by S. T. Stone ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 29, 2015
An unassuming faith memoir and handbook for curious Christians.
From debut author Stone, a beginner’s guide to the basics of the Christian faith.
“You can either ride in God’s triumphant chariot, or get crushed under its wheels.” So said J. Vernon McGee, the Christian theologian, as quoted by Stone. Though McGee heavily influenced Stone—his work is quoted quite frequently here—this book takes a very different tone from all-or-nothing reductionism. Self-deprecating and disarmingly humorous, Stone, “a long-time victim of ‘hoof-in-mouth’ disease,” shares the results of his personal study of the Bible, digging into Scripture and frequently drawing homespun biblical applications from his own life in order to clarify some truths about faith. He insists he’s not breaking any new ground, just “stirring things up a bit,” but his book abounds with scriptural insights of a very approachable kind, born of personal Bible study. In the book’s first half, his central observation relates to God’s intent for mankind: to walk with Jesus Christ while living day-to-day faith. In the second half, the central tenet is trust: in the promise of resurrection, in the individual love of the Creator for all his creations, and even in the unknowable nature of God. “We must trust in God to fulfill his promises,” Stone writes, drawing on classic Christian authors like St. Augustine and C.S. Lewis to emphasize that Christians seeking salvation must work to save themselves while also trusting in their savior. Stone directly confronts the hard work involved with grappling Scripture: “God wants all believers to dig out these truths and apply them to their lives, but He never promised that it would be easy.” The sentiment is somewhat at odds with Jesus’ “Seek, and ye shall find; ask, and it shall be given thee,” but Stone’s larger point will resonate with faith-and–good-deeds Christians. Stone admits he didn’t set out to write a spiritual autobiography, but that’s more or less what his book is, and it’s the book’s greatest strength for both newcomers and lifelong Christians.
An unassuming faith memoir and handbook for curious Christians.Pub Date: July 29, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4908-8362-5
Page Count: 218
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Share your opinion of this book
by Albert Camus ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 26, 1955
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
Share your opinion of this book
More by Albert Camus
BOOK REVIEW
by Albert Camus ; translated by Justin O'Brien & Sandra Smith
BOOK REVIEW
by Albert Camus ; translated by Ellen Conroy Kennedy & Justin O'Brien
BOOK REVIEW
by Albert Camus translated by Arthur Goldhammer edited by Alice Kaplan
by Stephen Batchelor ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 18, 2020
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
Share your opinion of this book
More by Stephen Batchelor
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.