Bob Edgar: Blessed Is the Middle Way

By Donna Freitas (from Publishers Weekly Religion Bookline, 6/28/2006)

“I already received the most important review of my book, so whatever happens from now on, everything will be OK,” said Bob Edgar, a former six-term Democratic Representative to the U.S. Congress and now the general secretary of the National Council of Churches. His middle son had just finished reading Dad’s new book, Middle Church: Reclaiming the Moral Values of the Faithful Majority from the Religious Right (Simon & Schuster, Sept.: starred review below), and his assessment couldn’t have been a better belated Father’s Day present.

“’It made me proud to be your son’,” Edgar said, reading aloud from a letter with pride evident in his own voice.

Edgar is an evangelical Christian, but decidedly not a member of the religious right. His book is an appeal not only to Christians who make up the “middle church”—a vast swath of the faithful who are neither extreme left nor extreme right—but also to those who form what he calls the “middle synagogue” and “middle mosque.” Together, Christians, Muslims and Jews have a responsibility to care about key issues—peace, poverty, and being good stewards to the earth. Edgar passionately argues that these are most important to the God these three traditions share, and the real moral issues of our time.

As opposed to which other moral issues? Against the early advice of his editor, Edgar “decided not to put abortion, civil marriage and homosexuality up front,” he said. He does address these hot button topics, but not until the end of the book. “Everyone is allowing the far religious right to set the agenda,” said Edgar. “My belief is that mainline churches are going to get smaller if they continue to listen to the right’s agenda, rather than God’s agenda.”

In his conclusions, Edgar also offers alternative beatitudes for our time, including “blessed are those who read the whole Bible.”

When asked which new beatitude he would put at the top of his list, Edgar responded with confidence: Blessed are those who have courage and take risks. “My model is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He and his colleagues stepped up and said we need to move in a new direction. Lots of preachers lost their jobs by supporting the civil rights movement. I want to see that kind of passion again.”

The last new beatitude is important to him too: “Blessed are those with a sense of humor and a sense of hope.” Edgar explained, “These are pretty dark times for people filled with anxiety of war and global change. We need to be the hope-givers of this fragile planet.”

Rabbi David Aaron: Inviting God In: Celebrating the Soul-Meaning of the Jewish Holy Days

By Donna Freitas (From Publishers Weekly, Religion Book Line, 6/7/2006)

Rabbi Aaron, who lives in Jerusalem, is the author of many books, including The Secret Life of God (Shambhala, 2004). Of Inviting God In, our review (below) said, “Aaron’s book will provide sincere guidance toward uncovering a tender, untarnished meaning of the Jewish holidays.”

RBL: In the “Author’s Note” you mention that, in referencing God, you “reluctantly acceded to using the pronoun He, even though it can be very misleading and does not convey the full truth about God.” Can you explain?

Aaron: Unfortunately, many people actually believe that God is male. And it seems from a first glance at the Book of Genesis that the Torah would agree. Throughout, God is referred to as “He.” Although in much of Jewish tradition we find God described as a father and king, there are references to God also as a “She,” as mother or queen. But this is holy poetry, and anything we say about God cannot be taken literally. According to Kabbalah, God is beyond descriptions that use neat and easy logical categories of either/or.

RBL: Your portrayal of the Jewish “holy days” is so human—they are opportunities for us to be regretful, judged, joyful, and spontaneous, among other things. Are holidays both for reminding us of God’s love and our humanness too?

Aaron: Most people think that the Bible is really a book about God—to enable us to have a vision of God. But the Bible is really God’s vision of man. The entire purpose of the Bible, its laws, holidays and traditions is to empower us to be who we were meant to be—created in the image of God—a human reflection of godliness.

RBL: You liken the holidays to a recipe for love between humanity and God. Why?

Aaron: In Jewish tradition there is no such thing as a code of Jewish law. What is generally referred to as a Jewish code of law is called the “Shulhan Aruch,” which literally means “the set table,” and that indeed sounds like a strange name for a book on law. It would be a more appropriate title for a cookbook.

