Prayers of the faithful : the shifting spiritual life of American Catholics

 by James P. McCartin. McCartin examines the shifting landscape of American Catholicism through the lens of prayer. According to the author, devotional rituals and communal prayer, once the backbone of the Catholic faith, no longer play pivotal roles in the lives of many modern Catholics. Over the course of th past several decades, many Catholics have rejected the strispiritual hierarchy that was, for centuries, the foundation of the organized church. This dramatic shift in the practice of the Catholic religion has resulted in the evolution of prayer itself into an independent-centered activity incorporated into daily routines rather than a publicly performed and formalized ritual. The author analyzes this spiritual transformation in terms of the American Catholic contribution to the culture and sociology of the American experience, placing his theory firmly into historical context. --Booklist. (Check Catalog)

Einstein's God : conversations about science and the human spirit

 by Krista Tippett. Tippett describes religion and science as pursuits of cohesive knowledge and underlying truths and seeks to dispel the erroneous assumption that these two realms of inquiry are in opposition. Tippett looks to Einstein's self-described cosmic religious sense' as a key example of how spiritual insights deepen the resonance of scientific discoveries and vice versa. As listeners to her Peabody Award-winning radio program, Speaking of Faith, know, Tippett is driven by a genuine hunger for understanding of how the revelations of religious traditions, spiritual practices, and cutting-edge findings in science and medicine can help us live more giving and fulfilling lives and create a less polarized society. Tippett sparks a mind-expanding synergy by gathering 13 far-reaching and often-moving discussions with luminaries working in an array of disciplines, including physicist Freeman Dyson, Darwin scholar James Moore, and surgeons and writers Sherwin Nuland and Mehmet Oz. Impressively well informed, thoughtful, intrepid, and articulate, Tippett steadfastly pilots her ardent conversations toward an elegant clarity, ensuring that complex concepts are comprehensible and relevant to everyone. --Booklist. (Check Catalog)

Heidegger and a hippo : walk through those pearly gates : using philosophy (and jokes!) to explain life, death, the afterlife, and everything in between

 by Thomas Cathcart. Did you know that Heidegger's notion of living in the shadow of death has its most profound articulation in a country and western song by Tim McGraw? Or what Law and Order has in common with theologian Paul Tillich's view of eternity? Such are the nuggets of wisdom found in this smart and lighthearted consideration of the philosophical dimensions of death. Cathcart and Klein (coauthors of Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar) take readers on a whirlwind tour of anthropological, philosophical and theological theories of why and how we avoid accepting our own mortality. The authors demonstrate how humor allows us to express our fears about death "while defusing anxiety." Succinct accounts of Kierkegaard's notion of embracing angst, Schopenhauer's notion of undying will and Descartes on mind-body dualism are thus all peppered by comic asides (Leibnitz "maintained that Mind and Matter don't actually get into each others knickers"). This little book is an entertaining and surprisingly informative survey of the "Big D" and its centrality in human life. --Publishers Weekly. (Check catalog)

The gods of war : is religion the primary cause of violent conflict?

 by Meic Pearse. To best-selling antireligionist Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion, 2006), Pearse ripostes that the one thing that bears a heavier responsibility than religion as a principal cause of war . . . is, of course, irreligion. While proving his point in a review of twentieth-century wars and the antitheist ideologies that incited them, however, he grants that those wars' enormous lethality was a consequence of modern technology, not any kind of secularity. He is a historian, not a propagandist, and succeeding chapters weighing the intertwining of war and religion throughout history are full of similar distinctions. On the whole, he argues, religion tends to abet wars that are conceived and fought for political reasons, and this is true even when wars are launched, like the Crusades, at the behest of religious leaders. Before it became an imperial faith, Christianity was peaceable, though heavily persecuted, for three centuries and, since its post-Enlightenment removal from seats of state power, has significantly reembraced that legacy. Essential reading for those caught up in the new war about, not of, religion. --Booklist. (Check catalog)

A new kind of Christianity : ten questions that are transforming the faith

 by Brian D. McClaren. McLaren's fans and detractors have eagerly awaited this book, which promises to codify the beliefs he introduced in his bestselling A New Kind of Christian and other titles. McLaren, one of the most visible faces of the emergent movement, examines 10 questions the church must answer as it heads toward "a new way of believing." McLaren deconstructs the "Greco-Roman narrative" of the Bible and addresses how the Bible should be understood as an "inspired library," not a "constitution." He moves into questions regarding God, Jesus, and the Gospel, urging us to "trade up" our image of God and realize that Jesus came to "launch a new Genesis." The Church, sexuality, the future, and pluralism merit chapters, as does McLaren's final call for "a robust spiritual life." Followers will rejoice as McLaren articulates his thoughts with logic and eloquence; detractors will point out his artful avoidance of firm answers on salvation, hell, and a final judgment. All sides will flock to this with glee. --Publishers Weekly. (Check Catalog)

