human existence.
Pub Date: March 28, 1958
ISBN: 1579107400
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1958
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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