Our Hearts Are Restless: The Art of Spiritual Memoir

Lischer (Just Tell the Truth), a professor emeritus at Duke Divinity School, examines the genre of spiritual memoir in this eloquent and discerning analysis. Unpacking mostly Christian writings by the likes of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, John Bunyan, Harriet Jacobs, and C.S. Lewis, Lischer suggests that spiritual autobiographies usually resemble one or more of seven narrative arcs, which include the “battle between belief and unbelief” and pilgrimages to discover “something larger” than oneself. Augustine’s Confessions, which Lischer credits with inventing the spiritual memoir, exemplifies the “search and surrender” story in its candid reflections on how Augustine’s travels across Europe helped him discover his faith. Other narratives hinge on revelation, such as Julian of Norwich’s account of watching Jesus’s blood flow on a priest’s crucifix as she lay on what she thought would be her deathbed. Lischer’s deep love for his subject shines throughout, and his examples capture the “richness and diversity” that the genre has to offer, as when he provides a provocative reading of James Baldwin’s account of attending church in Harlem, or when he sensitively interprets the writings of Holocaust martyr Etty Hillesum. As Augustine once wrote, “Pick it up and read.” (Jan.)