The Truth and Beauty: How the Lives and Works of England's Greatest Poets Point the Way to a Deeper Understanding of the Words of Jesus
- Downloads：3343
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-04-28 02:19:48
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Andrew Klavan
- ISBN：B09TWTM9F9
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Linda Mock
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Excellent！
Tyna
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The Introduction was marvelous and I think Mr。 Klavan really discovered something on his journey writing the book。 While ruminating on the Sermon on the Mount with his son he is stunned by "the single smartest thing anyone had ever said to me"。 His son， Spencer， suggests that his dad is trying to "understand a philosophy instead of trying to get to know a man。" I really can't hope to sit at the computer screen for a few moments and write a review that does this book justice， but in the end， I do The Introduction was marvelous and I think Mr。 Klavan really discovered something on his journey writing the book。 While ruminating on the Sermon on the Mount with his son he is stunned by "the single smartest thing anyone had ever said to me"。 His son， Spencer， suggests that his dad is trying to "understand a philosophy instead of trying to get to know a man。" I really can't hope to sit at the computer screen for a few moments and write a review that does this book justice， but in the end， I doubt my thoughts on the book would be relevant to anyone but myself。I'll just write a couple thoughts。 The chapter on Hamlet blew my mind。 I've erased three or four sentences trying to sum up why I was so impressed and interested。On Page 127 Mr。 Klavan discusses pneuma meaning both breath and spirit; which I have been studying all year， so of course， I was interested。 But he explains that those meanings were probably both united。 "People experienced both breath and spirit not as two simultaneous meanings existing together but one unified thing entirely: pneuma，"spirit-breath"。" He connects this to the purpose of poetry which is to reunite the language of the physical with the language of the spiritual in our minds！I learned the word polymath。 （A person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning）。 I almost didn't look this word up because the context of the sentence had me thinking it was some kind of weird sex word I really didn't want to know。 haha The chapter Unhallowed Arts has a backstory to Frankenstein that should be required reading as a preface to the book。 。。。more
Zach Miller
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Fantastic！
Kim
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Loved reading about the great poets like Keats， Shelley and Wordsworth。 My favorite Shelley quote， The flower that smiles todayTomorrow dies。
Laura
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Andrew Klavan has captured something of Jesus and knowing Jesus that I， a seminary-trained， multi-decade Christian， had somehow missed。 I'll be rereading this--next time with a pen。 Andrew Klavan has captured something of Jesus and knowing Jesus that I， a seminary-trained， multi-decade Christian， had somehow missed。 I'll be rereading this--next time with a pen。 。。。more
Brent Townley
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Beautifully written with some well thought out theology。 Klavan forms a fresh and yet familiar understanding of Jesus and His place in our lives。 The first half does feel a bit disjointed from the rest of the work but this is more of a literary criticism than a conceptual one。
Curby Graham
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Outstanding work。 Something for any apologist or skeptic。 Beautifully written and brings a fresh take on Jesus' impact in culture。 Outstanding work。 Something for any apologist or skeptic。 Beautifully written and brings a fresh take on Jesus' impact in culture。 。。。more
Tony Carey
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This book didn't really do it for me。 I found it quite disjointed。 This book didn't really do it for me。 I found it quite disjointed。 。。。more
Nicholas Acker
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This book is truly beautiful。 The nexus of history， biography， poetry， politics， theology， and memoir， provide a deeply compelling narrative that is sure to add to your "want to read" list。 The transcendental exploration will leave you seeing God， nature， and yourself differently。 For me they are all more real and more symbolic than they were before。 I can't recommend this enough。 So I must say， thank you Mr。 Klavan for the truth and beauty you've shown me。 This book is truly beautiful。 The nexus of history， biography， poetry， politics， theology， and memoir， provide a deeply compelling narrative that is sure to add to your "want to read" list。 The transcendental exploration will leave you seeing God， nature， and yourself differently。 For me they are all more real and more symbolic than they were before。 I can't recommend this enough。 So I must say， thank you Mr。 Klavan for the truth and beauty you've shown me。 。。。more
