Religion in human evolution : from the Paleolithic to the Axial Age

by Robert Neelly Bellah.  Bellah (sociology, emeritus, Univ. of California, Berkeley) examines the genesis of religion in human culture, artfully demonstrating how play, myth, and ritual developed during the Paleolithic era into the essential components that are still recognizable in religion today. He then examines the Axial Age (c. 800-c. 200 B.C.E.), with which we are more familiar: great philosophers in Greece, Israel, China, and India put forth ideas that were based on both the natural world and the spiritual plane; they effectively married the two. Bellah's book is an interesting departure from the traditional separation of science and religion. He maintains that the evolving worldviews sought to unify rather than to divide people. Poignantly, it is upon these principles that both Western and Eastern modern societies are now based. What strikes the reader most powerfully is how the author connects cultural development and religion in an evolutionary context. He suggests that cultural evolution can be seen in mimetic, mythical, and theoretical contexts. Ultimately, Bellah contends that our society is especially informed by our lengthy biological past. VERDICT This is an academic work recommended for specialists in the field of religion and sociology. Most lay readers, even if compelled by the subject, will find it heavy going, but the intrepid ones may well want to take it on and will marvel at Bellah's approach. --Library Journal (Check Catalog)

Peace be with you : monastic wisdom for a terror-filled world

 by David Carlson. Carlson (religious studies, Franklin Coll.), a scholar of monasticism, Orthodox-Catholic relations, and adult faith development, here offers an idiosyncratic mixture of spiritual autobiography and interfaith study. After 9/11, Carlson embarked on a long journey, interviewing more than 30 abbots, nuns, monks, and other religious leaders in an attempt to articulate new ways that Christianity and Islam, despite their apparent differences, might find a rapprochement. Carlson embraces, with some pain, the idea that Christ is found in the "woundedness" of the world, and that the only way forward is for all faiths to live more fully in their own faith, with compassion. VERDICT Carlson's moving personal journey reaches far beyond his own identities as a male, Christian, and academic, to address the questions many have asked over the past ten years; both individuals and church groups should benefit. --Library Journal. (Check catalog)

Where the hell is God?

 by Richard Leonard. Leonard, an Australian-born Jesuit who writes on Catholic approaches to film (Movies That Matter), has authored a brief, acute, and touching book on theodicy. For Leonard, guided in part by his own experience with a sister left disabled after an auto accident, and in part by the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, God does not directly will or send pain, suffering, natural disasters, or punishments. We can approach God through these experiences and learn from them, but God is not their "author" in the simplistic sense many espouse. While Leonard's God may feel more remote than the personal deity many have embraced, his liberation of God from personal evil is a breakthrough. VERDICT An explosive and progressive message in a small wrapper, Leonard's book may frustrate Catholic and non-Catholic conservatives, but it will be a tonic for liberal Christians and seekers of all faiths. --Library Journal (Check catalog)

Sanctuary of the soul : journey into meditative prayer /

 by Richard J Foster. This plainspoken book by bestselling author Foster (Celebration of Discipline) addresses the problem of listening for God (Jesus) in a world of noisy distractions. Dividing his work into three parts, Foster describes how God longs to communicate with each of us, how we can become present and surrendered to God, and how we can cope with common obstacles in our quest for communion with the divine. After each section, Foster recounts a story from his own life to demonstrate how one might practice meditative prayer in a real-world situation. At the end of the book, he answers typical questions about prayer. Foster leans heavily for guidance not only on his Quaker heritage but also on classic Christian mystics, including Brother Lawrence, Teresa of Avila, and Julian of Norwich, and he is not afraid to mention Satanic opposition. His quiet writing style models the listening stillness he wishes to impart. Amid many books on meditative prayer, Foster's stands out for its clarity, simplicity, and focus. --Publishers Weekly. (Check catalog)