|
Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Christian life & practice
The author of "The Gospel of" "Inclusion" continues to rouse
organized religion as he raises controversial issues and provides
enlightening answers to the deepest questions about God and faith.
What is God? Where is God? Who is the one true God? Questions such
as these have driven a thousand human struggles, through war,
terrorism, and oppression. Humanity has responded by branching off
into multiple religions, including Christianity, Judaism,
Islam--each one pitted against the other. But it doesn't have to be
that way.
In "God Is Not a Christian, nor a Jew, Muslim, Hindu" . . ., the
provocative and acclaimed Bishop Carlton Pearson follows up on his
celebrated first book, "The Gospel of Inclusion," to tackle these
questions and many more, exploring new ideas about God and faith
and putting forth the stunning assertion that God belongs to no
particular religion but is an ever-loving presence available to
all. For these beliefs, Bishop Pearson lost his thriving
Pentecostal ministry but was catapulted instead into a greater
pulpit. His readership has grown through appearances on national
television and an extensive speaking schedule. With the world in
the midst of a holy war, there is no better time for the wisdom of
Bishop Pearson to reach a global audience.
Bishop Pearson's many loyal fans, along with new readers, will
surely welcome this provocative and eye-opening exploration of a
deeper faith, one that goes far beyond any fundamentalist way of
thinking, be it Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc. Simply put,
Bishop Pearson dares to tell the truth so many others are too
afraid to face.
In these eloquent essays, the noted scholar and activist Vincent
Harding reflects on the forgotten legacy of Martin Luther King,
Jr., and the meaning of his life today. Many of these reflections
are inspired by the ambiguous message surrounding the official
celebration of King's birthday. Harding sees a tendency to freeze
an image of King from the period of his early leadership of the
Civil Rights movement, the period culminating with his famous "I
Have a Dream Speech". Harding writes passionately of King's later
years, when his message and witness became more radical and
challenging to the status quo at every level. In those final years
before his assassination King took up the struggle against racism
in the urban ghettos of the North; he became an eloquent critic of
the Vietnam war; he laid the foundations for the Poor People's
Campaign. This widening of his message and his tactics entailed
controversy even within his own movement. But they point to a
consistent expansion of his critique of American injustice and his
solidarity with the oppressed. It was this spirit that brought him
to Memphis in 1968 to lend his support to striking sanitation
workers. It was there that he paid the final price for his
prophetic witness.
|
|