Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit
Volume 1
Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit is a broad Christian work that lists the beliefs and actions that define those who are humble in their faith.
John Henry Manigo’s expansive Christian text Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit expounds on the concept of faithful meekness.
This book builds on Jesus’s teachings about those who are “poor in spirit,” and who are so described as blessed. This way of being is defined in terms of personal humility, and is compared with qualities of being happy. Each of the book’s more than three hundred sections is dedicated to listing the qualities that distinguish the faithful meek, like belief and trust in Jesus’s resurrection, forgiveness, and healing powers. These qualities are all derived from biblical claims, though the book’s scriptural references come from various sections of the Bible that concern many different topics.
Despite being so lengthy, the book is unclear and disorganized. Its discussions and clarifications of its reasoning are minimal; many of the qualities it lists are not explained, and where they are explained, the book’s details are brief and insufficient. Many gesture to biblical verses, but the content of those verses is not included. Further, the lists themselves are random in their ordering; the qualities they name do not share any clear commonalities, and no practical advice is shared for achieving those qualities. These issues are compounded by the book’s sparse table of contents, which sums up its over seven hundred pages in one line, making navigating the text more complicated.
Instances of repetition further impede the book, whose sections’ introductory paragraphs are reproduced verbatim. The book’s chance to make an impact on its audience decreases as it reiterates qualities like trust, belief in Jesus as the savior, and faith in the Holy Spirit. An introductory section, which covers personal details such as Manigo’s favorite numbers, favorite presidents, and hobbies, proves superfluous.
The book’s impersonal language makes it feel uninviting; it states its arguments without attempting to humanize them. Its numerous grammatical errors are a further distraction from its messages, as is the fact that its scope is so wide: “blessed are the poor in spirit” comes to include many aspects of Christian faith and faithful conduct, and the book’s sections have few similarities beyond that.
Though with little to unify its various parts, Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit is a broad Christian work that lists the beliefs and actions that define those who are humble in their faith.
Reviewed by
Edith Wairimu
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