RBL: Do you have a favorite holiday?

Aaron: Yes, my favorite holiday is Purim because it embodies the spectrum of all the other holidays.

RBL: I can’t resist asking—what’s it like to study the Torah with the stars? (I’m thinking of your mentions of Kirk Douglas…)

Aaron: Studying with stars is not so different than studying with any other person. They have the same issues, challenges, and problems as we all do, although I do find their problems are a little more pronounced. This is because they are so successful, famous and rich and yet none of that has solved their basic human needs for real love, meaning, personal worth and self-esteem. This is quite a challenge when they realize that having everything is not enough and they must seek spirituality.

David Gibson: The Rule of Benedict: Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World

By Donna Freitas (From Publishers Weekly, Religion Book Line, 5/31/2006)

David Gibson is a former Vatican Radio reporter, a journalist, and author of The Coming Catholic Church (HarperCollins, 2003). He has produced a number of CNN television documentaries, including one about early Christianity that will air this fall. PW's review (below) said that "Readers watching the new pope for signals of what his papacy might bring will find this to be absorbing reading."

RBL: Was it immediately obvious what to call your book?

Gibson: "The Rule of Benedict" seemed a natural fit—it reflects what I see as Pope Benedict's monastic sense of the papacy and the church, his affinity for Saint Benedict, and the parallels between the Dark Ages and our modern age. Also there is the sense of Benedict "ruling" the church, which he certainly is doing.

RBL: You spend the first half simply explaining how Cardinal Ratzinger became the next pope, never mind what it means now that he is pope. Why?

Gibson: As much as this is about Benedict, it is also a biography of the papacy. It is the story of a fascinating man, Joseph Ratzinger, and his fascinating predecessor, John Paul, and one of the most fascinating institutions in history, the papacy. Popes aren't magically conjured by the Holy Spirit. They emerge as the result of a confluence of forces, and I think it is especially important today to understand the past events—both distant and recent—that led to Ratzinger's election.

RBL: What does Cardinal Ratzinger's public conflicts with so many theologians—Kung, Metz, Rahner, Gutierrez, Boff to name just a few—say about his ability to relate to Catholic theologians today?

Gibson: Because of Ratzinger's actions over the past generation, Catholic theologians know they are not free to explore many areas without incurring the wrath of the Vatican. That has simply meant many theologians keep a lower profile. Also, there are so many lay theologians and priests working outside the Catholic system—and thus beyond the pope's reach—that it has become harder for the Vatican to discipline them.

RBL: Are you nervous about the reception of your book, especially among Catholics?

Gibson: Not nervous, but curious. There has been an understandable honeymoon period for Benedict and a lot of hagiographies—tributes to him—written by his ideological allies. This is the first critical biography of Benedict and a more realistic assessment of his pontificate. It may come as a bit of a cold shower to some, but he's not quite the grand inquisitor people imagined either.

RBL: Your book seems as much a tribute to John Paul II as an exploration of Benedict as the new pope. Do you miss JPII?

Gibson: I do miss John Paul, since he was "my" pope—the pontiff I worked for and traveled with, and the man who was pope when I converted to Catholicism. I miss the energy and charisma and the sense of possibility that he brought to the church. But I also try to explain how too many of those possibilities went unrealized and how John Paul's personal popularity may have obscured many challenges—challenges which some future pope must tackle.

Robin Griffith-Jones: The Da Vinci Code and the Secrets of the Temple

By Donna Freitas (From Publishers Weekly, Religion Book Line, 5/17/2006)

Robin Griffith-Jones is Master of the Temple at the Knights Templar Temple Church in London. His weekly talk about the mysteries behind Dan Brown's bestselling novel is now a book: The Da Vinci Code and the Secrets of the Temple (Eerdmans, June, reviewed in RBL April 26). Our review said that "Griffith-Jones renders complex history in lucid prose, and he is upfront about his own biases and religious commitments. This slender volume makes a nice addition to the growing body of Da Vinci Code responses."

