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awareness of precisely what has happened holds the key to unlocking popular interest, engagement, and control over

the countrys political, social, economic, anddare we say itspiritual future. Ivey is unafraid to tackle serious issues seriously and is a deft hand at painting the bigger picture with engaging bluster that also contains solid reasoning. (August) SeAmuS mullArkey

Religion
Faith Beyond Belief: Stories of Good People Who Left Their Church Behind
Margaret Placentra Johnston Quest Books Softcover $17.95 (360pp) 978-0-8356-0905-0
religion can be damaging, while spirituality is freeing. So contends Johnston, whose Faith Beyond Belief introduces us to a host of religious practitioners, people whose countercultural faith relegates them to the margins of the devoutor so those who are the noisiest in favor of doctrine would have us believe. These arent the churchgoers your grandmother knew. yet Johnston asserts that their rejection of mere belief in favor of sincere spiritual development represents the precise religious maturation that our ever-complicated world requires. Johnstons bold pages explore the hidden dynamism of what she calls mystical practice, the destination stage of personal development. Ahead of such mystics, we are introduced to those poised to seek such betterment: those in whom fundamentalism met a sharp end. For some, scriptural literalism simply couldnt withstand growing practical knowledge; in others, the notion of a God who could love some but not all, or in whose name violence could be justified, sat uneasily with moral precepts of love and inclusion. Johnston makes use of select theories to propose that such upheavals are a somewhat inevitable part of personal growth. They represent, she suggests, moving from the stage in which conformity is a comfort into that of skeptical rationality, where ones development of thoughtful, original values actually begins. The book holds respect for such skeptics, notably the most vocal New Atheists like Dawkins and Hitchens. yet Johnston remains certain that beyond disbelief lies the option of veering back toward spiritualitythough without arbitrary restraints, and with an eye toward bettering the world. In defense of such a vision, she introduces us to nascent mystics, whose spirituality is about world, not just personal improvement. In Nilah, prayer ceases to be about currying the favor of a deity and moves toward pursuing wholeness; in Jean, feminist spirituality helps to heal childhood damage and to inspire a vision of wisdom, beauty, and inclusiveness. The liberal theology embraced in these stories represents, Johnston hopes, a sea change in religious practice worldwide, as it moves away from insisting on sets of answers in favor of focusing on increasing personal responsibility toward the common good. Faith Beyond Belief possesses a depth that only becomes more dazzling when the reader considers that it arose outside of religious academia. While Johnston touts mystical spirituality, she maintains respectful consideration for those at all levels of spiritual development. The insightfulness of this approach, alongside the interreligious and extrareligious conversations which she encourages, should establish this book as required reading for seminarians and skeptics alike. A staggering achievement from a profoundly perceptive thinker. (October) mIcHelle ScHINGler Will intermarriage and cultural assimilation cause the numbers of coming Jewish generations to atrophy, as traditionalists have long feared? Should such a possibility even be considered a threat? Temes draws a connection to Zoroastrianism, whose once substantial population could not be sustained by patrilineal succession alone, and parallels this to the nearly vanished chinese Jewish community. A tradition that does not actively recruit converts, he suggests, must be conscious of related implications. Temes also troubles Judaisms active role in the world, putting doctrinal exclusivity and tikkun olamworld healinginto conversation with one another. Both postures offer prospective answers to the question of what Judaism will survive as: either a community focused on preserving its ancient culture despite challenges, or one which expands itself to answer the needs of an outside world. Or might it manage to do both? Jewish philosopher Abraham Joshua Heschels involvement in the civil rights movement becomes an example of Judaisms call, and power, to encourage positive social change, whereas an iconic photograph of Adolph eichmann, one of the architects of the Holocaust, introduces a discussion of the shortcomings of insularity, particularly in relation to ethics. A reverential posture toward a Torah scrollheld by a female rabbiis the last image were left with, and so final questions orbit around the ways that contemporary Jews relate to, and incorporate, Judaisms most ancient beliefs. Five Photographs contributes to extant discussions in Jewish thought with both verve and acuity. Temes deftly synthesizes his own religious ambivalencea family and, to some extent, community inheritance that he wonders about bequeathing to his own childrenwith stories of the faithful adaptations assumed by luminaries of Jewish theology, from martin

The Future of the Jewish People in Five Photographs


Peter S. Temes The University of Nebraska Press Hardcover $26.95 (216pp) 978-0-8032-3979-1 978-0-8032-4459-7 ebook
Judaism has a future, but of enigmatic form. using his own Jewish experience and five evocative historical images as a starting point, Dr. Peter Temes (former Harvard professor and author of The Power of Purpose, among other titles) explores some of the paths that Jews, and Judaism, may next opt to take. Temes begins by examining how Jewish identity is adapting to meet the challenge of dwindling communal practice.

forewordreviews.com /

wiNTer 2013

Word 73 / Fore

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