Speaking of Faith: Why Religion Matters--and How to Talk About It [Paperback]

Krista Tippett (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 29, 2008

An intimate, thought-provoking, and original appraisal of the meaning of religion in our time- from the creator and host of public radio's Speaking of Faith

Krista Tippett, widely becoming known as the Bill Moyers of radio, is one of the country's most intelligent and insightful commentators on religion, ethics, and the human spirit. With this book, she draws on her own life story and her intimate conversations with both ordinary and famous figures, including Elie Wiesel, Karen Armstrong, and Thich Nhat Hanh, to explore complex subjects like science, love, virtue, and violence within the context of spirituality and everyday life. Her way of speaking about the mysteries of life-and of listening with care to those who endeavor to understand those mysteries-is nothing short of revolutionary.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tippett, host of the weekly NPR radio show Speaking of Faith, offers a challenging book that is part intellectual autobiography, part rumination on the issues of the day. It begins with a fairly detailed discussion of the death of "secularization theory" as outlined by Harvey Cox and others—not a typical opening salvo for a spiritual memoir—and then reveals Tippett's own intellectual and spiritual formation. She discusses at length how her views were shaped not only by her Southern Baptist grandfather in Oklahoma, or by her adolescent rejection of his rigidity, but by the time she spent in East and West Germany in her 20s, first as a journalist and then as a diplomat. She followed this period with marriage and a stint in England before taking the plunge and enrolling in divinity school in the early 1990s. More than a personal chronicle, however, this is a rigorously brainy piece of work, as informed by the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Reinhold Niebuhr, Charles Darwin and Annie Dillard as it is by Tippett's fascinating interviews with figures like Elie Wiesel and Karen Armstrong. As Tippett takes on issues from the science-and-religion debates to the future of progressive Islam, she shows herself to possess the same "imaginative intellectual approach" that she admires in some of her interview subjects. (Mar.)
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Review

"In a day where religion-or, rather arguments over religion-divide us into ever more entrenched and frustrated camps, Krista Tippett is exactly the measured, balanced commentator we need."
-Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love

"Tippett's prose is lyrical and profound; her arguments should move the secularist and the dogmatist alike to a new vision of peace."
-Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books; Reprint edition (January 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143113186
• ISBN-13: 978-0143113188
• Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 5.6 x 7.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #443,057 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Krista Tippett, a journalist, theologian, and former diplomat, has created, hosted, and produced American Public Media's popular radio program Speaking of Faith since 2003.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 80 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the program but excellent none the less May 12, 2007

By P. Wung VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

You get the feeling that Krista Tippett was overwhelmed by what she was trying to accomplish. One gets the sense that she is 1) Trying to pull together all ideas that she has discussed in the years that she has had the privilege of talking spirituality with some of the most lucid, intelligent, and articulate people in religion and 2) Do some cathartic spiritual mind cleansing and 3) Try to weave the two threads together.

The enormity of her enterprise is evidenced by the confusion in the structure of the book and the poorly executed organization. This is true of course, only if you are reading the book as a book. I didn't really understand the key until I was well into the book. The key is that one need to read the book as an extended conversation, or better yet, as an extended essay and rumination on theology, and peripherally, the impact that theology has had on her life.

The theological discussion was extremely successful. It opened up deep wounds and it presented wonderful ideas and complex viewpoints clearly and succinctly, much like the radio show. The only drawback with this aspect of the book is that the book is not a comprehensive book, so she was not able to delve into the intricacies of the thoughts as much as she did with the radio program. So a basic understanding of the people of whom she speaks of is almost a necessity.

Yet it was also substantial reading. It calls for all of your attention. The breadth of the book, the coverage of the religious landscape, the depth of the potential side trips, are all so very tempting and intellectually stimulating. I found myself thinking about the discourse and I also found myself laying the book down to take notes and to sit and think aloud, trying to digest all the implication brought up. It is certainly not light reading, but it is reading that is good for the soul. She said herself that she felt like she was running out of words, and you can sense the urgency in her writing towards the end. You can hear her thinking: so much to say, so few pages.

The interjection of her own personal struggles with religion and her own burgeoning spiritual journey was less successfully treated. It wasn't that the interjections were unwelcome. It is because Krista picked and chose through her personal history to make certain points. I won't begrudge her right to do that, it takes an immense amount of courage to do something like this, but her choice of using limited exposure of her personal journey caused some awkwardness in reading that made me wonder if it was wise to even bring the subject up.

