‘Books’ Category

  1. Review of Get Real—Reality and Mystery

    20 March, 2012 by Alexa Chipman

    Get Real: Reality and Mystery
    By Michael Hickey
    University Press of America, Lanham, 2012

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    Hickey gives an insightful overview of what centuries of philosophy have attempted to reason out regarding reality. I appreciate that he began with defining foundational concepts—it avoids confusion with words, which like reality itself, change based on our personal beliefs and modern culture. In his usual quality of pacing, Hickey touches on each subject without dragging them out, a quality of his writing which readers will be appreciative of.  The book does assume a certain acceptance of God in some form, particularly Christian, which is helpful for preventing the book turning into half apologetics, but may be a distraction for readers who do not hold such a belief. He weaves in rich threads from other faith traditions and history to augment his writing, which create a complete tapestry in his book.

    Like walking past a series of deep pools and glancing in to see their beauty, Hickey acts as a guide past questions about imagination, truth, openness, death, love, and more—always tying them back to theology and the lived reality of being present with God. After exploring the idea of reality, Get Real moves on to the realm of mystery, beginning with the possible influence of ancient mystery cults on early Christianity through Greek and Roman converts. Early Christian practices were held with a shroud of mystery out of necessity, rather than as part of the religion, unlike cults which thrived on veiled secrets. Christianity’s beliefs were supposed to be public and open for all, yet because of them they were persecuted and forced into hiding.

    What Hickey brings up about faith is an important point—one which I fully endorse, “The intellect can only accept those revealed truths whose reasonableness it recognizes,” (51) and yet reason does not see everything at once, which is where faith comes in. If we know a friend quite well, and trust that person, we will have faith that h/she will back us up in an emergency. Our reason can examine past actions and create a hypothesis, but faith is the part that steps in and allows us to go ahead with our plans trusting that friend will step in. It is the same with God’s inspiration through the Holy Spirit.

    The book begins to pick up energy and vitality beginning with a study on how mystery and allegory are used in trials and difficult situations as symbols with great power, “Myths describe important mysteries that must be written in poetic language because ordinary language can’t describe these realities nearly as well” (55). Hickey explains the importance of symbolism in reality and truth, which are present throughout the Bible, particularly in dreams, Apocalyptic literature, and through the prophets. He gives my favourite personification of myth—Lady Wisdom—her own few pages, which as a female studying theology is a breath of fresh air. Wisdom as the feminine characteristic of God has long been overlooked or brushed aside, and it shows Hickey’s own openness and sensitivity to all aspects of faith that he includes her. Through an overview of the Old and New Testament, Get Real considers the motif of wisdom throughout the texts themselves before moving on to theological extrapolations of mystery such as mysticism, absolute mystery, relative mystery, and marriage. Specific persons in scripture, such as Eve and Archangel Michael are examined in the context of mystery, considering their names and end times tradition.

    Hickey goes on to touch briefly on various philosophical ideas of what constitutes reality and our perception of it, bringing in wisdom from a variety of cultural traditions, yet shepherding his vision back to the God of Christianity and what concepts such as spirit and nature mean for the lives of humans. He brilliantly gradates the final chapters to a slow build as if zooming back on the universe—going from the particular to transcendent concepts such as time itself before bringing it back in with the symbol of the cross—a poignant one as we approach the end of Lent. Ultimately, “Through the movement and acceptance of grace, and orientation to the transcendent ground of reality, who is the God of mystery, humans can begin to realize their greater potential. As humans, we have the capacity within us to move beyond ourselves and to become something higher or better than who we are now.” (149). Hickey brings forward the sacredness of God in us, while making it clear that God is not us. He has a sensitivity to the transforming nature of the Holy Spirit that is truly special and inspiring.

    While his book Get Goodness is accessible to a wide audience, Get Real is for the studious who enjoy attention to detail and thinking deeply on a subject. It is the sort of work that must be carefully considered and reflected on while reading. I think there is a definite place for the intellectual in our current society, and I am grateful to have a well-written volume meant to prompt elevated thought. It would not be appropriate for book club discussion or as light reading, but would be an excellent choice for an ongoing study group or for a Christian who feels plateaued in their faith and is seeking to grow closer to God.

    Purchase book on Amazon.Com  Print Version  |  Kindle Version

    Disclosure: Special thanks to Michael Hickey for providing me with a copy of the book for this review.

