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Books can be helpful and intimate companions as you travel the way of the spirit. Here's a place where you can glimpse some of the best new works available. We've also added a sprinkling of first-rate selections that have proved the test of time.
God in the Alley
by Greg Paul
Shaw, 2004
In this brief, affecting memoir, Paul chronicles his life as pastor of the evangelical Sanctuary Community in Toronto, which "make[s] it a priority to welcome people who have, for the most part, known only rejection and abuse." As Paul tells stories about prostitutes, drug addicts and abuse victims, he shares an epiphany from early in his ministry: While helping a man with AIDS who had soiled himself, "It became clear that being Jesus to Neil... was most perfectly summed up in the odious task of gently wiping excrement from his foot." Paul goes on, "I recognized that Neil was, at that moment, a physical representation to me of a vulnerable and dying Christ." In a similar vein, Paul writes about Mutt, whose love for his prostitute girlfriend mirrors almost exactly Hosea's love for Gomer and, as such, Jesus' love for humanity. Most refreshing about Paul's book is his awareness that many at Sanctuary may never have a conventional Christian conversion experience or may fall off the wagon even after conversion. In the midst of one story he explains, "This is not a fairy tale. Nobody, in this life at least, lives happily ever after." In Paul's experience, God does not make everything better in this life, but instead allows people to connect redemptively to one another and to Him through their brokenness. Buy This Book
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The Joy of My Heart
by Anne Graham Lotz
J. Countryman, 2004
This latest installment in J. Countryman’s line of padded-cover pocket devotionals offers all of the features that have come to be associated with this series: a big-name Christian author (Lotz follows in the footsteps of the likes of Max Lucado, John MacArthur and Eugene Peterson), glossy paper, a gift-dedication page and a ribbon marker. Each day’s devotion offers a brief line from the Bible and a paragraph-long meditation from one of Lotz’s six full-length works. Helpfully, each reflection is followed by a quick attribution, letting readers know which of Lotz’s books is excerpted in case they want to read more or follow up on a particular idea. Lotz fans will delight in this beautifully designed gift book, which can be digested methodically in a daily reading program or thumbed through at random for quick inspiration. (Publisher's Weekly) Buy This Book
Prayers of Our Presidents Men
by MacGregor Jerry
Baker Books, 2004
Just in time for election season comes this compendium of prayers from the nation’s presidents, appearing in mostly chronological order by administration. MacGregor and Prys cull the prayers from personal journals, letters, inaugural addresses, speeches and other writings in the presidents’ papers. Most are short, such as a lovely prayer that Rutherford and Lucy Hayes are said to have recited together every day when he was in office in the late 1870s. President Kennedy is represented by a Thanksgiving prayer of gratitude, while Teddy Roosevelt makes an appeal for justice and charity that is marked by his characteristic emphasis on those "virtues that make for manliness and rugged hardihood." The editors follow the prayers with a brief "life and times" section about each leader, mini-biographies that are remarkably free of partisan swagger. They also include little-known facts about each president, some of which deal with religion. Less successful are the questions for reflection and personal prayer that follow each presidential prayer; this book works better as a Christian history and introduction to American presidents than it does as a guide to individual spirituality. (Publisher's Weekly) Buy This Book
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All the Pope's Men
by John L. Jr Allen
Doubleday, 2004
Allen, the Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and analyst for CNN and National Public Radio, offers an authoritative guide to the church's inner workings. Far from sensationalistic, this book provides a carefully balanced view of how the Catholic Church works—and sometimes doesn't—in the modern world. Allen, who is Catholic himself but does not see himself as a missionary or apologist for the church, is a fair and thorough reporter of ecclesial affairs who drew on four-plus years of covering the Vatican as well as 35 interviews with officials in the church bureaucracy to write this book. He begins with an overview of the Vatican, then debunks five myths—including, notably, the idea that power is concentrated solely in the Pope and that the Vatican is fantastically wealthy. In talking about the myth and reality of Vatican secrecy, Allen lays out the basis for his book: that the Vatican's psychology and culture are difficult for people, even most Catholics, to grasp, resulting in miscommunication and animosity toward the church. Allen also delves into Vatican psychology, sociology and theology before concluding with lengthy chronologies detailing the Vatican's role in the American sexual abuse crisis and the war in Iraq. (Publisher's Weekly) Buy This Book
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The Best Christian Writing 2004
by John Wilson
Jossey-Bass, 2003
Chosen by Christianity Today editor Wilson, this eclectic treasure trove, on subjects as diverse as repentance, being an unmarried believer, and the evangelical Christian Book Association convention, contains some truly extraordinary writing. Notable essays include a wide-ranging interview with German filmmaker Wim Wenders, a spare but haunting recollection of a trip to Wounded Knee, and a wonderfully contemporary and demanding sermon on the Old Testament Book of Daniel. Wilfred McClay's subtle and keenly honed meditation on what it means to be an American Christian after September 11 is timely, theologically acute, and likely to be very challenging to some readers. Although some authors, like Frederica Mathewes-Green, Philip Jenkins, and Kathleen Norris, are famous, others edit religious journals, pastor churches, or teach in colleges. Rich in whimsy, overflowing with gentle wonder, and laced with both irony and anguish, these pieces by and large live up to their rather audacious billing, as the best of the best. (Publisher's Weekly)
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The Future of Man
by Teilhard De Chardin
Image Books, 2004
