Original RBL Reviews
Living Into Focus: Choosing What Matters in an Age of Distractions
Arthur Boers. Brazos, $17.99 trade paper (256p) ISBN 978-1-58743-314-6
Boers (The Way Is Made by Walking) offers a needed antidote to the way of life he maintains has hijacked our humanity: technology addiction. A Benedictine oblate, the author summons readers to become intentional about habits that will cost something--write a letter instead a shoot off an email--rather than default continually to the path of least resistance and pick up the TV remote. He defines the distraction of technology as low-threshold activity (or better, non-activity) that diminishes humans and breaks down connectedness to people and one’s sense of place. Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who receives a text message and cuts you off to answer it? The commitment to reverse this fragmentation is what he calls “eccentric faithfulness”: stay connected to those in our families and communities face to face, heart to heart. That takes “focal practices” that demand more but render intangible returns--the ballast of authentic belonging. Have dinners with family; take walks in the woods with friends (real friends, not of a button-pushing kind); play with children. The book is lengthy and tightly written, and makes demands of the reader for patience. But that, one presumes, is precisely the point. (Jan.)
Sexperiment: 7 Days to Lasting Intimacy with Your Spouse
Ed and Lisa Young. FaithWords, $21.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-446-58272-8
A pastor couple writing a sex book seems like an Iowa corn farmer writing a travel book on Las Vegas. In 2008, Ed Young proposed a “sexperiment” in Fellowship Church, his church in Grapevine, Texas: married couples should have sex seven days in a row and singles should stop having sex. The book version is not over-sharing. It manages--if anything--to be light on sexual content. It does, however, expound on numerous Bible texts, including, extensively, the Song of Solomon. The chapters read like sermons patched together, with some resulting redundancy.While the book is confessional and full of good stories about temptation and hard work on the marriage relationship, the authors write more about expected rather than actual outcomes of the sexperiment. Nor do readers get much information on how the authors themselves came to and went through the sexperiment.Ironically, they manage to make this heart-pounding subject somewhat boring. But if more married couples put the book down and have sex "creatively," "intentionally," and "unselfishly," the book's stated purpose will have been nailed. (Jan.)
Finding Your Way In a Wild New World: Reclaiming Your True Nature
Martha Beck. Free Press, $26, (336p) ISBN 978-1-4516-2448-9
This book begins by dropping the reader in the midst of a tense moment, in which Beck (Finding Your Own North Star) is face to face with a wild momma rhino that is ready to charge. Her heart fluttering, the author wonders, “How did I get here,” and “What should I do now?” Appropriately, these are the questions Beck, a life coach, answers in this book about finding our way through the “wild new world of the twenty-first century.” With the skill of a seasoned safari guide, Beck tracks non-verbal awareness, what she calls “the technologies of magic”: Wordlessness; Oneness; Imagination; and Forming, the art of directing these perceptions in physical space and time. Lively metaphorical prose and unexpected but clear exercises point us in the direction of “feeling” our way through “the signals that arise continuously from our own environment and our own instincts.” Social science, ancient knowledge, client stories, four-footed friends, and candid self-revelations are in the mix of this amusing, accessible, and transformative guide to creating the life you really want. (Dec. 27)
A Little Book of Love: Heart Advice on Bringing Happiness to Ourselves and Our World
Moh Hardin. Shambhala, $14.95 (160p) ISBN 978-1-59030-900-1
