A scattershot introduction to Christianity for the skeptical.
A personal look at living through Jesus.
Poet and biographer Parini (English and Creative Writing/Middlebury Coll.; Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal, 2015, etc.) provides a slim yet dense volume on what he calls “the way of Jesus.” In this attempt to describe the modern life of faith and convince others of its worthiness, the author often falls short. Despite being broken into four distinct chapters, the book is awkwardly structured. Parini begins by telling the story of his faith life, including the usual moments of falling away and a healthy dose of skepticism. The author finally found comfort in modern, liberal Christian theology, and he promotes a “mythic view” of Christianity, which dismisses questions of factual truth and literalism, focusing instead on the larger and more universal truths to be found in Scripture. With this view established, Parini examines the various components of the Christian faith, ranging from the Old and New Testaments to the incarnation. He rejects salvation and resurrection as traditionally understood, arguing instead that Jesus taught “Resurrection Thinking,” an ongoing personal renewal. The author moves on to describe the church year from an Anglo-Catholic perspective, and he concludes with a chapter heavily laden with wisdom from T.S. Eliot. As for “the way of Jesus,” Parini uses the term widely and defines it in various ways, as “a road,” a move toward transformation, “the story of Incarnation,” and “a way of life.” The author offers a view of Christianity that many readers may find difficult to accept. Steeped in tradition, established prayers, and even the use of rosaries, at the same time it is vague, open-ended, and personalized. “Is Jesus God?” the author asks at one point; “Yes and no,” is his answer. Parini presents Christianity as a way of life but not as a path toward truth.
A scattershot introduction to Christianity for the skeptical.Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8070-4724-8
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Beacon Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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