    Category Books, Reviews, Writing | Tags: ,,,,,,, | 2 Comments

  2. Review of Get Goodness—Virtue is the Power to Do Good

    27 October, 2011 by Alexa Chipman

    Get Goodness: Virtue Is the Power to Do Good
    By Michael Hickey
    University Press of America, Lanham, 2011

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    In this book, Hickey has transformed what can be a dry topic from antiquity into a living relevant study ready to apply in our lives today. He examines the virtues and idea of goodness from philosophical and theological perspectives, with the fascinating addition of integrating poetry relevant to the concepts discussed in prose. Hickey is able to write from a scholarly background illuminating words and phrases through etymology without becoming difficult to understand or obscure. His well-researched academic perspective adds to the book, rather than causing it to be dense and cryptic.

    The pacing of Get Goodness is like a well-written screenplay—action driven, yet without becoming too superficial. I never felt as though a subject was overdone, and it never seemed slow and difficult to read through, yet he took the time to carefully consider unique angles to each of the virtues. The poetry chosen did not hamper the book—rather it enhanced what Hickey was conveying in a more visceral emotional way and each was well-chosen. Since I am currently at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, I have been reading a great deal of philosophical and theological works. Many of them are not well-written, and are so academic that it is often painful to wade through their prose in order to clearly see what they are trying to propound. Hickey was refreshingly organized and engaging while also conveying a great deal of knowledge on the ideas put forward.

    The book opens with a series of important reflections, before going through virtues in alphabetical order to give them each equal weight. Hickey’s explanation of divine providence was intriguing, “you cannot emphasize the power of God so strongly that it negates the power of our human free-will…you can never take history out of God’s or humans’ hands” (25). Too often I encounter Christians who have a disturbing view that everything down to our choice of pencil in the morning is part of divine destiny, and that none of us has free will to choose anything. At the same time, it is easy to go the other way and become so self-involved that everything becomes mere chance and God never intervenes. I think that Hickey’s brief insightful comments add a great deal to that discussion. An equal unexpected gem was his view of the different sorts of power and the differences between power over, power to, and power with. Throughout Get Goodness, unique hope filled observations continually excited me—there is much to gain through reading the book purely out of interest in virtue, yet at the same time other concepts appear in passing which arrested my attention with their wisdom.

    Whether you come from an academic background and would like to read something relaxing from a fresh vantage point, or are not used to reading books on philosophy or theology and would like to learn more in an accessible way, I would recommend Get Goodness. You do not need to be a Christian to read this book—many of the concepts are based on Greek philosophy or other perspectives, and there could be something in it that speaks to you, “at any given moment in someone’s life, one particular virtue may be more significant than another…none of us should be seeking virtuous perfection in orienting ourselves to the good in this life, we should only be seeking change” (xi).

    Purchase book on Amazon.Com  Print Version  |  Kindle Version

    Disclosure: Special thanks to Michael Hickey for providing me with a copy of the book for this review.

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  3. Beowulf and the Dragon

    22 July, 2010 by Alexa Chipman

    Beowulf and the Dragon
    By Elliott V. Dobbie, John Porter, Anke Eissmann
    Walking Tree Publishers, Switzerland, 2010

    There are many translations of Beowulf available, but none compare to this new text by John Porter, edited by Elliot Dobbie. In the most widely available and well known translation, by Seamus Heaney, the text becomes stagnant and the work is inaccurate. Heaney translated Beowulf as though it were a textbook, not a beautiful epic poem. The music and passion were lost— as well as an indescribable something which those of us who read the original can sense. For example:

    “Then, to his delight, the day waned and he could wait no longer behind the wall, but hurtled forth in a fiery blaze,” (Heaney 157).

    “The snake rejoiced in daylight’s waning; would no longer wait, walled-up, but flew in flame, impelled by fire,” (Porter 7).

    Say them both aloud and you will see the difference— Porter’s words roll off the tongue and you can almost hear them inside a mead-hall. There are other, more potent, examples, but I shall let you discover them for yourself. I have never thought a translation of Beowulf did full justice to the original until I read Porter— a daunting task masterfully completed.

    For those Tolkien fans, the name Anke Eissmann should have a familiar ring. She is one of the foremost illustrators of Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion. The illustrations in Beowulf and the Dragon are magnificent— dark, brooding and quietly powerful. It is easy for dragons to be overdone or become cheesy— her dragons never are.

    To read all about her process of creating the illustrations, please stop by her web site here.

    In order to purchase this book, you will need to contact: Walking Tree
    If you are in Holland or Switzerland, the book is readily available.
    If in the US, UK or Canada, you’ll need to fill out the contact form.

    It might seem on the pricey side, but remember that this is a high quality coffee table style art book that is simply gorgeous. Worth every penny or pence.

    Works Cited

    Anke Eissmann, Elliott V. Dobbie, John Porter. Beowulf and the Dragon. Switzerland: Walking Tree, 2010.

    Heaney, Seamus. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation. Bilingual Edition. London: W.W. Norton, 2000.

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