Seeking the Path to Life: Theological Meditations on God and the Nature of People, Love, Life and Death

by Ira F. Stone

For people who never thought they would read a book of theology―let alone understand it, enjoy it, savor it and have it affect the way they think about their lives. In forty-five intense meditations, each a page or two in length, Stone takes us on explorations of the most basic human life and death, love and anger, peace and war, covenant and exile.

Genres: Judaism, Spirituality

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 23, 1992

Reviews

[Jeffrey Spitz Cohan · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are good reasons why Rabbi Ira Stone’s “Seeking the Path to Life: Theological Meditations on God and the Nature of People Love, Life and Death” was not one of the better selling Jewish Lights books.

It is a very difficult book to read for two reasons.

One, Stone views almost everything through the prism of death. He can be forgiven this, as he lost two young sons. And his theology is not without merit. His point that death is a slow process, not a one-time event that happens at the end point of our lives, rings true. We do have moments of death during our lives, moments, even long stretches, when we’re not truly fully alive.

But any book of theology that dwells on death is not going to make it onto the best-seller list.

Less forgivable and less acceptable is the opacity of much of Stone’s prose. It’s hard work getting through some of his tangled sentences, and it’s not always worth the reward.