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The Book: Speaking of Faith by Krista Tippett

From the book:
In the pages that follow, I describe an adventure of conversation across the world's traditions that has opened my imagination — spiritual, political, intellectual, and personal. I believe that what most Americans want, whether they are religious or not, is for the religious voice in our public life to be more constructive — to reflect the capacity religion has to nourish lives and communities.

Quote by Andrew Solomon

I illustrate a way to speak about faith that defuses the usual minefields. I explore light shed by my conversation partners on the great issues of our time, from the depths of their knowledge and experience in the world. They are theologians and scientists, educators and physicians, social activists and poets. We trace a powerful and creative and humbling line between theology and human experience — between religious ideas and real life. This is religion as it works in the lives of the many, not in the debates and headlines of a few.

Quote by Elizabeth Gilbert

As a journalist I'm committed to drawing out the contours and depths of what I call "the vast middle" — left, right, and center between the poles of competing answers that have hardened our cultural discourse. In the vast middle, faith is as much about questioning as it is about certainties. It is possible to be a believer and a listener at the same time, to be both fervent and searching, to nurture a vital identity and to wonder at the identities of others.

Here's what others are saying:
"Krista Tippett is a master of nuance for whom the great questions of belief transcend the simple answers that modern religion too often supplies. This is a vision of faith as a grand and unifying struggle with the very nature of being, and it is both deeply thought and deeply felt. It is a reminder, in a time when too much that is evil happens in the name of creed, that the search for God can be transcendent and exquisite. Tippett's prose is lyrical and elegant, and her formulations are wise and profound; her arguments should move the secularist and the dogmatist alike to a new vision of peace."
—Andrew Solomon

"In a day where religion — or, rather arguments over religion — divide us into ever more entrenched and frustrated camps, Krista Tippett is exactly the measured, balanced commentator we need. Her intelligence is like a salve for all thinking people who have felt wounded or marginalized by The God Wars."
—Elizabeth Gilbert

"Tippett offers a challenging book that is part intellectual autobiography, part rumination on the issues of the day … More than a personal chronicle, however, this is a rigorously brainy piece of work, as informed by the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Reinhold Niebuhr, Charles Darwin and Annie Dillard as it is by Tippett's fascinating interviews with figures like Elie Wiesel and Karen Armstrong. As Tippett takes on issues from the science-and-religion debates to the future of progressive Islam, she shows herself to possess the same 'imaginative intellectual approach' that she admires in some of her interview subjects."
—Publishers Weekly

Speaking of Faith —
The Book
Available in bookstores everywhere, or order here now!

Hardcover Book
» Amazon ($16.29)
» Barnes & Noble ($23.95)
» Powell's Books ($23.95)
» Book Sense

Autographed Hardcover
Pretty Good Goods ($23.95)

Audio Book on CD
Amazon ($29.95)

Read an excerpt from the first chapter of Krista's book — Genesis: How We Got Here!

SOF in the News

April 2, 2007
VOA News
In this profile piece, Adam Phillips from Voice of America highlights Krista's work in drawing out "shared religious values in all faiths." Read the article or listen to the interview.

March 29, 2007
Ask the Author
Krista participated in a live online chat as part of Gather.com's Ask the Author series.

March 22, 2007
Between the Lines
In a live interview at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Krista speaks with Valerie Jackson about her book and shares some thoughts on her life experiences.

March 11, 2007
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Sara Bryan Miller writes an informative Q&A piece with Krista about her views on the daily news coverage of religion.

March 10, 2007
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
An article by Faith Dawson profiles Krista, her approach to conversations about religion, and why she wrote her book.

March 9, 2007
City Room
Krista speaks with Chicago Public Radio's Jason DeRose about the role of religion in U.S. culture and its place in contemporary society.

March 8, 2007
WYPR's The Marc Steiner Show
Krista discusses her new book and about her experiences growing up in an evangelical culture.

March 7, 2007
The Leonard Lopate Show
Krista speaks on WNYC's flagship conversation program.

March 3, 2007
CourierPost
Columnist Kim Mulford writes an article about Krista and her views on religion as written in her book.

March 1, 2007
The Right Balance
Krista talks to Greg Allen about her book and her form of journalism.

March 25, 2004
Panel: "Religion and Journalism"
View video or listen to a panel discussion at Yale Divinity School with Krista, Peter Steinfels, Michael Paulson, Jack Hitt, and Jeff Sharlet.