Review of Wilderness Cry

[Kirsi Cultrera]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Wilderness Cry" by Hilary L Hunt M.D..]

---

3 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Sometimes I like to sit outside at night and look at the hundreds of twinkling stars above. The universe seems so perfect. Who is the one who created it all? How is he by nature? And what does he think about us, the little creatures populating one corner of this enormous universe? I suppose the stars are not going to answer my questions. But from time to time, I stumble upon a book that attempts to unveil these secrets. Wilderness Cry by the author Hilary L. Hunt M.D. belongs to this category in its search for answers. It seeks to comprise the nature of God, his son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, along with understanding our existence in this universe.

Hilary L. Hunt grew up in strictly Catholic surroundings. He learned early on that disobedience would lead to eternity in hell. These teachings orchestrated by the church stirred fear in the sensitive mind of a child and led to a childhood lived in the shadow of fear. Later on, Mr. Hunt started questioning the doctrines of this church. After a lifelong journey in seeking the truth, his findings formed into unique beliefs concerning God and the universe. The author’s intended approach to the topic is scientific and philosophical. Wilderness Cry describes his journey and finally gathers and represents his conclusions.

I am always searching for ways to deepen my understanding. I also like to challenge my thinking and beliefs from time to time. I even encourage others to do the same. That is why I admired the author for his courage to think outside of the box. Reading this book forced me to re-evaluate the foundations of my faith and re-check some of the beliefs I had considered as facts. In the end, I could not agree with most of what was written in this book. However, I truly enjoyed being challenged. The conclusions often felt odd to me, but I appreciated the author’s effort for leaving no stone unturned. One of my favorite parts of this book was the chapter considering the role of women in the history of Christianity. The author brought up a major grievance. Women have been constantly mistreated, underestimated, and misjudged throughout the history of Christianity.

As much as I appreciated the author’s boldness, some issues in this book felt disturbing. Firstly, the author seemed to bundle every denomination of Christianity into the same big pile. As the author seemed to be gaining influence for this book mostly from his traumatic childhood experiences with only one denomination, this felt somewhat unfair. I doubt all Christians from different denominations would recognize their churches from the descriptions presented in this book. Secondly, the author claimed his approach to the topic to be scientific and philosophical. However, some tone issues and choices of words pointed towards emotionally colored interpretations instead. Unfortunately, this left a slightly bitter aftertaste to his writings. In my eyes, it harmed the credibility of his arguments.

I am gladly awarding this book with a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. Wilderness Cry was a fascinating reading experience that introduced some unique ideas. However, I felt obliged to deduct one star based on the disturbing dissonances described above. I do not mean to disregard the author’s childhood experiences, but they are hardly a good ground for scientific reasoning.

Wilderness Cry is a good read for everyone who likes to challenge their thinking and explore new ideas and theories. Nevertheless, this book requires an open mind. Other useful things to have would be good basic knowledge of the Bible and a broad awareness of the teachings of different Christian denominations. Without these, following the author’s reasoning might be challenging.

******
Wilderness Cry
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[NetMassimo]

I read this book and I understand your objections. Some parts are interesting but sometimes the dissonance you mention seems obvious. Thank you for your great review!

[Vishnu Priya B]

I don't belong to Christianity nor do I plan to read this book anytime soon. But the way you started your review, wondering about the nature, stars, universe and God was awesome. This is my first time to read a conversational (monologue) style review. I really enjoyed your review.

[Ellylion]

I believe the book deserves to be checked out, but I completely understand your concerns about it Thank you for a honest review!

[Sanju Lali]

Thanks for your honest and insightful review about this book focuses on Hilary L. Hunt, who grew up in strictly Catholic family, but comes out with some grievances about Church. I agree with you regarding the unfairness by considering only one denomination.

[zainherb]

Though I enjoyed it very much, I too noticed the dissonance you mentioned and more in the book.
I loved reading review.

[markodim721]

I think you hit the center with ''Firstly, the author seemed to bundle every denomination of Christianity into the same big pile.'' Although I generally liked the book, I always had the impression that it represented the author's way of settling score from his childhood.

[Kirsi Cultrera]

I read this book and I understand your objections. Some parts are interesting but sometimes the dissonance you mention seems obvious. Thank you for your great review!

Yes indeed. I felt like I could not overlook this as it had such a big impact on the author's writing. Thanks for your encouraging words!

[Kirsi Cultrera]

I don't belong to Christianity nor do I plan to read this book anytime soon. But the way you started your review, wondering about the nature, stars, universe and God was awesome. This is my first time to read a conversational (monologue) style review. I really enjoyed your review.

Thank you, your appreciation really means a lot to me!

[Kirsi Cultrera]

I believe the book deserves to be checked out, but I completely understand your concerns about it Thank you for a honest review!

It has a lot of good qualifications for sure. Thanks for reading and commenting!

[Kirsi Cultrera]

Thanks for your honest and insightful review about this book focuses on Hilary L. Hunt, who grew up in strictly Catholic family, but comes out with some grievances about Church. I agree with you regarding the unfairness by considering only one denomination.

Thank you for taking the time to read and leave a comment!

[Kirsi Cultrera]

Though I enjoyed it very much, I too noticed the dissonance you mentioned and more in the book.
I loved reading review.

I enjoyed it very much too. The dissonance was a bit disturbing, though. Thanks for your kind words!

[Kirsi Cultrera]

I think you hit the center with ''Firstly, the author seemed to bundle every denomination of Christianity into the same big pile.'' Although I generally liked the book, I always had the impression that it represented the author's way of settling score from his childhood.

I also liked the book very much. I still hope the author would not have bundled everything together the way he did. Thank you for reading and commenting!

[SamaylaM]

The point you bring up about the author's approach being said scientific and philosophical, yet the presence of some emotionally colored interpretations are valid. Thank you for writing an honest review. I enjoyed reading your writing style very much!

[MsH2k]

I started reading this book but did not finish it, and the issues you raise were a big reason why. I hope the author found the answers he was searching for.

Thank you for a marvelous review. I enjoyed your honest take!