A laudable look at the Good Book.
Beal (Religion/Case Western Reserve Univ.; Biblical Literacy: The Essential Bible Stories Everyone Needs to Know, 2009, etc.) provides a fresh take on the Bible.
The author believes that the reign of the printed book is coming to an end, and he sees this as a good opportunity for “another way of knowing.” Beal begins with a lengthy introduction to what the Bible has become in the eyes of many Americans—an overworked icon mass-marketed through numerous niche and value-added editions. Meanwhile, writes the author, people are buying the Bible but not reading it: “Could it be that biblical literacy is being replaced by biblical consumerism?” The issue is that people expect the Bible to hold all the answers and to speak for itself. However, “the bible is not a book of answers but a library of questions”—a complex work full of seeming contradictions best read with its history in mind. Toward that end, Beal moves back to the beginning, to the years before the Bible, examining the life of Jesus and the ensuing decades of the early Christian church. He explores the Jewish scriptures as they would have been known at the time, including a detailed explanation of how scrolls and early codices were made. The author makes it clear that the early Christian canon was not closed for centuries, and even then underwent numerous changes in the English language after the creation of the King James Version in 1611. “[T]he only constant in the history of the Bible,” writes Beal, “is change. The history of the Bible is one of perpetual revolution.” The author’s attempt to reclaim a sense of the Bible as a rich source of history and spiritual depth is refreshing given today’s mass-marketing of scripture. The narrative is well-written and engaging, but some readers may wonder, what about the Bible as the non-English–speaking world perceives it?
A laudable look at the Good Book.Pub Date: Feb. 16, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-15-101358-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
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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