Nearer, My God: An Autobiography of Faith

Rating:
Summary: Where's the Heart Behind the Mind?
Review: I've always admired William F. Buckley, Jr. I've particularly enjoyed his Blackford Oakes espionage novels. He writes with dry wit, subtle satire, and entertaining characters. I was intrigued to discover he'd penned an "Autobiography of Faith." Although I was born Catholic, I was not raised Catholic. Nonetheless, I've appreciated many of the Catholic tenets and approached our differences with an open heart and mind.

With this in mind, I cracked the pages of "Nearer, My God." Buckley starts off with his early years and paves the way to understanding his background. I have no question of his deep belief and honest relationship with God. Unfortunately, he deviates from the autobiographical approach and turns the spotlight on theological and moral arguments regarding Catholicism. In a further departure form the autobiography indicated on the cover, Buckley leans heavily on the opinions and debates of others. I did enjoy the perspectives brought to the table. Some were eye-opening, others enlightening, a few disturbing.

What about Buckley's own journey of faith, though? He seems to have grown up with a set of views that he rarely stepped away from. I admire that. But instead of seeing a heartfelt struggle with God, I found within these pages a striving to validate that which he's always believed. For his benefit? For ours? Either way, the book did not live up to its promise. I can recommend it for the interesting viewpoints and debates expressed by Buckley's peers and forebears. I cannot recommend it as an "Autobiography of Faith." For satisfaction along those lines, I'd turn to Anne Lamott, Kathleen Norris, even the Pope's lucid books. I wanted to know the heart behind Buckley's mind. I didn't find it here.

Rating:
Summary: Buckley Still One Of the World's Great Intellectuals
Review: In his "My God! Nearer?", Buckley ponders the controversies surrounding the Catholic church and attempts to resolve his own difficulties with his faith. One particularly moving passage recounts his lifelong, hopeless struggle with stammering and his anger toward god for afflicting him with his terrible speech disorder. Buckley describes in vivid detail his frustration at being posessed of the most brilliant intellect in the history of civilization, only to have it obstructed by his terrible speech impediment. Buckly consistently demonstrates the depth of his legendary intellect throughout this endless, unreadable essay. In one typically overworded, nonsensical passage, he writes that "...the exegis of the Vatican II in decentralizing the Church went directly to the malformation of the secular hubris of the Calvinists. In fact, the Calvinists were the prime figures in the 'impartially agnostic' doctrine of the Time-Life monarchy....". Buckley's ability to perpetually spew such inexplicable bibble-di-babble, coupled with the ridiculuos punctuation of the 3-word book title, prove once and for all, that he is the greatest intellectual this world has ever known. Fans of Buckley will be disappointed that the stammering sounds are left out of the writing (..ah..the volume of...ah..ah..cultural..relativism..ah..ah..is..ul..ul..ult..ultimately..anachronized), and his written discourse loses something without the visual impact of the famous wild, bug-eyes and wicked, perverted smirk he flashes after uttering something incomprehensible, but which he thinks is utterly clever. Conservatives who consider themselves to be highly educated intellectuals will love this unreadable book.

Rating:
Summary: mixed emotions, but must-read for Buckley fans
Review: Like the reader before ("No Nearer My God"), I was a bit disappointed that Mr. Buckley failed to come down on one side or the other on the tough issues. I assume that either he has, and did not want to share it, or that he has not yet. If the latter, it is disheartening to think that the single most important issue in the life of a Catholic, that of accepting or rejecting the authority of the Church in matters of faith and morals, has not been definitively reached yet by such a learned figure. If that point has been reached, then contraception and priestly celibacy are non-issues.

Rating:
Summary: Exceptional Writing
Review: Mr. Buckley is an exceptionally talented man; his writing is only one of many disciplines at which he excels. And even within this field he is an accomplished novelist, essayist, speech writer, author of monographs, and the author of a syndicated national newspaper column. This particular work could be legitimately characterized as theology although the author denies that he is so qualified. By his definition this may be true, but his level of expertise on Christianity, and on being a Roman Catholic far surpasses the knowledge the majority of the practitioners of the faith can claim.