Jon Shai
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If you， like me， were weary of reading this book because of your ignorance on the subject matter do not fret！ Klavan has written a remarkably readable book for anyone to read。
Amy
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This was a very interesting book。 Being someone who loves Jesus and Andrew Klavan， but loathes poetry， I picked this up with no expectations， and it didn't disappoint。 In fact， Andrew had some insight on the Gospels that really threw me for a loop。 He explained that love is really just not judging others， as we aren't to judge; only God can。 This is elementary， but it really spoke to me。 In the garden we ate the fruit of the tree of "knowledge of good and evil" and so we think we can judge， but This was a very interesting book。 Being someone who loves Jesus and Andrew Klavan， but loathes poetry， I picked this up with no expectations， and it didn't disappoint。 In fact， Andrew had some insight on the Gospels that really threw me for a loop。 He explained that love is really just not judging others， as we aren't to judge; only God can。 This is elementary， but it really spoke to me。 In the garden we ate the fruit of the tree of "knowledge of good and evil" and so we think we can judge， but we cannot。 We get fired up when something doesn't go our way ， as if we are right， and the other person is wrong。 But Klavan interprets the love described by Jesus is to be a love that never does this。 He never gets angry with those he heals， but instead gives us a choice- to accept， or deny his love。 Besides this very unique insight， he dives deep into the comparison of pre Victorian England and how similar it was to today。 It was kind of a white pill that he alluded to the idea that we may be headed into a more conservative， Victorian type era。 Klavan， if nothing else gives great food for thought。 。。。more
landrejczyk
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i wish i could rate this higher。 i have about seven people i recommended it to and now i’m just starstruck and in love。
Samuel
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I give out quite a few 5 star reviews， I tend to read the sort of books that I like and when I like a book I give it a high rating， but after reading this I feel like I should go and lower the reviews of many of the other books I've rated because this is in a league of its own。Andrew Klavan's understanding of the Gospels is quite amazing， he was a reluctant convert in his 40s and not baptized until he was 49， he had to explore a lot of wrong paths before he stumbled down the right path。In this， I give out quite a few 5 star reviews， I tend to read the sort of books that I like and when I like a book I give it a high rating， but after reading this I feel like I should go and lower the reviews of many of the other books I've rated because this is in a league of its own。Andrew Klavan's understanding of the Gospels is quite amazing， he was a reluctant convert in his 40s and not baptized until he was 49， he had to explore a lot of wrong paths before he stumbled down the right path。In this， his second book on faith he relates the romantic poets， and what they were grappling with to what we are grappling with today and how both show the truth of the Gospels and the words of Jesus。 。。。more
Tabby
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Wow。This book is amazing。 I can't recommend it enough。 Just know that if you pick it up read it till the end。 It might seem a little weird at times。 After all， so much of the book is a look at England's poets and it isn't clear right away what it all has to do with the Gospels。 But if you read The Truth and Beauty in its entirety it all comes together in the end。 Wow。This book is amazing。 I can't recommend it enough。 Just know that if you pick it up read it till the end。 It might seem a little weird at times。 After all， so much of the book is a look at England's poets and it isn't clear right away what it all has to do with the Gospels。 But if you read The Truth and Beauty in its entirety it all comes together in the end。 。。。more
Rindy
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Klavan is a great writer and one of the great thinkers of our time。 While I disagree with him on some minor points， he has written a beautiful and important book; thoughtful， inspiring， faithful。 It grabs you from the beginning and moves you into deeper thought; impossible to put down。 As a result， I have much more reading to do。
Clau Gennari
