Customer Reviews

Why Faith Matters

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David Wolpe writes of Faith with eyes wide open, displaying both honesty and wonder. He reminds us of the humanizing gifts of faith with thoughtful quotes, stories, and erudition. For instance, I was unaware of historian Edward Gibbon's critic of Christianity, with its emphasis on peace, as the cause of the demise of the Roman Empire. Rabbi Wolpe writes personally, revealing his own health crises and how those encounters with vulnerability opened him to the power of prayer and the presence of a Divine, caring Being. Last, he writes with humility, acknowledging that religious questions are never answered completely and that wrestling with the questions is the ongoing homework of our lives. Why Faith Matters? has mattered to me, deepening my own exploration of what it means to believe and to live with faith.

Like many Americans, I have endured at various times in my life periods of faith and doubt in the existence of God. I was surprised to read that in his youth, Rabbi Wolpe also was a practicing atheist. So, from the beginning of the book it was easy to equally consider the arguments in favor of faith, knowing that Rabbi Wolpe contemplated these issues on a personal level, too.

While his writing is cerebral, the book is an easy read of an incredibly difficult subject. The book will help those with faith re-affirm their connection to their God, and for those without, the book will force you to seriously reflect on just who holds the tiller of your moral rudder. Without qualms, Rabbi Wolpe raises arguments about the importance of a religious component to your life.

His most poignant point may be the role that organized religion plays as a check and balance to government. Rabbi Wolpe does not take the unsupportable position that religious institutions are infallible. In fact, he openly acknowledges that just like out of control governments can wreak havoc, so can out of control religion. But his overall case that the scales of goodness ultimately tip in the favor of belief in God is compelling.

David Wolpe understands the words of Tennyson: "There lives more faith in honest doubt, believe me, than in half the creeds.

At the same time, Wolpe understands the power of faith and gives comfort to those who make the leap of faith.

Truly a Renaissance man, Wolpe has the extraordinary ability to inspire readers to be introspective, which is a key to our essence and existence. His knowledge of history, philosophy, psychology and theology, and various other belief systems, is obvious in his presentation.

I believe that all people who are open to enhancing their self-awareness, and to considering varied ideas about faith, should read "Why Faith Matters." Even for those who are rightly skeptical about some of the author's assertions, and who might not be comfortable with certain of his approaches, Wolpe is still a very serious and important thinker who deserves our consideration. (Reviewed by Jerry Marcus, author of four novels, including The Salvation Peddler and Broken Trust - The Murder Of Basketball Star Jack Molinas.)

Rabbi David J. Wolpe's book, Why Faith Matters, came to my attention as I prepared to teach a class on Hebrews 11. "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1). Wolpe is more philosophical and focuses on the quest for meaning. "Faith believes in the legitimacy of asking 'why'--that the very question is an animating force in life" (p. 193). While I am interested in the question and believe that faith is a journey, the truth of faith begins with its content. Wolpe provided me with snapshots of brilliance when what I searched for was direction in faith's journey. Though we travel different paths at this point, I loved his book.

After a brief prelude, Wolpe organizes his book into 8 chapters: (1) From faith to doubt, (2) Where does religion come from? (3) Does religion cause violence? (4) Does science disprove religion? (5) What does religion really teach? (6) Reading the Bible (7) Is religion good for you? and (8) Why faith matters. His introduction is written by Pastor Rick Warren.

Wolpe's strengths as a writer include his ability to dialog with the reader, his keen insight into the human condition, and his brilliant analytical mind. In his prelude, for example, he tells the story of a man using his sickness to teach his children and grandchildren how to die. He writes about his friend Isaac: "Here was a chance to teach his greatest lesson. They would remember much about him to be sure, but they would never forget how he died" (p. xiv).

Wolpe's brilliance comes in getting to the heart of complex matters quickly. Why do atheists try to make science into a religion? They confuse puzzles (which can be figured out) with mysteries (which are unsolvable) (p. 11). Why does Nietzsche dislike democracy and Christianity? He is a classicist who prefers the morality of masters (classical view) over that of slaves (Christian view) (pp. 48-49). Wolpe's writing is a joy because of these many insights.

Wolpe enriches his readers in thousand ways. I will be gifting friends and family with this book over the coming months.

Dr. Stephen W. Hiemstra
Centreville, Virigina

You are lying to yourself if you say you are not curious about the existence of God and your place in the universe. Maybe it's not front and center. How could that be when you're worried that Starbucks is going to close down in your neighborhood and you still haven't hooked up the digital-to-analog converter box? But those less urgent concerns do emerge at the oddest times.

What's it all about? You must have at least a little curiosity about the Big Picture.

You can pretend you are done thinking about the eternal questions of religious faith. You can state your belief that there is no God or conversely, that God is everywhere. You can also do yourself a huge favor and buy this wonderful, reassuring and intellectually stimulating book by David Wolpe. And if you quote him and not give him credit, people will think you're really smart. If you read this book, you will be comforted in unexpected ways. It will open your heart and your mind and give you peace - though not eternal.

It is the perfect gift for those very human friends and loved ones in your life -- faithful and unfaithful alike. The book is powerful. I'm so glad I read it.

Rabbi Wolpe has written a book that will open the minds of doubters and talk to us all about the importance of belief. The language is pure poetry. The history and personal accounts of the Rabbi's own life and journey help it all to flow. A beautiful book and delightful read.

