The latest addition—succeeding The Irony of It All (1986)— to the projected four-volume survey of 20th-century American religion by the well-known Univ. of Chicago historian (Religion and the Republic, 1987; Pilgrims in Their Own Land, 1984, etc.). ``Will America remain Protestant and Anglo-Saxon?'' According to Marty, this was the central question of the period between the world wars, posed by old-stock Americans and immigrant newcomers alike. Marty sees many of the distinctive movements of these years—the Red scare, labor-union unrest, Prohibition, nativism—as reactions of a native-born (and usually provincial) populace that feared the incipient power of the new ethnic groups. The arrival of Catholics and Jews in great numbers during the 19th and early 20th centuries threatened the privileged position of the Protestant churches in public life, and elicited such disparate responses as ecumenism, the ``Social Gospel,'' and the Ku Klux Klan. Marty is at his best when writing from the perspective of the Protestant majority (as in his account of the struggle between the ``modernist'' and the ``fundamentalist'' sects), but he does not limit himself to the experience of those churches—and gives, for example, a fascinating history of the Zionist movement among American Jews. He is far less sure of himself when covering the development of Catholicism during this period, however, and pays almost no attention to the Orthodox churches. Comprehensive and readable, but lacking depth: scholars will find surprisingly little analysis, and no new insights.
Pub Date: May 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-226-50895-1
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Univ. of Chicago
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
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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