Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America—and Found Unexpected Peace

William Lobdell. Collins, $25.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-06-162681-4

A former religion reporter for the Los Angeles Times, Lobdell recounts in this plainly written memoir how he be-came a Protestant evangelical, nearly accepted Catholicism and, in the end, rejected faith altogether. Central to the arc of this memoir is the unfolding sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church, which Lobdell covered in depth during his time as a religion reporter, beginning in 2000. Despairing of the role of priests and bishops in that scandal, he refashions his identity as a crusading reporter out to cleanse the church of corrupt leaders. But after finding that his investigative stories about faith healer Benny Hinn and televangelists Jan and Paul Crouch appear to make no difference on the reach of these ministries or the lives of their followers, he gives up on the beat and on religion generally. Lobdell subjects his faith to the rigors of rationalism. If Christians are no more ethical than atheists, why belong to a church? It’s a curious utilitarian argument that sounds more like a rearview explanation than a revealing account of loss of faith. Still, the memoir’s strength lies in the wrenching emotional toll exacted by the Catholic abuse scandal. If nothing else, it suggests reporters may have been victimized by the scandal, too. (Mar.)

Inside the Revolution: How the Followers of Jihad, Jefferson, & Jesus Are Battling to Dominate the Middle East and Transform the World

Joel C. Rosenberg. Tyndale, $24.99 (576p) ISBN 978-1-4143-1931-5

Known best for his fiction centered in the Middle East and based in Christian end times beliefs, Rosenberg’s nonfiction behemoth will be a bestseller among evangelicals. Rigorous research, travel and interviews with hundreds of Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders lends credibility to this survey of the spectrum of beliefs that drive foreign policy in nations such as Iran, on which the book focuses. Rosenberg divides Muslims into three types. Radical Islamists will stop at nothing short of dominating the world or destroying those who believe otherwise. Reformers believe radical Muslims have hijacked peaceful Islam for their own power-hungry and violent ends. Revivalists are Muslims or those living in predominantly Muslim countries who believe Islam is not the answer but that Jesus is the way. Rosenberg challenges Islamic eschatology without adequately comparing parallel Christian views. On the other hand, he is one of a few evangelicals who will put quotes from the Qur’an in context, has traveled widely and inter-viewed global leaders. This is one of the best primers for evangelical Christians to understand political Islam in the Middle East. (Mar. 10)

 A First Look at the Stars: Starred Reviews Coming in PW on Monday, Feb. 9

HAngry Conversations with God: A Snarky but Authentic Spiritual Memoir

Susan E. Isaacs. FaithWords, $19.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-59995-062-4

God in couples counseling? Sounds sacrilegious, but in the adept hands of comedian, writer and actress Isaacs, it’s a success. Isaacs reached bottom at age 40: no job, no boyfriend, no home. Of course, she blamed God. So off they went to counseling with the ever-patient therapist Rudy. Isaacs moves easily between recounting her life story and her counseling sessions. She describes encounters with the Nice Jesus of her Lutheran upbringing; the “Oakie” Pentecostal church and the militant counselor; the “Rock-n-Roll” church and the “Orthopraxy, Dude” church, plus her rocky acting career and her love life, including guilt-ridden sex and Mostly Mister Right. Isaacs readily admits to being snarky, but she’s honest about her quest and its conclusion: “I saw now all too clearly why I had married God: for the power and the glory. For the money.” Isaacs goes on a Job-like search for explanations from God, but instead finds the problem to be her. She’s funny, biting, earthy and brilliant. (Mar. 12)

HThe Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist

Matt Baglio. Doubleday, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-385-52270-0

Journalist Baglio follows a Catholic priest through the latter’s training to become an exorcist in this incisive look at the church’s rite of exorcism and its use in contemporary life. Baglio began delving into the topic after hearing about a course at a Vatican-affiliated university, where he met and befriended the Rev. Gary Thomas, a priest in the diocese of San Jose, Calif. Thomas took the exorcism course at the request of his bishop and subsequently apprenticed himself to a seasoned exorcist. Keenly aware of the misunderstanding that abounds about exorcism through film images, Baglio sets about dispelling misconceptions and does so skillfully, separating the real from the imaginary in the mysterious and unsettling sphere of the demonic. Both Thomas and Baglio were changed by their exposure to the rite. Thomas grew spiritually during the process, which bolstered his desire to help his parishioners, and Baglio, previously a nominal Catholic, reconnected with his faith. For anyone seeking a serious and very human examination of this fascinating subject, one that surpasses the sensational, this is absorbing and enlightening reading. (Mar. 10)

You Saw It Here First: Original RBL Reviews

HSeeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World

Mary Pipher. Riverhead, $25.95 (272p) ISBN 978-1-594482-861-0

Psychologist and bestselling author Pipher (Reviving Ophelia) has written about young girls, families, immigrants. Writing a memoir doesn’t come naturally to this articulate, gregarious, but ultimately private Midwesterner. But self-exploration really isn’t for sissies; it requires coming to terms with one’s mistakes and disappointments. Pipher was somewhat pushed into it by a crisis of success that she apologizes for. A string of hit books in the 1990s ultimately left her strung out from a public life with too many demands to be met and places to be. Her recovery brought her forward to Buddhism, and back to her own childhood, to examine the fault lines in her own constitution. Like the oldest child and doctor’s daughter she is, she shares her falling apart and coming back together in order to help others who, as she was, may be in silent crisis. This is a generous book conceived and executed by a compassionate and unquiet mind. She is no paragon, just another soul on the common march between birth and death.(March)

A Great and Terrible Love: A Spiritual Journey into the Attributes of God

Mark Galli. BakerBooks, $17.99 (192p) ISBN 978-0-8010-1295-2

Galli, author (Jesus Mean and Wild) and senior managing editor of the evangelical magazine Christianity Today, is theologically ambitious in this small book. He examines God’s classic attributes, among them omnipotence, omniscience, mercy, righteousness, jealousy, devoting a chapter to each attribute. The chapters are dense but study-group short, and original even as they are grounded in the work of Christianity’s classic theologians, especially Augustine. God’s omnipotence, for example, expresses itself in the “left-handed power” of incarnating as a helpless human baby and die a painful death. To be “righteous” is to belong to God’s people, an interesting expansion of a term that so often connotes narrow self-righteous. Not every chapter is equally persuasive; it’s really hard to put a positive spin on the jealousy of God’s love, no matter how vast and passionate that love might be. Those who need warm love should try another theology, but Galli’s God is mighty and awesome, and so capable of great and ultimately mysterious love. (Mar. 1)

Hardcover

1. The Purpose of Christmas
Rick Warren.
2. Multiple Blessings
Jon & Kate Gosselin and Beth Carson.
3. 100 Ways to Simplify Your Life
Joyce Meyer.
4. Love Your Life
Victoria Osteen.
5. What in the World Is Going On?
David Jeremiah.
6. Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence
Sarah Young.
7. Before You Do
T.D. Jakes.
8. A Dog Named Christmas
Greg Kincaid.
9. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism
Timothy Keller.
10. Mother Angelica's Private and Pithy Lessons from the Scriptures
Raymond Arroyo.

Paperback