Hakuin's Precious mirror cave : a Zen miscellany

 by Hakuin. Hakuin, an early 18th-century patriarch of Japanese Zen Buddhism, is credited with reviving the Rinzai (koan) school of Zen Buddhism. To the benefit of generations of seekers, he was rare among Zen teachers in divulging in print the ups and downs encountered along his personal path. In this collection, respected translator Waddell (Zen Words for the Heart: Hakuin's Commentary on the Heart Sutra) presents very readable and accessible versions of five of the master's works, including the best known and most read, "Idle Talk on a Night Boat." Several focus on his personal journey to enlightenment and his central teaching that post-enlightenment work is crucial to development. In the sixth contribution, "The Chronological Biography of Zen Master Hakuin by Torei Enji," one of Hakuin's students covers the second half of the teacher's life, a career left largely untouched otherwise. Brief essays introduce each translation and place each within the context of Hakuin's opus. Hakuin's early life and his enlightenment experiences are also covered in another Waddell translation of Hakuin: Wild Ivy: The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin. Verdict Highly recommended along with Wild Ivy for seekers wishing to tap the original teachings of the greatest masters. --Library Journal. (Check Catalog)

The legend of the Middle Ages : philosophical explorations of medieval Christianity, Judaism, and Islam

 by Remi Brague. Brague (philosophy, Universite Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne; The Law of God) challenges perceptions of the Middle Ages as a period lacking in intellectual sophistication or as a time of interfaith dialog that could serve as a model today. In an initial interview and 16 essays (only three of which have previously appeared in English), Brague focuses on the philosophers of three great religious civilizations, particularly their use of Aristotelian Greek philosophy in ways congruent with their own religions and especially with their differing ideas of revelation as centered in the person of Jesus Christ; as found in God's historical interactions with the Jewish people; or as derived from direct revelation of an infallible word/book, the Koran. Throughout, Brague focuses on comparisons or relationships among three great civilizations and on carefully nuanced but essential difference. Verdict Highly recommended to scholars of the Middle Ages as well as those in philosophy and religion more generally. They will all be enlightened by careful reading of this book. --Library Journal. (Check Catalog)

Reformist voices of Islam : mediating Islam and modernity

edited by Shireen T. Hunter. The premise underlying this edited volume is that the loud roar of Islamic radicals has drowned out moderate and reformist voices in Islam. The collection of articles by nine leading experts on contemporary Islam goes a long way toward restoring that balance, and students will find here a useful starting point for broaching the question, "Where are the alternative voices within Islam?" At the same time, though the comprehensive scope of the various nationally and regionally focused chapters is impressive, the volume suffers from unevenness throughout; some single countries receive nearly twice the space devoted to entire regions, and some chapters offer schematic overviews of a variety of thinkers while others focus on only a few trends or individuals with greater depth. The unevenness is compensated, to some extent, by the editor's effort to draw the reader's attention to important issues addressed across chapters (e.g., democracy, human rights, and women's and minority rights) and the relationship of these issues to central and overarching conceptual questions. The reader is likely to walk away from this volume more convinced of the breadth and diversity of Islamic reformist thinking and movements, but still lacking a comprehensive grasp of the strengths and prospects of modern reform along Islamic lines. --Choice. (Check Catalog)

Beauty

by Roger Scruton. In this short work, Scruton (philosophy, Inst. for the Psychological Sciences; England: An Elegy) uses the writings of Plato and Kant along with specific artistic works to create a philosophical explanation of beauty. According to Scruton, when we say that an object is beautiful, we are making a rational judgment about the object that is based on our contemplation of its appearance. He explains that beauty is not a subjective preference but a universal value, founded on reason and our value system, to which all rational agents should agree. Scruton examines four kinds of beauty-human, natural, everyday, and artistic. He is not concerned with defining the qualities of beauty; he works to show how the experience of beauty is similar to religious experiences in that it allows us to "look with reverence on the world." The book's tone is scholarly, yet it remains highly accessible and offers readers a unique and well-argued approach to the concept of beauty. --Library Journal. (Check catalog)

The only true God : early Christian monotheism in its Jewish context

by James F. McGrath. McGrath (Butler Univ.) examines the meaning of monotheism in the first century CE, establishing the point that belief in one true God had a wide variety of meanings for both Jews and early Christians beyond the basic belief that one worships and sacrifices only to God. He explains his approach to understanding early Jewish and Christian thought about God, and then examines worship and the understanding of Jewish monotheism in the Greco-Roman era. Next, he explicates the concept of monotheism in the letters of Paul, the Gospel of John, and the Book of Revelation. Finally, he sheds new light on the date and reasons for the division between Jewish and Christian monotheism. The author carefully lays out his arguments, accompanying them with extensive endnotes and an excellent bibliography. This is a good book for undergraduates and scholars alike to explore new understandings of ancient concepts by examining their usage in the first century. McGrath stresses throughout that readers should approach these concepts by remaining as free as possible of modern definitions and cultural biases. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above; general readers. B. L. Muller University of Tampa --Library Journal. (Check catalog)