Review for God: the Oldest Question, by William J. O'Malley

As with most topics regarding religion, this book is bound to be controversial to those seriously considering its content. I agreed and disagreed with many aspects of Father O'Malley's point of view. While he has a fabulous lecturing voice – due no doubt to hours of practice as a preacher – his strong assertions may turn some people off, especially regarding Eastern religions and culture.

This may be partially because of the lack of an extensive history lesson behind his beliefs regarding Eastern culture. He tried to make up for it by having brief biographies of each of the saints in Eastern religion, but it was not nearly as in depth as his research regarding Western culture. I understand this to be because his entire curriculum of studies and vocation are based upon mostly Western religions. Even so, many of his points about the way Eastern religions remain impersonal are true.

Many people may also gawk at his initial assertion that describing God is impossible, or that God is indescribable. However, he goes on to continue the book and to do as best as he can what he believes to be not completely possible anyway, and that is a sentiment to be admired. As such, this book becomes a very comforting food-for-thought or before-bedtime book, both because of the voice and because of the emphasis on the not wholly impossible thought of reaching God. It is as if he is saying, “If you believe sincerely, and then try hard enough to pray everyday to train spiritual endurance, these simple acts will get you through anything.”

That being said, he still insists that God and Jesus do talk of punishment of sins, but that hell is granted only to those who refuse to believe that they could be living wrongly in anyway, those who are too prideful to admit their sins, and thus fall to hypocrisy. His argument for complementarity is one of the best that I've heard for a very long time: the Complex Being may sometimes fluctuate between extremes, and humans just have to accept that humbly. Still, much easier said than done, which Father O' Malley freely admits.

I agreed with his choice to give only brief summaries of the differences between the Christian sects, and then to emphasize their similarities to push his ideas through. That is a personal preference, though. Food-for-thought and good bedtime reading aside, this book is not for those who are already set in their beliefs or are more than halfway indifferent. It reads first philosophically, and then as one goes on, more academically, so unless the reader has a truly curious mind, he will not stay interested. The Eastern reader may also find Father O'Malley's Western way of thinking off putting, if not disinteresting. As a Western reader with Asian parents, however, I myself found it understandable and straight to the point, complementarity aside.