Of less appeal than Lance Morrow’s Evil (2003), which covers much the same ground in a rather more inclusive and certainly...
Bad things are afoot and ascendant, says Guinness, and “at a time when intellectual and moral responses to evil are weaker, more controversial, and more confused than they have been for centuries.”
Evil stalks the earth because humans do, it’s part of the angel-and-demon dichotomy. Yet, Guinness (The American Hour, 1992, etc.) writes, evil casts an ever-larger shadow, and disturbing trends require us to rethink evil in our day: it has steadily increased in reach and scale in modern times; modern people don’t know how to respond to it; and—contra those who see religious fundamentalism as an engine of intolerance and other unpleasant behavior—secularist regimes are the cause of the worst atrocities of the day, and secularist regimes are everywhere. Gore Vidal, who has lately been condemning monotheism, won’t buy the argument, and neither will many other people with a memory for names such as Bosnia and the Taliban: set religious absolutism and nonreligious absolutism side by side, they might object, and you wind up with much the same bleak landscape of the soul, save that it’s easier to get a drink in an atheist country. But no matter. Nominally ecumenical, Guinness soon gets around to the need for religious faith in the war against evil; nonbelievers, it appears, just aren’t up to the job. “Freedom,” he writes in a nicely circular turn, “requires virtue, virtue requires faith of some sort, and faith requires freedom.” Moreover, against the ills of dualism and utopianism, Guinness posits that the Christian and Jewish “realism” is uniquely equipped for the fight; “Judaism and the Christian faith,” he continues, “are now credited for keeping alive the dream of justice that transcends all wrong.” Fans of the Dalai Lama and Gandhi may have objections there, but again, no matter; only faith, Guinness concludes, and presumably only of the Christian and Jewish stripes, “can provide the best truths to come to terms with evil.”
Of less appeal than Lance Morrow’s Evil (2003), which covers much the same ground in a rather more inclusive and certainly more thought-provoking way; still, of interest to the choir.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-058636-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2004
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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