This collection features an array of new writers who have gone back to the traditional sources of their beliefs to find new ways of addressing the complexities of modern life. Topics discussed include Hollywood's portrayal of evil and the politicization of religion.
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Editorial Reviews
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Backlash against divisive, destructive "culture wars" in the U.S. has recently called forth cries for "civility" and politics based on "meaning." What civility and meaning mean, unfortunately, are often lost in advocates' efforts to emphasize their own pious abstention from the dirty world of politicized religion. The New Religious Humanists, by contrast, salvages the project from meaninglessness, by collecting the writings of believers who are as committed to truth as to honesty. In his smart introduction, editor Gregory Wolfe makes a convincing argument that Annie Dillard, Wendell Berry, Os Guinness, Richard Rodriguez, and Robert Coles are among the heirs apparent to early religious humanists such as Augustine, Aquinas, and Erasmus. "At a time when the model of Enlightenment rationalism is crumbling under the weight of postmodern cynicism and nihilism," Wolfe writes, "the religious imagination can speak meaningfully into the void." These essays cover topics ranging from the authors' own experiences of worship to political issues such as environmentalism, euthanasia, and abortion. The writings are consistently provocative and precise. More importantly, for readers whose revelation comes largely from everyday life, these essays illuminate how religion can illuminate and guide believers' complete engagement with the world. --Michael Joseph Gross
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More About the Author
Writer, teacher, publisher, and editor, Gregory Wolfe has been called "one of the most incisive and persuasive voices of our generation" (Ron Hansen). Both as a thinker and institution-builder, Wolfe has been a pioneer in the resurgence of interest in the relationship between art and religion--a resurgence that has had widespread impact both on religious communities and the public square. As an advocate for and exemplar of the tradition of Christian Humanism, Wolfe has established a reputation as an independent, non-ideological thinker--part gadfly, part peacemaker.
In 1989, Wolfe founded Image, which Annie Dillard has called "one of the best journals on the planet." Now one of America's top literary quarterlies, Image is a unique forum for the best writing and artwork that is informed by--or grapples with--religious faith. Material first published in Image has appeared in Harper's, Utne Reader, and the Wilson Quarterly as well as the Pushcart Prize anthology, Best American Essays, Best American Poetry, Best American Spiritual Writing, O. Henry Prize Stories, The Art of the Essay, New Stories from the South, and Best American Movie Writing. Image has also been nominated by Utne Reader for an Alternative Press Award for Spiritual Coverage. Recent, Image's Glen Workshop was featured on the public television program Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.
Since 2000, Wolfe has served as Writer in Residence at Seattle Pacific University, where he teaches English literature and creative writing. He is also the founder and director of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at SPU, the first program of its kind to integrate a studio writing degree with intensive reflection upon the literary and aesthetic riches of the Judeo-Christian tradition.
Wolfe has published over 200 essays, reviews, and articles in numerous journals, including Commonweal and First Things. His essays have been anthologized in collections such as The Best Christian Writing and The Best Catholic Writing.
Among his books are Intruding Upon the Timeless: Meditations on Art, Faith, and Mystery (Square Halo, 2003), Malcolm Muggeridge: A Biography (Eerdmans, 1997) and Sacred Passion: The Art of William Schickel (University of Notre Dame Press, 1998). Wolfe is also the editor of Bearing the Mystery: Twenty Years of IMAGE (Eerdmans, 2009), The New Religious Humanists: A Reader (Free Press, 1997) and the co-author of Books That Build Character (Touchstone, 1994), Climb High, Climb Far (Fireside, 1996), The Family New Media Guide (Touchstone, 1997), Circle of Grace: Praying with--and for--Your Children (Ballantine, 2000), and Bless This House: Prayer for Families and Children (Jossey-Bass, 2004). A collection of Wolfe's essays, tentatively titled Beauty Will Save the World, will be published by ISI Books in 2008. Wolfe is currently researching a book about the Renaissance Christian Humanists who gathered around the great scholar and writer, Desiderius Erasmus.
The working title of that book is The Company of Good Letters: How Erasmus and His Circle of Renaissance Christian Humanists Shaped the Modern World. Wolfe was born in 1959 and grew up in New York City, Long Island, and the south shore of Boston. He received his B.A., summa cum laude, from Hillsdale College in Michigan and his M.A. in English literature from Oxford University.
A convert to the Roman Catholic Church, Wolfe is a member of the international lay movement Communion and Liberation. He and his family attend St. James Cathedral in Seattle.
