Original RBL Reviews

Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well

Billy Graham. Thomas Nelson, $19.99 (192p) ISBN 978-0-8499-4832-9

Christianity’s powerhouse evangelist has grown old, yet his words are strong as ever. At age 93, Graham applies his trademark optimism to a tender, often overlooked subject--how to age with purpose. Addressing a broad audience, from active retirees to the bedridden and even the young, he stresses the importance of preparing for old age and remaining occupied throughout one’s golden years. Using biblical examples (e.g., Noah was more than 500 years old when he built the ark) and words like “retirement should not put us on the shelf,” he emboldens the elderly and encourages forward momentum. Perhaps more enticing is the book’s attention to the practical: protecting your investments, making a living will, planning for your death, etc. The reader would benefit from a companion workbook or a list of resources that would make it easier to track down recommended planning materials. Still, aging readers will appreciate a voice that “gets” them, an author who has felt the aches of physical ailments and widowhood. His closing manifesto is a beautiful amen at the end of a long career. (Oct.)

Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism

Alvin Plantinga. Oxford Univ., $27.95 (336p) ISBN 978-0-19-981209-7

Plantinga, a professor of philosophy at Notre Dame (Essays on the Metaphysics of Modality) looks at theories whose implications have challenged religion. He examines the scientific theories within natural selection, Darwinism, evolution, and evolutionary psychology, as well as popular atheism, seeking to compare theism to the best of science and discovering that scientists can live in a religious world. Plantinga does not see a conflict between faith and the theory of evolution. In his zest to prove his points, he frequently uses the philosopher’s tool of syllogism, requiring close attention from the reader. Through some fine philosophical tuning, he is able to prove the existence of God, and in the end he locates a conflict for scientists, not believers. "My conclusion, therefore, is that there is superficial conflict but deep concord between science and theistic belief, but superficial concord and deep conflict between science and naturalism. Given that naturalism is at least quasi-religion, there is indeed a science/religion conflict, all right, but it is not between science and theistic religion: it is between science and naturalism," the author writes. This is not light reading, and it is recommended for readers seeking a rigorous philosophical survey of complex religious thought. (Dec.)

Prophetic Encounters: Religion and the American Radical Tradition

Dan McKanan. Beacon Press, $34.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-8070-1315-1

“There have always been American radicals,” writes McKanan (The Catholic Worker After Dorothy), “and those radicals have always drawn strength from their diverse faiths…” Spanning U.S. history from African Methodist Episcopal Church member Frederick Douglass’ first public speech in 1841 to the contemporary climate-change movement 350 founded by a Methodist Sunday School teacher, McKanan’s timely portrayal of American religious radicalism is as intimate as it is bold. Arguing that the conversation between radical action for social justice and prophetic religious imagination constitutes a living American tradition, he reunites distinct social movements with their forebears and descendants. Additionally, he elevates personal encounters between leftist leaders as a source of encouragement, revelation, and prophetic power, whether religious or secular. The tapestry of these relationships is warm and complex, as we see in the wedding of Quaker Angelina Grimké to Presbyterian Theodore Weld, officiated by William Lloyd Garrison; anarchist Dorothy Day’s meeting with French Catholic philosopher Peter Maurin; and yeshiva-educated Saul Alinsky’s work with Catholic Bishop Bernard Sheil, which led to the training of a community organizer named Cesar Chavez. There are plenty of surprises here for readers intrigued by the American radical tradition, of which the Occupy movement’s demands for economic justice may be the most current iteration. (Nov.)

Planetary Healing: Spirit Medicine for Global Transformation

Nicki Scully and Mark Hallert. Bear & Company, $18 trade paper (288p) ISBN 978-1-59143-130-5

Scully has been teaching and practicing alchemical healing, Egyptian mysteries, and shamanic journeying tools dedicated to personal and planetary healing for twenty-five years. She and co-author and business partner Hallert provide specific shamanic visualizations and initiations for resolving the chaos and change facing the global community, including pollution-based diseases, natural and man-made disasters, and environmental degradation. The imperative to become a catalyst for change is underscored with personal healing stories and shamanic responses to epic disasters (such as 9/11, Chernobyl, and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill). Both visionary and pragmatic, the spiritual practices and rites of passage offered—“spirit medicine”—are a gateway to connecting with the animating force of life itself, in order to effect spontaneous conscious evolution and manifest a new world that benefits all. Includes a 78-minute CD of guided visualization. (Nov.)