Describing love as “a way of being present and awake in the world,” this short guide presents a Buddhist perspective on enhancing love for others and oneself. “I believe in the little-drop approach,” writes Hardin, a 40-year practitioner and senior teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition. Indeed, he focuses on a technique of giving flashes—brief moments of openness and generosity towards others. The book begins with extending friendship to oneself and loving one’s partner and children; the second part describes the “bodhisattva’s path,” turning love toward the larger world. Chapters delve into the four immeasurables (love, compassion, joy, and equanimity) and the six perfections. The book’s strengths lie in Hardin’s emphasis on the innate goodness of all human beings and the need to start with self-acceptance, as well as his ability to explain simply such confusing topics as the concept of ego in Buddhism. Practices for the reader are included. This gentle book both reassures and encourages individuals seeking to increase their ability to love. (Dec. 27)
Women, Spirituality and Transformative Leadership: Where Grace Meets Power
Edited by Kathe Schaaf, Kay Lindahl, Kathleen S. Hurty, and Guo Cheen. SkyLight Paths, $24.99 (250p) ISBN 978-1-59473-313-0
The editors weave together a beautiful collection of essays and poetry in this empowering book about the Divine Feminine and the role that women of spirit and faith need to play in birthing a socially just world. Featuring the voices of North American women from diverse faith traditions, Schaaf, Lindahl (The Sacred Art of Listening), Hurty, and Cheen explore the relationships between women, spirituality, and leadership, and bridge any divide between feminism and religion. The authors encourage women to recognize their transformative power, claim their right to be spiritual leaders, and live out their values; they argue that “when women’s maternal concerns for their children extend to all children, when women have an equal say with men in making decisions at every level, when women’s ability to look after others and budget limited resources is valued, then peace and a sustainable world will be possible.” Each section of the book is followed by a series of suggested questions, meditations, and activities--such as circle practice--that invite the reader to continue and deepen her journey as a woman of spirit. A highly recommended book for women of all faiths who seek to use their feminine wisdom to heal a broken and troubled world. (Dec.)
Countercultural Conservatives: American Evangelicalism from the Postwar Revival to the New Christian Right
Axel R. Schäfer. Univ. of Wisconsin, $29.95 trade paper (228p) ISBN 978-0-299-28524-1
There is nothing about evangelical theology that necessitates a conservative political worldview, argues Schäfer, a professor of American studies in the United Kingdom. In this history of evangelical organizations and leaders from the 1940s to the mid-1990s, Schäfer (American Progressives and German Social Reform, 1875-1920) contends that evangelicalism has always been an internally contentious and divided movement: simultaneously modern and orthodox; suspicious of capitalism and pro- consumerist; biblically authoritative and sometimes ecstatically mystical. The most illuminating aspect of the book is how “new evangelicals” in the 1960s, particularly a segment of the influential National Association of Evangelicals, advocated progressive political stances contrary to the moral rigidity and economic conservatism of the evangelical establishment. Elements of the counterculture like emotionalism, public confession, and spontaneity were also absorbed and accommodated into the evangelical Jesus Movement. Nevertheless, progressive impulses within evangelicalism were eventually suppressed by a move toward cultural conservatism and moral absolutism that manifested in the New Christian Right. Despite the ponderous prose and the fact that much of the book merely consolidates scholarship by others in the field, it still underscores the inconsistencies of conservative politics and religion in the U.S. (Dec.)
