Sheler, long time religion reporter for U.S.. News and World Report, has reworked many previously published essays into a six-part primer on today’s Bible battles. In one section, we learn just why the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered by a trio of Bedouins in 1947, have captured the attention of so many biblical scholars and paleographers. Elsewhere, Sheler evaluates archeological arguments about the Exodus form Egypt and Scripture’s portrait of Israel’s ancient monarchy. Sheler also limns, perhaps too briefly, the history of the search for the historical Jesus, walking us from the Reformation through the development of German higher criticism to today’s Jesus Seminar. Though Sheler doesn—t take the time for a proper introduction to Albert Schweitzer, he does describe in detail some of the detectives who lead today’s search for the historical Jesus: Robert Funk, Marcus Borg, and N. T. Wright (Sheler curiously omitted Luke Timothy Johnson, a critic of the Jesus Seminar who surely deserved a paragraph or two in his roll call). Most illuminating is Sheler’s overview of the Bible Code project—the assertions, articulated by Michael Drosnin and others, that the letters of Scripture comprise an elaborate code, cracked by computers, that predicted Rabin’s assassination and Clinton’s 1992 election, and foretell earthquakes and other disasters that will occur early in the new century. Sheler, who declares his Protestant commitments at the outset of the book, concludes that the Bible is fairly reliable: Scripture is —affirmed by the weight of evidence and the strength of early traditions— relation to the formation of the canon,— archaeological finds, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the quest for the historical Jesus, and the —fleeting controversies over the so-called Bible code.— One wishes for a little more skepticism. Sheler’s book should not be the only map you use to navigate contemporary biblical debates, but it will be useful in getting you headed on the right road.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-067541-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
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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