A flawed but worthwhile glimpse at a rich tradition.
A scholar’s personal exploration of the mystical side of Eastern Orthodoxy.
Exploring mysticism first as an academic but then also as a believer, Markides (Sociology/Univ. of Maine; Gifts of the Desert: The Forgotten Path of Christian Spirituality, 2005, etc.) shares a variety of experiences that have most recently shaped his understanding of the subject. Much of the book revolves around Father Maximos, a respected monk at Mount Athos, a leading center of Greek Orthodox monasticism. Through multiple conversations with Father Maximos, the author shares monastic wisdom on a wide array of topics, including the seven fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. On one visit to Cyprus, Markides and his wife visited an aging novelist and engaged him in a lengthy discussion about the existence or nonexistence of an afterlife. In another chapter, the author chronicles his visit to St. Catherine Monastery at Mt. Sinai, where he viewed its ancient artistic and historical treasures and climbed the holy mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments. As a student of world religions and a sociologist, Markides sees Orthodoxy from a larger perspective: “I realized that what many Western intellectuals searched for in the ashrams of India and the lamaseries of Tibet—that is, an experiential pathway to the Divine—has been all along within the very heart of Christianity.” The author succeeds in providing a meaningful look at Orthodoxy and mysticism, but his use of extended dialogue is often forced. Nonetheless, Markides creates a useful collage of contemporary Eastern Orthodoxy, “an integrated system of spiritual practices within Christianity that can lead to a direct experience of God.”
A flawed but worthwhile glimpse at a rich tradition.Pub Date: March 6, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-307-88587-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Image/Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
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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