Rating: 
Summary: Feeling one's way through Christian-speak.
Review: Norris attempts to terrestrialize the otherworldly idioms of Christian faith. She offers about 80 tractates approaching words and ideas such as eschatology and forbearance. Some of her offerings assume there is a coherent nugget of truth beneath the symbols of language and succeed in exposing it. Many offerings struggle unsuccessfully with labels: fundamentalist, mainstream, hard-core, conservative, liberal, feminist theology. Perhaps this would be difficult to avoid. Many offerings simply fail to do anything other than express the author's feelings. (For some readers this may be OK).
The discussion of "salvation" is rather original and quite valuable. The discussion of "'organized' religion" is excellent, containing truths too deep to be recognized by the "sophomoric" and self-congratulatory dogmatisms of Enlightenment. The discussion of "idolatry" is one of the books best. The consideration of "feminist theology" is uncharacteristically protracted as compared to themes like "God" and "grace", and contains very little that Isaiah, Philo, Paul, Augustine, Wesley, or Kierkegaard would accept as being any kind of theology. Seeking to constrain God -- the Absolute -- within anthropocentric ideas of gender is merely another dance with idolatry. Norris succumbs to a popular misappropriation of the word 'theology' -- perhaps we are to accept this as poetic license(?), perhaps the loftiness of the terminology is a device to lend importance to the discussion(?). The Uncaused is neither Venusian nor Martian and one must invent her (or his) own "theology" to attain any congruence here. (The issue of religious groups having treated women unfairly is one of socio-anthropology, not theology. Granted, 'feminist religionism' does not have the poetic quality of 'feminist theology.' )
Norris' consideration of the Virgin Mary is one of the books worst. She wishes to reject either/or rationality and lays claim to a "both/and" view of Mary, but the result is neither/nor. Encased in Catholic doctrine is a veneration of Mary that to Protestant doctrine is idolatrous and blasphemous. The two views are mutually exclusive. And this is not the only discordance that centers on Mary. To bridge the gap between Christian belief in Mary's divine conception and agnostic/skeptical disdain for Mary's virginity, Norris develops an alternate definition of virginity. Her definition is interesting, even valuable, but we wonder what the reader is supposed to think/believe about the issues that Norris skirts. A "both/and" Mary might 'feel' nice but is an illusion. In a scene from Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye listens to one arguer and says, "you're right" only to moments later say to the man arguing the opposite, "you also are right." Someone protests that they cannot both be right. Tevye agrees, "you also are right." It doesn't work, even if it "delights my poetic soul" (and still makes me laugh).
I wish this review didn't have to be quite so negative. Perhaps my critique is too harsh; I tend to consider books very analytically. Kathleen Norris is a seeker, which is wonderful. Her openness and sincerity cannot be overlooked; however, if half of the discussions were omitted the book would be stronger. As it is, I hesitate to recommend it. The Norris with whom I find agreement is too mixed up with the Norris who is groping and distracted. This volume is conceived of a very good idea and may be of value to readers curious about the mysteries of Christian-speak, however I would caution them that it has many weaknesses.
Rating: 
Summary: A life-changing book!
Review: This book changed my mind and my life! I pre-judged Ms. Norris, thinking that she was some off-the-wall writer wanna-be but I was sorely mistaken. Her writing fills the heart and delights the imagination. This book is filled with terrific real-life stories of people in her life and every story is simple yet profound in its spiritual depth and insight. Kathleen Norris is one of the most gentle Christian writers I have ever come across outside of Philip Yancey and C.S. Lewis.
Rating:
Summary: Profound Reading
Review: Kathleen Norris has given us all the benefit of her spiritual journey, and I have now given this book to several friends. We're all unique, created "a little lower than angels", and our relationships with God are unique. Not all of us have been born with child-like faith, and this book is profound reading for folks who have struggled along the way. Ms Norris correctly places her emphasis upon the importance of our spiritual vocabulary as a key component of this process. I agree with one reviewer who compared the book to candid conversations with a highly literate, understanding friend. This is not the "warm and fuzzy" language of faith, but the testimony of a woman who has looked long and hard at questions that many of us struggle with in becoming a "woman of fatih", much to her own surprise. Her testimony will speak volumes to many people who grew up in the 1950's and 1960's who need to hear from just such a voice. Buy this book and take the time to absorb what this poet has to say. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for me
Review: This is NOT what I expected. Unless you want to be uplifted spiritually, don't buy it. Not helpful in growing intellectually or thinking logically.
