Customer Reviews

The Quest for God: Personal Pilgrimage, A

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

...
It is no accident that this unapologetic blow for conservative Catholicism was written by a layman. The same spring that saw HarperCollins release The Quest for God saw Oxford University Press publish academic Steven Pals' Seven Theories of Religion. All but one (Mircea Eliade) of the theorists Pals discusses see religion as dependent on some other phenomenon. That means that they have not so much a theory of religion, as a theory of x, whereby x is NOT religion. Religion then becomes so much "garbage," as when computer scientists speak of "GIGO: garbage in, garbage out." Religion, politics, accounting, sports: Same difference.

Not so, says Paul Johnson, who goes to great lengths to make clear that only God is God. In a time when militant secularists insist on seeing God as a front for politics, Johnson says, "No! There is no substitute for the real thing." According to Johnson, it is the secularists who are deluding themselves with God-substitutes, which he sees as the cause of the twentieth century's genocidal history.

Although Johnson begins a bit pompously, and even weirdly, with some bad science, after the first two chapters this book becomes quite charming, exhibiting a droll sense of humor and, at times, a refreshing modesty. However, to appreciate Johnson's modesty, one must be able to countenance the notion that a belief in moral absolutes can accommodate tolerance towards those with whom one disagrees on doctrine. Thus, if you believe that all values (or principles or virtues) are relative; have an absolute contempt for anyone who disagrees with you; and third, believe in showing "no tolerance for the intolerant!," then this book is probably not for you. If, on the other hand, you are at all curious about Catholicism; you feel that unlimited access to abortion on demand for young girls, and detailed, public school instruction in safe "fisting" by the Gay Men's Health Crisis are not quite the answers to what ails us; or if you have deep spiritual yearnings, then you could do worse than devote a day or so to The Quest for God.

While barely 200 pages long, and written by a popular historian used to having closer to one thousand oversized pages to get the job done, Quest... is an incredibly meaty -- but not overstuffing -- meal. In summing up his own life and work, Johnson recalls his childhood, the famous and not-so-famous whose paths he has crossed, and tells quite a bit of church and secular history. The personal anecdotes and capsule histories, often coming from his historical studies, all bear on Johnson's quest(ion): How does one live, and die, in the proper Christian manner?

There is much of philosophical substance here, yet Johnson is at once both more personal and more philosophical than most academic texts I see on philosophy of religion. The successors to the social gospel, whether feminists, Afrocentrists, or even gay activists, see in religion no more than a worldly, political tool. Some sharp, less politicized minds, on the other hand, offer merely arid analysis; both sides seem to have lost sight of the prize. Johnson hasn't. And so, his philosophical considerations are guided always by the same, simple consideration: How best may I serve God, and thereby, hope to attain Heaven?

If you're a Christian, that's what it's all about. Of course, it may well be harder for a Catholic to keep matters in perspective, as a 2000-year-old tradition of bad theology has rejoiced in complicating matters. With great good humor, Johnson seeks to explain some of these complications as briefly as possible without needlessly confusing or alienating the reader.

"Catholicism - the Holy Roman Catholic Church - Rome - the Scarlet Woman - the Whore of Babylon -- has no terrors for me because I am as used to it as a much-loved old teddy bear or a favorite armchair or a smelly old favorite dog.... I have, as it were, been married to the church all my life and am used to her ways, be they slatternly or tiresome, noble, loving, admirable, foolish or insupportable.... I have a fondness for old institutions which have high pretensions but are also timeworn and manipulable, theoretically rigid but in practice accommodating, which demand everything but will settle in practice for less, often much less."

In sixteen brief chapters, Johnson tussles with contemporary conflicts and perennial problems: The challenges of atheism, feminism, environmentalism and gay activism; the nature of God; the problem of evil; the consequences of there possibly being other rational beings in the cosmos; the roles of dogma and authority, respectively, in the Church; the relationship of Christians to Jews; death; Judgment Day; Hell; Heaven; and the role of prayer. Finally, he has appended some prayers he has composed for the reader's possible inspiration and use.

Johnson notes, early on, that "the most extraordinary thing about the twentieth century was the failure of God to die." He believes that, rather than costing men their faith, the atrocities of the twentieth century actually turned them towards God.

The biggest problem I have with The Quest for God is with Johnson's insistence in the one moment that God is inconceivable in terms of petty, human emotions, and his description in the next of God as "angry" or "impatient." If even Paul Johnson confounds the human with the godly, no wonder the rest of us are so confused!

I do not really have any interest in Catholic doctrine. Many of the subjects Johnson writes about I know little or nothing about.
But what I did find in the book is a deep personal quest of an individual to be in relation with a personal God. I found the story of this quest and of Johnson's faith instructive and illuminating.
I think that anyone who takes the idea of a personal God seriously will be able to learn from this work.
I contrast this work by the way with the much touted work of Karen Armstrong who however much she writes about God reveals only her disbelief.
Johnson is a person of religious faith and this work is one the reading of which will I am certain inspire and deepen the religious faith of others.

'The Quest for God' needs at least two careful readings before judgment can be passed upon it. There is much of C. S. Lewis in it; that is, they share common views upon omnipresent and omnicompetent government, and the follies of those who would bring about Heaven on earth by legislation, but I would be the last man to declare that Mr Johnson either cribbed from Mr Lewis, or was influenced by him. Both men shared a British education; both men, in their respective fields, are (or were) historians of the first rank; both see more clearly than most the need for God and the consequences that devolve upon humanity when God is ignored. Although Mr Johnson has often been excoriated as a 'conservative', many of his views are what might be called 'progressive'. His meditations upon God, His nature, and His interaction with man are steeped in Catholic tradition and reflect his faith. This book is intensely personal, as the subtitle proclaims, and is guaranteed to offend the casual modern reader; I exhort the c. m. r. to read it twice, and see for himself the ineluctable logic behind Mr Johnson's arguments. He might learn something to his benefit.

