Buy new:
$16.95$16.95
FREE delivery: Monday, April 3 on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon.
Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com
Buy used: $7.34
Other Sellers on Amazon
FREE Shipping
98% positive over last 12 months
+ $4.41 shipping
100% positive over last 12 months
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
The Search for God at Harvard Paperback – April 21, 1992
| Price | New from | Used from |
Enhance your purchase
In 1985 Ari L. Goldman took a year’s leave from his job as a religion reporter for The New York Times and enrolled in the Harvard Divinity School. What began as a project to deepen his knowledge of the world’s sacred beliefs turned out to be an extraordinary journey of spiritual illumination, one in which Goldman reexamined his own faith as an Orthodox Jew and opened his mind to the great religions of the world.
In his year at Harvard, Goldman found to his surprise that his fellow students were not straitlaced, somber clerics, but a diverse, vibrant, and sometimes embattled group from every major religion, united by their deep spiritual commitment. Even more surprising was the spiritual climate of the Divinity School itself: Far from being an ivory tower or a bastion of old-time Christian piety, the school was a forum for passionate debate on the relationships between religion and politics, social mores and sexuality.
Written with warmth, humor, and penetrating clarity, The Search for God at Harvard is a book for anyone who has wrestled with the question of what it means to take religion seriously today.
Praise for The Search for God at Harvard:
“Personal yet informative, warm and humorous, beautifully written. In a word, superb.”
–Elie Wiesel
“Is it possible to honor the truth of one’s own religion while being genuinely open to others? In The Search for God at Harvard, Ari Goldman tells his story in so fine a manner that he helps us to understand why the answer must be yes.”
–The New York Times Book Review
“Excellent: intelligent, informative, infused with humor.”
–Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Enriching . . . well-written, absorbing.”
–The Boston Globe
“A valuable and unique contribution.”
–The Washington Post Book World
- Print length283 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBallantine Books
- Publication dateApril 21, 1992
- Dimensions5.1 x 0.64 x 7.98 inches
- ISBN-100345377060
- ISBN-13978-0345377067
Frequently bought together

- +
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Publisher
THE SEARCH FOR GOD AT HARVARD is a great book for anyone raised outside the traditional realm of religion. Ari L. Goldman acts as a warm and intelligent guide through Harvard Divinity School and presents a rare opportunity to find illumination at Harvard for less than $40,000 a year.
Lorelei Andrysick
Ballantine Advertising
From the Inside Flap
THE BOSTON GLOBE
In 1985, Ari L. Gldman took a year's leave from his job as a religion reporter for THE NEW YORK TIMES and enrolled in the Harvard Divnity School. What began as a project to deepen his knowledge of world religion became an extraordinary journey of spiritual illumination. Written with warmth, humor, and penetrating clarity, Goldman describes his extraordinary year, the surprising and enlightening students and teachers, he met, and his ongoing quest to determine what it means to take religion seriously today.
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR
From the Back Cover
THE BOSTON GLOBE
In 1985, Ari L. Gldman took a year's leave from his job as a religion reporter for THE NEW YORK TIMES and enrolled in the Harvard Divnity School. What began as a project to deepen his knowledge of world religion became an extraordinary journey of spiritual illumination. Written with warmth, humor, and penetrating clarity, Goldman describes his extraordinary year, the surprising and enlightening students and teachers, he met, and his ongoing quest to determine what it means to take religion seriously today.
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Ballantine Books; NO-VALUE edition (April 21, 1992)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 283 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0345377060
- ISBN-13 : 978-0345377067
- Item Weight : 7.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.1 x 0.64 x 7.98 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,313,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,238 in Ritual Religious Practices
- #1,694 in Christian Faith (Books)
- #8,057 in Christian Self Help
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
This was it. A real keeper. Wherever I've moved since it came with me. I have bought copies for parishioners, for friends and other seekers, and always they have found it helpful. It's about life; Ari's life, and about the search for meaning, and about faith and a full, rich life, and in that it's about all our lives. I would think anyone alive to the need for meaning in life would find this a great read. It's the search for meaning in the best sense -- not narrowing, but deepening and broadening. A life-celebrating book.
This bi-partisan book---not often seen currently among NY Times writers---touches upon so many intriguing issues that it's surely worth your time. I wish more folks would take religion and marriage seriously, as divorces come from people who enter marriage/life cavalierly or try to "have both religions" which leads to total confusion and secularism.
Ari Goldman did a marvelous job with "The Search for G-d at Harvard" considering this was, after all, Hahvahd where the "intellectuals" today surely look down upon religion. I wonder what Ari's up to now? As a Jew, I wish there were more honest folks out there like him: pious, yet open-minded and objective.