I came back to this book for a second reading after Mr. Buckley was mentioned several times in the new book by Gary Wills, "Why I Am A Catholic". Mr. Buckley's working title was the same as that of Mr. Wills, but when his book was published in 1997 it had become, "Nearer, My God". Mr. Wills and Mr. Buckley had worked together with Mr. Wills having written for the National Review. Their personal preferences in the political sphere were to become incompatible, and the professional relationship ended.

"Nearer My God", is not as critical of the Church although it does raise a variety of questions about Vatican II, and the decline of virtually any form of religious instruction in education, public or private. Mr. Buckley shares the changes that have taken place at the preparatory school he attended, and includes at the end of his book a list of quite prestigious private schools generally founded by Christians, and their present course offerings that are devoid of anything other than religious homogeneity. The effort spent ensuring that any discussion/teaching is as far from any study of specific religions, is either laughable, or offensive depending on the reader's point of view. It brings to mind recent court rulings that took place within days of each other involving the constitutional issue of the separation of church and state. Within days two rulings were handed down, one stating The Pledge Of Allegiance was unconstitutional due to the words, "under God", and then within days a ruling that school vouchers could be used for religious schools was deemed legal. Genius or even common sense is becoming harder to find residing upon the benches of the judiciary. The decision regarding the pledge was particularly obscene as it was brought in an effort to bolster a child custody case, and not for any legitimate discourse on constitutional law.

Mr. Buckley is a devout Catholic, and while he may take issue with the decisions of The Vatican II Council, he does not attack the Church as an institution. The book explores the Catholic Faith in a variety of ways. He shares a brilliant discussion on a variety of points from the theologians Arnold Lunn and Father Knox. He then invited a group of familiar names that had either found, or converted to The Catholic Church as adults, Lance Murrow, Whittaker Chambers, and many more.

The discussions range from what either kept them from converting sooner, to which ideas finally made up their minds. There are discussions on all of the hot buttons currently at issue, and while these discussions are not devoid of feeling, they lack any manner of rancor.

This book is as lacking in fuel for animosity filled debate, as Mr. Will's work is filled with its opposite. Both books represent an opportunity to learn from extremely bright people who often share the same sources for their discussions. The books differ in the level of criticism and the manner by which it is presented. I have always felt that many readers are put off by Mr. Buckley's work as they feel attempting his work is a daunting task. Mr. Buckley has a brilliant mind and a true love of the written and spoken word. A dictionary at hand when reading his work is often an aid. I don't feel than anyone who has passed on his work would regret a change of mind. He is an original thinker, and will long be remembered for his contributions to literature.

Rating:
Summary: Buckley shows Catholicism as the "easier, softer way" to God
Review: Not being a Catholic, I was amazed to conclude that Catholicism is the easiest of most religions to "reach" God. With the Pope as continuous intercessor and interpreter of God's will, Catholics need not hunt for the true meaning of God on his/her own. All they must do, it would seem, is follow the rules of the Catholic faith along with some specifically added (by Popes along the way or Councils) thou shalt nots, and all will be well in your world. Without that very strong and easily understood undergirding, I now see my Presbyterian faith a far more difficult path to walk. However, I prefer the harder path and not because I am a masochist. I prefer it because it forces me to be responsible for my witness to Christ; it forces me to look at the source, the Crucified and Risen Christ, as THE example to follow. The path feels more personal as it is I, a humble human, who must stumble and fall when I have erred in my understanding. Christ's forgiveness, however, forever encourages me to study more, to look again, to try again. Catholicism feels too handy a map.

Rating:
Summary: A moving masterpiece by an erudite and moral man!
Review: On my way to Eastern Europe recently, I had the honor of reading Bill Buckley's autobiography of faith. It is a thoughtful, moral, intelligent piece of writing which bears witness to the evolution of Mr. Buckley's faith.

Backed by footnotes to other noteables who have traveled a similar path, the description of Christ's crucifixion by a 19th century visionary is poignant and startling. If all of us gave as much thought to our personal faith or lack thereof which Mr. Buckley does, we would cherish our living moments more. Bravo to Bill for another great literary work!

Rating:
Summary: A Liberal's Nightmare
Review: Proof that morality is alive and well. William Buckley is intelligent, has character and has high standards. A Liberal's Nightmare

Rating:
Summary: No Nearer My God
Review: There are only two types of people who can pick up this book and stay with it until the end: fans of William F. Buckley Jr. and Catholics.I am in the latter category.

