Three Reviews Coming in Publishers Weekly on Monday, December 24
-- Publishers Weekly, 12/19/2007
A Life with Karol: My Forty-Year Friendship with the Man Who Became Pope
Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz. Doubleday, $22.95 (272p) ISBN 978-0-385-52374-5
Pope John Paul II's personal secretary, who is now Cardinal Dziwisz, had an insider's view of many of the events that shaped John Paul II's pontificate. Dziwisz was a seminary student in Krakow when he first encountered the man then known as Karol Wojtyla. He later became a close and trusted ally of the pope for four decades. The author does not hide his glowing opinion of the deceased pontiff; as he describes it, John Paul II stood courageously against the oppressive Communist regime in his native Poland, supported the nascent Solidarity movement and was beloved by people of all nations and religions around the globe. These two men enjoyed an intimate friendship and shared a love for Catholicism and their priesthood. Perhaps it is the closeness of that friendship that prevents Dziwisz from criticizing John Paul II for anything he did as pope. For example, his claim that "John Paul II's entire pontificate was a continual implementation of Vatican II" is widely debated. Despite the hagiographical tone, one thing is clear—John Paul II was a formidable world figure in the latter half of the 20th century, and he never allowed his position to affect his ability to be a good friend. (Mar. 11)
Twist of Faith: The Story of Anne Beiler, Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels
Anne Beiler. Thomas Nelson, $22.99 (256p) ISBN 978-0-7852-2323-8
At first glance, this spiritual autobiography might appear to be another of those rags-to-riches memoirs that retired business owners love to write. Happily, Beiler puts an unusual "twist" on her story, interweaving the chronicle of her business's startup and phenomenal growth (farmer's market stand in 1988, 700 domestic and 119 foreign locations 15 years later) with a candid personal account of bereavement, abuse and adultery; family and workplace struggles; and extended periods of grief and depression. Sometimes the chronological leapfrogging can be confusing—are we in Texas now, or Pennsylvania? and what year is it again?—but often insights from one time period illuminate struggles from another as Beiler alternates between incredible naïveté, especially about predatory males, and sharp-eyed business savvy. Money does play an important role: "I see God giving you things you wouldn't believe," a friend predicts. "I see houses, I see land, I see cars…." Yet Beiler's first priority is philanthropy, not accumulation. Religious readers will appreciate not only her generosity but also her inspirational accounts of prophecies, answered prayers and, above all, forgiveness. (Mar.)
God and the New Atheism: A Critical Response to Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens
John F. Haught. Westminster John Knox, $16.95 paper (156p) ISBN 978-0-664-23304-4
The recent spate of books from atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and (most stridently) Christopher Hitchens has prompted many pundits and scholars to label the trend "the New Atheism." Haught uses the term, but argues that there is nothing really new about the New Atheism; it is instead a rehashing of anti-religious arguments that are as old as the Enlightenment. In fact, Haught criticizes the New Atheism as being "theologically unchallenging," its all-or-nothing thinking representing "about the same level of reflection on faith that one can find in contemporary creationist and fundamentalist literature." Haught draws upon theologians such as Tillich, Bultmann, Ricoeur, McFague and Pannenberg to refute some of the New Atheists' most common contentions. Through most of Haught's book, his approach is straight theism, with the exclusively or specifically Christian arguments coming near the end. Although this book is more accessible than some of Haught's earlier theological work (e.g., Is Nature Enough?), it is still challenging and serious; readers will need to follow scientific, theological, philosophical and logical threads to keep up. The reward is worth it, however, as Haught lays out the fundamental issues clearly and without the vitriol that has characterized Hitchens et al. as well as many of their interlocutors. (Feb.)
Three Starred Reviews Coming in PW on Monday, December 24
A Most Holy War: The Albigensian Crusade and the Battle for Christendom
Mark Gregory Pegg. Oxford, $25 (256p) ISBN 978-0-19-517131-0
When a papal legate was murdered in southern France in 1208, Pope Innocent III's reaction was swift and harsh. Convinced that the villages between Montpelier and Bordeaux were hideouts for heretics, and accusing the count of Toulouse of protecting them, the pope issued his now-famous plea for all knights and barons to be "signed with the cross" and to drive out all heretics in a great crusade. The Albigensian Crusade was the only one of the medieval crusades to pit Christian against Christian. In this lively and fast-paced inaugural book in Oxford's "Pivotal Moments in World History" series, Pegg grippingly retells the story of a crusade built on legend, not truth. The pope preached to his armies that whoever slaughtered these alleged heretics would not only cleanse his own soul but the soul of Christendom as well. This crusade, as Pegg remarkably demonstrates, introduced genocide into the world and paved the way for Christians to engage in the inquisitions against Jews and the crusades against Muslims that marked the remainder of the Middle Ages. Drawing on numerous primary documents, Pegg's compelling history offers fresh glimpses into the nature of religious violence as well as the easy ways that religions often fall into intolerance. (Feb.)
Liberty of Conscience: In Defense of America's Tradition of Religious Equality
Martha C. Nussbaum. Basic Books, $27.50 (320p) ISBN 978-0-465-05164-9
In this engrossing history of the religion clauses of the First Amendment, Nussbaum (Cultivating Humanity) makes a strong, thoroughgoing case for America as a haven of religious liberty for believers of all stripes. Beginning with an illuminating rehabilitation of Rhode Island founder Roger Williams as America's earliest defender of religious equality, Nussbaum continues by examining how Williams's ideals have been both upheld and abandoned throughout the nation's history. After detailing the adoption of the establishment and free exercise clauses, Nussbaum comments at length on how these fairly general, vague clauses have been fleshed out by more than two centuries of case law. Refreshingly, Nussbaum does not add to the acrimonious cacophony around the idea of separation of church and state. Rather than pushing for strict separation, she argues for what philosopher John Rawls calls "overlapping consensus," which echoes Williams's belief that citizens who differ greatly on matters of ultimate meaning can still agree to respect each other's liberty of conscience. Nussbaum writes engagingly and with generosity; her critiques, particularly those of opinions written by Justices Scalia and Thomas, are pointed but respectful, and she demonstrates warm regard for Supreme Court plaintiffs who have braved persecution as they have followed the dictates of conscience. (Feb.)
Conceiving Parenthood: American Protestantism and the Spirit of Reproduction
Amy Laura Hall. Eerdmans, $32 (448p) ISBN 978-0-8028-3936-7
Hall, who teaches theological ethics at Duke, combines perceptive reading with stirring criticism of the corporate-inspired family ideals that have come to pervade the American Christian mainstream. Focusing on the Methodist experience, Hall's narrative potentially resonates across the theological spectrum. How did a denomination with roots in gospel activism come to be so captivated by images of material and technological progress delivered by corporate marketing? Hall mines church publications and popular media to reveal several dynamics at work. Partly because of its attempts to market itself as part of the American dream, the mid-century church became infatuated with an image of the ideal family that inevitably, if unintentionally, encouraged middle-class Protestants to insulate their families from their troubled neighbors. At the same time, corporate and scientific messages undermined the confidence of parents—and particularly mothers—in natural or traditional ways of providing for their children without commercial products and expert advice. Aspiration and anxiety combined to create families that were more focused on themselves, less secure in their Christian identity and less engaged in mission to others. Contrasting these trends with the example of Christ and the unifying message of the sacraments, Hall invites her readers to wage a "resistance" and reconsider "the least of these." (Feb.)