The Future of Man is a magnificent introduction to the thoughts and writings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, one of the few figures in the history of the Catholic Church to achieve renown as both a scientist and a theologian. Trained as a paleontologist and ordained as a Jesuit priest, Teilhard de Chardin devoted himself to establishing the intimate, interdependent connection between science (particularly the theory of evolution) and the basic tenets of the Christian faith. At the center of his philosophy was the belief that the human species is evolving spiritually, progressing from a simple faith to higher and higher forms of consciousness, including a consciousness of God, and culminating in the ultimate understanding of humankind’s place and purpose in the universe. The Church, which would not condone his philosophical writings, refused to allow their publication during his lifetime. Written over a period of thirty years and presented here in chronological order, the essays cover the wide-ranging interests and inquiries that engaged Teilhard de Chardin throughout his life: intellectual and social evolution; the coming of ultra-humanity; the integral place of faith in God in the advancement of science; and the impact of scientific discoveries on traditional religious dogma. (Inside Flap Copy) Buy This Book
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The Catholic Revolution
by Andrew Greeley
University of California Press, 2004
Greeley may be better known as a novelist than a sociologist, but in this latest book he is in full professional stride, offering studied observations on his Church in the years since the landmark Second Vatican Council. As the title suggests, Greeley proposes that a revolution has occurred since the heady days of Vatican II. In fact, he likens the actions that made change possible to the storming of the Bastille. Vatican II's reforms were modest, Greeley believes, yet were "too much for the rigid structures of 19th-century Catholicism to absorb." In short, he says, the new wine burst the old wineskins. He attributes this to the Church's failure to adjust its rhetoric and style to educated contemporary Catholics who no longer blindly obey the directives of Church authorities. Thus, he writes, Church leadership is now in conflict with lower clergy and laity, who have redefined Catholicism on their own terms, holding onto core doctrines and traditions even as they disagree with the rules in such areas as sexual behavior. Greeley does not necessarily endorse these unofficial reforms, but he does applaud the laity for their faith and calls on Church leaders to recognize and respect them. He has especially harsh words for authoritarian liturgists who have imposed their vision of worship on congregations starving for a real connection between faith and daily life. Catholics who want to know what happened after Vatican II will find this compelling reading. (Publisher's Weekly) Buy This Book
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The Healthy Balance for Body and Soul
by Cynthia Culp Allen Charity Allen Winters
Fleming H Revell Co, 2004
This upbeat book will show you how to achieve greater physical and spiritual vitality and balance in your life. As your mind and body are reenergized, you will also feel your spirit renewed. In The Healthy Balance for Body and Soul, Cynthia Culp Allen and her daughter Charity Allen Winters clearly demonstrate how our bodies were created by God to respond to a balanced lifestyle. You'll benefit from their proven nutrition and exercise plan that can help you shape up your immune system, tone your muscles, and lose that excess weight. And Allen and Winters emphasize the important part that faith plays in your overall health and wellness. Whether you want to overcome fatigue or a weight problem, or simply become a healthy, balanced woman of God, you can't afford to miss this inspirational how-to guide on nutrition, exercise, and spiritual rebirth. (Fleming H Revell Co.) Buy This Book
Dark Night of the Soul
by Gerald G. May
HarperCollins Publishers, 2004
"Hello darkness my old friend, I've come to talk with you again." These lyrics from Simon and Garfunkel's famous song could be the guiding theme of this excellent offering by psychiatrist and spiritual counselor May. As May delves into the meaning and purpose of "the dark night of the soul," we come to see it as a comforting and necessary friend, ushering in a time of transformation, rather than a gloomy blackness to avoid. In order to illuminate the dark night, May draws upon the lives of the Carmelite mystics, John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, as well as psychiatric research and scripture. Like the contemporary scholars of psychiatry, both Teresa and John had early insights into the unconscious dimension of life that goes on beneath our awareness-an obscure and mysterious arena that they both called "the dark." Since humans are so skilled at denial-especially denying the power of their compulsions and attachments-they would never enter into this spiritual night of reckoning if they could see in advance what it would entail. This is why we need the darkness in front of us. May, who also wrote Addiction and Grace, eventually moves into a strong discussion about depression and addiction, showing why the dark night is necessary to overcome both. Ultimately, he becomes a messenger of hope, reminding readers that every dark night brings the sweet dawn of awakening. With its clear writing and strong psychological foundation, this is a relevant resource for readers of all spiritual persuasions. (Publishers Weekly) Buy This Book
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American Jezebel
by Eve LaPlante
HarperCollins Publishers, 2004
Publisher's Weekly
LaPlante, an 11th-generation granddaughter of Hutchinson, provides a fast-paced and elegant account of Hutchinson's life and work, including the reasons that Hutchinson's teachings threatened the fabric of Puritan theology. By the time she was born, her father, Francis Marbury, had already been in and out of jail for challenging the religious authority of the Anglican priests in England. His continuing nonconformity, according to LaPlante, had a lasting impact on Hutchinson's own views of religious authority. Hutchinson also learned from the Reverend John Cotton that God's revelation to individuals occurred mystically as a kind of inner light and did not require a formal religious setting. After she moved to the colonies with her husband, William Hutchinson, she began to teach that men and women could attain salvation not through performing religious works but through this inward grace. The Puritans, who emphasized that the covenant of works was the only guarantee of salvation, charged her with antinomianism (an attack against the law of God) and with violating God's commands that a woman should not teach. LaPlante offers a stimulating account of Hutchinson's eloquent self-defense at her trial. Knowing that the magistrates had no religious or political grounds to convict her, since a woman was not a subject of the law, Hutchinson stymied their questioning. LaPlante's first-rate biography offers glimpses into the life and teachings of a much-neglected figure in early American religious history. (Publishers Weekly) Buy This Book
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St. Patrick of Ireland
by Philip Freeman
Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group, 2004