It is a Faustian bargain I think; not delving into the personal would have made for a less personal and perhaps less interesting narrative; but not delving into the personal would have also smoothed out a lot of the awkward transitions with her ruminations. Someone who did a much better job of laying her spiritual and emotional life out for all to see is Elizabeth Gilbert in "Eat, Pray, Love", but I doubt anyone would have that kind of courage to reveal as much of herself as she did. In the end, I think the exposure of her own personal journey was symmetric with what she had to say about her belief in a personal kind of theological discussion, one that incorporates the personal account of the spiritual which makes the discussion all the more acceptable and creates better understanding of each other's faith. That point was made, but not well.

In summary, this is not a quick summer read by the pool. You need to pay attention, and despite some rough edges and minor imperfections, you will be rewarded with a fascinating and broad rumination about the search for purpose and meaning.

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Concentrate while reading August 8, 2007

By A reader

Format:Hardcover

Speaking of Faith was my first introduction to Krista Tippett. I have since gone to the website from her American Public Media radio program and you are able to listen to all of her programs and the site is very well organized. If you enjoyed this book, I'd highly recommend the website if you have not yet visited it.

It is so refreshing to have a voice for faith like Tippett's. On page 140 of her book she writes, "We have had few models in our public life for religious speech that does not proselytize, exclude, anger or offend." Exactly. It is time to welcome people back to a Christianity that is hopeful, loving, forgiving, understanding, peaceful, and compassionate.

I love that Tippett invites us to have questions about our faith. Through these questions, I personally have had many spiritual experiences with the presence of God. It also occurs to me that when there is too much "religion" and not enough "spirituality" people lose their connection with God. My husband has no interest in faith anymore and when asked why he says he remembers a childhood of repeating things that soon lost their meaning. I asked him if he ever thought about what he was saying and he said "no." Perhaps someday he will go back to think because there is so much to ponder. I loved Tippett's discussion on the difference between religion and spirituality, here is a quote from her book: " A rabbi, Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, gave me the best illustration I know of the difference between spirituality and religion. On Mount Sinai, she says, something extraordinary happened to Moses. He had a direct encounter with God. This was a spiritual experience. The Ten Commandments were the container for that experience. They are religion." I believe that we need a good balance of both religion and spirituality to be fulfilled.

Tippett is a great voice for a discussion on faith because she is incredibly knowledgeable, open minded, considerate, curious and respectful. I only knocked a star from the review as this book is pretty heavy in intellect and will lose some potential readers to that. I need to reread this book at least one or two more times to fully grasp everything she is talking about.

I will end with my favorite quote from the book: "I sense that seeing the world the way God sees the world means, in part, grieving in places the world does not forgive, and rejoicing in places the world does not notice. It would mean, therefor, to live with a patience that culture cannot sustain, and with a hope the world cannot imagine." (pg. 177)

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Reason for Hope May 29, 2007

By Arc Retreat Community

Format:Hardcover

Krista Tippett in Speaking of Faith, the public radio program she created and hosts on a weekly basis, has lifted the ban on public discourse of meaning, ethics, and values. She dares to draw the lines connecting politics and religion - connecting people.

"The human condition is the reality around which political life revolves - and upon which it falters.... This fact is made more complex, not more transparent, in our era where religious passions and identities overtly fuel political conflict," she observes, in the book that echoes the program's name and theme.

Tippett's interview strategy is simple: to invite her guests, men and women of spiritual depth, practical achievement, and passionate conviction to speak in the first person, letting their own stories guide and illuminate the conversation. Her approach, however, is far from simple, combining the incisiveness and nuance of a fine mind, broadly and deeply informed, and a heart overflowing with compassion for the world in its urgent complexity.

Speaking of Faith is densely populated with Tippett's conversation partners: these "others" speak. However, in the book, her own voice surfaces as well, welcoming us to ponder her religious upbringing, her early careers in diplomacy and journalism, and the sometimes thorny path that eventually led her to a mature spirituality that persists in asking the hardest questions.

In a way, Krista Tippett asks those questions on behalf of us all: How do faith and science, religion and politics intersect? Where is God when people suffer? Why do we cause others to suffer in the name of our gods? What is virtue, where is it found, how can we cultivate it? How can we speak unreservedly of the ideals we hold most dear in ways that honor and respect difference?

Tippett's writing, like her speech, flows winsomely; she is erudite without pretension or false humility, informed by her passion for clear understanding. The word that emerges most clearly in the end, perhaps, is hope: hope for justice, hope for peace, hope that the human race can survive its own failings, hope that all things will be well.

If nothing else in our current culture of fear and uncertainty cheers us, Speaking of Faith should do so. This is a book to read and keep.