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getting to know the ManThis book is a treasure， it connects the truth of Jesus， His life and story， with the beauty of the Romantics。 It was a great read， specially as we see Holy Week fast approaching。
Melissa H。
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An interesting route to the Gospels。 A lot of good going on here， but I was hoping for more of Christ and less of the poets。
Dan Lawler
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The New RomanticsAuthor Andrew Klavan was bummed by the Beatitudes。 They read to him like: "Blessed are you when your life is awful， because in heaven， trust me， it's gonna be great。" （page 6。） When he realized his problem was trying to understand a philosophy instead of getting to know a person， he determined to read the Gospels with a pure， blank-slate mind: "I ignored every doctrine of theology， including those of the apostle Paul; I wanted Jesus direct， unfiltered by tradition。" （p。 5。） That The New RomanticsAuthor Andrew Klavan was bummed by the Beatitudes。 They read to him like: "Blessed are you when your life is awful， because in heaven， trust me， it's gonna be great。" （page 6。） When he realized his problem was trying to understand a philosophy instead of getting to know a person， he determined to read the Gospels with a pure， blank-slate mind: "I ignored every doctrine of theology， including those of the apostle Paul; I wanted Jesus direct， unfiltered by tradition。" （p。 5。） That didn't help: "It wasn't just the Sermon on the Mount that I found odd and blurry。 It was almost all blurry and all odd。" （p。 10。） So he turned back to philosophy - way back - to the Romanticism of the early 1800s， and began "reconstructing Jesus" accordingly。 （pp。 167-228。） Romanticism has become something of a fad for Christians in search of meaning in our post-Christian， post-Modern times。 See， e。g。， Romantic Religion by R。 J。 Reilly; Faith， Hope and Poetry: Theology and the Poetic Imagination by Malcom Guite; Union with Christ: The Way to Know and Enjoy God by Rankin Wilbourne; The Imagination of God: Art， Creativity and Truth in the Bible by Brian Godawa; Apologetics and the Christian Imagination by Holly Ordway。 But Romanticism was short-lived for a reason， and the new Romantics have singularly failed to warrant its revival。 After the Enlightenment reduced the universe to meaningless matter in motion， Romanticism endeavored to re-enchant the world。 While its poets promised a spiritual reality beyond what the eyes can see， all they delivered were metaphors about spiritual things derived from their perceptions of the natural world。 The poet might speak of beholding heaven in a dew drop but all he really saw was the dew drop; heaven was only imagined。 People who wanted a real heaven eventually discovered the poets only offered an imaginary one， and so Romanticism withered away。The author here offers nothing more than the original Romantics， namely， metaphors。 Jesus is a metaphor， your life is a metaphor， metaphors are metaphors for other metaphors， and its "metaphors all the way down，" says Klavan。 （p。 175。） Like the old Romantics， the new ones never reach a spiritual reality。 Nature is as close as we can get to a spiritual realm because， the poets tell us， Nature is a metaphor for the kingdom of heaven。 And that kingdom is within us。 We create it with our imaginations， or rather， the poets create it for us as they are better at imagining stuff。 One thing the original Romantics held in common with their philosophical foes， the Materialists， was the Kantian view that the perceived world was the only one accessible to human understanding， and ultimate reality - if it existed at all - was unknowable。 Thus the Romantics declared that if the world was to be infused with spiritual life， the poets had to first create then put it there。 Samuel Coleridge wrote， "Ah！ From the soul itself must issue forth; A light， a glory， a fair luminous cloud; Enveloping the Earth--。" With God's reality unreachable， the poets claimed for themselves the divine right to create their own。 Coleridge described his imaginative powers as "a repetition in the finite mind of the eternal act of creation in the infinite I AM" and poet-philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder wrote， "The artist is become a creator God。"Of course， today's Christian Romantics cannot be so bold as their 19th Century predecessors。 They must at least pay lip-service to the existence of a real， ultimate Triune God about whom something true can be known。 Klavan tries， but he's not very convincing: "I believe with all my heart that God is three persons， Father， Son， and Holy Ghost， but if it turns out he's five guys named Moe， I'm not going to cancel my vacation。" （p。 6。） And that， my friends， is the author's deeper understanding of the Gospels gleaned from England's greatest poets。 。。。more
Marcás
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