cover image 10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You (but Can't Because He Needs the Job)

10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You (but Can't Because He Needs the Job)

Oliver Thomas, . . St. Martin's, $19.95 (108pp) ISBN 978-0-312-36379-6

Christianity, "like Islam, is in danger of being hijacked by a militant minority of fundamentalists," writes Thomas, a Southern Baptist minister and constitutional lawyer active in public debates about religion, science and education. In this short book, he takes on today's big religious questions: homosexuality, the place of women, evolution vs. creationism, the plausibility of miracles, religious pluralism, life after death and others. Thomas's writing is clear and engaging, if occasionally flip ("This book is written for all the people who want to live lives of purpose... without having to put their brains in their pockets"). Taking on popular religious writers like Tim LaHaye and Rick Warren, Thomas argues against many conservative interpretations of biblical texts and sides with those who understand them as written by humans in a particular time and context far removed from the 21st century. Little in the book will be new to readers of contemporary religious newspapers or magazines, who may find its brevity disproportional to its price tag. But for those who have not yet been exposed to the religious debates taking place in the public forum, this concise book serves as a good introduction. (Mar. 22)