Born to an aristocratic British family in the fifth century, Patrick was kidnapped by slave raiders at age 15 and sold to an Irish farmer. After six years of tending sheep he escaped, walked 200 miles to a port city he had seen in a dream, and sailed for home. Years later, as a priest or bishop, he returned to Ireland. Bribing petty kings for safe passage through their rural domains, he preached, baptized and established churches in his beloved adopted land. This information about the saint's life is known from two lengthy letters he wrote late in life, both included in a lively translation by Freeman, a classics professor and author of three previous books about the Celtic world. Dismissing many familiar tales as myths, he relies on archeological discoveries as well as Greek and Roman writers to create a colorful picture of Ireland at the end of the Roman Empire: its kings and headhunting warriors, gods and human sacrifices, belief in the Otherworld. "I am a stranger and an exile living among barbarians and pagans, because God cares for them," Patrick wrote. Besides, time was running out: As Freeman observes, "The gospel had been preached throughout the world and was even then, by [Patrick's] own efforts, being spread to the most distant land of all. There was simply no reason for God's judgment to be delayed once the Irish had heard the good news." In the storytelling tradition of popular historian Thomas Cahill, this small book offers a fascinating and believable introduction to Ireland's patron saint. (Publishers Weekly) Buy This Book
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Letters to a Young Catholic
by George Weigel
Basic Books, 2004
In this spiritual memoir-cum-travelogue, Weigel writes with the same beauty and clarity that characterized his biography of Pope John Paul II, Witness to Hope, merging reportage with personal insights about Catholicism. He takes readers on a journey from Maryland to Europe and Israel, visiting sites that are whimsical (G.K. Chesterton’s favorite pub) as well as those that are renowned as holy (the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem, St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome). Writing in a conversational, epistolary form aimed at young Catholics, Weigel offers a book that simultaneously is, and is not, your grandmother’s catechism: he affirms the core doctrines of the Church, but he does so in a way that is refreshingly contemporary and—because of his emphasis on Church sites around the world—catholic as well as Catholic. Weigel opens the book with an entertaining description of his childhood in the Catholic stronghold of Baltimore, and invites young readers to entertain the idea that Catholicism is not just a creed but an "optic," a rooted way of viewing the world. In the rest of the book, he introduces that world and offers them new lenses with which to understand it. This book is simply first-rate. (Publishers Weekly) Buy This Book
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Seeing is Believing
by Gregory A. Boyd
Baker Books, 2004
Boyd, author of Letters from a Skeptic and God of the Possible, makes a powerfully persuasive argument for the use of imaginative prayer by Christians, then outlines a method for beginning the practice. He begins by describing the paralyzing effect of the " `try harder' solution" for spiritual growth. His description of this futile striving and its source in false ideas of identity rings true, although occasionally his emphasis on the negative role of action is overdone. The real treasure of the book is found in the second and third sections, where he mines 15 years' experience of leading imaginative prayer conferences. He provides a vivid description of the power and effectiveness of the imagination in settings like prayer and worship. In addition to a careful biblical basis, Boyd gives a survey of historical figures (from Julian of Norwich to Saint Ignatius and John Wesley) who have used and advocated imaginative prayer. He explains the basic idea of the prayer technique he calls "resting in Christ" and courageously offers his own experience as an example of how this technique can bring healing. Aware that visualization techniques can be controversial among evangelicals, he explains possible sources of distrust and offers answers to the most common objections. The final section illustrates the power of imaginative prayer for healing with three moving stories from those who have used the technique. (Publishers Weekly) Buy This Book
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Pierre Toussaint
by Arthur Jones
Doubleday & Company, Incorporated, 2003
Born a slave in Haiti in 1781, Pierre Toussaint survived the bloody Haitian revolution and made his way to New York, where he became a much sought-after hairdresser. Coping with war, racism and changing coiffures with equal aplomb, Toussaint was stylist and confidant to the city's richest women (he numbered Alexander Hamilton's wife and granddaughter among his clients), becoming both a fixture in white society and a pillar of the black and Catholic communities. Through this sociologically fascinating figure, Jones, an editor for the National Catholic Reporter and author of Capitalism and Christians, explores the economy and society of pre-revolutionary Haiti and early Republican New York, the culture of Caribbean-French expatriates, and the racial and ethnic tensions within the American Catholic Church. (Publishers Weekly) Buy This Book
Hours of Power
by Robert H. Schuller
Harper, 2004
These 366 daily meditations come from some of Schuller's most famous books, including "Be Happy Attitudes," "Tough Times Never Last, but Tough People Do" and "Move Ahead with Possibility Thinking." The relentlessly cheerful founder of the Crystal Cathedral in (where
else?) Southern California uses bite-size daily devotions to tackle a few traditional topics (forgiveness, prayer, resurrection) and many motivational ones (positive thinking, self-confidence, risk-taking, the gift of imagination). Most of the devotions are generically spiritual, with
God as the "eternal creative force" or wearing some other benign moniker, while others are more explicitly Christian. The writing style is sometimes too upbeat, with extensive use of exclamation points and rhetorical questions. Some tidbits that were fine in their original contexts seem glib when stripped down to their hour-of-power exuberance in this greatest-hits volume, where every tragedy is a possibility and every problem an opportunity. Some readers will no doubt gravitate toward Schuller's uncompromising optimism, while others will find it simplistic and thus unhelpful. (Publisher's Weekly) Buy This Book
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Credo
by William Sloane Coffin
Westminster John Knox Press, 2004
The title "prophet" is not one to be used lightly, but it comes up often in reference to William Sloane Coffin. The famous preacher and
activist has shared the pulpit with other prophetic voices, including Martin Luther King Jr., Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela, and was
immortalized as "Reverend Sloan" in the Doonesbury comic strip. He first gained notoriety for his opposition to the Vietnam War in the
1960s while chaplain at Yale University. During the next decades, as a civil rights freedom rider, senior minister of New York City's
Riverside Church, president emeritus of SANE/FREEZE and the author of five books, he continued to use his verbal prowess to fight for social justice.
