Crossing the Threshold of Hope (Paperback)

by Pope John Paul II (Author) "YOUR HOLINESS, MY FIRST QUESTION WILL go right to the point..." (more)
Key Phrases: new evangelization, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Second Vatican Council (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Fifteen years into his Papacy, and on the eve of the third millennium, Pope John Paul II goes to the heart of his personal beliefs and speaks with passion about the existence of God; about pain, suffering, and evil; about "salvation"; and about the relationship of Catholicism to other branches of the Christian faith. With the humility and generosity of spirit for which he is well known, John Paul speaks forthrightly to all people.

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Italian --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; reprint of first printing edition (September 19, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679765611
• ISBN-13: 978-0679765615
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #116,747 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How do you rate a pope?, July 31, 2000

By	David Haggith (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First, I'm not Catholic, but I found this book to be beautifully written and articulate. In putting together a book I was working on for Putnam, I wanted to get the pope's understanding of end-time prophecies. This was the right book, but I got much more than that. One of the poignant parts of the book was the pope's explanation for all the divisions in the Church. First, he acknowledges that many of these divisions came about because of the sins of Christians against one another. (Though he doesn't say on which side, but presumeably on all sides.) The pope is surprisingly affirmative of the different denominations that have split off from Catholicism. He asks, "Could it not be that these divisions have also been a path continually leading the Church to discover the untold wealth contained in Christ's Gospel. . . ? Perhaps all this wealth would not have come to light otherwise. . . . It is necessary for humanity to achieve unity through plurality. . . ."

I recommend the book to any non-Catholic who wants to get a more accurate perspective of what the Roman Catholic Church believes at its heart.

44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A simple, yet inspiring read, December 12, 2000

By	"kathrynlively" (VA) - See all my reviews

Crossing the Threshold is a very interesting treatise from the Holy See written in the form of an interview, where the Pope explains his views of various Christian beliefs - including his belief in God, his views of non-Christian and non-Catholic faiths, and Mariology. His views appear to negate the claims put forth by anti-Catholics and tend to look to the new millennium with hope instead of fear.

An important message in this book is reiterated strongly by JPII's pontificate: Be not afraid. Great advice from probably the greatest Pope we've had in a long time.

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank God (which one?), April 10, 2005

By	Mark Blackburn (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Jake Hollenberg M.D. had just finished examining me in his office (two days before he died `in harness' at age 86) and he asked me about whether the kidney stones he'd diagnosed years ago had shown any signs of return. "No, thank God!" I replied. Jake, a devout Jew -- who was personal physician and also close friend to three Catholic Archbishops of Winnipeg -- said, with a twinkle in his eye, "And what God are you thanking?"

I thought of Jake today when I read again about the late Pope's best friend from childhood, a Jew named "Jerzy" who stands out in this book like a beacon to understanding between the three great religions who share the same Patriarchs, Moses and the Prophets.

"A few years ago," John Paul II writes (on page 97) "Jerzy came to me to say that the place where the synagogue (in their home town of Wadowice) had been destroyed by the Germans, no longer exists." The pope says Jerzy informed him that "the place where the synagogue had stood `should be honored with a special commemorative plaque.' And . . . at that moment we both felt a deep emotion. We recalled faces of people we knew and cared for, and those Saturdays of our childhood and adolescence when the Jewish community gathered for prayer." The pope sent his friend back to their hometown with a letter supporting Jerzy's wish "as a sign of my solidarity and spiritual union" with Jerzy and his people.

"That trip wasn't easy for Jerzy as he brought that letter to my fellow citizens in Wadowice. All the members of his family who had remained in that small town had died at Auschwitz. His visit for the unveiling of the plaque in commemoration of the local synagogue was his first in 50 years. . . . to this day, Auschwitz does not cease to admonish, reminding us that anti-Semitism is a great sin against humanity, (and) that all racial hatred inevitably leads to the trampling of human dignity."

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In today's Winnipeg Free Press newspaper a Canadian Muslim, Aftab Sabir of Calgary quotes from this book. After citing (in the book, page 93) seemingly irreconcilable differences with Islam, John Paul II is quoted as saying,

"Nevertheless, the religiosity of Muslims deserves respect. It is impossible not to admire, for example, their fidelity to prayer. The image of believers in Allah who, almost without caring about time or place, fall to their knees and immerse themselves in prayer remains a model for all those who invoke the true God, in particular for those Christians who, having deserted their magnficent Cathedrals, pray only a little or not at all.

On the opposite page from this op-ed piece, in today's lead editorial the Winnipeg newspaper reflects on "The Power of Deep Conviction" - that John Paul's "values" were more powerful that those of secular culture - money and power.

"Popular artists" mused the paper, "also talk about intangible values but you never saw such a crowd turn out for John Lennon at his death or for Frank Sinatra at his. It's not enough to talk about great subjects - you have to KNOW something and have something urgently important to say . . . Books and movies make a big commercial success in the first week (but) John Paul aimed higher. Marketing orthodoxy would say John Paul should be a media dud, which shows how far (it) underestimates this civilization and its people."

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In the paragraphs (on page 92) immediately before the one cited by the Muslim spokesman in today's newspaper, John Paul reflects on the religion that, (at least in one region of the world) is said to be the "fastest growing." His thoughts pinpoint the problem forever irreconcilable between Christianity and Islam --- or which can ONLY be resolved by the God for whom "all things are possible."


"Whoever knows the Old and New Testaments, and then reads the Koran, clearly sees the process by which (the Koran) completely reduces Divine Revelation. It is impossible not to note the movement away from what God said about Himself, first in the Old Testament through the Prophets, and then finally in the New Testament through His Son. In Islam all the richness of God's self-revelation, which constitutes the heritage of the Old and New Testaments, has definitely been set aside."

"Some of the most beautiful names in the human language are given to the God of the Koran, but he is ultimately a God outside of the world, a God who is only Majesty, never Emmanuel, God-with-us. Islam is not a religion of redemption. There is no room for the Cross and the Resurrection. Jesus is mentioned, but only as a prophet who prepares for the last prophet, Muhammad. There is also mention of Mary, His Virgin Mother, but the tragedy of redemption is completely absent. For this reason not only the theology but also the anthropology of Islam is very distant from Christianity."

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"Which God?" I wish I could remember my exact words of reply to Dr. Jacob's question while I was getting dressed in his examination room. I know I didn't allude to our little joke, in my printed eulogy distributed to hundreds of mourners at Jake's funeral a few days later when the Catholic Bishop himself delivered the eulogy at Winnipeg's Shaarey Zedek Synagogue. But I do recall Jake laughing out loud when I replied in effect that he'd asked the most profound question of all!

(I paid 23.99 for this book in hardcover when it came out in September 1995. The price may have come down but the values between these covers are timeless, and priceless. I can't recommend this book highly enough.)

Mark Blackburn
Winnipeg Manitoba Canada