Acts

In this affecting if occasionally inaccessible book, noted novelist Woiwode ( Indian Affairs ) uses Acts, ``the most overtly narrative book of the New Testament,'' to frame his meditations on his work and faith. Once an ``agnostic humanist, a hedonist roarer,'' later a writer with critical success and money but no peace, Woiwode began a spiritual odyssey that led him to settle with his family on a farm in North Dakota. His growing religious passion lost him some friends but helped him see his writing as Christian service. A critic of the organized church with some conservative impulses, Woiwode argues that it is ``inadvisable'' for churches to send money overseas if local members are in need. As ``a fairly representative modern,'' he suggests people should ``wrestle'' with Scripture, not ``exclude passages that disagree with personal views.'' Woiwode is an adroit writer, but, though he claims to be addressing ``the needs of the student I once was,'' his account may be too intricate for the uninitiated. (May)