Rabbi David Wolpe has hardly reached middle age (by today's standards), yet he's experienced, struggled with, and overcome enormous challenges to his faith in God. Beginning with the catastrophic stroke that crippled his mother at the height of her awesome, well-known creativity, the cancer that invaded his pregnant wife at her most vulnerable moment, his brain tumor that was occasion for major surgery but proved non-malignant, and now his lymphoma that will never truly depart, his trust in God survives. And in that gentle, intellectual style of thinking that always carries over to his writing, he urges us to re-examine our own spiritual lapses. If it is true that "Belief is believing in God; faith is believing that God believes in you" (Andre Dubus, "A Father's Story"), Rabbi Wolpe need only look in the mirror to see why he was named the #1 pulpit rabbi in America by NEWSWEEK.

A friend's Bible class is reading this book. I picked it up and couldn't put it down. I bought the kindle version that evening.

Thoughtful, insightful, challenging and charming . . .this is a great book. If you are at the place in your life where you are asking what matters, this book is a companion to your thoughts. It's not a book of orthodoxy or of theology as much as a philosophical look at how your belief system will change your experience of life - and why that matters.

The author is a rabbi, my friend is a Seventh-Day Adventist, and I'm a somewhat non-denominational Christian. This book has light and relevance no matter what label your religous experience comes with. Read it with a high-lighter - there will be a lot of nuggets you want to come back to.

Why Faith Matters is an incredibly thoughtful and inspiring look at the life and thoughts of this wonderful man - Rabbi Wolpe. He (Rabbi Wolpe) first takes us through his own faith journey and how he went from belief to non-belief back to a strong and powerful belief in God. This is why it makes it a perfect read for all of us. For me as a fervent Catholic it was a blessing to read; however, if you are agnostic or an atheist it is equally as valuable because the Rabbi came from atheism to faith and describes this journey that ALL can appreciate. Rabbi Wolpe in his younger teen years was an ardent reader of Bertrand Russel - hardly a man of faith - to put it mildly and from that he came to faith.

The rest of the book takes a sincere look at most of the arguments and questions, that he himself had, about the existence of God and the need for faith and the Rabbi makes a thoughtful case for faith. This is the kind of argumentation that is desperately needed always, but especially in these times when many people are turning away from faith - and this great work can really make even the most fervent atheist at least listen to a man that has come from the same place as the atheist himself.

Here is an example of the wonderful things that people can find in this masterful work. The Rabbi in the early part of the book explains what were the first two questions God posed to man in Genesis. The first question was to Adam - when he asked him - "Where are you"? and the second question God asks is to Cain after the murder of his brother, "Where is your brother?". These the Rabbi points out are the very two questions we have to ask ourselves everyday of our lives - where we are in this life and our relationship with God and how are we treating our fellow man. What wisdom just from this insight into the Genesis questions. This is the type of wisdom a Catholic like me can soooooooo appreciate about the wisdom of Jewish deep thought and scholarship of the Bible. These and many other life altering thoughts are written on the pages of this fine work. Thank you so much Rabbi.

People who hold a belief in a higher power, an intelligent designer, or a Heavenly Father are under attack from militant atheists and other hate mongers who are on a crusade to rid the world of the evil influences of religious belief. At the forefront of the debate are pens that we have read, that get the media attention. Atheists like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens, the anti-Trinity for advocates who would purge the public of all things religious. But what of the religious? Have they no voice, no pen in their defense? There have been many writers who have answers for the new atheists but none that I have read that is so elegant, logical and clear as David Wolpe.
A Jewish Rabbi who has written a number of books, Wolpe argues in Why Faith Matters that belief in God and religion have historically been civilizing mechanisms. The belief that life before organized religion was some utopia of peace and security is absurd (all one has to do is read the comic BC to see that). Life before monotheism was not picturesque but brutal and often inhumane to say the least. Barbaric tribes, clan warfare and ritualistic sacrifices and killings dot the pages of ancient world history. That the prominent atheist argument that life before monotheism was much better is hard to take seriously given the evidence.
While Wolpe is convinced that life after monotheism is much better he does acknowledge the cruelty that has been perpetuated in the name of religion. Wolpe attributes this cruelty more to human nature than to religion. People can do things they normally wouldn't do when provoked or convinced they are right. But this kind of human reaction is present in every form of government and society regardless of religion. The atheist Soviet leaders were particularly adept at atrocities of all kinds, Saddam Hussein was not an overtly religious zealot, Hitler surely put the state before religion and in the name of reason millions were slaughtered during and following the French Revolution of 1789. When I pointed that last fact out to a student that once said, "He hated all religions," he told me that the French Revolution was different because the leaders of it only acted in the name of reason but they didn't really represent it. I told him that same argument would apply to religion as well.
Wolpe makes a strong case for the vitality and even necessity of religious belief in our world today. Faith is what can heal us, make us more complete and yes even tolerant. We can have faith without trying to take away freedom of conscience. And what of the old nugget that we are a nation of science and science and religion are incompatible? Wolpe recalls growing up in a household in which faith and science grew hand-in-hand and that once it was understood that science and religion take different approaches to life and ultimately faith addresses the spirit, something science can never do, there is no conflict. That many famous scientists were also profoundly religious cannot be ignored if one is to fully realize the extent to which scientific discovery owes much to faith and vice-versa. And while it is hard to "prove" God exists to the satisfaction of the atheists, Wolpe reminds us that the onerous of proof is on the believer because "God's reputation in this world is in our hands. When religious pluralism turns to religious intolerance and brotherhood to bloodshed, it is God whose name is diminished (p. 195)."