A decent resource, but several authors, from Karen Armstrong to Bart Ehrman, have provided better sources for curious...
Retelling of modern views and scholarship on the Bible.
Smoley (Supernatural: Writings on an Unknown History, 2013, etc.) offers a systematic tour of modern secular scholarship regarding the Jewish and Christian concept of God. The ground he covers, however, has been well-worn in recent years, and Smoley offers little new insight. The author too often engages his readers with the condescending view that he knows a secret of which they are not yet aware: that by and large what is written in the Bible isn’t true. Nowhere is this clearer than in his chapter on the birth of Jesus, in which he compares his role as spoiler to the boy who told him years before that Santa Claus didn’t exist. Smoley follows this odd comparison with the statement, “another little-known fact: scholars believe that none of the Nativity story is true. None—zero.” Throughout the book, the author makes blanket statements about how certain unnamed “scholars” believe this or that. Those scholars he does mention by name are often on the outskirts of mainline research—e.g., John Dominic Crossan or the group known as the Jesus Seminar. By sensationalizing modern research and focusing on nontraditional authors, Smoley ostracizes many readers. In particular, he often refers to people who believe in orthodoxy as “fundamentalists,” and scholarship by people of faith is mostly absent in his work. Smoley does provide casual readers with ample background for understanding many of the arguments set forth in recent decades (and indeed, recent centuries) concerning the authorship of books of the Bible, the role of ancient Israel in history, the identity of Jesus Christ, and other topics. The author’s experience as a student of mysticism is evident throughout his work, and he ends the book with a highly heterodox personal statement about the identity of God and the origins of humanity.
A decent resource, but several authors, from Karen Armstrong to Bart Ehrman, have provided better sources for curious readers.Pub Date: June 7, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-18555-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: TarcherPerigee
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2016
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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