Now the best of those words have been collected into one volume. Credo contains quotations and excerpts
from Coffin's speeches, sermons, writings and unpublished works on topics including charity and justice, politics and patriotism, war and
peace, nature and the environment, faith and the church. (Publishers Weekly)
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All For Jesus
by Franklin Graham Ross S. Rhoads
Thomas Nelson, 2003
Through vivid description and sound biblical teaching, Franklin Graham and Ross Rhoads make Scripture passages come alive in this devotional, causing the reader to not only hear the Word but to experience it. In a compassionate yet uncompromising approach, All for Jesus offers insights on a variety of topics, including God's will, forgiveness, prayer, the Holy Spirit, God's character, worship, and serving God. Ultimately, this devotional challenges us all to move beyond reluctance and fear to increase our faith and become fully committed disciples of Christ. (Thomas Nelson)
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Unveiled: The Hidden Lives of Nuns
by Cheryl L. Reed
Berkley Publishing Group, 2004
What do nuns really think about life, death, love, sex, faith, friendship, guilt, regret, loss, motherhood, feminism, and the modern world and all its conveniences and luxuries?
To answer these questions, award-winning journalist Cheryl L. Reed interviewed more than 300 nuns from a wide variety of orders-and with divergent beliefs. She lived with them, observed their daily lives, and participated in silent worship. She witnessed their vow ceremonies, mourned with them, celebrated and drank beer with them. They welcomed questions no one had ever dared ask before. In the end the nuns that Reed approached with suspicion and curiosity ended up teaching her more about motherhood, relationships, and feminism than she ever gleaned from the outside world.
In Unveiled, Reed has succeeded in opening up the doors to a once closed world-one often misrepresented and almost always misunderstood-to present nuns not as stoic icons of secrecy and ritual but simply as women who have chosen an independent path, and who now offer themselves as guides to their fascinating, surprising, and enlightening interior lives. (Berkley Publishing Group)
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The Gospel of Mary Magdala
by Karen L. King
Polebridge Press, 2004
The Gospel of Mary of Magdala, a second-century gospel that was discovered in the 19th century and not published until 1955, shows Mary to be the apostle (yes, apostle) to whom Jesus revealed deep theological insights. King, a professor at Harvard Divinity School and author of What Is Gnosticism?, argues that the Gospel prefers inner spiritual knowledge to exterior forms such as the law and that it reveals some of the gender conflicts and spiritual divisions of the early Christian movement. King places translations of two extant fragments of the Gospel of Mary side by side, so readers can see the slight differences that appear in the originals. (Because approximately 10 pages of the Gospel are still lost, scholars believe we only have about half of its original material.) In the brief text, the male apostles are afraid and despondent after Jesus' post-resurrection departure, so Mary tries to cheer them by revealing some of the esoteric teachings that Jesus imparted to her alone. But the teachings cause discord, as Peter and others refuse to believe that Jesus would have given such "strange ideas" to a woman. ("Did he choose her over us?" a petulant Peter asks.) The bulk of King's book takes up various issues raised by the text-questions about the Son of Man, law, women's authority, visionary experiences and the body. This is a serious scholarly study with the apparatus of an academic book, including Coptic facsimiles of the papyrus, and Coptic and Greek phrases sprinkled throughout the text. (Publishers Weekly)
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Doing Business by the Good Book
by David L. Steward
Hyperion Press, 2004
In 1990, David L. Steward founded his company, Worldwide Technology, Inc., on a shoestring budget and borrowed money, well aware of the high-risk nature of the venture he was undertaking. Despite the fact that he was a novice entrepreneur, he was certain he would succeed. Steward believed intensely that God wouldn't let him down. Doing Business by the Good Book shares the inspiring lessons culled straight from the Bible, that Steward used to build his privately held billion-dollar company into a global information technology enterprise. (Hyperion)
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When God Doesn’t Answer Your Prayer
by Jerry Sittser
Zondervan, 2004
Few people know the desperate agony of unanswered prayer as much as Sittser, whose mother, wife and young daughter died when a drunk driver hit their car. (He and three other children survived.) "Why doesn't God answer our prayers?... It is no longer an abstract question to me," he writes. To find an answer, he turns the question inside out and upside down: When our prayers go unanswered, does it mean we don't have enough faith, or have prayed the wrong way? What would happen if God answered all our prayers? Prayer seems to work sometimes, "which only makes the problem of unanswered prayer more bewildering." Sittser acknowledges that some answered prayers would be bad for us we might use the power of prayer for wealth, success and domination at the expense of others. His own eloquent and powerful musings are interspersed with thoughts from such classic writers as Jean-Pierre de Caussade, Tolstoy and O. Hallesby, and contemporary writers such as Jane Kenyon, Henri Nouwen and Leif Enger. In the end, he writes that unanswered prayer challenges us to explore the deepest places within us and to ask ourselves searching questions. "Perhaps how we respond in the face of such mystery is more important than whether or not we will ever find an answer to the question itself," he muses. Although the study questions at the end of each chapter can be distracting, any Christian who has ever questioned the validity of prayer will find this to be a luminous book, full of vulnerable and venerable wisdom. (Publishers Weekly)
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Rumors of Another World
by Philip Yancey
Zondervan, 2003
Philip Yancey believes we are missing the supernatural hidden in everyday life. He investigates the natural world and discovers the supernatural hiding in plain view. Nature and super nature are not two separate worlds, but different expressions of the same reality. To encounter the world as a whole, we need a more supernatural awareness of the natural world. He promises that the grace-filled result will be a life of beauty, purpose, freedom, and faith. (Amazon.com)
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Who is Jesus?
