A sometimes-startling and always thought-provoking new look at the fundamental tenets of Christianity.
A personal, idiosyncratic study of Jesus Christ and Christianity.
In his latest book, Marchitelli (In the Land of the Birds, 2012) presents a sprawling, highly ambitious new program of Christian understanding that will likely fascinate many readers. Others, however, may feel it revives the ancient heresy of Nestorianism, which holds that Jesus had two separate, largely unshared natures: one human and one divine. Marchitelli’s Jesus, as his title suggests, wasn’t the distant, semihuman rabbi and prophet enshrined in Catholic orthodoxy but rather a fully committed man of the world, a passionate husband and a loving father. The author doesn’t turn the historical Jesus into a full-blown deity: “Making Jesus God the Creator,” he writes, “is like stripping our Messiah of his individual spiritual achievements and diminishing his sacrifice on the cross.” He maintains that Jesus’ wisdom and sacrifices only warrant respect if he was a human being. His Jesus is spiritually perfect but also very much a man and the father of the disciple John. Marchitelli’s unorthodox ideas extend even further; he asserts, for instance, that the Virgin Mary was not only impregnated by a mortal man, but that he was Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist—and that Adam and Eve must also have had physical parents. The author is well-aware of the controversial nature of his assertions, but he also believes that “spiritually adult people” can give new theories a fair hearing. However, some of the premises are extremely questionable; some readers, for example, won’t like his declaration that only heterosexual married couples can enter into a relationship with heaven, and others will object to the odd assertion that until 50 years ago, most people “either had a low education or were even illiterate.” However, the bulk of this energetic, engaging book compensates for such lapses.
A sometimes-startling and always thought-provoking new look at the fundamental tenets of Christianity.Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-1500114633
Page Count: 260
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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