A novelist, feminist, and amateur theologian provides both food for thought and a more user-friendly deity for disaffected Christians. Based on a series of lectures, this book is a loving paean to a loving and generous God. As an adult, Maitland (Ancestral Truths, 1994, etc.) became a devout feminist before she rediscovered her childhood Christianity, and her feminism informs her religion in many ways. For one thing, Maitland consistently refers to God as ``she''as in ``Of course she is Father. She is Father Almighty.'' Maitland doesn't believe God to be gendered, she explains; God is non-corporeal. She uses the feminine pronoun more to even the score than to suggest otherwise. But Maitland does see God as possessing characteristics that are traditionally associated with women rather than men. She chooses here to emphasize God's role as creator, but not the creator who needed to invent humanity in order to be worshiped or to prove her power. Maitland's creation story is an act of love and giving. Her God embraces science, which ultimately serves to glorify her. Theology shouldn't be fearful of intellectual inquiry, Maitland argues. Our response to scientific discoveries should be: ``Wow! You mean, God is even cleverer than we thought?'' Our worship of God should be joyful, and Maitland suggests ``drawing up a list of things for which it would be insane to give thanks, but which are obviously extraordinary,'' offering an abbreviated list of her own, the first entry on it being ``Once upon a time someone invented mayonnaise.'' Finally, says Maitland, her theology should have transformative potential, politically and socially: ``She is Father so that the little ones of the earththe oppressed, the poor, the widows and the orphansmay be set free from patriarchy and sing their triumph.'' Uplifting, if somewhat unorthodox.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-8050-4183-4
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1995
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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