Recommended religious/spiritual books
2013-January to June
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2013-January's selection
"Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening" by Diana Butler Bass
Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
Amazon's book description:
"The data is clear: religious affiliation is plummeting across the breadth of Christian denominations. And yet interest in 'spirituality' is on the rise. So what is behind the sea change in American religion? With the same comprehensive research and insider reporting that made Christianity for the Rest of Us an indispensable guide to cultivating thriving churches, Diana Butler Bass offers a fresh interpretation of the "spiritual but not religious" trend.
Bass—who has spent her career teaching the history, culture, and politics of religion, and engaging church communities across the nation—brings forth her deep knowledge of the latest national studies and polls, along with her own groundbreaking analysis, as she seeks to fully comprehend the decline in Christian attendance and affiliation that started decades ago—and has increased exponentially in recent years."
Available from Amazon.com in hardcover for $15.98 plus shipping, in paperback for $15.98 plus shipping, and in Kindle eBook format for $17.18. The Kindle price is a major rip off by the publisher HarperOne. If you buy a copy, we recommend that you send a letter of complaint to the publisher at feedback2@harpercollins.com.
Other reviews:
- "Bass has done it again! She’s spot on-prophetic, compelling, and most importantly, hopeful." (Rob Bell, author of Love Wins)
- "Refreshing, evocative, well informed and original." (Harvey Cox, author of The Future of Faith)
- "Bass explains how experience, connection, and service are replacing theology as keys to the next Great Awakening. It’s a fascinating story." (Bill McKibben, co-author of Earth under Fire, and founder of 360.org)
- "Interesting, insightful, impressive and important." (Marcus Borg, author of Speaking Christian)
- "…an important and life-giving book, written by … one of our finest religious writers." (Parker J. Palmer, author of Let Your Life Speak)
- "Join Bass in rebuilding religion from the bottom up!" (Richard Rohr, O.F.M., Center for Action and Contemplation and author of Falling Upward )
- "It is one blockbuster of an analysis that is also a delight to read." (Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence)
- "Diana reminds us here that, before every great awakening, folks say it is impossible... and after every great awakening, folks say it was inevitable." (Shane Claiborne, author and activist)
- "Of Bass’s many excellent books, this is the most substantive, provocative, and inspiring yet. . . . it leads to a powerful finale of sage guidance for the future." (Brian D. McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christianity)
- "Bass ably analyzes the struggle for awareness and change that defines spiritual awakening." (Publishers Weekly Religion Bookline)
2013-February's selection
"The River of God: A new history of Christian origins" by Gregory J. Riley
Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
Amazon's book description:
"Acclaimed author Gregory Riley embarks on a remarkable journey in this readable and persuasive account of the origins of Christianity. Riley demonstrates that early Christians held widely differing beliefs about God, Jesus, the Devil, and the human soul, and follows these beliefs back to their sources in Greek science and philosophy and the religions of the ancient Middle East. An expert on the context in which Christianity arose, Riley maps out a new understanding of the forging of Christianity, and conveys a vital message for today about the true nature of Christian faith as inherently diverse."
"Most helpful customer review" by K. R. Vincent:
"In The River of God, Gregory Riley shines light on much of the history of Christian origins often ignored by scholars. Most researchers of Christianity restrict themselves to the influence of the West (Greek and Roman) and often confuse Rabbinic Judaism with the Judaism of Jesus' times; Prof. Riley adds the whole of Middle Eastern religious history to the story of our search for God. Riley includes the development of Cannanite and Mesopotamian religion in the history of ancient Judaism. In addition to Greek ideas of Orphism, Pythagoreanism and Plato, he recognizes the Egyptian and Persian Zoroastrian influences on the development of Christian concepts of afterlife. Riley outlines the role of Persian Zoroastrianism on our understanding of Satan and a world savior. He details how various ancient religious models of God from both East and West as well as Greek science contributed to the development of our understanding of the division of body and soul and the creation of the doctrine of the Trinity in the fourth century. The River of God is not a general overview of world religions; it is specifically about the development of Christianity from a modern Christian perspective. Prof. Riley writes with a broad brush in his outline of the development of Christianity and, while scholars will quibble over some of the details and generalizations, I found The River of God to be an excellent overview of our understanding of "the process of the River of God."
