Features
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 352 pages
- Published by: HarperOne January 22, 2008
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0060558296
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0060558291
-
Book Dimensions:
9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
- Weighs: 1.2 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
First, the good news: according to Wallis, founder of Sojourners and author of the bestseller
God's Politics, the era of the religious right is over, and a new crop of under-30 progressives may well be taking American religion—and American politics—by storm. The terrible news: people of faith need to get to work to further this grassroots support for social justice. Wallis draws on lively stories from his speaking engagements and world travels to discuss how the silent majority of religious Americans who don't feel represented by the religious right's agenda can first take comfort in their sheer numbers and then take action in their communities to fight poverty, clean up the environment and eradicate disease. The book is as passionate, engaging and emotionally moving as readers have come to expect from Wallis, who comes across as a Rauschenbuschian teddy bear, alternately stumping for justice and proclaiming God's love. As a cohesive book, however, this has a rough and clunky sensibility, with considerable repetition of ideas, examples and even phrasing. It has the feel of discrete essays and speeches that have been knocked together and too lightly edited. Still, fans of
God's Politics who are eager to learn of the next step will find compelling ideas and stories.
(Jan. 22) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From AudioFile
Jim Wallis has a widely held reputation as a powerful speaker and sermonizer. So his narration of his latest work is disappointing. Instead of interpreting the work, he so scrupulously reads it that his presentation at times lacks luster. He also pauses at awkward points in sentences. This is all disappointing because his message about how faith can exert a positive influence on politics and social change is so powerful. His book is well organized and argues its points effectively. Authentic faith, Wallis argues, has been a driving force behind many of America's greatest reforms, such as the termination of slavery, women's suffrage, and the Civil Rights struggle. That spirit can be recaptured and utilized today. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
Reader Reviews
For too long Jim Wallis has been a sort of preacher in the wilderness, calling people of faith to reengage in the public square, not as members of a particular partisan party, but instead to serve as messengers and workers on behalf of our fellow human beings. While it may be too early to say that Mr. Wallis is being at last heard, there are some early indications. With this book "The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith in a post-Religious Right America" Mr. Wallis reminds readers that, while religion has been all over the map in conflicts since the beginning of history, it has also provided the vanguard in the great ethical crusades of our nation's past. From Abolition, to Worker's Rights, to Civil Rights, people of faith marched and preached, and agitated. Listening to many of those who imagine themselves as "religious leaders" of the current time, one might think that Moses descended Sinai with Tablets demanding reduced corporate regulation and Jesus on the Cross opined over the need to reduce the capital gains rate. Yet these individuals and their ability to crowd out other people of faith remain aberrant. Wallis writes eloquently about those common principles which bind all faiths: caring for the weak and the poor, protecting human dignity, reminding everyone of our common value. Perhaps, if Wallis is correct, there is a great awakening bubbling up in America; if that is the case, one can only hope that a better, healthier nation will arise, a thing for which all people of faith can pray.
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