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Searching for God in America
Presents interviews with eight distinguished thinkers and religious leaders as well as the writings of Americans from colonial times to the present that reflect on the history of faith in American life
515 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 27, 2026
Review title: For the constantly-searching and the confidently-found
This library book sale selection was probably withdrawn from circulation because its view of the American spiritual landscape as of 1995 feels very point in time and more of historical interest than current for most readers. The book was the companion book for a public television series of interviews of American religious figures of the time. Googling their names will confirm, as many have since died, that not just the turn of the millennium but a generation has passed since 1995.
The transition has been immense. From the Y2K concern to 9/11 to the universal adoption of cellphones with their omnipresent cameras to the social media and web streaming era to the Gulf Wars to the Trump years. It's a whole new world, to quote the "new" Disney movie song that is now a classic from 1992 whose original audience are now approaching their fourth decade with kids of their own. References by interviewer and compiler Hugh Hewitt to an "overclass" or "chattering class" seem anachronistic today: in the social media era we are all able to and do express ourselves on the same level, and the only distinctive of any existing overclass are the handful of those who are so wealthy they are beyond the reach of every human agency and government (Elon Musk and Jeff Bezoz come immediately to mind). They can literally be counted on one hand and hardly seem to exist as an "overclass."
While Hewitt is an evangelical Protestant, the interviews start with evangelical Chuck Colson and then branch out from there to Jewish, Islamic, Catholic, and other faith traditions. The interviews are captured as transcripts of the question and answer format of the televised interviews, accompanied by a thumbnail biography and pictures of the subject. This format is helpful as you can see the common questions and concerns that Hewitt weaved into the interviews. One thread throughout is why God allows, or how the interviewee deals with, suffering. Rabbi Harold Kushner talking about how he dealt with the death of his 14-year-old son: "I had to come to the conclusion that God was as outraged by the suffering as I am otherwise I would be more moral than God." (p. 31)
As Hewitt interviews first Colson, a Christian prison mission founder after he found faith in prison from his term there after the Watergate scandal, and then Rabbi Kushner, one theme that seems to develop from Hewitt's questions is how each approach to religion compares to, attracts, or reponds to atheists. Kushner's response:
Seyyed Nasr is an Islamic writer, professor, and scientist who explains the Sufism at the core of Islam this way: "To live in the center is actually to live with the remembrance and presence of God at all times" (p. 81), which is good advice and practice for all who want to better live spiritually. He makes the point, very interesting to hear coming from an Islamic man (this is five years before 9/11, remember), that American society is being torn apart because while America is nominally Christian, "religion has been marginalized . . .; it's for Sunday morning, but the laws in Wall Street have nothing to do with Christ. . . . In the West the sacred has been evicted or destroyed," (p. 82-83) which he claims will never happen to Islamic countries because of the example of the West.
After the interview transcripts which take up the first third of the book, the remainder of the book consists of excerpts from writings about religion in America from colonial days to the time of publication. The writers are preachers, politicians, scientists, artists, Native Americans, and run the gamut from Pentecostal Protestants to founders of alternative faiths to atheists to the constantly-searching and the confidently-found. Alexis de Tocqueville in his famous visit to the new republic has this to say about religion and politics in America:
He would find the persistence of those today who attempt to make America an explicitly, historically, and legally Christian nation surprising and misguided. I wonder if these folks have ever read and thought seriously about the limitations of their approach that Dr Tocqueville has documented?
As you can see by the range of pages I quoted, the excerpts from de Tocqueville are extensive, totaling eight pages, and there are others even longer. William James is given nearly 30 pages, and while his late 19th century study of the psychology of Christian conversion is interesting and pertinent, paring it down to a much smaller excerpt would have served the purpose without interrupting the reader's flow so severely. When James is immediately followed by 22 pages of a 1933 Catholic Catechism, the reader's momentum can be completely lost and it is a struggle to regain. An anthology like this needs to provide a sampling of everything on the menu to whet the reader's appetite to dig deeper on a given selection. Some of these long excerpts feel like a super-sized fast food meal: Filling, but ultimately not satisfying. For example, I was intrigued by the selection from Thomas Merton's Seven Storey Mountain, but the 25 pages excerpted here may be all I need to read.
In any case, the book concludes with a brief selection of classic hymn lyrics and stories of their origins, and an appendix with the sources of the excerpts for further reading for those who choose to order an entree. Despite the flaws of some over-long excerpts, and the now 30 year old point-in-time view, this is a potentially valuable resource for the reader looking for the historical view of God in America, or looking for a starting point for their own spiritual search.
This library book sale selection was probably withdrawn from circulation because its view of the American spiritual landscape as of 1995 feels very point in time and more of historical interest than current for most readers. The book was the companion book for a public television series of interviews of American religious figures of the time. Googling their names will confirm, as many have since died, that not just the turn of the millennium but a generation has passed since 1995.
The transition has been immense. From the Y2K concern to 9/11 to the universal adoption of cellphones with their omnipresent cameras to the social media and web streaming era to the Gulf Wars to the Trump years. It's a whole new world, to quote the "new" Disney movie song that is now a classic from 1992 whose original audience are now approaching their fourth decade with kids of their own. References by interviewer and compiler Hugh Hewitt to an "overclass" or "chattering class" seem anachronistic today: in the social media era we are all able to and do express ourselves on the same level, and the only distinctive of any existing overclass are the handful of those who are so wealthy they are beyond the reach of every human agency and government (Elon Musk and Jeff Bezoz come immediately to mind). They can literally be counted on one hand and hardly seem to exist as an "overclass."
