An unconventional view of biblical prophecies that reveals surprising, albeit not wholly convincing, insights.
A retelling of the events of Genesis with an eye toward Revelation.
Adam, Eve and the Tree of Knowledge; Cain and Abel; Noah and the Great Flood—the names and stories of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, have become embedded in Western mythology. Devillier’s book combines the traditional Genesis account with stories of angels—including Satan, aka Lucifer, an angel who opposed God’s plans for humanity and was thus forcefully cast out of heaven—to provide a perspective on Genesis that overlays the angel myths onto the Genesis account, providing an insider’s view of the arguments that may have taken place in heaven while events in Eden and elsewhere were unfolding. Though the narrative begins in Genesis, it doesn’t end there; instead, Devillier links the accounts of humanity’s origin with predictions given in Revelation about humanity’s eventual end, including the rise of the Antichrist and the second coming of Jesus. While the book’s premise is intriguing and its source material has proven itself to be some of the richest in Western literature, this take suffers from an overabundance of telling rather than showing: “Satan commanded Baal to take a few hundred of the angels to go study Cain and Abel. He told Baal that if anything looked to be intimidating, come back with details.” Elsewhere, the dialogue merely falls flat. Even when the angels take up arms against one another and even against their offspring, there’s little sense of adventure or risk, making the book’s ultimate predictions—as dire as they sound—seem of little consequence. The narrative ends up suspended somewhere between a novel and an essay, draining the central themes of struggle and redemption of most of their power. Though it sheds light on ancient texts, the message behind the story’s focus on the ongoing struggle for the soul of humanity is hindered, not helped, by its unbalanced format.
An unconventional view of biblical prophecies that reveals surprising, albeit not wholly convincing, insights.Pub Date: May 11, 2013
ISBN: 978-1482636123
Page Count: 194
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 20, 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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