by Thomas P. Rausch
The Liturgical Press, 2003
Who Is Jesus? An Introduction to Christology covers the three quests for the historical Jesus, the methods for retrieving the historical Jesus, the Jewish background, the Jesus movement, his preaching and ministry, death, and resurrection, the various New Testament Christologies, and the development of christological doctrine from the New Testament period to the Council of Chalcedon. (The Liturgical Press)
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Dying With Jesus
by Angela M. Hibbard
The Liturgical Press, 2003
Dying with Jesus is for people who are dying and for their caregivers, whether family members or pastoral-care professionals. Each page contains a Scripture passage with a brief commentary, a meditation intended to capture the thoughts and feelings of the dying person, and a response from Jesus. The booklet can be used as a single extended meditation or it can be read a page at a time in any sequence that is helpful. Page headings indicate the theme found in the meditation and can guide the user to the appropriate page for a given moment.
The meditations, rooted in the experience of dying people, may help to identify and give words to many painful thoughts and feelings. By reading a given meditation together chaplains, family members, or the dying person may be able to initiate a difficult but necessary conversation. It is hoped that Dying with Jesus will reveal some of Jesus’ human struggle and will make it accessible to all who are facing the same frightening reality. All who use it are especially encouraged to share the feelings and memories it calls forth. This gift of shared experience will enlighten those who accompany the dying and will create a bridge between the gospel story and those of us who hear it today. (The Liturgical Press)
Dying With Jesus
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Praise in the Presence of God
by Jack Hayford
J Countryman Books, 2003
Hayford, a pastor, author and composer of hundreds of hymns and praise choruses (including the popular evangelical song "Majesty"), draws from over 30 of his books for this daily devotional. The theme is praise, which Hayford says "not only exclaims God's worthiness" but "invokes his daily mercies, grace, and power into our lives." And speaking of exclamations, they're everywhere; Hayford's writing style is heavy on exclamation points, numbered arguments and biblical exposition, with a curious absence of storytelling to bring the message home. However, this is a beautifully designed gift book, with an embossed cover, ribbon marker and lovely color illustrations throughout. (Publishers Weekly)
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A Year with C.S. Lewis
by Patricia Klein (editor)
Harper SanFrancisco, 2003
This book of daily readings, culled from C.S. Lewis's major nonfiction writings like The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, Miracles and A Grief Observed, might be called the thinking Christian's devotional: it is deeper and meatier than most other devotionals on the market. With 366 entries (including one for Leap Year) that are typically one or two paragraphs each, Klein has managed to distill some of the most memorable passages from Lewis's famous corpus. Interestingly, she includes a bit of Lewis trivia for each day of the year, and often pairs the reading with the biographical information: for example, we learn that on March 21, 1957, Lewis married Joy Davidman Gresham, and the entry for that day is about their marriage. Three separate indices list the sources by book, by day and by selection title or theme. (Publishers Weekly)
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John Paul II: A Light for the World
by Mary Ann Walsh
Sheed and Ward, 2003
As the pope's silver jubilee approaches, publishers are gearing up with all manner of tributes to the beloved pontiff. This coffee-table book, with memorable full-color images by official Vatican photographers and reflections by many people who have had personal encounters with John Paul II, may be the pick of the crop. As imprimaturs go, it has an impeccable pedigree: it is an official commemorative book commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Also, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan weighs in with a foreword highlighting the pope's commitment to international human rights. The book is divided into three sections, exploring the pope's roles as pastor (including his leadership in family life issues and his stand against sexual abuse in the priesthood); a pilgrim (highlighting the more than 700,000 miles the pope has traveled in his tenure); and prophet (discussing his ethical stance on issues such as human rights, racism, labor and the death penalty). Throughout, various cardinals, monsignori and archbishops share brief anecdotes about their personal encounters with the man who was born Karol Wojtyla. While some of these are so fawning as to remove any trace of humanity from the man, other remembrances are candid and humorous. The book's photographs, which span the course of his 25-year papacy, show him interacting with people all over the world, and also depict some private moments. The book closes with a brief chronology of John Paul II's life, as well as synopses of his encyclicals and other key writings. (Publishers Weekly)
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Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible
by James D. G. Dunn (Editor) John Rogerson (Editor)
William. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2003
An international team of 63 biblical scholars offers this judicious and solid introduction to the varieties of biblical literature. Like
similar one-volume commentaries from Oxford and HarperCollins, this one covers the Apocrypha, though the Eerdmans commentary is more comprehensive, adding an expansive chapter on the oft-overlooked pseudo-epigraphical book of 1 Enoch. Each entry begins with some kind of overview of the biblical or apocryphal book in question, then proceeds to analyze the book section by section rather than verse by verse (a real boon for nonspecialists who often get lost in abstruse, highly technical discussions). The commentary uses the New Revised Standard Version, though some contributors add their own insights about the meanings of contested Hebrew or Greek terms. The essayists draw upon and summarize previous biblical scholarship and sometimes offer revisionist explanations (as with Morna Hooker's passionate and well-argued reinterpretation of Philemon). (Publishers Weekly)
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The Holy Way
by Paula Huston
Loyola Press, 2003
Drawing on the powerful histories of the saints and personal experience, author Paula Huston, a professor, wife, and mother, offers practical guidance to pursuing and achieving spiritual simplicity in a chaotic world. In this book, Huston examines a variety of spiritual practices in the Christian tradition that lead to a simpler life.