Sneak Peeks: Religion Book Reviews Coming in PW December 12
God’s Jury: The Inquisition and the Making of the Modern World
Cullen Murphy. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $27 (320p) ISBN 978-0-618-09156-0
In 1998, the Vatican opened the Archivio della Congregazione per Dottrina della Fede, the Inquisition archive, thereby unveiling to the world the secrets of censorship and persecution that the Catholic Church had hidden since the Middle Ages. Journalist Murphy (The Word According to Eve) visits the archives several times and in his typically compelling style leads readers on a journey through the many inquisitions conducted by the Church over time, from the Spanish Inquisition to the Roman Inquisition of the 16th century. Murphy convincingly demonstrates that while the inquisitions most often are associated with the Church, they arise anytime an organization, state, or institution possesses and uses tools—such as censorship and torture—to stoke and manage suspicion, intolerance, and hatred of the other. Inquisitions require a system of law that can be administered with uniformity, the power to conduct interrogations and extract information, a bureaucracy with a large staff of individuals to administer it, a capacity to restrict the communications of others, and a source of power to ensure enforcement. Murphy powerfully shows that the impulse to inquisition can quietly take root in any system—civil or religious—that orders our lives. (Jan. 17)
The Buddha Walks into a Bar...: A Guide to Life for a New Generation
Lodro Rinzler. Shambhala, $14.95 trade paper (208p) ISBN 978-1-59030-937-7
Can the younger generation discover Buddhism more easily if Siddhartha Gautama is referred to as Sid? That is an open question in this guide by Rinzler, a 28-year-old teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition. Aiming at young people who “like to have a beer once in a while, enjoy sex, have figured out that [their] parents are crazy, or get frustrated at work,” Rinzler explores classic Buddhist techniques and concepts such as shamatha (calm abiding) and vipashyana (insight) meditation, the five kleshas (afflictive emotions), and the six paramitas (perfections). His lens for doing so is the “four dignities” (tiger, snow lion, garuda [part bird, part man], and dragon) of Shambhala Buddhism, based on teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and currently led by his son Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. Examples are drawn from situations that might be encountered by 20-somethings coping with work and relationship challenges; practices are included. Rinzler’s focus on distinctive aspects of the warrior training taught by Shambhala Buddhism may narrow this guide’s appeal compared to more comprehensive introductions to this Eastern philosophy. (Jan. 10)
A First Look at the Stars: Starred Reviews Coming in PW December 12
Three Free Sins: Recovering a Neglected Perspective on Sin and Grace
Steve Brown. Howard, $14.99 trade paper (240p) ISBN 978-1-4516-1226-4
Brown (What Was I Thinking?) intends his approach to be controversial. He tells how he has used the gimmick of “three free sins” to engage listeners to his radio show and has been rewarded with no shortage of unkind remarks. Brown explains his unorthodox delivery in this way: “I decided to ditch the theological and religious words, and to be as outrageous as God was in his giving of himself for us.” While the title may appear brash, its underlying concept is certainly orthodox Protestant Christian teaching. Brown asserts that all sins are “free” for Christian believers because Jesus paid the price for them at his crucifixion. Brown proposes that, instead of trying to be holy, Christians admit and embrace what they really are: forgiven. The book is peppered with humorous tales and personal testimonies that Brown has collected over more than 25 years as a Christian pastor, radio host, and seminary professor, to prove his point. The result is a refreshingly candid view of how Brown sees humans and their relationship with God. Agent: Wolgemuth & Associates. (Feb.)
Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis
Lauren F. Winner. HarperOne, $24.99 (256p) ISBN 978-0-06-176811-8
In present-tense, lyrical essays of varying lengths, some brief paragraphs, others pages long, the author explores her emotional landscape as she struggles to move beyond the depression that plagues her following her mother’s death and her own divorce. Examining feelings of grief, failure, and doubt that she never expected to encounter after her conversion from Judaism to Christianity, Winner’s (Girl Meets God) use of rhythm and image bring poetic nuances to her exquisitely crafted prose. Narrative accounts of visiting her mother’s grave; “the failed cool-professor moment;” infiltrating a synagogue, in costume, to participate in Purim; and a church visit that results in her holding hands with “one of the people from whom Jesus would have cast a demon” all provide an intimate window into a seeker trying to find equilibrium in a stage of faith and life that is neither beginning nor end, but, she fears, “an extended sojourn into the spiritual equivalent of middle school.” Evocative section titles (“hospitality: an icon,” “female saints, their intimacy with Jesus”) and quotes from poets, theologians, and friends prove inviting, while a circumspect honesty conveys both intimacy and privacy. Author interview included. (Feb.)
