Customer Reviews

Hope Against Darkness: The Transforming Vision of Saint Francis in an Age of Anxiety

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This book blew my hair back as I was reading it.

It turned my parochial understanding of Christianity on it's head and soothed the cynicism I held in my heart toward Christianity.

If you're already a member of the choir, familiar with Rohr and more modern and adult theology, there's nothing I can say to you.

If, however, you're out of the loop like I was this book will change the terrain for you.

There is a lot of language that seemed rather technical or in the vein of Catholic jargon. However, the notions he introduces of what true faith is, the question of being in or out of the system, the system of the church, seeing the universe as sacred, the great chain of being.

These are rich, ancient and vital topics exposed in a new, refreshing and adult way.

Rohr gives us permission, implores us, actually, to put away our crayons and step into an adult understanding of and responsibility for our faith.

I think this book has changed the course of my life.

Rohr's book challenges us to see our world from a different perspective. We have been using it for a women's spirituality group. Everyone in the group thinks its the best book we've ever discussed. Rohr offers hope and a nonviolent way to navigate our world. Deep, insightful, thought-proking, challenging, transforming.

This book has been used by a morning study group with great success. Father Rohr provides excellent discussion themes and realistic (new) ways to obtain win-win results.

St. Francis is a needed role model in today's time of fear and retribution.

I highly recommend this book to anyone -- red or blue. In fact, it should be required reading!

I belive that anything Richard Rohr writes is special and anointed! His depth, insights and writing style are captivating. Rohr has something to say and he says it well!

This is another important work by Fr. Richard. He gives us hope and awareness of the post-modern era in which we live.

In an age of anxiety, violence and terrorism, this is a very comforting book, inspiring reading for all.

I think Rohr is one of the clearest thinking and meaningful writers of our day and this is one of his best books. In fact I recently gave a copy to a close friend. His writings resonant with the reality I have to live. Beyond the chaos and conflicts that fill my days, he truly helps me see meaning and joy.

Richard Rohr once again gave me a loving punch in the gut and slap in the face with this one!

Lenin is said to have had the motto, "One step backward, two forward," as his take on the western notion of progress. Richard Rohr seems to have adapted it into "One step forward, one backward" when it comes to the Church. For every definative opinion he gives in his initial chapters, he cites at least one exception, leaving the reader in a muddle as to what he is actually saying. Rohr is an acute observer of cultural artifacts functioning without an overall structure that places his observations into a useful context. One can imagine all this as great material for homilies, but John Feister, as editor, has a challange on his hands to make it linear enough for the printed page.
The result is reader frustration. In chapter 3, for example, Rohr starts with the theme of three Great Awakenings in USA history but, only three pages on, that theme has dissolved into a broader "sense of History" and then "sense of community". Over a score of pages later, what emerges is "Turn of the TV and have family meals together." Ironically, the Mormans have managed to convey that same message quite effectively in 30-second TV ads.
Rohr is one of those likeable folks with whom you can say you agree--at least 50 percent of the time. But later you wonder if that was because you only heard half of what he intended to communicate.