Eminent English historian of ideas Johnson (The Birth of the Modern, 1991, etc.) draws on his years of research and his classic Roman Catholicism to offer a worldview that is as personal as it is intellectually provocative. An ability to handle colossal themes with well-informed and penetrating analysis has long been a hallmark of Johnson's writing. Here he develops some of the key ideas of his Modern Times (e.g., that Marxism and Nazism led to unprecedented human misery through their moral relativism) in a synthesis that takes up the perennial questions of conscience, the existence of God in the face of a frequently evil world, and the challenge of death. Johnson has much to say about the failure of post-Enlightenment substitutes for religion, such as rationalism and social utopianism. In a chapter on the value of artists he makes a spirited defense of spending vast sums of money to build cathedrals, which he sees as both pleasing to God and vital expressions of the human spirit. There are chapters on environmental issues, inclusive language (which he uses), and the relations between Catholics and Jews. He concludes with open-ended explorations of the traditional Four Last Things of Catholic theology: death, judgment, hell (with the emphasis on purgatory), and heaven. An appendix contains a set of his private prayers. Johnson writes superb English and he mingles his arguments with telling and often amusing anecdotes. Although it is tempting to label Johnson a conservative—he is a friend of Margaret Thatcher's and a staunch admirer of Pope John Paul II—his forthright views constantly surprise and his positions are often reminiscent of his 18th-century namesake and hero, Dr. Samuel Johnson. Nuanced and always informative, Johnson is guaranteed to stimulate even when he does not convince.
Pub Date: May 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-06-017344-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1996
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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