Customer Reviews

Insecurity of Freedom

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As I've grown older, I've been less able to stomach theology because of its over- emphasis on and substandard usage of metaphysics. A.J. Heschel's style of theology avoids such errors; thus, I can read him in order to ponder my life's meaning instead of my logic's implication.

The book is a collection of essays, not a few of which found their greatest impact in the late 50's and early 60's. Still, some of his observations on race and nationalism are such that they bear directly on us today. His sort of outside-America view of our problems allows us to see ourselves from a new perspective. This method of seeing a culture from a new (and unexamined) perspective works with individuals as well: this is who you think you are; this is how others have outlined you, but here is what's really at issue.

The great thing about Heschel is that he can usually sniff out the most subtle but important issues in both national cultures and individual lifestyles. He is theologian qua psychologist and theologian qua sociologist. Yet I'm satisfied when he exercises either of these roles. I think you will be as well.

The book is not a heavy hitter. (He has other ones, however, which are as deep as one might want about the meaning of life in a world in which God exists and subtly interacts with humanity.) But it touches on many of the themes most important to Heschel personally. If you've never read any of Heschel, and you want a good sampler of what guided his thinking, this is a fine book with which to start. There's discussion on Maimonides, the founding of the modern nation of Israel, and humanity's position in a God-designed Cosmos. The book is a quick read, and broken into manageable, one-sitting chapters, so it would be easy to read nightly for a month or so, with profit to the soul, or at least to the brain.

I found this book used. It is the best find I've made in years. The chapter on Good and Evil is incredibly compelling in our age of boundless evil. The chapter on youth is pitch perfect even 40 years after it was written.

the book arrived in excellent like new condition. i was very happy with it and the prompt shipping service.