I was expecting a breaking down of the cool cool conservative man enough to let us view the humble follower of Christ within and a side of Buckley not often seen( even he says in his book this is the first book he has written examing his faith). I was disappointed in that there is no real religious passion in the book. Indeed, it is difficult to find any personal zeal at all. He talks a lot about the worldly church and the problems people have with contraception,papal infallibility, ordination of women, etc. but even in these much-dicussed topics that are all so superficial it is hard to find Mr. Buckley's opinion; he has to gather a roundtable of sorts of other Catholics and get THEIR opinion first and then venture a tentative answer. I always thought Mr. Buckley was a highly opinionated man. Why does he need the opinions of others first? And the people he picks are intellectuals so, of course, among the opinions culled he will find one or two to back. An effective apologist of the faith Mr. Buckley is not.

The book does discuss some genuine theological issues such as free will and determinism but again I find no personal struggle related by Mr. Buckley( if indeed he does wrestle with this problem)just a dispassionate discussion with his intellectual roundtable. I got the impression I was reading the transcript of a college symposium not a "autobiography of faith".

And then there are the inconsequent additions to this book. In chapter eight he includes a passage written by a mystic,Maria Valtorta, in which she described in horrific detail the actual moment to moment sufferings of Christ during the crucifixion. I had never read this before and I was very interested and moved but Mr. Buckley shows no emotion regarding the passage and instead introduces it by saying: " My decision, then, is that in the only book on the faith I will ever put together I don't want to deprive the reader of what I view,notwithstanding its crudity-perhaps because of it?- as an artful portrayal of the great historical event that preceded,and led to,the Resurrection, a depiction if not inspired by God, inspiring nonetheless."

Upon reading that introduction I was reminded of the scene in the movie "Up the Down Staircase" wherein the schoolgirl writes the letter to her teacher expressing her love for him and he proceeds not to comment on the heartfelt emotion of the letter, not on the content, but to CORRECT THE GRAMMAR. Now, Mr. Buckley didn't go that far but I found no emotional reaction to the passage that he himself included in this book. The question then becomes why did he add this to his book? To fill another 17 pages?

Another addition that had me shaking my head was the Appendix B called " A listing of Religious Activities at Various Schools" Okay, okay, that wasn't too un-interesting but what does it have to do with the price of tea in China? What does the list of prep schools have to do with YOUR FAITH Mr. B?

I understand that Mr. Buckley is undoubtably a reserved man. Many of us Catholics are reserved that's why we dislike many of the features of the NOVUS ORDO mass and why we don't like to sing out in church and why we get to say our confession behind a screen( and prefer it that way) but if that reservation is what has kept Mr. Buckley from personalizing his autobiography of faith I wish he had not teased his readers in the title, introduction and publisher's blurbs. I respect Mr. Buckley in that he wishes to keep his spirtuality private, as St Francis would say, "interior" but I do feel he has sinned in misleading the reading public. But don't worry Mr. Buckley, I am sure it is only a venial sin.

Kathleen M. Garea

Rating:
Summary: The Aescetics and Joy of the Catholic Christian Faith
Review: This was the book that drove some important decisions in my life. Mr. Buckley has gathered from his own experience some deeply personal relections on Roman Catholic faith. I cherish his effort in writing about his life and knowledge of the church in a manner that is spiritual and reflective of a deep sense of grace. Chapter 8 on Christ's Crucifixion and Chapter 9 about St. Bernadette's experience at Lourdes were stunning to me. I was quite struck by the personal honesty displayed for public view, but I got a sense that Mr. Buckley might someday return to the subject for a sequel. Hopefully he will continue to explain Catholicism in his interesting, witty and challenging manner. Although this book was a tremendous joy to read, it is at times challenging in it's vocabulary and depth of intellectual thought. Well worth the effort for the appreciative reader searching for some of the toughest theological questions. Casual readers will probably find the slog of the first few chapters more difficult that easier digested works. A Five Star Feast for faithful inquirer's of Roman Catholicism.

Rating:
Summary: Great for Catholics and non-Catholics alike
Review: William F. Buckley's extraordinary literary talents come forth once again in this personal journey and growth within his chosen faith. Totally unlike most of his books that I have read, I found myself compelled to keep the pages turning, and found that many (certainly not all, since I have yet to have an audience with the Pope!) questions and experiences I have also shared. Highly recommended.