Albert Camus and the Minister

By Howard E. Mumma

Book Overview

In a series of unusual conversations, the great French existentialist and the author, a pastor, share their inviduatl thoughts on topics ranging from Adam and Eve to free will and the Holocaust, as... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1557252467
• ISBN13: 9781557252463
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Paraclete Press (MA)
• Length: 218 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Flawed and Beautiful

Mumma in the foreword acknowledges his bias and inaccuracy (he wrote the book almost 40 years after Camus' death, and was around 90 at its publishing). One cannot take the book in a 100% literal fashion - there are clear victims of inaccuracy in the text. However, the story as a whole is an excellent narrative of the existential struggle between the two extremes of Jean-Paul Sartre's thoughts and Mumma's Christianity, with Albert Camus' frustration with the universe straddling the chasm. On another note, it is impossible to verify the book, Mumma notes that Camus did not want to be identified with a Methodist "priest". In the text, when speaking over dinner, Camus shuns any and all publicity. It is clear that these conversations were never intended to be public - and Camus and his biographers did not mention it.

Albert Camus? is a reminder

Albert Camus and the Minister is a remarkable book. Though the drama of ideas has great pageantry, the drama of souls has life. This is what is happening in this book. For philosophical problems are altered with the various philosophical tools in one's philosophical tool kit. This book reminds us that real people are using these tools. Camus and Mumma do not struggle as much as they walk through the elements of life. This book reminded me of much. Read it for yourself.

"Must" reading for all students of Albert Camus' philosophy.

Howard Mumma first met and befriended Noble prize-winner, writer, and philosopher Albert Camus while Mumma was serving as guest preacher at the American Church in Paris in the late 1950s. Albert Camus And The Minister is the story of their conversations, often laced with humor, on such topics as existential philosophy, Christianity, personal conscience, the Bible, the ideology of war, human suffering, and more. Highly recommended reading for students of twentieth century philosophy, Albert Camus And The Minister also presents personal stories, significant events, and acts of faith from Mumma's own experience which provide a glimpse into the life and background of a man fortunate enough to have a meaningful and enduring intellectual relationship with the late Albert Camus, one of the most influential thinkers of his day.