An invigorating search for the human Jesus.
Malone, in her debut, provocatively maps Jesus Christ’s stages of human development, using the Gospels as a guide.
In this well-researched, thought-provoking exegetical work, Malone proposes that although traditional religious dogma holds that Jesus is eternally unchanging, both the canonical Gospels and the Synoptics “show him as a human being who—like other human beings do—changed, grew and matured throughout his life until his death.” In this account, readers follow Jesus through as many of the stages of childhood and young adulthood as the evidence allows, as he intellectually matures along the lines of famous peacemakers, such as Martin Luther King Jr. As such, it emphasizes Jesus’ pacifism, taking in stride, for example, his violent attack on the moneylenders in the Gospel of Matthew. In very clear prose, Malone deploys her considerable textual knowledge to examine Jesus’ claims of divinity—represented in terms such as “Son of God” or “Son of Man”—and makes the radical suggestion that such labels may obscure one’s appreciation of Jesus the man: “Might it have been better for humanity if Jesus had never been worshipped as the divine Son of God, but rather his teaching and example simply followed?...Does calling Jesus God’s Son make it far too easy to excuse our failure to emulate him?” Her extrapolation of Jesus’ psychological development is narratively supple, authoritative and ultimately convincing. Her line-readings of the Gospels yield a bounty of insights, even for readers well-versed in Scripture. This is a very skillful exegesis, and her focus on Jesus’ secular philosophy will open her inquiry to non-Christians as well.
An invigorating search for the human Jesus.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-1492964360
Page Count: 197
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
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.
bookshelf
