As creator and host of NPR's Speaking of Faith radio program, Krista Tippett has spent countless hours doing just that. Her conversations with religious authorities, scholars and others are borne of a treasure trove of intellect and interest, including her own. Overflowing with gems of wisdom, Speaking of Faith, the book, offers thoughts on matters related to faith, religion and spirituality worth not just reading but pondering as deeply as one's imagination allows.
Although Tippett hails from a southern Baptist community in Oklahoma, her personal brand of curiosity has led her down ever-expanding roads of religious academe and life experience, a journey that continues today via her radio conversations. According to Tippett,
"Speaking of faith in the 21st century is not about religion but about life...Spiritual questions don't go away, nor does a sense of wonder and mystery cease, in the absence of a belief in God."
Her radio conversations, punctuated with the words of luminaries including Rheinhold Niehbur, Martin Luther, Thich Nhat Hahn and Jesus Christ, have all contributed to the insightful discourse that begat Speaking of Faith, the book.
Tippett takes her analysis of religion in the world "from its source in the richness, mystery and mess of human life." And in a world where the intensity of faith ranges from nonexistent to violent fundamentalism and the faithful are redefining spirituality, she posits that "religious or not, people long for religon to live up to its best ideals." Hence, her conversations continue with increasing relevance.
In the chapter "Remembering Forward" Tippett draws from her experiences on either side of the Berlin Wall, both before and after it fell. While living, studying and working in Germany, she immersed herself in "The German Question" for six years spending a semester in Communist East Germany and, in 1983, a year in the West German capital city of Bonn. Guided by the religious voice of German theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, she studied Kierkegaard and Bonhoeffer and became fluent in Cold War politics. As a freelance foreign correspondent for the New York Times she interviewed Elie Wiesel when his faith lay in a state of destruction back in Auschwitz and at the age of 25 became a Special Assistant to the senior American diplomat in Berlin and later to the U.S. Ambassador to Bonn. Wondering "where the resilience of the human spirit expressed itself at [that] level of policy," she left Germany attuned to life as beautiful and defiant. It wasn't until the years that followed that Tippett learned how to take religion seriously.
And so, she hosts a myriad of voices on her program including those of holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, environmentalist Wangari Maathai, physicians Rachel Naomi Remen and David Hilfiker, journalist/author Bruce Feiler, Muslim American activist Eboo Patel, theologian John Polkinghorne as well as atheists, agnostics, ethicists and others.
Employing the language of former nun and self-described "freelance monotheist" Karen Armstrong, the poet Ranier Marie Rilke and the Bible, Tippett seeks to rethink religious truth. She aptly refers to the Bible as "an ancient record of an ongoing encounter with God in the darkness as well as the light of human experience" and says "reasoned liberal or secular analysis of the Bible can dismiss [its] relevance and mystery."
Regarding the paradox that is religion and science, Tippett learns from allusions to Dietrich Bonhoeffer's words: "We are to find God in what we know, not in what we don't know; God wants us to realize His presence, not in unsolved problems but in those that are solved," as well as Einstein's: "Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind."
When Tippett spoke with Indian journalist, Pankaj Mishra, he described the Buddha as a social philosopher who understood that grand political and economic policy could never end people's suffering. In discussing deep moral virtue with South African leaders, she learns the definition of ubuntu: "I am through you and you are through me. To the extent that I am estranged from another person, I am less than human." In a conversation regarding same-sex marriage with two evangelicals they both suggest to Tippett that "the way we approach our divisions is as telling a reflection of the substance of our faith as the positions we take," even though they are on opposite ends of the debate.
It is with unparalleled sensitivity that Krista Tippett engages experts, the faithful and the opposition in diverse and important discussions on matters related to faith, religion and spirituality. The greater part of Speaking of Faith addresses these matters intelligently and thoughtfully but in the last chapter, "Confessing Mystery," Tippett exposes her true gentility. She remains admittedly vulnerable to the mysteries of the unknown and as such, dedicated to seeking truths that affect us all.
And it is good.
Speaking of Faith by Krista Tippett
Publisher: Viking (March 1, 2007)
ISBN: 978-0670038350
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 33
The religion of the Gasoline Barons, of the world still believe, I think, that there is a necessity for energy in this world, while others, believe that there is no need for any energy in this world other than cow dung. Therefore, I ask again what is faith? That there is a tomorrow? Or what?
