by Willard Dickerson ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 20, 2021
An engaging, often sophisticated analysis of Christianity that fails to extend the same nuanced approach to other ideologies...
Dickerson, a Christian educator, focuses on the centrality of God’s love in this nonfiction exploration of spirituality.
Just as each human has a “unique set of fingerprints” used to identify them, so too, argues the author, does God, whose distinctive identifier is love. While exploring a myriad of topics germane to Christianity, from forgiveness and humility to biblical history and Renaissance art, Dickerson always returns to the significance of God’s love. The book opens with a critique of atheism, which combines anecdotes from the author’s two decades of interactions with atheists in post-communist Hungary as an English instructor with a philosophical analysis of its limitations. Indeed, while Christian apologetics are not the book’s focus, defenses of the faith against its putative ideological and spiritual competitors appear at various intervals. In addition to its refutation of atheism (which boils down to the familiar Christian maxim that “it takes great faith to believe that we are the product of chance”), the book similarly compares Christianity to Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and various New Age spiritualities. Dickerson concludes that the God of Christianity moves toward recalcitrant humans and that the central fault of most non-Christian religions is their reliance on humans to “make the first move toward God.” Just as atheists may be unconvinced by the book’s arguments (“atheists have difficulty explaining…the existence of male and female” is a claim that ignores long-established theories accepted by evolutionary biologists), so too may those of other faiths be irked by the book’s fleeting descriptions of their beliefs.
Contrasted with its straw-man treatment of non-Christian ideas, the book’s strength lies in its nuanced understanding of Christianity itself. With a master of divinity degree from Princeton and a doctoral degree in medieval history from Cornell, the author provides knowledgeable and thoughtful analysis of Christian theology and history. His chapterlong discussion of the “Lord’s Supper” is particularly admirable, offering a solid history that is sensitive to disagreements between Catholics and Protestants as to the meaning and history of the Eucharist. While definitively Protestant in its theological approach, the book is deliberately ecumenical and includes critiques of fellow Christians. While the book challenges the Catholic belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary, it also questions the Protestant emphasis on doctrinal purity, noting that “God does not want your dead doctrines any more than He wants your dead works.” Despite Dickerson’s academic background, the book is written in a conversational style that juxtaposes engaging vignettes with accessible biblical commentary. Having pastored two churches, the author has clearly honed his skills in distilling complex ideas into concise, digestible packages. Interspersed throughout the text are astute analyses of classical Christian art and frequent breaks for poetry, inspirational passages from the Bible, and even the occasional and adorable piece of artwork by Dickerson’s grandchildren, illustrating the book’s preference for personal connection over academic jargon. Christian scholars may prefer a few more citations and deeper engagement with scholarly sources, but the book’s blend of learned analysis and accessible prose will appeal to a broad Christian audience. An engaging, often sophisticated analysis of Christianity that fails to extend the same nuanced approach to other ideologies and faiths.Pub Date: July 20, 2021
ISBN: 9781666704877
Page Count: 124
Publisher: Resource Publications
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Marilynne Robinson ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 12, 2024
In this highly learned yet accessible book, Robinson offers believers fresh insight into a well-studied text.
A deeply thoughtful exploration of the first book of the Bible.
In this illuminating work of biblical analysis, Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Robinson, whose Gilead series contains a variety of Christian themes, takes readers on a dedicated layperson’s journey through the Book of Genesis. The author meanders delightfully through the text, ruminating on one tale after another while searching for themes and mining for universal truths. Robinson approaches Genesis with a reverence and level of faith uncommon to modern mainstream writers, yet she’s also equipped with the appropriate tools for cogent criticism. Throughout this luminous exegesis, which will appeal to all practicing Christians, the author discusses overarching themes in Genesis. First is the benevolence of God. Robinson points out that “to say that God is the good creator of a good creation” sets the God of Genesis in opposition to the gods of other ancient creation stories, who range from indifferent to evil. This goodness carries through the entirety of Genesis, demonstrated through grace. “Grace tempers judgment,” writes the author, noting that despite well-deserved instances of wrath or punishment, God relents time after time. Another overarching theme is the interplay between God’s providence and humanity’s independence. Across the Book of Genesis, otherwise ordinary people make decisions that will affect the future in significant ways, yet events are consistently steered by God’s omnipotence. For instance, Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers, and that action has reverberated throughout the history of all Jewish people. Robinson indirectly asks readers to consider where the line is between the actions of God and the actions of creation. “He chose to let us be,” she concludes, “to let time yield what it will—within the vast latitude granted by providence.”
In this highly learned yet accessible book, Robinson offers believers fresh insight into a well-studied text.Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9780374299408
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
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by Matthew McConaughey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 20, 2020
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.
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All right, all right, all right: The affable, laconic actor delivers a combination of memoir and self-help book.
“This is an approach book,” writes McConaughey, adding that it contains “philosophies that can be objectively understood, and if you choose, subjectively adopted, by either changing your reality, or changing how you see it. This is a playbook, based on adventures in my life.” Some of those philosophies come in the form of apothegms: “When you can design your own weather, blow in the breeze”; “Simplify, focus, conserve to liberate.” Others come in the form of sometimes rambling stories that never take the shortest route from point A to point B, as when he recounts a dream-spurred, challenging visit to the Malian musician Ali Farka Touré, who offered a significant lesson in how disagreement can be expressed politely and without rancor. Fans of McConaughey will enjoy his memories—which line up squarely with other accounts in Melissa Maerz’s recent oral history, Alright, Alright, Alright—of his debut in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, to which he contributed not just that signature phrase, but also a kind of too-cool-for-school hipness that dissolves a bit upon realizing that he’s an older guy on the prowl for teenage girls. McConaughey’s prep to settle into the role of Wooderson involved inhabiting the mind of a dude who digs cars, rock ’n’ roll, and “chicks,” and he ran with it, reminding readers that the film originally had only three scripted scenes for his character. The lesson: “Do one thing well, then another. Once, then once more.” It’s clear that the author is a thoughtful man, even an intellectual of sorts, though without the earnestness of Ethan Hawke or James Franco. Though some of the sentiments are greeting card–ish, this book is entertaining and full of good lessons.
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-13913-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
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