Feeling inspired by The Best Spiritual Writing series, John Wilson, an editor at Christianity Today, has assembled this impressive collection of standout Christian writing. Considering that some sociologists claim that there are roughly 1.8 billion Christians in the world today, Wilson acknowledges that it would be impossible to represent every angle of Christian vision within one anthology. Instead he gathered a collection of North American voices that reads like a classroom full of the best and brightest seminary students. Each essay and story has a unique personal history and point of view and yet they all have a common purpose--that of exalting, living, and illuminating the Christian path.

The big-name writers in the collection include Jean Bethke Elshtain writing on "Abraham Lincoln and the Last Best Hope," Harvey Cox's essay "The Market As God" (originally published in The Atlantic Monthly), and Eugene Peterson on "Wise Teachers, Sound Teaching." Unfortunately, this anthology leans toward the theological, with only a few essays sustaining a hearty personal narrative. As a result, some readers may find the overall package a little dry. However, connoisseurs of Christian writing will recognize the merits of these well-crafted and provocative essays. In fact, the anthology's strength lies in a very satisfying and familiar formula--one that has always worked for successful sermon writing--linking biblical stories with a smattering of personal anecdotes and then applying them to our collective modern dilemmas. --Gail Hudson


From Publishers Weekly
As editor of the literary review Books & Culture, Wilson is well equipped to survey the world of Christian writing, and he has once again assembled a collection of essays that stimulates and surprises. The presence of writers like Walter Wangerin, Frederica Mathewes-Greene and Philip Yancey will be no surprise, of course, but other less well-known authors like Garret Keizer (The Enigma of Anger) and Sarah E. Hinlicky make equally graceful and compelling contributions. The writing is "Christian" because the writers are (with one exception, Amy Schwartz, an observant Jew who contributes a perfectly tuned updating of C. S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters); the topics range from teaching to farming, from birth to death. There may also be something distinctively Christian about the way that these essays fuse the written word with personal encounter. Yancey celebrates G. K. Chesterton, Joseph Bottum rereads Dickens; Hinlicky bids farewell to her dying grandfather; Sam Torode contemplates an ultrasound of his unborn son; Wangerin remembers his father-in-law, a lifelong farmer, and Gabriel Said Reynolds explores the faith of his friend Mojtaba, a Shi'ite Muslim. A few of the essays are systematically theological, but in most, Christian faith serves as a source of indirect illumination, equipping the writers to perceive deeply without introducing artificial glare and shadows. Christian readers will be heartened by this collection; others may be surprised at how universal the best Christian writing can be. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Beliefnet
These tempered essays hardly satisfy as samples of the prophetic rages that have quickened the Christian community and helped some of its members change the world. Or of the ecstasies that now and then have been captured by those who celebrate the faith. But they do make up a valuable sampler for Christians and non-Christians, writers and non-writers, the best and non-best. (Beliefnet, Sept. 2000)


From Booklist
This annual's third edition contains fewer research and "think" pieces and more experiential essays than the second. Reflective briefs on a deathbed visit, deciding to have another child, and surgery during pregnancy could comfort anyone. Barbara Brown Taylor's musings on a small crucifix of Native American provenance challenge Christian self-conceptions. Walter Wangerin Jr.'s appreciation of his farmer father-in-law is as wonderful as his different, identically titled essay in Best Spiritual Writing, 2002 [BKL S 15 02], and Richard Lischer's recollections of his first pastorate demonstrate the power, however latent, of Christian community. Less strictly personal are Paul Elie's consideration of the phenomenon of feeling like "The Last Catholic Writer in America"; the late professor Lionel Basney's piquant "Teacher: Eleven Notes"; Gabriel Said Reynolds' superb personal introduction to Shia, the faith of Iran; and Frederica Mathewes-Green's ex-feminist critique "Three Bad Ideas for Women, and What to Do about Them." Some terrific, wholly objective pieces are here, too; for instance, J. Bottum's "Ghost of Christmas Past: Charles Dickens' Triumph." Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM THE PUBLISHER

This year's volume brings together an elegant and engaging array of essaysby Christian luminaries tackling relevant issues. These writers distill theriches of belief into lucid explorations of faith and truth, reflectingthe many dimensions of Christianity in the new millennium.Including such diverse and distingushed voices as: Frederica Mathewes-Green, who wrestles with some of the negative results of feminism in "Three Bad Ideas for Women and What to Do About Them."

Richard John Neuhaus, examining the tensions and richness of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity in "Salvation Is from the Jews."

Barbara Brown Taylor, offering a meditation on the confluence of the holy and the unholy in our lives in "The Derelict Cross."

Walter Wangerin JR., recalling the steady, unpretentious wisdom of his farmer father-in-law in "One Man on a Tractor Far Away."

Philip Yancey, sharing his lifelong love of G. K. Chesterson in "The 'Ample' Man Who Saved My Faith."

Author Biography:

John Wilson is the editor of Books & Culture, the Christian review of literature, and editor-at-large for its parent magazine, Christianity Today.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

As editor of the literary review Books & Culture, Wilson is well equipped to survey the world of Christian writing, and he has once again assembled a collection of essays that stimulates and surprises. The presence of writers like Walter Wangerin, Frederica Mathewes-Greene and Philip Yancey will be no surprise, of course, but other less well-known authors like Garret Keizer (The Enigma of Anger) and Sarah E. Hinlicky make equally graceful and compelling contributions. The writing is "Christian" because the writers are (with one exception, Amy Schwartz, an observant Jew who contributes a perfectly tuned updating of C. S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters); the topics range from teaching to farming, from birth to death. There may also be something distinctively Christian about the way that these essays fuse the written word with personal encounter. Yancey celebrates G. K. Chesterton, Joseph Bottum rereads Dickens; Hinlicky bids farewell to her dying grandfather; Sam Torode contemplates an ultrasound of his unborn son; Wangerin remembers his father-in-law, a lifelong farmer, and Gabriel Said Reynolds explores the faith of his friend Mojtaba, a Shi'ite Muslim. A few of the essays are systematically theological, but in most, Christian faith serves as a source of indirect illumination, equipping the writers to perceive deeply without introducing artificial glare and shadows. Christian readers will be heartened by this collection; others may be surprised at how universal the best Christian writing can be. (Dec.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

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