Publisher: Harmony Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/04/2011
ISBN-13: 9780307886880
ISBN-10: 0307886883

Deepak Chopra, a popular writer on spiritual matters, and physicist Leonard Mlodinow answer some classic questions on the nature of life and the universe. Starting with an introductory section headed "The War" -- meaning the ideological conflict between the worldviews of spirituality and science -- each author answers specific questions in alternating essays. Topics include "Is the Brain Like a Computer?" and "What Is the Future of Belief?" The dueling chapters provide an "excellent summary of contemporary thought on issues of science and religion" (Library Journal).

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Publisher: IVP Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/30/2011
ISBN-13: 9780830835553
ISBN-10: 0830835555

Quaker author Richard Foster discusses an approach to prayer that is becoming more popular among all Christians -- silent meditation. Starting with a section on God's desire to communicate with us, Foster continues by showing how this approach to prayer can help bring us closer to Jesus, and concludes with a discussion of common distractions and temptations that may interfere with our contemplative practice. If you like Sanctuary of the Soul, Thomas Keating's Spirituality, Contemplation, & Transformation also offers insights into contemplative prayer, through a collection of essays on the subject by Christian writers from several traditions.

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Publisher: Gotham Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/13/2011
ISBN-13: 9781592406302
ISBN-10: 1592406300

In the early 1960s, author Donna Johnson's mother became the organist for traveling revivalist David Terrell. Johnson spent her childhood immersed in the revival circuit, where Terrell's preaching drew crowds numbering in the thousands. In this memoir about her youthful spiritual journey, Johnson reveals how she became aware as a teenager that her mother was actually one of Terrell's numerous mistresses, and recounts her own struggles with faith and doubt. She also paints a "consistently funny, poetic" (Kirkus Reviews), and detailed portrait of Terrell himself in his world of sawdust and faith healing.

Publisher: HarperOne
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/04/2011
ISBN-13: 9780062024268
ISBN-10: 0062024264

Jesuit James Martin, who often appears on Comedy Central's Colbert Report, reminds us that Jesus expressed a sense of humor and that joyfulness may demonstrate a strong faith. St. Teresa of Avila was famous for her humor, as were other saints and even several Popes. Using quotations from the Bible, humorous anecdotes, interviews with scholars, and illustrations from history, Martin saves Christianity from gloom and shows how to apply these entertaining lessons to one's personal theology. For another laugh-out-loud book on a religious sense of humor, read Baptist pastor Susan Sparks' Laugh Your Way to Grace.

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Publisher: Random House
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/30/2011
ISBN-13: 9780812982442
ISBN-10: 0812982444

Iran-born scholar Reza Aslan, a professor at the University of Iowa, provides an engaging history of Islam and evaluation of its present-day status. Arguing that Islam is in the midst of a period of reformation, he sets the fundamentalist and combative trends visible today in the context of Islam's origins. This is a thought-provoking and informative study, though Aslan re-interprets many of Islam's traditions in ways that some Muslims may find controversial. General readers will find this an insightful work and may want to follow up with Karen Armstrong's Mohammed.

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Publisher: Graywolf Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/10/2011
ISBN-13: 9781555975821
ISBN-10: 1555975828

New York-born Margaret Marcus grew up in a secular Jewish family, but at age 28 she converted to Islam, moved to Pakistan, and wrote eloquently of her rejection of Western culture. Biographer Deborah Baker presents the story of Marcus' adult life as Maryam Jameelah, who became a significant proponent of Islamic fundamentalism. Drawing on her research in Jameelah's letters and her published books and articles, Baker casts light on contemporary Islam as well as on the nature of radical idealism in general. "An important, searing, highly readable and timely narrative," says Kirkus Reviews.

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Publisher: Free Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/18/2010
ISBN-13: 9781439157312
ISBN-10: 1439157316

Somali feminist Ayaan Hirsi Ali builds on her first memoir, Infidel, to describe her culture shock as a Muslim immigrant to Europe and the U.S. She also brings readers up to date on her family, touchingly revealing her grief after her father's death. Well known as a provocative opponent of the subjugation and abuse of women in certain very strict Muslim countries, Hirsi Ali continues to argue that Western acceptance of Islamic culture is naïve. Her vehemence has evoked death threats from those who disagree with her, but her writing is informative and engaging. The New York Times concludes she "would be a terrific conversationalist at a dinner party."

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