Therefore, what one does between now and then may not matter at all. But then again it may.
Agreed.
Life is what is important in my opinion also, and what is completed in that life is important whether that life is in a squirrel or a tree or a bacterium or a person. What is done is important in a lifetime after all.
Always at the ready to discuss religion, I offer a few thoughts, as usual. I see no paradox between science and religion. You may as well compare rutabagas and baseballs. In religion, belief of unprovable assertions is usually required. In science belief is not required, but it is expected to the extent allowable by the preponderance of evidence gathered using the scientific method. I don't think it possible to "believe" in science, since it has no personifications or spiritual presence. It is merely a way of finding answers, which hopefully lead to new questions to explore.
You use curious wording at the end of your piece. As an atheist, I do not see myself as in opposition to the religious to the extent that the religion does not demand that non-followers be discriminated against. (Did I just execute a quintuple negative?) We atheists are part of the community, and as such also part of the religious dialogue. Faithless and unconcerned are words that do not describe me. I do attend a Unitarian church occasionally, but I don't see religion as prerequisite to morality, compassion or righteousness.
The idea of Buddha as social philosopher and those expressed in the definition of 'ubuntu' are the kind of religiousity that appeals to me, as I also believe that the value of a person's outlook is related to that person's interdependence and service to others. I always find lots of common ground with the religious, as I grew up being taught to follow the lessons of Jesus himself, rather than all the trappings of religious entities like churches. I consider myself a political radical, largely based on my admiration of Jesus' teachings. Hey, what can I say, Jesus makes a lot of sense. But either someone put some heavy words in Jesus' mouth, or he was simply deluded. I like to fancy that he never claimed to be the only way to achieve salvation. It doesn't jibe with his compassionate message.
I've gone and went on and on again. I really do need to work on this tendency. I aplogize for my excess verbosity.
You would probably enjoy this book very much. I must admit, there are times when I find myself putting people under various umbrellas of faith and unbelief. Other times I feel as though as I have been singled out myself. But Tippett's book was eloquent and nonjudgmental. Not only did it open me up to broader understanding but it helped me to accept past and present vacillation regarding matters of faith, religion and spirituality in myself and others.
I hope to "see" you during Krista Tippett's live chat. Yours would be a worthwhile contribution.
Well said, Liz. One of the ways that one can discern the authenticity of failth is the effect upon the believer.
Congratulations on an excellent book review, Diana.
This level of thoughtful engagement on your part, and that of the author, impels one to read the book!
image of God / born of God's breath / vessel of divine Love / after his likeness / dwelling of God / capacity for the infinite / eternally known / chosen of God / home of Infinite Majesty / abiding in the Son / called from eternity / life in the Lord / temple of the Holy Spirit / branch of Christ / receptacle of the Most High / wellspring of Living Water / heir of the kingdom / the glory of God /abode of the Trinity. God sings this litany eternally in his Word. This is who you are.
Abbey of Gethsemani
Trappist, Kentucky 40051
Krista Tippett has joined the ranks of great interpreters of religious values and its history. She is able to communicate things about the spiritual life that need to heard at a time when religious demagogues are so prominent.
Religious wisdom comes from asking the real questions on life's journey. It has become apparent that the religious right regards authentic questions as challenges to an authority they neither own nor understand. Krista Tippett's radio broadcast interviews of people always pose the kind of questions that speak of a faith that is alive and able to grow.
(Tickets available by Phone: (651) 290-1221, Fax: (651) 290-1195, e-mail: fitzgerald@mpr.org, or through Ticketmaster.)
Check out the first chapter of Tippett's book here.
HERE is Chapter Two: Remembering Forward.
HERE is a transcript of a live chat with the author.
I am particularly struck by Diana's comment, "that what I do "between then and now" matters to someone, regardless of whether or not there is a God or life after death.
What I do, or don't do is all that I can control. If there is a God or many Gods, I agree with Roger Miller, the Puritan founder of Rhode Island, who argued that it is arrogant for humans to think they know what God wishes.
I don't know, and don't really care if there is one of more Gods, no God, or mice running the universe. My acts matter, not my beliefs or words, and they matter to me and my fellow humans, whether or not some divine presence exists. If there is a 'God' I hope he, she, it or they are okay with that, but if they're not, oh well, they should have made their wishes more clear; I've never been much good at symbolism. If there is no God I have nothing to worry about.