Books in Brief

Interfaith Books

-- Publishers Weekly, 3/24/2003

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES: What My Jewish Friends Taught Me About Jesus
Athol Dickson. Brazos, $16.99 paper (256p) ISBN 1-58743-048-7
"God loves an honest question," writes Dickson in what might be the thesis statement of this Bible-study-cum-interfaith book, a respectful exploration of what Christians might learn from their Jewish neighbors. For the last six years, Dickson, a CBA novelist whose latest fiction offering (They Shall See God) also featured some profound themes of Jewish-Christian dialogue, has participated in a Saturday morning Bible study at a local Reform synagogue. At first, he was horrified by the penetrating questions flying across the room, but he was also electrified by the candor. He felt himself drawing closer to God as he began examining his own assumptions. Dickson writes well, sprinkling the book with enough personal anecdotes to lend insight to the heavier textual analyses. (May)

DAUGHTERS OF THE DESERT: Stories of Remarkable Women from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Traditions
Claire Rudolf Murphy, Meghan Nuttall Sayres, Mary Cronk Farrell, Sarah Conover and Betsy Wharton. SkyLight Paths, $19.95 (189p) ISBN 1-893361-72-1
These five authors, of Jewish and Christian backgrounds, originally set out to write about ancient women from their own faith traditions, but realized through the story of Hagar that they also needed to "embrace another branch of the family tree": Islam. Here, they offer 18 fictionalized vignettes about the lives of various women, including important figures from Scripture and tradition (Esther, Miriam, Eve/Hawa). There are also sketches of women who have probably been misunderstood (Mary Magdalene) or simply overlooked (Shiphrah, the midwife who disobeyed Pharaoh's order to murder any baby boys she delivered). The final section explores several women who are important in Islam, such as Fatima, Khadija and of course Hagar, mother of Ishmael. The device of using short stories to better establish these women's characters and spiritual motivations works well and should appeal to a wide audience. (May)

THE DHARMA OF JESUS
George M. Soares-Prabhu. Orbis, $30 paper (308p) ISBN 1-57075-459-4
This collection of essays by the late Indian New Testament scholar Soares-Prabhu spans two decades of work, from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, when the professor was tragically killed in an accident. The overarching theme is Jesus' message of liberation for the oppressed, including the Dalits at the bottom of India's caste system. For Soares-Prabhu, Jesus' "dharma" encompasses not just his oral teaching, but "the complex of relationships that one thing has with every other thing." The essays are highly academic, as most originally appeared in journals of biblical hermeneutics and scholarship. But readers who are interested in the work of one of India's great biblical scholars and liberation theologians will want to own this collection, available for the first time outside of India. (May)

A WALK WITH FOUR SPIRITUAL GUIDES: Krishna, Buddha, Jesus and Ramakrishna
Andrew Harvey. SkyLight Paths, $21.95 (176p) ISBN 1-893361-73-X
Using the style of narrative nonfiction, Harvey offers this guide to four spiritual leaders whose teachings, he says, can help the world save itself from the destructive path it seems determined to pursue. Krishna teaches us (through Arjuna) how to "act in harmony with the Divine Will while giving up all fruits of action"; Buddha exemplifies compassion and peace; Ramakrishna teaches the mercy of the Motherhood of God. Intriguingly, Harvey's Jesus chapter is based on Jesus in the proto-Gnostic Gospel of Thomas and presents a more mystical Jesus than is seen in the New Testament. In each chapter, selections from the relevant primary text are featured on the right side, with Harvey's annotations and explanations helpfully accessible on the left. (May)

THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION: New Perspectives on an Ancient Jewish Rite
Edited by Elizabeth Wyner Mark. Brandeis Univ. Press, $60 (288p) ISBN 1-58465-307-8; paper $26 -307-8
What is the meaning of the Jewish bris, or rite of circumcision? Does this ancient ritual marginalize women by excluding them? What will become of this ritual in Judaism if the medical establishment continues with its new course of recommending against the routine circumcision of all infant boys? This collection of 16 scholarly essays examines the social, historical, rabbinic, theological and medical debates about circumcision, its role in Jewish life and its possible future. While some of the essays are intriguing, the academic jargon is a real barrier to the general reader, who will have to wade through terms that tend to obfuscate rather than reveal the essayists' meaning. (However, in this case, flashy buzzwords like "phallomorphic" and "phallocentric" are at least on topic.) (Apr. 18)

* ZEN FOR CHRISTIANS: A Beginner's Guide
Kim Boykin. Jossey-Bass, $15.95 (166p) ISBN 0-7879-6376-3
Whereas other Christianity-meets-Buddhism books stress ideology and the intellect, this one emphasizes daily acts of practice--not just meditation, but also breath control and an increased awareness of one's thoughts. It's not, Boykin points out, a book just to be read; it's more like a cookbook in that it is intended to guide the reader through active stages of preparation. This guide is wise, humorous, and more than a little bit hip. Boykin, who was raised as a nominal Christian agnostic, discovered Buddhist meditation in college. She converted to Catholicism as a twenty-something, although she admits that Christian faith still seems "kind of nuts," and she has found great joy in supplementing her nascent Christianity with ongoing Buddhist practice. To aid novice dabblers, the book includes suggestions for Zen practice at the close of each chapter and illustrations of various meditation postures. (Apr.)