Nearer, My God: An Autobiography of Faith
by William F. Buckley Jr.

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Book Reviews of Nearer, My God: An Autobiography of Faith

Book Review: No Nearer My God
Summary: 2 Stars

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

Summary of Nearer, My God: An Autobiography of Faith

Buckley writes with consistent intelligence and precision; how, indeed, could it be otherwise? Even those who do not agree with him politically will be struck by the sensitivity of his spiritual inquiry, particularly in his elaboration of the distinction between contemporary Catholic practice and the enduring Catholic heritage. Nearer, My God serves as a splendid testimony to the maintenance of faith. --Ron Hogan

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