Each chapter introduces a different spiritual practice, including solitude, purity, and generosity, and explores it through historical perspectives and Huston's compelling personal reflections. From Saint Anthony's chosen life of solitude to Saint Catherine of Siena's strength of conviction, Huston tells stories of courageous faith that exemplify the blessed and transformative power of being alone with God. Although based on Christian philosophies, Huston's strategies are applicable to people of all faiths. (Barnes and Noble)
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The Historical Atlas
by Juan Maria Laboa
The Liturgical Press, 2003
This expansive illustrated guide to Christian monasticism offers a history of various monastic traditions and shows the rise of
monasticism in different parts of the world. Although the text can be dry, it is enhanced by several hundred color photos and illustrations,
including 59 detailed maps showing the locations of monasteries and the historical development of different branches of the Christian
church. The book's real draw is the fact that it gives equal time to Eastern as well as Western monasticism, devoting pages to relatively
obscure Eastern monasteries such as the Laura of Calamon (beside the Dead Sea), or the hermitages of Moldavia, "characterized by exterior murals as well as completely painted interiors." This book is an important attempt to understand monasticism on a global scale. (Publishers Weekly)
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Boundaries Face to Face
by Henry Cloud
Zondervan, 2003
Drs. Cloud and Townsend, whose book Boundaries sold more than a million copies and won a Gold Medallion award, have established a Boundaries franchise with niche titles on boundaries in marriage, dating and parenting. This book continues the flourishing series, with advice on conflict resolution and cultivating mutual respect. "Successful people confront well," the authors observe, laying out
tools for readers to stop simply avoiding conflict and start having productive, loving confrontations. Their advice for such conversations
is familiar: listen actively; clarify the problem; affirm the other person; acknowledge your own part in the problem; and commit to being
an agent for change. The second half of the book offers practical, hands-on advice for preparing for and having a difficult conversation,
complete with specific suggestions of what to say--and what not to say. The Bible is used as a resource throughout, but not in a heavy-handed way, making this a valuable self-help manual for people from many walks of life. (Publishers Weekly)
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Seeking Paradise
by Thomas Merton
Orbis Books, 2003
"The peculiar grace of a Shaker chair is due to the fact that it was made by someone capable of believing that an angel might come and sit on it," wrote Thomas Merton in 1964, at the height of his interest in the Shakers and their spiritual arts. Merton never completed his planned book on the Shakers, but he did write two brief essays and several letters on the subject, and he spoke to his fellow Cistercian monks about what they could learn from the Shakers' quasi-monastic approach to faith and work. All of these brief reflections are included in this simple, meditative compilation on Merton and the Shakers. Merton admired the Shakers' simplicity, and the fact that their furniture, crafts and music flowed freely from a pure and holy devotion to God. Shaker creativity, he claimed, extended from a "perfect fusion of temporal and eternal values, of spirit and matter." Some of Merton's own black-and-white photographs of Pleasant Hill Shaker Village in Kentucky are included here. (Publishers Weekly)
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Next Door Savior
by Max Lucado
W Publishing Group, 2003
The essays, each built around an episode in the life of Jesus, are often unabashedly poignant, at times humorous and always hopeful. Lucado's unique retellings cast Jesus as a compassionate, personal friend who isn't put off by anyone's past mistakes. Lucado clearly portrays his belief in God's love, forgiveness and his concern about the smallest details, "for even though he is in heaven, he never left the neighborhood." Solidly grounded in Scripture, drenched in the trademark Lucado anecdotes that have endeared him to legions of fans, this book may be his best in a decade. (Publishers Weekly)
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Is God to Blame?
by Gregory A. Boyd
InterVarsity Press, 2003
Boyd challenges Christians to rethink their assumptions about God and suffering, guided by the principle that "amidst the vast sea of things
we cannot know, we can know that God looks like Jesus Christ." Boyd argues forcefully that, for Christians, the deepest revelation of
God's character has to be the cross of Christ, where God's glory is revealed not as compelling power but as sacrificial love. The book
draws on a wide range of biblical material, including the Book of Job, accounts of answered prayer, and Jesus' response to human suffering. For Boyd, the mystery of suffering resides not in God's inscrutable will or a possible "dark streak" in God's character, but in the
complexity of a universe where freedom and risk are realities that even God must experience. Always compassionate, sometimes
cantankerous, and capturing biblical concepts with memorable clarity, this challenging book should be a valued resource for pastors,
counselors, support groups, and individual study. (Publishers Weekly)
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Learning to Pray
by Wayne Muller
Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing, 2003
Muller, a minister and therapist who is author of Sabbath, and Legacy of the Heart, here tackles the timeworn issue of prayer. Gearing his thoughts for the beginner who may be uncertain about how to pray, Muller defaults to the tried-and-true method of the Lord's Prayer. This is certainly not the first book to go phrase by phrase through the Lord's Prayer and use it as a guide to the Christian life, but few authors in the spirituality/self-help category communicate as effectively as Muller does. In brief, simple chapters, he expounds upon the well-known prayer he recites daily, drawing on Buddhist as well as Christian examples to demonstrate his points about interconnectedness, holiness, forgiveness, and God's will. Each chapter closes with a helpful "prayer practice" exercise to apply the concepts of the Lord's Prayer in daily life. Readers who are interested in prayer and who appreciate Muller's interfaith approach will relish this eloquent, gentle book. (Publishers Weekly)
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The Dead Sea Scrolls
by Michael Wise, Martin Abegg, Jr., and Edward Cook
San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1999
By now everyone has heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the ancient texts found at Qumran in Israel in 1947. These elusive documents shed enormous light on the religious milieu of Christ’s time. They’re not easy reading. Many of them exist only in fragments; others consist of lengthy lists of treasures or diatribes against religious leaders of the time. But anyone who is truly interested in Christian origins should at least glance at these documents. Of the several versions available, this one is the most accessible.