While Hewitt is an evangelical Protestant, the interviews start with evangelical Chuck Colson and then branch out from there to Jewish, Islamic, Catholic, and other faith traditions. The interviews are captured as transcripts of the question and answer format of the televised interviews, accompanied by a thumbnail biography and pictures of the subject. This format is helpful as you can see the common questions and concerns that Hewitt weaved into the interviews. One thread throughout is why God allows, or how the interviewee deals with, suffering. Rabbi Harold Kushner talking about how he dealt with the death of his 14-year-old son: "I had to come to the conclusion that God was as outraged by the suffering as I am otherwise I would be more moral than God." (p. 31)
As Hewitt interviews first Colson, a Christian prison mission founder after he found faith in prison from his term there after the Watergate scandal, and then Rabbi Kushner, one theme that seems to develop from Hewitt's questions is how each approach to religion compares to, attracts, or reponds to atheists. Kushner's response:
There are some people who use their atheism as an excuse for doing terrible things. There are some people who use their religion as an excuse for doing terrible things. The real difference between me and the atheist comes when we have both knocked ourselves out for the causes we believe in, when we have both spent ourselves working for world peace and religion and coming together, when we have both wearied ourselves holding the hands of the fearful and drying the tears of the grieving, when we are out of strength and out of love. Then if the atheist can only look down deep inside himself for more, he's going to reach bottom. There will be no more strength inside him. (p. 50)
Seyyed Nasr is an Islamic writer, professor, and scientist who explains the Sufism at the core of Islam this way: "To live in the center is actually to live with the remembrance and presence of God at all times" (p. 81), which is good advice and practice for all who want to better live spiritually. He makes the point, very interesting to hear coming from an Islamic man (this is five years before 9/11, remember), that American society is being torn apart because while America is nominally Christian, "religion has been marginalized . . .; it's for Sunday morning, but the laws in Wall Street have nothing to do with Christ. . . . In the West the sacred has been evicted or destroyed," (p. 82-83) which he claims will never happen to Islamic countries because of the example of the West.
After the interview transcripts which take up the first third of the book, the remainder of the book consists of excerpts from writings about religion in America from colonial days to the time of publication. The writers are preachers, politicians, scientists, artists, Native Americans, and run the gamut from Pentecostal Protestants to founders of alternative faiths to atheists to the constantly-searching and the confidently-found. Alexis de Tocqueville in his famous visit to the new republic has this to say about religion and politics in America:
The main reason for the quiet sway of religion over their country was the complete separation of church and state. . . . When a religion seeks to found its sway only on the longing for immortality equally tormenting every human heart, it can aspire to universality; but when it comes to uniting itself with a government, it must adopt maxims which apply only to certain nations. Therefore, by allying itself with any political power, religion increases its strength over some but forfeits the hope of reigning over all. . . . Religion cannot share the material strength of the rulers without being burdened with some of the animosity roused against them. . . .
So long as a religion derives its strength from sentiments, instincts, and passions, which are reborn in like fashion in all periods of history, it can brave the assaults of time. . . . But when a religion chooses to rely on the interests of this world, it becomes almost as fragile as all earthly powers. Alone, it may hope for immortality; linked to ephemeral powers, it follows their fortunes and often falls together with the passions of a day sustaining them. . . . European Christianity has allowed itself to be intimately united with the powers of this world. Now that these powers are falling, it is as if it were buried under their ruins. A living being has been tied to the dead; cut the bonds holding it and it will arise. (p. 234-236)
He would find the persistence of those today who attempt to make America an explicitly, historically, and legally Christian nation surprising and misguided. I wonder if these folks have ever read and thought seriously about the limitations of their approach that Dr Tocqueville has documented?
As you can see by the range of pages I quoted, the excerpts from de Tocqueville are extensive, totaling eight pages, and there are others even longer. William James is given nearly 30 pages, and while his late 19th century study of the psychology of Christian conversion is interesting and pertinent, paring it down to a much smaller excerpt would have served the purpose without interrupting the reader's flow so severely. When James is immediately followed by 22 pages of a 1933 Catholic Catechism, the reader's momentum can be completely lost and it is a struggle to regain. An anthology like this needs to provide a sampling of everything on the menu to whet the reader's appetite to dig deeper on a given selection. Some of these long excerpts feel like a super-sized fast food meal: Filling, but ultimately not satisfying. For example, I was intrigued by the selection from Thomas Merton's Seven Storey Mountain, but the 25 pages excerpted here may be all I need to read.
In any case, the book concludes with a brief selection of classic hymn lyrics and stories of their origins, and an appendix with the sources of the excerpts for further reading for those who choose to order an entree. Despite the flaws of some over-long excerpts, and the now 30 year old point-in-time view, this is a potentially valuable resource for the reader looking for the historical view of God in America, or looking for a starting point for their own spiritual search.
February 23, 2008
I love this book. It is absolutely amazing. I came across 2 copies of it in the library and noticed they weren't being checked out much. I flipped through and was amazed by the treasures inside. I bought it off Amazon for $2! I can't believe people don't realize what a gem this is!!!!
April 12, 2012
Wonderful collection of writings and in depth interviews with eight major figures in religion in America. The videos of the interviews are worth watching if you can find them, but the full interviews are especially candid and insightful.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews