Today’s “virus of meanness” must be combated with faith and kindness, according to this impassioned outing from pastor Evans (Kingdom Politics). Reminding readers that God “calls us to love others for the glory of His name,” Evans describes how small, tangible actions like mowing someone’s lawn can cumulatively help to repair a culture dominated by a “me-first mentality.” By practicing such kindnesses on a daily basis, Christians can ultimately shape a world that centers “God’s glory and the advancement of His kingdom agenda” while also reaping divine blessings themselves. Evans brings plenty of his usual charisma to this spirited reminder to do good even when it’s inconvenient, though the profusion of strained metaphors sometimes serves to confuse more than clarify (“Far too many Christians resemble the moon. We enjoy our lit side and want to shine.... But we also have a dark side. The dark side reeks of selfishness, secrets, and scandal. To avoid showing anyone our dark side, we wear a mask”). Still, it’s a solid resource on the challenges and rewards of loving one’s neighbor. (July)

Reviewed on 04/26/2024 | Details & Permalink

Historian Harris (Watchman on the Tower) provides a fine-grained chronicle of the deliberations and pressures that led the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1978 to repeal its ban on the ordination of Black men and the presence of Black couples in Mormon temples. Focusing on the period between 1949, when the prohibition was canonized (it had been church policy since 1852) and the ban’s repeal, Harris maps out the clashes between radical church leaders who preached that Black people were the “cursed” descendents of Cain, and the ban’s opponents, including Black Mormons, civil rights activists, and LDS administrators eager to salvage the church’s public image. Secular pressures mounted in the 1960s as a federal civil rights investigation looked into Brigham Young University’s racist admissions policies, though Harris contends that such initiatives only caused LDS leaders to retrench. Ultimately, the church’s hand was forced when president Spencer Kimball pushed to open temples in racially diverse countries like Brazil, culminating in his 1978 “revelation” that the time had come to “admit Black people into [the church’s] ranks as full, functioning members.” Harris studiously dissects how the church’s legacy of racism has persisted after the ban’s repeal, noting that leaders have recently sought to “distance the church from antiblack teachings” without directly repudiating them. It’s a nuanced account of the Mormon church’s uneven progress toward social justice. (July)

Reviewed on 04/26/2024 | Details & Permalink

How, and why, did atheism emerge within a “peculiarly religious species,” asks evolutionary psychologist Gervais in his comprehensive debut inquiry. To answer the question, he first catalogs the cognitive adaptations (for example, the brain’s ability to embrace “minimally counterintuitive” narratives that twist an idea just enough to make it memorable without provoking disbelief) and cultural values (an emphasis on teamwork and morality) that helped religion flourish in the first place. Yet, he explains, sufficiently stable societies foster a sense of “existential security” that can ultimately render religion “motivationally impotent” and pave the way for atheism. (Such stability is often precipitated by strong nonreligious social institutions, Gervais suggests, noting that Scandinavian countries, which have good public health and welfare programs, tend to be among the world’s most secular.) Gervais distinguishes between atheists who eschew belief in God entirely and those who retain some degree of belief while forgoing church attendance and other observable indicators of religious identity. Even as religion’s “overt markers” disappear, he contends, its influence persists in the form of morals that have been instilled over thousands of years. Gervais approaches his subject with abundant intellectual curiosity and grounds his study in accessible discussions of evolutionary theory and research on present-day increases in disbelief. It amounts to a trenchant study of a noteworthy cultural phenomenon. (July)

Reviewed on 04/26/2024 | Details & Permalink

Leadership coach Gibbons debuts with a sincere account of the challenges of growing up between cultures. Born to a Korean mother and an American father in Maryland, Gibbons worshipped American culture and was eager to “fit in,” despite looking “100% Korean.” After a fire destroyed their home when Gibbons was 10, the family moved to Arizona. There, they entered a church community of “mostly blue-collar hardcore fundamentalist believers,” sparking Gibbons’s complicated relationship with conservative Christianity, which peaked when he attended a Christian college whose prohibitions against interracial dating were “absurdly inconsistent with what I knew about God.” Souring on Christian fundamentalism, Gibbons broke with the church as an adult and in 1994 helped found Newsong Church in Irvine, Calif., as a “haven” for those who felt like “outsiders” from Christianity. While the sections on Newsong’s founding are somewhat rushed and a climactic revelation pertaining to Gibbons’s family may leave readers with a sense of whiplash, the questions about what it means to be both a Christian and part of a “third culture”—not entirely Korean and not entirely American—are salient. It’s an intriguing look at the intersections of race, identity, and faith. (July)

Reviewed on 04/26/2024 | Details & Permalink

In this pensive outing, Ford (Introduction to Koans), a Zen teacher and Unitarian Universalist minister, traces an “arc of the spiritual life” that loosely mirrors the Zen path to enlightenment. He begins by describing the feelings of unease that lead some people into a lifelong search for enlightenment that involves wading through life’s “messiness” in hopes of better understanding themselves and the cosmos (“I could see the hole in my heart,” Ford writes, describing how he felt before he began studying Buddhism in the 1960s). Drawing on his “pluralistic physiology of faith” (“My brain is Buddhist... but my heart is Christian”), Ford enriches traditional Zen teachings with philosophy, mythology, and Christian scripture, noting, for example, that Psalm 90, which meditates on the brevity of life, functions as both “an invitation into a holy place” and a reminder “of one’s own insignificance.” While the book’s mix of memoir and instruction is sometimes haphazard, patient readers will find plenty of food for thought. It’s a boon for the spiritually curious. (July)

Reviewed on 04/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

Youth ministry leader Williams draws in this openhearted debut guide from her years spent working with at-risk youth in Chicago to offer guidance on how readers can be more compassionate. To “see people through the lens of God,” readers should look inward to develop humility, work to view others “as they are, not how we want them to be,” and avoid the urge to “control the... outcome” of one’s interaction with another person, because “people aren’t projects.” Later chapters reinforce these nonjudgmental principles while discussing how to use one’s “own brokenness” to help others heal (by empathizing with their problems), and offering tips on mentoring strategies. Though not all of the advice pertains to general readers, the tips for social interactions and for reframing one’s perspective to be less judgmental of others (“remember we only get to see part of the picture”) will resonate with most people. For Christians who sometimes find it challenging to love their neighbors, this is a solid starting point. (June)

Reviewed on 04/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

The revealing latest from astrologer Taylor (Birth Chart Interpretation Plain & Simple) helps readers use their birth charts to answer life’s deepest questions. Breaking down the chart’s basics, Taylor overviews the celestial points, including the south node, which denotes “where we have come from,” and the north node, which provides clues about one’s future. She theorizes that the rising sign (“The astrological sign that was rising on the eastern horizon when you were born”) is one’s sun sign from a previous life, providing the protection and “confidence to begin anew” in “this brand new... world,” and offering a window into the “soul’s purpose.” With that in mind, Taylor offers unique spiritual lessons for all 12 rising signs. Aries rising signs, for example, are advised not to waste their fiery spirit “on unworthy and unnecessary battles” and instead pursue meaningful causes. Though Taylor’s lucidly explained interpretations resonate, the absence of sample birth charts makes this best suited to those already well-versed in the subject. Dedicated astrology buffs will gain insight into what the stars have to say about their futures. (June)

Reviewed on 04/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

Bestseller Roberts (All Hope Is Found) extends a sincere invitation for Christian women to “tap into the courage to live authentically.” Addressing those who’ve “lost” their power, Roberts encourages readers to identify the fears and limiting beliefs that once provided a sense of safety but now serve only to constrain. Replacing such notions with “a stronger, more powerful belief” in God’s love regardless of circumstance will pave the way for one’s truest self to emerge, she asserts. Later chapters detail how readers can access their true desires and trust that they are worthy of achieving them. Drawing from her own experience, Roberts recalls how she learned to “see beyond what I think about my messy insides and to dare to believe that where I see mess God sees material.” While it’s not always clear how readers should verify that their goals, once uncovered, will mesh with God’s plans (“If there’s something you want that is not aligned with what God has for you, He will teach you how to not want it any longer”), Roberts’s solid mix of spiritual insight and personal anecdote yields valuable reassurance that being oneself and being faithful can be mutually reinforcing. Christians who feel unmoored will welcome this. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 04/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

Rice University religion professor Pinn (Interplay of Things) aims in this astute survey of Black humanism to “overturn the assumption that only Black theism” offers a viable “life orientation.” Defined in part by a “rejection of God concepts” and a belief in “the materiality of life,” Black humanism can be traced to the earliest enslaved Africans through folktales that “advanced a human-based... sense of life,” according to Pinn. It evolved over the course of the 20th century as Black Americans shaped “the political and economic life of the United States,” Pinn writes, and found expression in such movements as the Harlem Renaissance and Black Lives Matter. Characterizing Black humanism as akin to a “religion” because it provides a framework for tackling life’s biggest questions, Pinn spotlights such groups as the Black Nonbelievers, an Atlanta-based organization which aims to connect those “who are living free of religion and might otherwise be shunned by family and friends.” Taking note of the recent uptick in Black “nones”—i.e., Black Americans who don’t identify with any religion—Pinn delivers an erudite yet accessible look at what it means to be “good without God.” It’s a perceptive window into an often-overlooked—yet increasingly important—system of thought. (May)

Reviewed on 04/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

Happiness and suffering are not antithetical—they’re inextricably linked, according to this lucid English-language debut from Tibetan Buddhist teacher Wangdrak. Instead of spending one’s life avoiding pain, readers should harness the “power, energy, and spiritual growth” within suffering to make way for an “all-pervasive happiness” rooted in the mind’s “pure true nature,” and eschew the “grasping” that causes one to “shrink away from the totality of experiences.” Contending that the attachment to self is the root of suffering, Wangdrak offers guidance on cultivating gratitude, using meditation to receive positive and negative stimuli with equanimity, and practicing “tonglen,” wherein practitioners take on the suffering of others. Moving from meditation basics to thornier concepts such as making peace with physical illness, Wangdrak builds a convincing if challenging case for embracing pain as fuel for personal development and the source of a deeper contentment. Buddhists of all stripes will find value. (June)

Reviewed on 04/19/2024 | Details & Permalink