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The Nag Hammadi Library in English
by Edited by James M. Robinson
San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1990
The Gnostic texts found in Nag Hammadi along the Nile in 1945 are as important, and in many ways as perplexing, as the better-known Dead Sea Scrolls. The Nag Hammadi library contains much material that was denounced by the mainstream church as heretical, but this does not reduce its value for the student of Christianity. The most important, and most beautiful, work included is The Gospel of Thomas, a brief collection of Christ’s sayings that may be older than the canonical Gospels. Anyone interested in Jesus Christ’s life and teaching should read this text.
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The Great Divorce
by C.S. Lewis
New York: Touchstone Books, 2001
Lewis is without question the most compelling Christian apologist of the twentieth century. Any thinking Christian will gain much sustenance — and entertainment — from his delightful and stimulating works. The title of The Great Divorce alludes to William Blake’s Marriage of Heaven and Hell, and the book describes the great gulf between heaven and hell, not as storybook territories filled with clouds or fire, but as states of mind and conscience.
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At the Corner of East and Now
by Frederica Mathewes-Grene
New York: Tarcher Putnam, 1999
Eastern Orthodoxy is one of the oldest and richest strains of the Christian faith. Yet to most Americans it is a mystery. In this fine new book, author Frederica Mathewes-Grene explores the possibilities of this tradition for a modern seeker. Her fresh, humorous voice has led her to be called "the Orthodox Erma Bombeck." (Example: "In Orthodox worship, more is always more, in every area including prayer. When the priest or deacon intones, ‘Let us complete our prayer to the Lord,’ expect to still be standing there fifteen minutes later.") But there is a serious intent as well: Mathewes-Grene means to provide an entrance point for modern Christians exploring the treasures of the Orthodox heritage, and she succeeds admirably.
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The Book of Women’s Sermons
Edited by the Rev. E. Lee Hancock
New York: Riverhead, 1999
If you associate the word "sermon" with an image of a dry, sterile discourse, this heartfelt collection will help you see things differently. There are talks here delivered by women from many denominations and approaches — Episcopal, Conservative Jewish, Unitarian, Quaker, Roman Catholic, African Methodist, Moravian. They deal with topics ranging from death to sexuality to the role of faith in the life of a modern woman. Sermons by such noted writers as Alice Walker, Kathleen Norris, and Jean Shinoda Bolen are included.
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Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith
by Kathleen Norris
New York: Riverhead, 1998
"Our ridiculously fallible language becomes a lesson in how God's grace works despite and even through our human frailty. We will never get the words exactly right. There will always be room for imperfection, for struggle, growth and change. And this is as it should be." With observations like this one, Kathleen Norris has provided a salutary corrective for contemporary Christians in Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith. The book is about how she learned to use religious words, such as "incarnation," "idolatry," and "evangelism." Norris is a feminist, a theological conservative, a sophisticate, and a country bumpkin. And she's one of the few living Christian writers who can be described as truly great. (Amazon.com)
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How Do We Know When It’s God?
by Dan Wakefield
Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1999
How do we know when it's God? That's a tough question, explains Dan Wakefield, whose memoir gives a painful account of fabricating God's will in order to justify his personal desires and delusions. (Amazon.com)
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In the Spirit of Happiness
by The Monks of New Skete
Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1999
The wise and cheerful monks of New Skete believe that our spirits are meant to be happy. So within these pages, the popular monks of Cambridge, NY, offer useful suggestions for mastering the elusive art of happiness. And while this might sound like a book written by jolly Friar Tucks, it is in fact an intelligent, informed discussion on the soothing power of prayer, mercy, compassion, and devotion. It also opens the doors to the private life of monastic living--helping readers to see that even nuns and monks experience rapture as well as doubt and despair. (Amazon.com)
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Listen With Your Heart
by Eileen Flanagan
New York: Warner Books, 1998
Drawing on original interviews, this book shows how loneliness and fear offer opportunities for spiritual growth, how listening to one's inner voice can bring peace and clarity, and how romance can be a path to transcendence. (Ingram)
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Love Is Stronger Than Death
by Cynthia Bourgeault
New York: Bell Tower, 1999
Reverend Cynthia Bourgeault was a 50-year-old priest when she met her soul mate, a hermit named Brother Raphael Robin (Rafe). They had only three years on earth together before Rafe died suddenly of a heart attack. Accounts of these earthly days together are as intense and emotionally wrenching as any love affair could be. And yet their relationship was always graced with a higher goal--creating spiritual love over romantic possession. (Amazon)
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Mormon America
by Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling
San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1999
Mormon America grew out of a 1997 Time magazine cover story called "Mormon's Inc." One of the reporters on that story, Richard Ostling, became so fascinated by Mormonism that he set out to write "a candid but non-polemical" overview of the Church, beginning with its founding by Joseph Smith Jr. in 1830 and continuing to the present day. The resulting book is a marvel of clarity, organization, and analysis. (Amazon.com)
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Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home
by Richard O. Foster
San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1992
Foster, Quaker theologian and best-selling author, provides an excellent and comprehensive survey of 21 forms of Christian prayer. He groups the sections around three movements (inward, upward, and outward) which address three human needs (transformation, intimacy, and ministry). Foster presents the best thinking of various church traditions to help the reader feel drawn to prayer and to a restored and deeper relationship with oneself, God, and others. (Library Journal)
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Readings for Meditation and Reflection
by C.S. Lewis