RBL: How does one become Master of the Temple?

Griffith-Jones: All very mysterious—Dan Brown would probably say there was a conspiracy! I was asked if I would like to be considered for the post; was interviewed by a (daunting) committee of the senior attorneys and judges who run the Church; and was finally appointed by the Queen. I have inherited the title of the medieval head of the Knights Templar in England: The Reverend and Valiant Master of the Temple. Sadly, I have inherited none of his power.

RBL: When did you first become aware of Brown's book?

Griffith-Jones: Shortly after it was published visitors from the United States came to the Church, wielding the novel and asking, "Have you read the book?" We soon realized they were not asking about the Bible! I read the book, enjoyed it—and had no idea it would create such a craze.

RBL: How has your life as Master changed since the Da Vinci Code mania began?

Griffith-Jones: We now have five times more visitors than we had three years ago. I give a weekly talk about the novel here in the Church, and currently have 100 or more people attending each week.

RBL: What do you believe is the most interesting question Brown's novel has raised among the public?

Griffith-Jones: Many people have been encouraged to ask quite openly questions which they have, I think, been harboring for years: Was Jesus married? Does it matter if he was married? Was he really just an exceptional human being, rather than "God" as well as man? I suspect there is a very large number of people who don't believe what Dan Brown says, but don't know why not to. The least we can do, in the churches, is offer some answers.

RBL: Of all the questions you address, which one most fascinates visitors to the Temple?

Griffith-Jones: I am pleased that people are asking, "Jesus: Married or Single?" It gives the churches an opportunity to say whether and why they think Jesus' celibacy matters. It's not long before such a conversation is sorting out the definitions needed for any debate, "Jesus: Man and/or God?"

RBL: Which of your answers about Da Vinci Code mysteries is most satisfying to pilgrims and which one most disappoints?

Griffith-Jones: Almost all our visitors are quite enthralled by a more accurate reading of "The Last Supper" and are moved, I think, by the story—never mentioned in the novel—of Jesus and Mary Magdalene on Easter Day. Everyone hopes we have the Holy Grail. No such luck!

Reynolds Price: Letter to a Godchild

By Donna Freitas (From Publishers Weekly, Religion Bookline, April 19, 2006)

In Letter to a Godchild (Scribner, June; starred review below), Reynolds Price--acclaimed writer of many novels as well as poetry and nonfiction works on religion, among other topics--prepares some reflections on faith for his godchild Harper Voll to read when he gets a little older.

RBL: Did it take courage to lay bare for Harper your beliefs, your critiques of religion, your hopes, your doubts, and your moments of loneliness?

Price: I never felt that it was a fearsome task, but I cared enough about Harper to proceed with great slowness and care in the years I spent writing the letter.

RBL: Is this the kind of personal reflection you imagine a parent might hold onto until their child is "old enough" to begin thinking about the wisdom you offer?

Price: Yes, I'm much hoping that parents--godparents, teachers, whoever--might read my letter with some interest and save it in the eventual hope that a child they care about might need and find it in time.

RBL: There are two mentions of visions in your story, one of nature as willed by a creator and another of Jesus healing your spinal cord. You call both mystical experiences. Do you understand yourself as a mystic?

Price: I think I'm a mystic of the most basic sort, not the loose-goose present-day sort who leans primarily on crystals, shaman rattles, etc. I'm a person who has an enduring faith in God, a faith which began in the Christian churches of my parents and continues to be Christian at its deep foundations. But it's a faith I've pursued, for the greatest part of my adult life, more or less entirely on my own--in reading, thought, prayer, and in whatever help I can give to my human neighbors--which is to say, my immediate family, loved ones, students and as much of the human race as I think I can honestly reach.

RBL: How did Harper's parents respond to this letter for their son when you presented it?
Price: They're especially close old friends, they've known about it from the start, and have seemed glad enough. Harper's still too young to have much sense of the purpose of the book, but I hope he can at least enjoy his picture on the dedication page.

RBL: As Harper grows older, will you write him additional letters regarding other weighty matters? On love? Vocation?