Becoming A Couple of Destiny: Living, Loving, and Creating A Life That Matters

Joseph W. Walker III and Stephaine Walker. $17.95 (240p) ISBN 978-1-4267-1198-5

Bishop Walker, who leads the 25,000-member Mount Zion Baptist Church in Nashville, and his wife, Stephaine Walker, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, have penned a short modern-day guide for couples of faith. The book is the third on the topic of relationships for Pastor Walker, and with the inclusion of his wife’s perspective, is reminiscent of the work of John and Stasi Eldredge (Captivating). Most of the chapters combine the perspectives of both husband and wife, with some memoir from the Walkers’ courtship and marriage. Their stories are followed by talking points, or questions, for couples seeking a mix of therapy, inspiration, and motivation in their relationships. The book’s matter-of-fact tone makes it an easy read, and while Scripture is present throughout, there are also practical guides to sustaining space, maintaining room for each other in the midst of chaos, and establishing a plan for couples to fulfill God’s purpose for their relationships. (Nov.)

Ten Popes Who Shook the World

Eamon Duffy. Yale Univ., $25 (160p) ISBN 978-0-300-17688-9

Catholic or not, many people hold strong opinions about the papacy. Catholics assert that this institution is 2,000 years old and was established by Jesus himself. Even the disapproving cannot deny that the papacy has had a powerful influence on the world for two millennia. Duffy, professor of Christian history at Cambridge University and author of Saints and Sinners, has chosen to focus on ten popes who affected the social, economic, religious, and political scene around the world. In brief but informative chapters, the author explores the lives of these men who, while very different, ascended to power as bishop of Rome and used that power in sometimes extraordinary and sometimes problematic ways. Examples include John XXIII, who emerged from a humble peasant background to lead the Catholic Church into the late 20th century by calling the Second Vatican Council, and Pius XII, who remained silent during the Nazi atrocities of World War II. The author is an accomplished writer who is able to make history read like a dramatic novel. Some may protest the choice of popes, but with over 250 to pick from, selection would be a monumental task for anyone. Those looking for a concise and even entertaining primer to the papacy will find this collection, if not infallible, at least very worthwhile. (Nov. 29)

Sneak Peeks: Religion Book Reviews Coming in PW November 14

Real Marriage: The Truth about Sex, Friendship, and Life Together

Mark and Grace Driscoll. Thomas Nelson, $22.99 (304p) ISBN 978-1-4002-0383-3

High-profile pastor Driscoll and his wife, Grace, have not only pulled back the curtain on the condition of marriage but have opened wide the door to their own home, taking readers into arguments, dating life, mistakes, and healing in their own marriage. While written from a theological point of view, they also did their homework in a wide range of therapeutic marriage books and have done thousands of hours of counseling and teaching marriage seminars along with their regular teaching in their Seattle church, Mars Hill. This is a book about married friendship, sexuality, healing broken marriages, and “reverse engineering” a marriage that will last—beginning with a vision of the end result and working back toward that. It includes no-holds-barred chapters on sex—how Mark held sex as “god” and Grace as “gross” and how they together discovered sex as a “gift” from God. The Driscolls’ Neo-Reformed views come shining through, with much emphasis on sin’s role in wrecking marriages today and Christ’s role in redeeming them. Taken to heart and put into practice, this boldly refreshing approach can change couples across America by letting God do the changing. (Jan.)

Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine

Eric Weiner. Hachette/Twelve, $26.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-446-53947-0

Former NPR reporter Weiner (The Geography of Bliss) turns his journalistic and travel-writing skills to the terrain of the inner life in this ironic, informative, if somewhat flat, spirituality memoir. A more-or-less agnostic cultural Jew, Weiner decides in midlife to get serious about investigating God—is there a God, and if so what is God like? To answer these questions, the author travels around the world, apprenticing himself (briefly) to teachers and practitioners of eight different religious traditions, from Sufism to shamanism. He reads Rumi in Istanbul and takes a mikvah dip in Tzfat, Israel. Franciscans bring him along to an antiabortion protest, and Jamie, a witch in the Pacific northwest, helps him crash a coven and sends him stern e-mail telling him to address his chronic depression. Winsome, self-deprecating humor marks every page. But the spiritual takeaways Weiner offers feel a bit thin—as when, at the end of his time in Nepal, he concludes that the fleetingness of an experience (be that experience life or breakfast) makes the moment not “less sweet,” but “more. Definitely more.” (Dec. 5)

Children’s Religion/Spirituality: Original RBL Reviews

Picture Books

Goodnight, Angels

Melody Carlson, illus. by Sophie Allsopp. Zonderkidz, $15.99 trade paper (32p) ISBN 978-0-310-71687-7

Prolific author Carlson writes a good-night lullaby, following a child as he winds down from an active day to bid goodnight to cat, dog, rubber ducky, dad, mom, God, and angels. Carlson’s pleasant rhyming couplets go thud as they conclude (“Goodnight to the quiet night. My eyes are getting sleepy./Goodnight to the angels … watching over me.”) But her illustrator partner Allsopp (Thank You, God!) keeps it regular and engaging, with lots of comforting repeated visual elements (pets, a teddy bear, a blanket). Muted color and simple detailing lull the eye as the pages turn. Ages 4-7. (Dec.)

I Imagine: A Child’s Book of Prayers

Rachel Rivett, illus. by Mique Moriuchi. Lion (Kregel and IPG, dists.), $12.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-7459-6208-5

This charming picture book about the uses and types of prayer starts with a simple conceit. A child asks God for help, and God shows the child the beauty of nature. “…the earth opens like a book and I can read the wisdom there,” the young speaker tells the reader, and from this premise the book unfolds. Each page features a different child and contains a prayer for a different emotion entwined in an appreciation of an aspect of the natural world, such as the sun, rocks in a river, a tree in the wind. A table of contents lists the prayers (“If I’m Sad,” “If I’m Full of Joy,” “If I’m Worried, ” and others), keyed to the varied emotional needs prayer can meet. Illustrations by Moriuchi (That’s Love; Goodnight Prayers)--using abstract, simplified figures and backgrounds in strong colors reminiscent of Eric Carle’s chunky cut-outs--delight and soothe. Parents as well as children will appreciate this non-denominational prayer book in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Ages 5-7. (Nov.)

Fiction

The Merchant’s Daughter

Melanie Dickerson. Zondervan, $9.99 trade paper (272p) ISBN 978-0-310-72761-3

Christy Award-winner Dickerson (The Healer’s Apprentice) has once again done her historical homework in this tale set in England in 1352. Annabel Chapman, whose family possessed commercial wealth until financial disaster literally sank her father’s business, is forced into indentured servitude to Lord Ranulf le Wyse to compensate for the family’s inability to pay a levy owed to le Wyse. If you know Beauty and the Beast, you know le Wyse; he is ill-tempered and hirsute, his manner and facial hair hiding scars both physical and emotional. Annabel must also fight off the unwanted attentions of Tom the Bailiff, whom she will not accept in marriage. She is educated enough to know how to read, and her reading of the Bible to le Wyse opens an unexpected connection between the two that naturally and slowly grows. This riff on Beauty and the Beast makes the story as comfortable as a pair of old shoes, but the shoes fit well. The Christian apparatus in the tale is natural and a nice twist links the Bible, literacy, and women’s empowerment. Ages 12-up. (Dec.)

On the Virtual Shelves: Web Exclusive Religion Book Reviews

Ir-Rev-Rend

Greg Surratt (FaithWords, Sept.)

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-446-57212-0

Children’s Religion/Spirituality

The Story of Christmas

Illus. by Pamela Dalton (Chronicle/Handprint, Dec.)

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4521-0470-6

The Invention of Lefse: A Christmas Story

Larry Woiwode (Crossway, Sept.)

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4335-2736-4

Dragons of Starlight: Diviner

Bryan Davis (Zondervan, Sept.)

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-310-71838-3