Hamilton and Wilson (coauthors of Compassionate Conversations) draw on their experience as Zen Buddhist teachers and conflict mediators for this solid guide to fostering a “spirituality with teeth.” Citing the value of a pragmatic spiritual approach—one that builds skills to help others rather than simply healing oneself—the authors highlight such strategies as building community and forging stronger bonds with others through questioning, active listening, and reframing. Exploring how the principles behind meditation inspire communal practices, they compare seeking “oneness” with the world to finding common ground during conflicts, and describe how people can get in touch with their body and emotions to interact with others more intentionally. Throughout, the authors condense Zen teachings into a beginner-friendly overview that can feel repetitive at times, but they pepper the account with memorable bits of wisdom (“It takes time to discover the timeless”). Newbie practitioners will find the most value here. (June)

Reviewed on 03/28/2025 | Details & Permalink

Historian Tolan (Faces of Muhammad) traces in this vibrant and sweeping survey the 1,400-year evolution of Islam. Stressing Islam’s conceptual unity (“we are one umma”) and diverse reality, he tells its history by stitching together the stories of key figures. Among them are Um Waraqa, a woman who, at Mohammad’s request, led prayer at the second mosque in Medina; Rabia al-Adawi, an eighth-century flute player and founder of Sufism who rejected her many suitors to devote herself to writing poetry “to her one true love, God”; and early 15th-century Chinese Muslim admiral Lzheng He, who helped spread Islam to the Philippines and Indonesia while forging diplomatic and economic ties. Turning to the present day, Tolan highlights gaps between Quranic principle and Islamic societies (especially concerning the rights of women), and frames the clashes between politicized reactions to Islam—including fundamentalist terrorist organizations and an “anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant extreme right”—as a continuation of contests over the faith that have “been playing out for centuries.” Tolan’s impressive geographic scope and fine-grained historical detail combine for a masterful portrait of Islam as a religion and culture. The result is the definitive history of a complex faith. (May)

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

Elie (Reinventing Bach), a senior fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, probes the origins of the American culture wars in this detailed if oblique history. At the center of his account are the so-called “controverts” who used “crypto-religious” language, tropes, and images to undermine traditional religious beliefs in the 1980s. They include Andy Warhol, who expressed his complicated religious identity in silkscreen prints of apostles and Brillo boxes, the latter of which played on Catholic-inflected notions of the “ordinary as holy,” according to Elie. Also spotlighted are Madonna, who embodied a “struggle with traditional female ideals—of womanhood and motherhood, of virtue and erotic power,” and Martin Scorsese, whose long-delayed The Last Temptation of Christ cut against Christian ideas that Christ’s teachings were self-evident without historical interpretation. Elie situates this artistic ferment against the backdrop of an American Christian culture and a Catholic church that was grappling with sexual abuse within its ranks as well as the AIDS crisis. In the process, he probes how artists and popular culture understood and reacted to shifting currents of “authority and individual conscience,” devotion and desire, and institutional hypocrisy. While the implications of those questions are fascinating and the individual artist profiles are vivid, Elie struggles to slot the book’s various elements into a cohesive argument. It adds up to an intriguing yet disorganized portrait of a tumultuous decade. (May)

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

Sample (Human Nature, Interest, and Power), professor emeritus at the St. Paul School of Theology, spotlights in this comprehensive account small but effective practices that faith leaders can use to grow their ministry’s justice initiatives. He consults 43 clergy (mostly pastors, though he includes two rabbis) who cite the importance of forging close relationships with supporters and policymakers, as well as practicing self-care to remain healthy enough to further one’s cause. To better integrate with the community, pastor Tracy Blackmon recommends opening one’s church in the off-hours to local organizations that need the space, while pastor Billy Vaughan suggests creating in-person groups where church members can discuss justice programs or journal about scripture. Effectively capturing these and other approaches in language that can be refreshingly candid (“Assholes are an anvil where you hammer out love,” Jeremy Troxler explains about his efforts to handle difficult parishioners), Sample makes a convincing case for how small acts of community building enable big-picture change. Faith leaders on the lookout for fresh ideas will be inspired. (May)

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

Historian Young (Twilight of the Godlings) meticulously surveys the “last five centuries of Europe’s unchristianized peoples” under Christian rule. After Lithuania became the last European country to officially convert to Christianity in the 14th century, Young writes, “vast swathes” of unchristianized people remained on the continent, often “rejecting, ignoring, or incorporating” elements of the faith into their cultures. Lithuanian Samoglitans slotted elements of Christianity into existing religious frameworks, viewing the Christian God as simply “another deity among many,” while inhabitants of the Canary Islands “creolised” the faith by infusing “indigenous female power” into the “almost infinitely versatile cult of the Virgin Mary.” Young contends that other peoples ascribed to animistic notions of religion that so vastly differed from Christianity that they “flew under the radar” of leaders who believed they’d completely converted—the Sámi of Norway, Sweden, and Finland, for example, attended church while still practicing their native rites. Astutely acknowledging gaps in primary sources (many of which were written by Christian commentators), Young effectively complicates how religious and cultural identity are historically understood. Scholars of religion will want this on their bookshelves. (June)