<The Quest For God> was great in the first fifty pages. Johnson
shows clear-headed thinking and tears apart many of the destructive
forces in our world, Feminism being one of the many. Like Chesterton
before him, Johnson (up to this point in the book at least)
does not let trendy thinking and popular
ideology cloud his judgement. All seemed well and good until about
a quarter of the way through, where he
turns about face and calls himself a Feminist;
promulgates ordaining of female priests; and denounces meat eating,
since we have so many wonderful substitutes for meat given
the advances in food science, etc. (I can't for the life of
me imagine what kind of food he is referring to but it
doesn't sound as delicious as a good pork chop or
even a hamburger). Nevertheless Johnson is a brilliant scholar,
and his knowledge of Western civilization is profound and
almost always helps us to enrich our knowledge.
As for the commendable parts of
his book I would cite two: 1. as a means of comprehending
the experiences of a British Catholic; and 2. his illumination, a la C.S. Lewis, of some
of the deeper meanings of Christian life.
On the other hand it is a big mistake to consider him
a conservative Catholic. For while
his thinking is soundly orthodox (small 'o') Christian on some issues,
it is brazenly contra-Magisterium on others.

That Mr. Johnson intelligently pronounces his belief in such tenets of the Christian faith as the Virgin Birth gives hope that Christianity--kept alive by remnant members, such as John Paul II--will survive the onslaught of the deconstructionists.

I love Paul Johnson. I love Paul Johnson's books. I just disliked this one. His impeccable credentials (Oxford) and his usual penchant for exhaustive scholarly research (The Intellectuals, History of the Jews, History of Christianity, etc.) were surprisingly absent. This book is thoroughly Catholic - not necessarily a bad thing mind you. It's just that the book title had nothing to do with the book. This was no "Quest", no grappling with doubt or faith or pain. Just a Catholic Catecism - a celebration of one man's faith, not the Quest or personal pilgrimage of a man searching for God. It appears that Johnson has found God, neatly and conveniently inside the cathedral. That's O.K. for him. I just was hoping he would help me turn over a few more stones.

This book is essential reading for Paul Johnson fans (like myself). Paul Johnson is a moral absolutist, and this autobiographical work details his moral foundations. However, be WARNED: not only does the book conclude God exists, but that He must be a Roman Catholic God. Indeed, the title is misleading, as Mr. Johnson does not undergo a "quest" in any Odyssean sense. In fact, he merely seems to confirm intellectually in adulthood what was taught to him in childhood through inculcation.

The main strength of this book is its frankness. He gives several examples of the Catholic Church's failings (although I would not classify this book as criticism). He even admits to contradictions to God's existence that appear irresolvable. For example, Paul Johnson admits he doesn't know why a loving God would allow natural (as opposed to man made) evil to exist, such as earthquakes that kill innocent children.

So why did I give the book only two stars? It's because his thesis often smacks of rationalization. Many times, he (weakly) accepts that Roman Catholic doctrines are necessarily the correct ones. For example, celibacy for priests is a very good idea, as it allows them to devote all of their love to God, without the distractions that sexual love causes. Is this Paul Johnson's idea of the scientific method? Paul Johnson's insistence on the primacy of Roman Catholicism simply lacks intellectual rigor.

If I seem to be holding Paul Johnson to a high standard, it's because his previous works set the bar. Anyone who has read ...[his other books], for example, knows it's an achievement in illumination. Paul Johnson fails to meet his own standards in The Quest for God.

I was quite surprised by some of the reviews. Some discount him as a dogmatic Catholic; others don't seem to like his politics; still others deride it for weak apologetics. I am not a Catholic, I don't care about the politics of someone reporting his or her spiritual journey, and I did not see the book as an exercise in apologetics. It is, as I read it, a personal report of one man's spiritual quest. I found it honest, serious, thoughtful, and insightful. I think that is the test of a spiritual memoir.

I am a fan of Johnson's history, and was excited to find this book, especially since I am a convert to Catholicism, for theological reasons ("Catholic for a Reason"). As another reviewer put it, Johnson is a historian (and a fine one); he is clearly not a theologian.

While Mr. Johnson's personal piety is rather impressive, I was disappointed to find that his theological arguments were weak or non-existent. I was surprised to find him heterodox in several areas.

This book is not a good representation of Catholic theology. I would recommend other "quest for God" books by Catholics, like Ratzinger's Milestones, Newman's Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Chesterton's Catholic Church and Conversion (collected works), or one of the many modern conversion accounts, even (e.g. Hahn's Rome Sweet Home).

I am a big fan of Paul Johnson, and sometimes I stand in awe of what he has accomplished as a historian and author: "Modern Times," "The Birth of the Modern," excellent histories of Judaism and Christianity, "Intellectuals" --- well, the man just never stops producing interesting stuff to read, including his recent "Creators."

This book is about his conservative Catholic faith, and I found the portrait of that beguiling and comforting, right up to his chapter on "The Last Judgment." It seemed to me that his reason deserted him there, since a God who would send his own creatures to everlasting torment does not even meet the ethical standards of the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). What would we say about a man who chose to breed Golden Retrievers, and chose to say "Bad dog!" by crucifying the dog upside down over an eternally burning fire? How much more damning would our ethical judgment be, if the man were not raising Golden Retrievers, but was raising creatures which were his own creation?

I suspect this is why the Church of England has dropped the very concept of Hell. Interestingly enough, since the COE is an established religion, this dogma was forced down the throats of COE priests by a council of laymen.

For this and similar reasons, I cannot recommend this book. At all.