Price: My friends may find it hard to believe, but in recent years I've been loath to offer unsolicited advice. Still, you may have given me a welcome idea. Love? Vocation? Well, why not? Lord knows, I've experienced a lot of both--and a good deal else.

RBL: Is there anything else you'd like to add about your and Harper's relationship?

Price: The book itself says all I have to say at the moment. But your suggestion of other letters on big subjects may well mean that Harper must gird himself for the arrival, at widely spaced intervals, of further news from Uncle Reynolds.

Joan Chittister: The Friendship of Women: The Hidden Tradition of the Bible

By Donna Freitas (From Publishers Weekly, Religion Book Line, 5/3/2006)

Sister Joan Chittister is a renowned lecturer, the executive director of Benetvision: A Resource and Research Center for Contemporary Spirituality, and the author of thirty books including her latest, The Friendship of Women: The Hidden Tradition of the Bible (Bluebridge, April), currently number 5 on the Catholic Bestsellers list.

RBL: Why did you decide to do a book on women’s friendships?

Chittister: I consider friendship to be a social sacrament, a sacred act far above and beyond ‘connections,’ acquaintanceship, or the neighborliness of social contacts. The ability to create and sustain friendships is a factor in mental health, in personal development, and in emotional survival. While male friendships had been the subject of inquiry and analysis for centuries, only recently has the notion of female friendship even become a discussible subject, let alone the subject of academic or psychological study.

RBL: How did you discern what quality each biblical woman best represented?

Chittister: The very fact that the biblical sketch of each woman is so brief actually makes it easier to define their purposes and personalities. These women are not presented as complex figures. They are agents of change, thinkers, social catalysts who make things different around them. So it’s possible to see each of them as simple but true types of what we see women looking for in friends.

RBL: How were you able to read so much wisdom from figures like Lydia and Phoebe who have only a few biblical verses dedicated to them?

Chittister: I looked at the situation in which each found themselves and asked myself what determining quality drove her behavior or accounted for the effect she had on others. Lydia, for instance, is a model of strong-mindedness. She’s a business woman. No husband is even mentioned. She herself evaluates the social situation in which she lives, and she “constrained” the apostle Paul to stay in the area until a community could take root there. She is a thinking woman from whom we all might learn something. After all, St. Paul did.

RBL: Of all the women you discussed, in which figure do you see your own greatest “friendship” strength, and in which your greatest struggle?

Chittister: My greatest strength is reflected in Ruth’s ability to risk for the sake of a greater good. I find it easy—and important—to support others in their sometimes inchoate but always sincere attempts to make life better, both for themselves and for others. My greatest struggle is actually the opposite of Ruth’s willingness to risk. It is Anne’s willingness to nurture—the patient, daily support and security that long-term presence brings. My own life is more like the social situation that I describe in the book: highly mobile and multi-faceted. My answer is to try and be totally present where I am and completely attentive to the people I’m with. What friendships today lack in time, they must provide in depth and continuing contact.

Tanya Erzen: Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement

By Donna Freitas (From Publishers Weekly, Religion Book Line, 4/26/2006)

Tanya Erzen, a professor of comparative studies at Ohio University, spent a year living and working at New Hope, a residential Christian community dedicated to turning men away from homosexuality. The result was Straight to Jesus (Univ. of California, June; starred review in PW, Feb. 27). Our review called the book “ethnography at its best: an outsider’s careful, respectful translation of a subculture that is often poorly understood and easily dismissed.”

RBL: New Hope is a place where many men find a kind of religious refuge, often for the first time in their lives. Do you see an inherent irony in this?

Erzen: For the men at New Hope, it is precisely the idea that being gay is irreconcilable with their particular Christian beliefs that creates the sense of refuge. New Hope provides confirmation of what they already believe: homosexuality is wrong. Plus it provides them a way out and puts them on the path they believe God wants for them.

RBL: For men like Lars and Curtis, you mention their time in New Hope’s residential program was part of the coming out process. Did Frank (its director) see New Hope at all in this light, or realize some of the men saw it this way?