Rating:
Summary: An Encouraging Word to a Christian
Review: I found Katheen Norris's book to be a refreshing alternative to some of the Christian literature out there. Having grown up in a strongly evangelical Christian home and struggling throughout my own life with guilt over what I "was" or "was not" going to please God, I find her perspective to be both challenging and comforting. I find myself underlining many phrases in her book, because these snippets ring true in my own life experience. I find comfort in Norris's words because she is able to get to the heart of what is really important in our Christian faith. Reading about someone else's doubts and questions about their faith, is helpful in my own experience and realizing God's love despite "besetting sins" (another one of those Christian phrases!).
Rating:
Summary: A contemplative poets view of the christian life
Review: Rarely do you come across an author who can tackle such an immensely complex and controversial subject with so much poetic grace. Her style ranges from contemplative to humorous to dead serious, sometimes all within the same paragraph or two. This is a fantastic book. Especially for those of you who wonder why people choose a liberal, christian lifestyle - you ought to take the time to read it. It's good writing, and it's important reading.
Rating:
Summary: Touching Sprituality
Review: A poet by trade, Ms. Norris manages to touch spiritual ideas with a delicacy and realism I have not experienced with any other author. This work pinpoints intersections of the secular world with the non secular and how common religious terms might be translated to have meaning in everyday life. A peaceful read.
Rating:
Summary: call it a 2.5
Review: Let's see: Of the few negative reviewers of Amazing Grace, some trash it because it "doesn't go the source"; i.e., it doesn't reaffirm their own "objective" reading of the Bible, since Norris has the nerve to speak honestly about her own experience (gasp!) of faith. The others find it too strident--too "Christian" (gasp!)--with a hint of intolerance for other faiths. Meanwhile, those who praise it, the majority, find reason for whatever it was they hoped to find in it, be it faith or doubt. Methinks this is all evidence that Ms. Norris has struck the right balance in content! No, the problem with this book is not the content, which is variable in quality. The problem is that the writing itself is not up to the same very high standards Ms. Norris established so well in her earlier works. To see her strain to be non-didactic while, not surprisingly, being somewhat didactic (she is, after all, seeking to define terms, however sensitively and experientially), is painful in comparison to her previous (more "graceful") literary efforts. This book bears the marks of a publisher eager to cash in on past success and rush a sure thing to market. There is little of the charm, not nearly enough of the sense of being caught in a beautiful netherland between memoir and essay and poetry in this work, unlike her earlier books. Ms. Norris is a beautiful, beautiful writer. It's just a shame that you would not really discover that in this book. If you really think you need to ponder theology, sure, go ahead, buy it. But if you want to most clearly experience the stunning faith and art of a *writer*, you are much better off purchasing Dakota.
Rating:
Summary: the courage to ponder
Review: "Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith" is the first book I have read by Kathleen Norris. I'd heard a good deal about her prior to reading it. I was prepared to be disappointed. I was not. "Amazing Grace" is one heck of a book. Ms. Norris is a rare find. In "Amazing Grace" she combines deep, honest reflection with beautiful, unassuming prose to construct short, sweet, and insightful pieces about words (things like "grace," "judgment," and "hell") that have always unsettled or scared her a bit. She examines each word carefully. Often, she thought of sides of a topic I had never considered. The following is part of the passage on grace...Ms. Norris approaches the subject in a unique and enlightening way (She is speaking in the context of Jacob's flight from his brother Esau as told in Genesis 28): "God does not punish Jacob as he lies sleeping because he can see in him Israel, the foundation of a people. God loves to look at us, and loves it when we will look back at him. Even when we try to run away from our troubles, as Jacob did, God will find us, and bless us, even when we feel most alone, unsure if we'll survive the night. God will find a way to let us know that he is with us in this place, wherever we are, however far we think we've run. And maybe that's one reason we worship-to respond to grace. We praise God not to celebrate our own faith but to give thanks for the faith God has in us. To let ourselves look at God, and let God look back at us. And to laugh, and sing, and be delighted because God has called us his own." Kathleen Norris is to be commended for the courage she displays in pondering the questions these often loaded words have left her with. All who read her book will benefit from her thoughts. "Amazing Grace" was a true joy to read. I recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: Lovely, just lovely
Review: Just when you wonder where the next generation of good spiritual writers is coming from, along comes Kathleen Norris. This is a wonderful read. Norris is intelligent, honest, and writes with such a poetic sensibility that you end the book craving more. She is deeply thoughtful, is in tune with all the contemporary concerns, doubts, questions, and yearnings about religious faith and experience, and writes with such warmth that I could easily imagine myself bumping into her at a retreat house and approaching her as if she were an old friend. She isn't sure about everything so if an author voicing her doubts bothers you, you may want to move on to another volume. The rest of us will get much from this. At a time when the spiritual sections in the bookstores seem to be flooded with new age feel-good tripe, it is so refreshing to read someone who realizes there is more to faith and spirituality than getting a "feel-good" fix every now and then that demands nothing from us in return and, consequently, holds no possibility of growth. Bravo! to the author.
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