Edited by Walter Hooper
New York: HarperCollins, 1992
Known throughout the world as the intellect behind The Chronicles of Narnia and as the twentieth century's most influential Christian writer, C. S. Lewis has stirred millions of readers through his probing insights, passionate arguments, and provocative questions about God, love, life, and death. (Amazon.com)
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Receiving the Day
by Dorothy C. Bass
San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 2000
Bass, a historian of the Christian tradition and editor of Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for Searching People, dissects the elusive concept of time within the realm of Christian theology and practices. Using rich personal stories, she shares how time is truly a gift to be savored, not a tempest to be tamed. Bass understands the societal stress men and women feel to produce and provide within ever-decreasing time slots. (Publishers Weekly)
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Tell Me Why: A Father Answers His Daughter’s Questions about God
by Michael and Jana Novak
New York: Pocket Books, 1998
For anyone exploring a spiritual life for the first time -- and all those brought up in a religion without ever understanding why -- here is a rare chance to eavesdrop on a conversation between a believing father and a skeptical daughter about God, faith, and morals. At once warm, blunt, and down-to earth, this extraordinary book is a trustworthy and thought-provoking guide. (Amazon.com)
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The Unvarnished Gospels
Translated by Andy Gaus
Putney, Vt.: Threshold Books. (Now available from Shambhala Publications.), 1988
A groundbreaking new translation of the four Gospels. Many translations have been produced in modern English but they all interpret the original Greek in the light of later Christian doctrine. Andy Gaus is the first translator to give us the unvarnished meaning of the original Greek just as a person of the time would have read it. Thus Gaus translates mistake instead of sin, sky instead of heaven, breath instead of spirit, and many other startling thought-provoking readings. (Amazon.com)
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Learning to Hear with the Heart
by Debra K. Farrington
Jossey-Bass Inc., 2003
As faithful Christians, it is important we hear, see, feel, and think with the heart, for it is through the heart that we attune ourselves to the Spirit and to what God wishes for each of us. Learning to Hear with the Heart — written as a companion for your discernment journey— invites you to spend thirty days listening for God's guidance not only for the big questions of your life but for everyday matters as well. (Jossey-Bass Inc.)
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Jim's Last Summer
by Teresa Rhodes McGee
Orbis Books, 2002
Teresa McGee was struggling with arthritis, anger, and a sense of sin. Her friend Jim Lenihan, a 72-year-old Maryknoll missioner, lay dying in a nursing home. It was Jim's last summer. For Teresa it was a new beginning. "The last time I sat by his bed," writes Teresa, "there seemed nothing left of Jim but his essential goodness." That goodness remains, in Teresa, and in her moving story of friendship, faith, and rebirth. (From the Publisher)Buy This Book
The Foreign Missionary Enterprise at Home
by Daniel H. Bays (Editor), Grant Wacker (Editor)
Univ of Alabama Pr, 2003
This collection of academic essays about the missionary movement should be on the shelves of every college and university library. High-profile scholars such as Grant Wacker, Edith Blumhofer and Laurie Maffly-Kipp investigate how the foreign missionary enterprise changed people on the home front, arguing that "the standard textbooks on U.S. history have virtually ignored the missionary's domestic significance." (Publishers Weekly)
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The Trinity Guide to the Trinity
by William J. La Due
Trinity Press International, 2003
"From early on we are told that the Trinity is a mystery," writes La Due, a London librarian and Catholic commentator. "We were not expected to understand it, but simply to believe it." This volume goes a long way toward helping Christians understand the history of the doctrine of the Trinity. La Due opens with biblical sections that relate how scholars such as Walter Brueggeman, Gerhard von Rad and Karl Rahner have traced the evolution of the Trinity in Scripture. (Publishers Weekly)
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Warriors of the Lord
by Michael Walsh
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2003
In the Middle Ages, writes Walsh, "military orders" flourished as they fought the Crusades, fueled the "reconquista" and furthered missionary outreach to distant lands. Most of these once-famous orders, such as the Knights Templar, the Teutonic Knights and the Knights of St. John, have not survived to the present day, their influence declining after "the crusading spirit grew colder." But their story is a fascinating glimpse into a distant past in which being a "soldier-monk" was not an oxymoron. Walsh's text is wonderfully accessible and well written, and is complemented by more than 100 illustrations and maps. (Publishers Weekly)
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How Much is Enough?
by Arthur Simon
Baker Books, 2003
"Why is it that in the face of unprecedented prosperity, so many of us feel discontented?" asks Simon, founder and past president of Bread for the World. In this hard-hitting and well-written book, Simon encourages North American Christians to examine how their materialistic culture has stunted their compassion and driven a wedge between themselves and God. (Publishers Weekly)
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Everyday Grace
by Marianne Williamson
Berkley Publishing Group, 2002
Although many people may perceive the achievement of mystical union with the divine as an arduous feat, requiring fasting, pilgrimage and mortification of the flesh, spirituality diva Williamson says "thirty minutes each morning" of "quality time with God" will do the trick. (Publishers Weekly)
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A Life God Rewards
by Bruce Wilkinson
Multnomah Publishing, 2002
Christians who are curious about the hereafter and what they can expect from it will be educated and comforted by this entry in Dr. Bruce Wilkinson's Breakthroughs series. Wilkerson, the man behind the bestsellers The Prayer of Jabez and Secrets of the Vine, here shows how the Bible presents a surprisingly vivid picture of what comes after death, and explains how Christians can make the most of the experience by being closer to God now. (Barnes & Noble)
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The Prayer of Jabez
by Bruce Wilkinson
Multnomah Publishing, 2001
Experience God's miraculous power and blessing by following the model of Jabez, one of the Bible's most overlooked heroes of the faith, in this extraordinary teaching from Dr. Bruce Wilkinson. (Amazon.com)
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