One of the big lies of the modern age is that economics is uninteresting. In reality, what is boring is the way economists write (Joseph Stiglitz, the Tom Clancy of economic prose, is the one notable exception). In contrast, no one thinks that, say,
Reviews
Elizabeth Palmberg 11-01-2004
Andrea Jeyaveeran 10-01-2004
In The Coal Tattoo, Silas Houses third novel, House conjures up a setting that breathes and hums with life. Kentucky coal country in the 1960s is more a character than a mere backdrop for his story. Easter and Anneth, the sisters at the heart of the novel, are as bound to the mountains, creeks,
Chuck Collins 9-01-2004
More than four decades ago, Michael Harrington held a mirror up to Americas self-image of affluence with his searing picture of poverty, The Other America. Harringtons book was read widelyby President John Kennedy, among othersand fueled the moral and intellectual resolve behind
Jess O. Hale 9-01-2004
When one of this nations most provocative theologians publishes his reading of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, those who count themselves as (lay or ordained) theologians and students of Christian faith in public life can hope for a lively experience. With Performing the Faith, Stanley Hauerwas does not
Brent Coffin 9-01-2004
Whos Saving Whom?
Saving America? Faith-Based Services and the Future of Civil Society, by Robert Wuthnow. Princeton University Press
Reviewed by Brent Coffin
Jo Ann Heydron 8-01-2004
"Other people seemed to progress much more smoothly through life... but...I kept getting derailed, ejected from one job, one lifestyle after another," writes Karen Armstrong in The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness. For more than a decade, Armstrong has been the author of indispensable
J. James DeConto 8-01-2004
If you've heard her radio single "Come to Jesus" or her cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene," you know everything you need to about Mindy Smith: This woman can sing. Outside these two hits, which alone are worth the price of the CD, One Moment More aspires to be a folk album, delivering mostly gentle ballads with simple
Joy Carroll Wallis 8-01-2004
Joy Carroll Wallis was among the first women to be ordained to the priesthood in England, in 1994. She tells her story in The Woman Behind the Collar: The Pioneering Journey of an Episcopal Priest (The Crossroad Publishing Company), a portion of which appears below. Carroll Wallis lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband (Sojourners editor-in-chief Jim Wallis) and their two children.
Virginia Maksymowicz 7-01-2004
Over the years, I've written many times about living in a middle space between my faith (Catholicism) and my profession (fine art). I've often had to act as interpreter to fellow believers of contemporary artworks that were difficult to understand without a bit of translation. Alternately, I've defended my church to artists suspicious of any organized religion.
Eleanor Heartney's Postmodern Heretics: Catholic Imagination in Contemporary Art is the first book I've read that attempts to bridge that gap in a comprehensive fashion. She examines some of the most controversial artworks of the past two decades, noting that a majority were created by artists who are, or were brought up as, Catholics. In the process, she deftly draws parallels between a kind of physicality that is peculiarly Catholic and these artists' propensity for expressing their ideas through corporeal means.
I admit some trepidation in reviewing this book for Sojourners - where folks have worked to overcome long-standing divisions among Christians of various traditions - because Heartney's book argues for difference. Catholicism is, after all, unabashedly catholic, appropriating pagan elements universally and "christening" them in the process. All matter is regarded as sacred, and God is experienced through the world. Instead of distinguishing between the spiritual and the physical, Catholics often intentionally blur them. Both sociologist-novelist Andrew Greeley and theologian David Tracy have argued that Catholics and Protestants actually perceive the world differently in this sense, and that there is something distinctive about the "Catholic imagination."
Bill Wylie-Kellermann 7-01-2004
This is a book that takes your breath away and at the same time gives it back. I have every suspicion, and say it with a sigh, that Heidi Neumark has written a classic to be.
Breathing Space defies genre, or at least mingles them. Part diary of a city priest, part Bible study, part theological reflection on years of urban ministry with an undercurrent of journalized griefwork, part social analysis with patches of homily - yet always pure prayer and even pure poetry. All these are woven in centered self-awareness by a concrete and thoroughly unaffected wordcraft. This is one way of saying that, as a pastor, Heidi Neumark is the real deal - and, as a writer, she has the gift.
The title is only passing reference to the Louisville Institute sabbatical that occasioned its writing. It certainly names the contemplative process of penning pastorally on the run. But like the biblical notion of Sabbath year itself, "breathing space" reflects worship infused with justice. It is the sanctuary of ministry and community constructed with residents of the South Bronx, whose dumping-ground neighborhood was just surviving beneath the atmosphere of environmental racism and more, air violently stretched, literally toxic, inflicting countless cases of asthma. Which is to say, every pastoral act recounted here is political, an engagement of the powers that be.
Nathan Wilson 6-01-2004
Two distinct audiences will get much out of Lifting Up the Poor: religious activists who want to better understand the complex causes of poverty and communicate more effectively with policymakers about its elimination; and secular activists who
Duane Shank 6-01-2004
I first heard of William Sloane Coffin in 1967, when he was a leading spokesperson for "A Call to Resist Illegitimate Authority," a manifesto pledging to "counsel, aid, and abet" young men in resisting the draft. It made a strong impression on me and, with other influences, led to my refusing
Malinda Elizabeth Berry 5-01-2004
This year marks the 35th anniversary of James Cones legendary volume Black Theology and Black Power. Last year was the 10th anniversary of Delores Williams landmark text Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk. The
Shaun Casey 5-01-2004
Several times during the tumultuous events leading up to the Iraq war, I heard or read the lament, "Where is the Reinhold Niebuhr of our age who can provide wisdom for these insane times?" Thirty years after his death, this Christian social
Nontando Hadebe 4-01-2004
The distinctive sound of Ladysmith Black Mambazo is one of the finest expressions of African music.
Bethany Spicher Schonberg 4-01-2004
I came to the capital for a one-year internship, like so many Washingtonians, believing I'd get my fill of city life and move on to greener pastures, literally.
J.R. Burkholder 2-01-2004
Captain America and the Crusade Against Evil: The Dilemma of Zealous Nationalism, by Robert Jewett and John Shelton Lawrence.