His wife, Suzanne, also teaches English literature at Seattle Pacific University. In 2004 her first novel, Unveiling was published to great acclaim by Paraclete Press. The Wolfes have four children--Magdalen, Helena, Charles, and Benedict--and live in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, Washington.
In 1989, Wolfe founded Image, which Annie Dillard has called "one of the best journals on the planet." Now one of America's top literary quarterlies, Image is a unique forum for the best writing and artwork that is informed by--or grapples with--religious faith. Material first published in Image has appeared in Harper's, Utne Reader, and the Wilson Quarterly as well as the Pushcart Prize anthology, Best American Essays, Best American Poetry, Best American Spiritual Writing, O. Henry Prize Stories, The Art of the Essay, New Stories from the South, and Best American Movie Writing. Image has also been nominated by Utne Reader for an Alternative Press Award for Spiritual Coverage. Recent, Image's Glen Workshop was featured on the public television program Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.
Since 2000, Wolfe has served as Writer in Residence at Seattle Pacific University, where he teaches English literature and creative writing. He is also the founder and director of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at SPU, the first program of its kind to integrate a studio writing degree with intensive reflection upon the literary and aesthetic riches of the Judeo-Christian tradition.
Wolfe has published over 200 essays, reviews, and articles in numerous journals, including Commonweal and First Things. His essays have been anthologized in collections such as The Best Christian Writing and The Best Catholic Writing.
Among his books are Intruding Upon the Timeless: Meditations on Art, Faith, and Mystery (Square Halo, 2003), Malcolm Muggeridge: A Biography (Eerdmans, 1997) and Sacred Passion: The Art of William Schickel (University of Notre Dame Press, 1998). Wolfe is also the editor of Bearing the Mystery: Twenty Years of IMAGE (Eerdmans, 2009), The New Religious Humanists: A Reader (Free Press, 1997) and the co-author of Books That Build Character (Touchstone, 1994), Climb High, Climb Far (Fireside, 1996), The Family New Media Guide (Touchstone, 1997), Circle of Grace: Praying with--and for--Your Children (Ballantine, 2000), and Bless This House: Prayer for Families and Children (Jossey-Bass, 2004). A collection of Wolfe's essays, tentatively titled Beauty Will Save the World, will be published by ISI Books in 2008. Wolfe is currently researching a book about the Renaissance Christian Humanists who gathered around the great scholar and writer, Desiderius Erasmus.
The working title of that book is The Company of Good Letters: How Erasmus and His Circle of Renaissance Christian Humanists Shaped the Modern World. Wolfe was born in 1959 and grew up in New York City, Long Island, and the south shore of Boston. He received his B.A., summa cum laude, from Hillsdale College in Michigan and his M.A. in English literature from Oxford University.
A convert to the Roman Catholic Church, Wolfe is a member of the international lay movement Communion and Liberation. He and his family attend St. James Cathedral in Seattle.
His wife, Suzanne, also teaches English literature at Seattle Pacific University. In 2004 her first novel, Unveiling was published to great acclaim by Paraclete Press. The Wolfes have four children--Magdalen, Helena, Charles, and Benedict--and live in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, Washington.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Cry of the Wolfe: a compelling and engaging reader,
By Doug "Doug E. Fresh" (Lancaster, PA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The NEW RELIGIOUS HUMANISTS (Hardcover)
This is an excellent work that anyone interested in the intersection of religion and culture should read. Wolfe embodies the very humanism he calls for in the introduction as well as his fine editing of "Image: A Journal for the Arts and Religion" You can sample his fine editorials online for each issue at imagejournal.org. He has assembled a brilliant, diverse mix of Christian scholars for this wonderful book.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A refreshing and stimulating book,
By A Customer
This review is from: The NEW RELIGIOUS HUMANISTS (Hardcover)
Greg Wolfe seems to be charting new territory by bringing to light these extraordinary essays by some of our most gifted writers. I've sent copies to friends, and recommend it highly.
10 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Mistitled,
By David Wallace Croft (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The NEW RELIGIOUS HUMANISTS (Hardcover)
I bought this book thinking that it would cover the subject of Religious Humanism. After reading the introduction, however, I feel as though the author has deliberately set about to confuse the term. At first I thought that the author might have been simply ignorant of the historical use of the term "Religious Humanism" as defined in documents such as the 1933 "Humanist Manifesto I". With statements like "religious humanists [...] go about their work without much taste for manifestos", however, I do not believe that ignorance can be blamed. Readers will be disappointed to find that this is a work on liberal theism, not Religious Humanism.
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