Awaken Your Senses: Exercises for Exploring the Wonder of God
J. Brent Bill and Beth A. Booram. InterVarsity, $15 trade paper (208p) ISBN 978-0-8308-3560-7
Modeling the best Sunday school teachers, Bill (Sacred Compass)and Booram (The Wide Open Spaces of God) get close to God via the five senses. The journey could so easily have been a skip instead of a sail; however, they truly manifest the book’s purpose: “to help more of you experience more of God.” The two ministers and workshop leaders accomplish this so well with natural sweetness from the inside, not with treacle glopped on top. Starting with the cover illustrations—a rose, a bird singing treble, threatening thorns, and a bitten pear, each image superimposing on another—the book divides naturally into five parts. Each chapter begins with questions based on pencil drawings by artist Marcy Jean Stacey. Within each chapter, the authors alternate essays, their voices nearly indistinguishable except for Bill’s wittier bits; they touch on the personal, such as Booram’s sacred hospital smells. Each chapter includes spiritual exercises. The two cite the Bible’s raising up of the five senses, augmented with quotes from many sensate Christians. It adds up toa deeply pleasing book. (Feb.)
In Heaven as It Is on Earth: Joseph Smith and the Early Mormon Conquest of Death
Samuel Morris Brown. Oxford Univ., $29.95 (400p) ISBN 978-0-19-979357-0
Mormonism is much in the news these days, primarily due to two Mormons running for the presidency. In fact, from its earliest days, the religion of the Saints has attracted notice for its expansive doctrinal innovations and its unusual lifestyle. In this groundbreaking and important volume, Brown, assistant professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Utah, delves deeply into the many streams of thought that informed Smith’s formulation of the life hereafter. He shows how, when integrated into the larger Mormon scheme of temple-based worship, priesthood authority, and the ongoing ministration of angels, while somewhat foreign to modern thought, early Mormon beliefs display “a stunning ambition and coherence.” And this is, after all, the genius of Joseph Smith. Emerging at a time of intense religious competition, Smith and his closest associates developed a wonderfully complex belief system that mapped out the next life with clarity and consistency. Brown offers us a masterful look at this intriguing aspect of the Mormon worldview. This is must reading for students of the American religious tradition. (Jan.)
Children’s Religion/Spirituality: Original RBL Reviews
The Lion Book of Two-Minute Parables
Elena Pasquali, illus. Nicola Smee. Lion (Trafalgar Square/IPG, dist.), $12.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-7459-6201-6
Jesus related parables to his audience to make a point; the moral points of those symbolic stories are clear, even if the parables require patience. Two-minute parables don’t require a lot of patience, but the retellings by Pasquali (The Three Trees) do necessitate some thought. Author and illustrator together produce lively stories: animals, foodstuffs, and other visual details illustrator Smee sprinkles into the scenes she creates serve to humanize the stories. But such parables as the prodigal son and the wise and foolish virgins are still provocative and puzzling, even when simplified for kids. Young children can learn cultural references and traditional wisdom from this charming treatment. Ages 3-5. (Feb.)
Through My Eyes: A Quarterback’s Journey
Tim Tebow with Nathan Whitaker. Zondervan, $16.99 (216p) ISBN 978-1-310-72345-5
Tebow’s tale is recast for younger readers, one sure sign of a hot property. The Denver Broncos quarterback was born to missionary parents in the Philippines, and his mother’s pregnancy was a difficult one. The athlete has led a charmed life--he would say blessed--since before his birth. The story of his young life, as he grew up in rural Florida and went on to win the Heisman Trophy, unsurprisingly centers on all things sports; as a youngster, he also played baseball. His message for young people is simple: work hard and listen to the people in charge. The rest of the book is inside-football details; diehard fans will love it, but kids not into play-by-play football commentary won’t find much here. Tebow’s story will be much more interesting in 10 years, when he has led more of a life. In the meantime, he is bringing back the idea of the athlete as hard worker and role model, a redevelopment many will welcome. Ages 8-up. (Dec.)
On the Virtual Shelves: Web Exclusive Religion Book Reviews
The Torah Revolution: Fourteen Truths That Changed the World
Reuven Hammer (Jewish Lights, Nov.)
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-58023-457-3%C2%A0
New Consciousness for a New World: How to Thrive in Transitional Times and Participate in the Coming Spiritual Renaissance
Kingsley L. Dennis (Inner Traditions, Sept.)
