Stealing Jesus by Bruce Bawer

Stealing Jesus by Bruce Bawer

From the author of the widely acclaimed A Place at the Table, this is a major work, passionately outspoken and cogently reasoned, that exposes the great danger posed to Christianity today by fundamentalism.

The time is past, says Bruce Bawer, when denominational names and other traditional labels provided an accurate reflection of Christian America's religious beliefs and practices. The meaningful distinction today is not between Protestant and Catholic, or Baptist and Episcopalian, but rather between "legalistic" and "nonlegalistic" religion, between the Church of Law and the Church of Love. On one side is the fundamentalist right, which draws a sharp distinction between "saved" and "unsaved" and worships a God of wrath and judgment; on the other are more mainstream Christians who view all humankind as children of a loving God who calls them to break down barriers of hate, prejudice, and distrust.

Pointing out that the supposedly "traditional" beliefs of American fundamentalism--about which most mainstream Christians, clergy included, know shockingly little--are in fact of relatively recent origin, are distinctively American in many ways, and are dramatically at odds with the values that Jesus actually spread, Bawer fascinatingly demonstrates the way in which these beliefs have increasingly come to supplant genuinely fundamental Christian tenets in the American church and to become synonymous with Christianity in the minds of many people.

Stealing Jesus is the ringing testament of a man who is equally disturbed by the notion of an America without Christianity and the notion of an American Christianity without love and compassion.

While Europe Slept, by Bruce Bawer, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He is also the author of several volumes of literary criticism, including Diminishing Fictions and The Aspect of Eternity, as well as A Seat at the Table and Stealing Jesus. He's contributed to the New York Times, Washington Post Book World, Wall Street Journal, New Republic, Wilson Quarterly, City Journal, and a variety of other publications. www.brucebawer.com is the author's website.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780609802229
ISBN 10	0609802224
Title	Stealing Jesus
Author	Bruce Bawer
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	1998-10-20
Number of pages	352
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.