Beside Still Waters: Searching for Meaning in an Age of Doubt: Amazon.de: Gregg Easterbrook: Englische Bücher

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Gregg Easterbrook says the ideal readers of Beside Still Waters: Searching for Meaning in an Age of Doubt are "those who seek the spiritual center--whose hearts are open to higher purpose but whose heads are aware of the many valid objections." To these readers, Easterbrook offers the gift of his contemplative, witty, well-informed essays on questions such as "whether the wars and repressions staged in the name of religion invalidate the ideals that arise from faith; whether our increasing knowledge of history demonstrates spiritual thought to have begun in mythology or superstition; [and] whether faith is on balance an advantageous force for society." Easterbrook is a reporter, not a religion expert, but he's managed to float an extraordinary amount of erudition on his fluid journalistic style. Because his learning is passionate rather than professional, he's able to explore his questions with openness and zeal. Beside Still Waters concludes with a startlingly scriptural refutation of God's omnipotence and a strong, smart argument that monotheism is inherently opposed to rigid denominationalism. Yet with equal strength and good sense, he defends the value of denominations. Maybe you're a good Christian, or a good Jew, or a good atheist. The balanced, vigorous, loving thoughts contained in Beside Still Waters can help you become something better than all of those, and necessary for being any of them--a good person. --Michael Joseph Gross

From Kirkus Reviews

interpreted as a deity in progress, provides sophisticated secularists with a reason to read the Biblebut his own highly selective and simplifying reading of that ancient text will engage few who know it more than passingly. At a time when biblical scholars such as John Dominic Crossan, Raymond Brown, and James Kugel are publishing major works of biblical interpretation for wide, nonspecialist audiences, it is the bold amateur indeed who claims, as Easterbrook does, to ``propose a new understanding of Western scripture.'' The author acknowledges a predecessor in Jack Miles, whose popular book, God: A Biography, takes the biblical God for an analyzable literary character. But Easterbrook aims at more: to rethink the Bible for the spiritual use of jaded secularists, whose Freudian, materialist, and scientist culture has all but blinded their religious senses. The first few chapters summarize the origins of modern doubt; the middle ones argue for a less than omnipotent God, whose slow progress from wrathfulness to love models the proper course of human growth; the final chapters crystallize the book's central theme, that spiritual progress is always away from institutions and rites toward neighborly love. Easterbrook reads much into the Bible's failure to declare God omnipotent; but that silence is less an oblique sanction to humanize the divine than a sign of how little interested the biblical writers were in abstract metaphysical concepts. The larger difficulty with a progressive view of the biblical God is that it must ignore too many countervailing passages: already mercy is stronger than wrath in the early Exodus version of the Ten Commandments, and wrath is rampant in the late New Testament book of Revelation. Literary interpretations of the Bible are always welcome; but the Bible as literature is too complex comfortably to sport the evolutionary straitjacket Easterbrook has prepared for it. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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From Raging Storm to Pacific Stillness 22. Mai 2000

Von robodisk@earthlink.net

Format:Taschenbuch

This book is a spiritual journey. It begins with some of the many valid reasons for questioning Faith, including the history of thoughts and concepts, the current state of scientific knowledge about how the Universe was created. It continues on into what the Bible says and what it does NOT say about some important Faith concepts which we generally assume are supported in the Bible because they are repeated so often today, but were actually created by people for the convenience and sanctioning of church and state leaders politics and power.

It continues on to show how God evolved in relating to humans from the Genesis through the early and middle Old Testament where God was very jealous of other gods, greatly interested in religious rituals, and regularly used miracles to accomplish God's work, much of which was savage in killing of thousands of people, including even appearing in and leading battles for the Nation of Israel. (This is NOT a pretty story, but it is the HIStory of the same God we worship and adore today for unbounded love for each of us.) In the late Old Testament, culminating in the New Testament, God, and Jesus, as God's voice on Earth, evolved to using only healing miracles and messages of God's love and Need for love from all people.

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Not entirely persuasive, but.... 10. Februar 2000

Von Ein Kunde

A somewhat selective reading of the Bible that perhaps doesn't properly explain the import of some of the passages cited, this book is nevertheless fascinating and well written. Most important for me as a reader was Easterbrook's enthusiasm for his subject and his intelligent and moving description of what is so compelling about Jesus. So, although I can't agree that it makes sense to say that "God is slooowww ...." I read the book in only a few nights, learnt a lot and came away with plenty of questions about a lot of received wisdom. For all of which I am thankful...

Nothing new, but very refreshing 15. Oktober 1999

Format:Gebundene Ausgabe

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who like myself has always had an urge to believe that there was a God and that life is not as meaningless as many modern scientists seem to think it is but are unable to believe in the God presented in most conservative and even mainline protestant churches. Although the author doesn't elude to it in the title, this book is definitely written from a very Christian(liberal Christian) perspective, which is what I was looking for. Especially of interest to me was Easterbrooks proposed explanations for some of the appauling events in the Old Testament that had always been a stumbling block to my belief in Christianity. Also facinating was the possibilities he raised regarding the omnipotence of God. Of course there is probably nothing in this book that could not be found in other volumes by other authors but I quite liked the way that Gregg Easterbrook put it all together and made it very accesible. Although I don't quite agree with all of the authors propositions I would definitely recommend this book highly.