From Publishers Weekly
Although pets.com has buried its last bone, Americans are still as wild as ever about their four-legged furry friends. Several forthcoming titles explore the relationship between spirituality and animals. The Bible According to Noah: Theology As if Animals Mattered takes this potentially fluffy topic to new depths of intellectual inquiry, examining the role of animals in biblical texts and, by extension, contemporary culture. Arguing that "a new appreciation of animals is desperately needed" to rescue Western society from its own antienvironmentalism, Gary Kowalski offers new renditions of familiar biblical stories: God tells humans to "love the earth and preserve it" instead of dominate it; Abraham cannot, in the end, sacrifice an animal; Jonah is rescued by a dolphin and not swallowed by a whale. ( Mar.)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Although Unitarian minister Kowalski is both vegetarian and antivivisectionist, his newest book is not about deriving support for these ethical teachings from Judeo-Christian scripture. Rather, this is a series of personal meditations on some of the more prominent events in the Hebrew Bible, considering how they relate to our treatment of animals. In the first chapter, Kowalski meditates on the creation narratives of Genesis and touches on our stewardship of the earth. He points out how like us the animals are, as they sing and dance and love as we do. Kowalski continues with chapters on the story of Noah's Ark, the near-sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham, the suffering of Job and his restoration, and, finally, the story of Jonah. Occasionally saccharine and often idiosyncratic in scriptural interpretation, these meditations are nonetheless always intelligent and frequently moving. Recommended especially for public libraries for its appeal to both students and casual readers. Religious Vegetarianism, on the other hand, is entirely about the justification of vegetarianism through the doctrines of several major religious traditions. Religious historian Walters (Benjamin Franklin and His Gods, LJ 1/90) and Portmess (philosophy, Gettysburg Coll.) divide the book into sections on the Orphic-Pythagorean tradition, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Each section contains a brief introduction and several sample writings. This structure necessarily renders the book uneven in style, and it is best used by beginning scholars as a basic sourcebook. For academic libraries and public libraries with substantial collections in religion or ethics. James F. DeRoche, Alexandria, VA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
