Dry musings for those who like to deconstruct traditional Christianity.
According to two interfaith pastors, it was a misunderstanding that led Jesus’ followers to falsely believe he was the son of God and was resurrected from the dead.
Cynthia Lynch (Public Affairs & Security Studies/Univ. of Texas Pan America; The Word of the Light, 1998) and Thomas Lynch (Public Administration/Louisiana State Univ.; The Word of the Light, 1998, etc.) admire Jesus but believe he “was just a man,” albeit one deserving respect. They call salvation-based Christianity as practiced today the “Alpha Interpretation” and offer instead their “Omega Interpretation” of the New Testament, arguing that Jesus’ teachings weren’t new and were similar to those of “other great religious thinkers” of the world. They say Jesus’ message was simply to “[d]evelop your inner spirituality” and let it guide you through life. Contrary to this teaching, they say, the Alpha Interpretation tells Christians “merely to accept Jesus as our God and Savior and then we can go to the ATM with our prayer card any old time and request our favors and gifts and God’s forgiveness for our sins.” They discuss Matthew’s account of Jesus’ early life, which says his family moved to Egypt and then back to Israel, though they say the other Gospels’ silence on the matter implies “nothing like that happened.” Yet they make their own bold claims, such as their belief that Jesus trained with the Therapeutae community in Alexandria, which may have been influenced by Buddhism, and they suggest Jesus was the first “Reform Jew.” The Bible’s silence on those particular matters is apparently of no concern. Jesus probably survived the Crucifixion, they say, and the Resurrection “cover story” helped him avoid another trip to the cross. Generally well-written, the book has some typos that don’t interfere with comprehension of the often dense text. (The authors frequently use one distracting term: “Kindom of God” rather than “Kingdom of God,” which they believe is sexist.) While the authors admirably value logic and reason, in a book about faith it’s strange that they come across as so disinterested in anything resembling an emotion. Whether or not their Omega Interpretation is true, reading about it is a joyless journey.
Dry musings for those who like to deconstruct traditional Christianity.Pub Date: Feb. 12, 2014
ISBN: 978-0985647513
Page Count: 362
Publisher: International Academy for Interfaith Studies
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
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
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