A captivating account of Christianity hampered by dogmatic rhetoric.
A writer seeks to restore a rationally defensible interpretation of Christianity and re-establish its much-needed authority.
According to Shane (The Authentic Life, 2017, etc.), the world has been thrown into disarray by “unprecedented upheavals” and now “seems to be sliding closer and closer to the abyss of some primeval darkness.” Moral turpitude, avarice, war, and the wanton depletion of Earth’s resources engulf people, but the Christian church, the only institution capable of saving humanity from itself, is addled by a loss of authority and purpose. The author sees “muddled views” and “false doctrines” as the primary obstacles to a rejuvenation of the church’s power, and so this book is devoted to debunking them. Shane tackles this daunting task from three angles: confusion regarding the nature of the created world; the strategic plan God has mapped out for humankind; and the meaning of Christian eschatology. In the first section, the author criticizes Christianity for its “disinterest in science,” especially contemptible since God created a rational and therefore knowable universe. He argues that a proper conception of biblical Creation and Darwinian evolution demonstrates their compatibility. In the second part, Shane articulates the fundamental elements of God’s plan for humanity—to enjoy a loving and eternal bond with him, a scheme that was stewarded by Abraham and Jesus after Adam and Eve soiled it with sin. The author carefully explains the roles of both Israel and the United States in the progressive unfolding of God’s divine program. Finally, Shane objects to the passive fatalism that issues from the unbiblical view of a cataclysmic rapture and instead argues that humanity can look forward to a deliverance from sin and godlessness. The author’s interpretation of Christianity boldly advocates for a rational theology that makes its peace with science—he rigorously argues for a détente that presupposes a deeper vision of both. In addition, his version of Christianity is a refreshingly hopeful one, replacing doomsday readings of prophecy that undermine human agency with an optimistic understanding of salvation that empowers and ennobles it. But he never quite makes it clear why this is the worst of times, an argument he should have to make given the popularity of the opposite view, espoused by famous writers and scholars like Steven Pinker. In addition, while Shane acknowledges that not all of the Bible can be read literally, he refuses to concede that this can lead to variant exegetical renderings arrived at by an equal measure of rational good faith. As a result, the tone of the entire work is gratingly peremptory—the author has little patience for dissent: “Darwin did not create the geological column or the fossil record, God did! What scientists call ‘evolution’ is nothing more than the creative economy of God at work in the natural realm. If scientists want to call it ‘evolution’ that’s fine with us.”
A captivating account of Christianity hampered by dogmatic rhetoric.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 225
Publisher: Kurti Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 12, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorkerstaff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
For Howard Zinn, long-time civil rights and anti-war activist, history and ideology have a lot in common. Since he thinks that everything is in someone's interest, the historian—Zinn posits—has to figure out whose interests he or she is defining/defending/reconstructing (hence one of his previous books, The Politics of History). Zinn has no doubts about where he stands in this "people's history": "it is a history disrespectful of governments and respectful of people's movements of resistance." So what we get here, instead of the usual survey of wars, presidents, and institutions, is a survey of the usual rebellions, strikes, and protest movements. Zinn starts out by depicting the arrival of Columbus in North America from the standpoint of the Indians (which amounts to their standpoint as constructed from the observations of the Europeans); and, after easily establishing the cultural disharmony that ensued, he goes on to the importation of slaves into the colonies. Add the laborers and indentured servants that followed, plus women and later immigrants, and you have Zinn's amorphous constituency. To hear Zinn tell it, all anyone did in America at any time was to oppress or be oppressed; and so he obscures as much as his hated mainstream historical foes do—only in Zinn's case there is that absurd presumption that virtually everything that came to pass was the work of ruling-class planning: this amounts to one great indictment for conspiracy. Despite surface similarities, this is not a social history, since we get no sense of the fabric of life. Instead of negating the one-sided histories he detests, Zinn has merely reversed the image; the distortion remains.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1979
ISBN: 0061965588
Page Count: 772
Publisher: Harper & Row
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1979
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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