Available from Amazon.com in paperback for $11.69 plus shipping. Curiously, it is not available in Kindle eBook format. Used copies are often available for little more than the $3.99 shipping cost. Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
2013-March's selection
"Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity" by Gregory J. Riley
Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
Amazon's book description:
Amazon's editors selected this title as one of the Best Books of the Month for 2012-NOV.
"Anyone who’s ever said (or heard or thought) the adage 'chip off the old block' might burrow into Andrew Solomon’s tome about the ways in which children are different from their parents--and what such differences do to our conventional ideas about family. Ruminative, personal, and reportorial all at once, Solomon--who won a National Book Award for his treatise on depression, The Noonday Demon -- begins by describing his own experience as the gay son of heterosexual parents, then goes on to investigate the worlds of deaf children of hearing parents, dwarves born into 'normal' families, and so on. His observations and conclusions are complex and not easily summarized, with one exception: The chapter on children of law-abiding parents who become criminals. Solomon rightly points out that this is a very different situation indeed: 'to be or produce a schizophrenic...is generally deemed a misfortune,' he writes. 'To...produce a criminal is often deemed a failure.' Still, parents must cope with or not, accept or not, the deeds or behaviors or syndromes of their offspring. How they do or do not do that makes for fascinating and disturbing reading." --Sara Nelson
Available from Amazon.com in hardcover for $22.20 plus shipping. It is available in Kindle eBook format for $24.94. The latter is clearly a price ripoff by Simon and Schuster Digital Sales. Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
2013-April's selection
Karen Armstrong, "The Battle For God, A History of Fundamentalism"
Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
Amazon.com review:
"About 40 years ago popular opinion assumed that religion would become a weaker force and people would certainly become less zealous as the world became more modern and morals more relaxed. But the opposite has proven true, according to theologian and author Karen Armstrong, ... who documents how fundamentalism has taken root and grown in many of the world's major religions, such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Even Buddhism, Sikhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism have developed fundamentalist factions. Reacting to a technologically driven world with liberal Western values, fundamentalists have not only increased in numbers, they have become more desperate, claims Armstrong, who points to the Oklahoma City bombing, violent anti-abortion crusades, and the assassination of President Yitzak Rabin as evidence of dangerous extremes.
Yet she also acknowledges the irony of how fundamentalism and Western materialism seem to urge each other on to greater excesses. To 'prevent an escalation of the conflict, we must try and understand the pain and perception of the other side,' she pleads. With her gift for clear, engaging writing and her integrity as a thorough researcher, Armstrong delivers a powerful discussion of a globally heated issue. Part history lesson, part wake-up call, and mostly a plea for healing, Armstrong's writing continues to offer a religious mirror and a cultural vision."
Amazon.com book description:
In our supposedly secular age governed by reason and technology, fundamentalism has emerged as an overwhelming force in every major world religion. Why? This is the fascinating, disturbing question that bestselling author Karen Armstrong addresses in her brilliant new book The Battle for God. Writing with the broad perspective and deep understanding of human spirituality that won huge audiences for A History of God, Armstrong illuminates the spread of militant piety as a phenomenon peculiar to our moment in history.
Contrary to popular belief, fundamentalism is not a throwback to some ancient form of religion but rather a response to the spiritual crisis of the modern world. As Armstrong argues, the collapse of a piety rooted in myth and cult during the Renaissance forced people of faith to grasp for new ways of being religious--and fundamentalism was born. Armstrong focuses here on three fundamentalist movements: Protestant fundamentalism in America, Jewish fundamentalism in Israel, and Islamic fundamentalism in Egypt and Iran--exploring how each has developed its own unique way of combating the assaults of modernity.
Blending history, sociology, and spirituality, The Battle for God is a compelling and compassionate study of a radical form of religious expression that is critically shaping the course of world history.
Karen Armstrong, "The Battle For God, A History of Fundamentalism", Ballentine Books, (2011). Available in paperback at $10.85 plus shipping or in Kindle versions for $22.04. Used copies are often available at much lower prices plus shipping. Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
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Copyright © 2013 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2013-FEB-01
Latest update: 2013-APR-02
Author: B.A. Robinson
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