A captivating account of Christianity hampered by dogmatic rhetoric.
A writer seeks to restore a rationally defensible interpretation of Christianity and re-establish its much-needed authority.
According to Shane (The Authentic Life, 2017, etc.), the world has been thrown into disarray by “unprecedented upheavals” and now “seems to be sliding closer and closer to the abyss of some primeval darkness.” Moral turpitude, avarice, war, and the wanton depletion of Earth’s resources engulf people, but the Christian church, the only institution capable of saving humanity from itself, is addled by a loss of authority and purpose. The author sees “muddled views” and “false doctrines” as the primary obstacles to a rejuvenation of the church’s power, and so this book is devoted to debunking them. Shane tackles this daunting task from three angles: confusion regarding the nature of the created world; the strategic plan God has mapped out for humankind; and the meaning of Christian eschatology. In the first section, the author criticizes Christianity for its “disinterest in science,” especially contemptible since God created a rational and therefore knowable universe. He argues that a proper conception of biblical Creation and Darwinian evolution demonstrates their compatibility. In the second part, Shane articulates the fundamental elements of God’s plan for humanity—to enjoy a loving and eternal bond with him, a scheme that was stewarded by Abraham and Jesus after Adam and Eve soiled it with sin. The author carefully explains the roles of both Israel and the United States in the progressive unfolding of God’s divine program. Finally, Shane objects to the passive fatalism that issues from the unbiblical view of a cataclysmic rapture and instead argues that humanity can look forward to a deliverance from sin and godlessness. The author’s interpretation of Christianity boldly advocates for a rational theology that makes its peace with science—he rigorously argues for a détente that presupposes a deeper vision of both. In addition, his version of Christianity is a refreshingly hopeful one, replacing doomsday readings of prophecy that undermine human agency with an optimistic understanding of salvation that empowers and ennobles it. But he never quite makes it clear why this is the worst of times, an argument he should have to make given the popularity of the opposite view, espoused by famous writers and scholars like Steven Pinker. In addition, while Shane acknowledges that not all of the Bible can be read literally, he refuses to concede that this can lead to variant exegetical renderings arrived at by an equal measure of rational good faith. As a result, the tone of the entire work is gratingly peremptory—the author has little patience for dissent: “Darwin did not create the geological column or the fossil record, God did! What scientists call ‘evolution’ is nothing more than the creative economy of God at work in the natural realm. If scientists want to call it ‘evolution’ that’s fine with us.”
A captivating account of Christianity hampered by dogmatic rhetoric.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 225
Publisher: Kurti Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 12, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorker staff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
This moving, potent testament might have been titled “Black Lives Matter.” Or: “An American Tragedy.”
The powerful story of a father’s past and a son’s future.
Atlantic senior writer Coates (The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood, 2008) offers this eloquent memoir as a letter to his teenage son, bearing witness to his own experiences and conveying passionate hopes for his son’s life. “I am wounded,” he writes. “I am marked by old codes, which shielded me in one world and then chained me in the next.” Coates grew up in the tough neighborhood of West Baltimore, beaten into obedience by his father. “I was a capable boy, intelligent and well-liked,” he remembers, “but powerfully afraid.” His life changed dramatically at Howard University, where his father taught and from which several siblings graduated. Howard, he writes, “had always been one of the most critical gathering posts for black people.” He calls it The Mecca, and its faculty and his fellow students expanded his horizons, helping him to understand “that the black world was its own thing, more than a photo-negative of the people who believe they are white.” Coates refers repeatedly to whites’ insistence on their exclusive racial identity; he realizes now “that nothing so essentialist as race” divides people, but rather “the actual injury done by people intent on naming us, intent on believing that what they have named matters more than anything we could ever actually do.” After he married, the author’s world widened again in New York, and later in Paris, where he finally felt extricated from white America’s exploitative, consumerist dreams. He came to understand that “race” does not fully explain “the breach between the world and me,” yet race exerts a crucial force, and young blacks like his son are vulnerable and endangered by “majoritarian bandits.” Coates desperately wants his son to be able to live “apart from fear—even apart from me.”
This moving, potent testament might have been titled “Black Lives Matter.” Or: “An American Tragedy.”Pub Date: July 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8129-9354-7
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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