Rating: 
Summary: Deep Truth, Poorly Written!
Review: St. John was a very spiritually mature individual. He understood the realities involved with coming closer to God. He writes very directly about the process of becoming self-less, beyond self, beyond the me, beyond the I, and moving closer to God. For the spiritually mature, those who enter this deep phase of spiritual developement, those depths are indeed very very difficult, a phase that can last many years. This is true no matter one's religion, be it Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or whatever. Don't listen to the bigots which say that only by Christianity can one reach God! Such notion of exclusivity are man invented sentiments and have little to do with God or Jesus! At some point, in this life or the next, or perhaps thousands of years down the road, every soul must pass through the very difficult threshold that St. John describes, in one form or another.----------------------------------------------------------------------- That said, this is a very difficult book to read. Not as much because of the content, but because of the way the words are arranged. I don't know if it's specific to this translation, but I kept thinking throughout the book, "whoever wrote or translated this, doesn't know english!" I don't know if St. John was just a very very poor writer, or if the translater paid little attention to readability. At the level of language usage, this is one of the most poorly written text I've ever read. No matter, the core of what St. John is saying, once you cast off the silly man invented stuff which is either Chrisitian specific, or medieval specific, you will find a great description of the difficult phases of moving closer to God. Very eastern, very Buddhist in nature. Anyone who thinks such a journey is all pleasant and peaceful, is very immature spiritually. But to get to the core of what St. John wrote, you'll have to look beyond the very poor use of language in this text. It is simply a chore to read.
Rating: 
Summary: the masterpiece by the midnight mystic
Review: St. John was one of the first mystics I read who helped me see that an experiential relationship with the sacred isn't all joy; instead, it can hurt, stretch into periods of barrenness and shadows...which themselves to the patient penitent eventually stand revealed as the wordless Word itself, darkening the mind as bright light darkens the eyes. I wish I could have met the author.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible
Review: Starr writes in the preface "Who was I to speak for this enliughtened being and assign myself as his personal editor?...John is a Christian mystic known fo rusing only the lightest touches when it comes to direct Christian reference. These have been minimized still further, not out of disrespect for Christianty, far from it, but because I felt that this way the universality of his wisdom would shine through even more brightly...."
In the very least Starr has defaced a work of art. At worst, Starr has created an abomination. She calls John an enlightened being and then tries to improve him. Would you try to improve Michelangelo's art work? What arrogance.
John would be shocked at this purposeful mistranslation that seeks to lead people away from Christ. John lived among Muslims and could have easily written his book to help them, but he did not. For he believed, very intensely than anything else, that Christ was supreme and that there is no salvation in anyone else. (Acts 4:12 "There is Salvation in no one else")
Stay away from this book.
Rating:
Summary: beautiful, helpful book by a saintly man
Review: this is a truly inspired book by a saintly man completely led by God. almost obligatory reading for Catholic devout. the only problem i had with this book was the meddlesome effort of the translator and/or editor to undermine the Churchs authority, and Christian truth in general. this book was written by a Christian, and a Catholic at that. a huge undertaking was made here to disgustingly warp that message, and that is unfortunate. if you dont agree with the underlying core of teaching with this book, please dont read it, and more than that dont try to convince others that your own interpretation of the text would be a better understanding than that of the Churchs and a man who is a saint, and professed to be such by the Catholic church.
Rating:
Summary: beautiful, helpful book by a saintly man
Review: this is a truly inspired book by a saintly man completely led by God. almost obligatory reading for Catholic devout. the only problem i had with this book was the meddlesome effort of the translator and/or editor to undermine the Churchs authority, and Christian truth in general. this book was written by a Christian, and a Catholic at that. a huge undertaking was made here to disgustingly warp that message, and that is unfortunate. if you dont agree with the underlying core of teaching with this book, please dont read it, and more than that dont try to convince others that your own interpretation of the text would be a better understanding than that of the Churchs and a man who is a saint, and professed to be such by the Catholic church.
Rating:
Summary: The scientist of prayer
Review: Yes, John of the Cross is hard to read. I have not read all translations, and have it in mind as a project, but I don't expect ever to take a book by him to the beach for a quick, entertaining read.
What John is, and the reason he is still read and studied and, in fact, treasured, is a scientist of prayer. If you are genuinely determined to climb Mt. Carmel, to pray and live your way into God, you need to read and re-read John. Like the Gospels, his work is dense and allusive, and full of layer upon layer of meaning. It is well to read present day authors who write about his work, too. But by no means should you leave him aside in your search for information and inspiration. There is no one else like him. He is the real thing.review by Janet Knori, author of Awakening in God
Rating:
Summary: The scientist of prayer
Review: Yes, John of the Cross is hard to read. I have not read all translations, and have it in mind as a project, but I don't expect ever to take a book by him to the beach for a quick, entertaining read.
What John is, and the reason he is still read and studied and, in fact, treasured, is a scientist of prayer. If you are genuinely determined to climb Mt. Carmel, to pray and live your way into God, you need to read and re-read John. Like the Gospels, his work is dense and allusive, and full of layer upon layer of meaning. It is well to read present day authors who write about his work, too. But by no means should you leave him aside in your search for information and inspiration. There is no one else like him. He is the real thing. review by Janet Knori, author of Awakening in God
Rating:
Summary: An eloquent roadmap for excruciating agony
Review: ~St. John of the Cross is certainly not for those who take God as a pretty little ornament to the more superficial aspects of life, the kind of people who behave, more or less, as everyone else does--all the while encouraging those of us who actually think to "pray" in times of trouble with complacent, self assured smiles on their faces and no knowledge whatsoever of the unfathomable depths they refer to. And he says as much in "the dark night of the soul". It is little more than a~~ novelty for many, but if one takes it's message to heart one realizes that a "dark night" is not a divorce, loss of a job, a bad day (although any of these could be a trigger for the genuine article) but a prolonged crisis of the inward self which either leads to destruction or rebirth. Contrary to what John says, however, I would say that most of us experience our "dark night" when we are consciously WITHOUT belief in God. The world is a formless void and bare material reality~~ provides no real pleasure because it is essentially vain, paltry and repetitive; only an unbeliever can, paradoxically, have a "dark night of the soul" in any genuine sense. The deprivation of sensory pleasure and general malaise of this time is not all: a pervasive sense of meaninglessness and terror usually accompany the loss of interest in everything. John talks about believers or 'beginners' who search only for petty pleasure in matters of God, and we can apply this to most believers~~ (at least in the United States). "They might as well not practice at all," John says aptly. People going to TM's and Yoga twice a week for 'relaxation' fit neatly into this category. An exploration of the spiritual is not cute or pure encouragement but deep, painful questioning from which we often emerge with deep confusion, or worse, no answers at all. Anyone who has had a period of what one might term "abstract madness" will know precisely what John is describing in his experience~~ of the night: nothing is certain, there is nothing whatsoever ever to lean on, and even if one does go the mile and still believe in God he is a mere word. "Going into hell alive" is being unable to face a day without a million intuitive questions as to it's reality, importance and ultimate significance. Many I know who have been through this experience end up atheists or nihilists. Others have what they call a spiritual awakening. It is, to a certain extent, relative to temperament,~~ pre-existing subjective inclinations, etc. Our most sincere best wishes should not be for those like St. John who came out the other side but remain in the dark night their entire lives, unable to decide within themselves whether there is an eternal reality or benevolent force in the universe or not. THAT is hell, not struggling belief.~
|
