A careful, heartfelt textual deconstruction of Psalm 37 that reassures its readers: “He shall deliver them from the wicked,...
A nonfiction debut offers an exhaustive explication of one of the most famous psalms of the Bible.
Alexander’s work is a book-length, line-by-line guided tour of Psalm 37, which some readers will recall as rolling in the great, long cadences of the King James translation, urging the faithful of ancient Judea to “Trust in the Lord, and do good;… so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.” The author tends to prefer the modern clarity of the New American Standard translation, but this volume isn’t for biblical scholars in any case. Rather, it’s a combination of church group elements: lively discussion, close textual reading, personal anecdotes, and workbook-style discussion questions with space for readers to write in answers. And the overriding theme of Alexander’s interpretation is the note struck repeatedly in the psalm: trust. The faithful must place their complete trust in God, regarding every aspect of their lives, rather than hedging their bets. “Our lack of trust doesn’t keep us safe; it makes us useless in the Kingdom of God,” Alexander writes with typical quotable directness. “Trust is the bedrock of obedience.” The subject of justice comes up quite often in the poem, for instance, with the writer assuring listeners that the wicked only prosper for a little while and that God’s sense of fairness remains absolute and persistent. Alexander illustrates this and many other points with stories from her many years working actively in Christian communities, and these tales go a long way toward humanizing what would otherwise have been only a long work of exegesis. But Alexander brings everything back around to trust, even going so far as to write: “Father, it surely means more to You for us to say, ‘I trust you,’ than for us to say the words, ‘I love you.’ ” The strength and clarity of these glosses should make this a valuable work for Christian study sessions.
A careful, heartfelt textual deconstruction of Psalm 37 that reassures its readers: “He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.”Pub Date: May 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4908-9881-0
Page Count: 274
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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