A well-meaning, resonant set of biographical profiles that will inspire religiously inclined readers.
A colloquial look at six European female Christian mystics and their teachings.
Evans, the spirituality and culture editor at the National Catholic Reporter and author of Feminist Prayers for My Daughter, dedicates her latest to “every woman whose story merited an examination it never received.” She focuses on the lives and work of six women—Teresa of Avila, Margery Kempe, Julian of Norwich, Hildegard of Bingen, Thérèse of Lisieux, and Catherine of Siena—five of whom were nuns, and all of whom Evans describes as “unapologetically themselves” and “more than able to lead.” The chapters—bearing titles such as “All the Best Prophets Were Mentally Ill,” “Trusting Yourself Doesn’t Make You a Heretic,” and “The World Is Burning: Why Make Art?”—end with questions “for prayer and reflection.” For example, “Do you feel comfortable viewing your soul as a place for light?”; “If you were a flower, which one would you be? How do you feel about that flower?” The author often shares from her own life, including her journey of leaving evangelicalism and conversion to Catholicism, as well as what she views as the most prescient lessons from and summations of each of her subjects. Of Thérèse, Evans writes, “This chick was a feminist if ever there was one.” In the chapter about Hildegard, she notes, “arguably her best-known spiritual principle is the idea of the earth as a sacred mirror reflecting our internal reality.” The author’s impassioned, often quippy, always forthright tone makes for a quick read. “Each of us has a mystic within us,” she writes, “waiting to be unlocked.” Despite the text’s lack of racial representation, the author calls women of color “the prophets of our modern age” before closing with lines from an Alice Walker poem.
A well-meaning, resonant set of biographical profiles that will inspire religiously inclined readers.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9780593727270
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Convergent
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
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
An incisive, urgently relevant analysis of—and call to action on—America’s foundational ideal.
An examination of how the U.S. can revitalize its commitment to freedom.
In this ambitious study, Snyder, author of On Tyranny, The Road to Unfreedom, and other books, explores how American freedom might be reconceived not simply in negative terms—as freedom from coercion, especially by the state—but positive ones: the freedom to develop our human potential within sustaining communal structures. The author blends extensive personal reflections on his own evolving understanding of liberty with definitions of the concept by a range of philosophers, historians, politicians, and social activists. Americans, he explains, often wrongly assume that freedom simply means the removal of some barrier: “An individual is free, we think, when the government is out of the way. Negative freedom is our common sense.” In his careful and impassioned description of the profound implications of this conceptual limitation, Snyder provides a compelling account of the circumstances necessary for the realization of positive freedom, along with a set of detailed recommendations for specific sociopolitical reforms and policy initiatives. “We have to see freedom as positive, as beginning from virtues, as shared among people, and as built into institutions,” he writes. The author argues that it’s absurd to think of government as the enemy of freedom; instead, we ought to reimagine how a strong government might focus on creating the appropriate conditions for human flourishing and genuine liberty. Another essential and overlooked element of freedom is the fostering of a culture of solidarity, in which an awareness of and concern for the disadvantaged becomes a guiding virtue. Particularly striking and persuasive are the sections devoted to eviscerating the false promises of libertarianism, exposing the brutal injustices of the nation’s penitentiaries, and documenting the wide-ranging pathologies that flow from a tax system favoring the ultrawealthy.
An incisive, urgently relevant analysis of—and call to action on—America’s foundational ideal.Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9780593728727
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
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