Erzen: When Curtis referred to New Hope as “Gayland,” it was because everything he knew about what it meant to live as a gay man came from hearing the testimonies of others in the program and from what he learned in classes. Frank obviously did not want the ministry to function as an information center for how to live as a gay person, but he was aware that this happened. The intensity of the friendships created at New Hope often led to sexual falls, but it also enabled men to realize that they wanted and could have same-sex relationships and leave the program.

RBL: You often mention how the ex-gay identity reconciles sexuality and religion in a unique way. How so?

Erzen: Part of the reconciliation occurs because people at the ministry take on a new identity as ex-gay, which is neither heterosexual nor homosexual, neither gay nor straight. Even though each person felt they had to take responsibility and participate in the classes at the ministry, ultimately they believed what they did at New Hope was secondary to what God could do for them. They had placed their lives, masculinity, femininity, sexual desires, hopes, etc., in God’s hands.

RBL: What stays with you most about your experiences at New Hope?

Erzen: What was striking to me throughout my research was the sense of humor of men and women at the ministry—whether it was in Anita’s choice of bumper sticker to prevent her son from borrowing her car or Brian’s practical jokes. They constantly pointed out what they found absurd about their situation and were able to laugh at themselves and each other. With so much of the focus in ex-gay ministries on struggle, pain, and conflict, it was easy to imagine a group of very morose people. That was not the case at all. Their humor and ability to be simultaneously self-critical was surprising, and it is those moments that stay with me, and that I try to convey in the book.

Tom Shachtman: The Choice to Be Amish

By Donna Freitas (From Publishers Weekly, Religion BookLine, 3/15/2006)

In Rumspringa: To Be Or Not to Be Amish (North Point/FSG, June) Shachtman writes that rumspringa "is a Pennsylvania Dutch term, usually translated as "running around. During rumspringa, Amish youth—a large percentage of them for the first time in their lives—go on their own in the outside world."

RBL: What made you interested in the Amish and rumspringa?

Shachtman: I am fascinated by the anti-modernism of the Amish, and some years ago I asked the producers of The Devil's Playground if I could watch their documentary. I found out there were reams of supporting material no one had tapped into. A biographer looks for a treasure-trove of resources, and in this case I discovered an incredible mass of material about kids who were in rumspringa.

RBL: How did you gain access to such a closed community?

Shachtman: During rumspringa kids are operating outside the community. Also, I went in with only a pad and pencil. This allows you to penetrate a community better than with a camera, especially among people who do not want to be photographed like the Amish.

RBL: Is rumspringa a kind of college experience but without the academics?

Shachtman: It's certainly a college of hard knocks. During rumspringa there is an absence of the direction provided in college. One major question is: how ready are these children to encounter mainstream society? We gradually socialize our kids to the world, yet for Amish youth, they suddenly have to deal with motorized vehicles, the Internet, and the vast array of media that defines our culture. Rumspringa is much more of a sink or swim experience than college.

RBL: Why do you think Amish youth choose to return to the community following rumspringa?

Shachtman: A simpler way of life is very appealing, and rightly so. There is a lot of modern life that's noise, that's distracting. It's very appealing to people to know they are on the right path.

RBL: You are a parent yourself. How has this project affected your idea of raising teens in mainstream culture?

Shachtman: Well, I think we need to be very aware that when our kids go out into the world we have to provide instruction and a sense of the long term. So much goes on in rumspringa; it's such a cauldron. But we have to understand we have cauldrons for our children too. Nobody sails through adolescence.

RBL: Are you still in touch with people you interviewed?

Shachtman: Some of them. Once they go back into the community it is difficult to be in touch.

RBL: Is there any one teen whose story has really stayed with you?

Shachtman: The story of the girl whose father bribes her to become baptized into the community by buying her a spectacular buggy. That was just extraordinary. But there were so many wonderful people, it's hard to choose.

RBL: Will anyone in the Amish community read this book?

Shachtman: Probably not.