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

Novelists Lippmann (Lech) and Rogoff (The Castle) take up the midrashic “practice of interpretive engagement with scripture” in this stimulating collection of unorthodox takes on Torah stories. Revising standard biblical interpretations, Rogoff’s “Cain and Abel” reimagines Cain as a loving brother who fails to provide a sufficient sacrifice and is forced by an infuriated God to kill his brother, raising questions about the inherent human desire “to submit, to have rules, to be ruled, to be subordinated.” Max Gross’s bitingly funny and moving reexamination of the Purim story, “Haman,” features a rabbi who grows steadily more antagonistic toward a Hebrew school student before realizing—when the student is cast as Mordechai in a Purim play—that he’s become, for the student, the villain of the story. Some entries stray further from their source material: Elisa Albert’s meandering “Make it Mean Something” discusses how social media has become a kind of “golden calf” that distracts from the “messy uncertainty” of an unpredictable world. The mix of approaches and tones makes for a thought-provoking reevaluation of biblical themes, exploring with particular care how power dynamics are negotiated and which characters are glorified or sidelined. It’s sure to spark conversation. (Apr.)

Correction: A previous version of this review used the wrong first name for editor and contributor Seth Rogoff.

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

The ability to change one’s life is “a gift from God,” according to this straightforward guide from bestseller Meyer (The Joy of an Uncluttered Life). Noting that reluctance to change is usually spurred by fear and stagnates personal growth, she frames self-transformation as key to spiritual progress, since God seeks to “mold us into the image of Jesus Christ.” To help manage the process, she encourages readers to acknowledge the circumstances that need to change, let go of bitterness by forgiving others, strive for progress rather than perfection, and remain patient as they build the “stability, wisdom, and stamina” to see and be fulfilled by the results. The author’s matter-of-fact prose is an effective vehicle for her own stories of change, including how she overcame childhood trauma and found a new identity in her faith. Her advice is solid if expected, though questions like “What toxic or destructive thoughts do you need to replace with God’s thoughts?” beg for more specific guidance. Still, this competent manual will satisfy Meyer’s fans. (May)

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

In these lyrical vignettes, essayist and Wacoan magazine columnist Mitchael (Copygirl) mines her life experiences to share with readers “the truth as thoroughly as I know it.” The brief, second-person pieces—many of which begin by questioning a piece of received wisdom—find Mitchael writing from the perspectives of her younger selves, including a child contemplating how she fits into the world (“You already feel pretty different from kids at school.... Your people are out there”) and a young woman standing up for herself by demanding a raise. Elsewhere, she reflects on her search as an adult for a different kind of spirituality than the “spoon-fed” religious didacticism of her childhood, even as she acknowledges that “choosing to believe” means she can no longer maintain an illusion of control over her life. (A section toward the end of the book nicely underscores this point as Mitchael considers the limits of driving one’s own destiny—“Whose fingers are at the keys? You will not know. Where is the train going? A mystery.”) The author’s insights are perceptive—“advice, it will seem more and more, is people telling you how they wish they had been courageous enough to live”—even if the second-person narration wears out its welcome as a rhetorical device. Seekers will find pearls of wisdom. (June)

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

New Yorker contributor Singh (Zoostalgia) brilliantly traces the evolution of shamanism across history. Exploring the practice’s psychological roots, he contends that shamanism answers a deep human need to manage uncertainty through its theatrical rituals, invocation of the supernatural, and elevation of shamans to superhuman status. Countering the notion that shamanism is a vestige of ancient societies, he tracks its development from the Paleolithic era to the first and second centuries, when early members of the Christian church regularly “enter[ed] ecstatic states and perform[ed] healing rituals,” through the 20th century, as it seeped into “seemingly enlightened spaces” by way of charismatic experts like money managers, who use “their models, degrees, personalities, and superhuman work schedules” to persuade clients that they can “control the uncontrollable.” Singh makes especially insightful points about how shamanism has engaged in a somewhat contradictory dance with religion, first influencing it and then threatening to siphon away adherents who crave a rawer spiritual experience. He frames the current spike of interest in trance, spirit possession, psychedelics, and other nontraditional forms of spirituality as a continuation of this search for “spiritual relief” in a society where institutionalized religion has lost appeal. Combining meticulous research and an excellent grasp of psychological and sociocultural theories, Singh paints a panoramic portrait of a little-understood subject. (May)

Reviewed on 03/07/2025 | Details & Permalink

Chaplain McNiel (Fearing Bravely) and pastor Hague (Aching Joy) deliver an approachable guide to tackling crises of faith. They trace how even strong religious identities can be dismantled by life challenges or new perspectives, resulting in a “death of faith” that leaves believers feeling lost and isolated. Arguing that this uncomfortable stage can be a productive period in one’s spiritual journey, the authors unpack how readers can harness feelings of betrayal to seek new “heroes of faith”—often those quietly doing good away from the spotlight—and use their doubts to create a more honest, intimate relationship with God. McNiel and Hague effectively normalize the crisis of faith by drawing a link to believers across time who’ve endured such struggles, including the Hebrews and Mother Theresa. Especially resonant is Hague’s account of his own midlife upheaval—a gradual process spurred by depression, family deaths, and his son’s health challenges. Delivered in a tone that’s hopeful without being Pollyannaish, this is a welcome resource for the spiritually adrift. (June)

Reviewed on 03/07/2025 | Details & Permalink