Rating: 
Summary: Terrific collection of spiritual journeys
Review: It was exciting for me to find this book on my brief visit to Harvard University Co-op Bookshop. We had only half an hour there, so it was great to find such an interesting book in the short time available, and then read it on the train back to my niece's home.If you like reading other people's stories about their lives and beliefs, you will enjoy this book. The Christian people included come from a variety of denominations and countries. I enjoyed reading the sermon by Phillips Brooks, the clergyman who penned O Little Town of Bethlehem. The introduction tells us that he rekindled interest in Christ by making chapel attendance voluntary, instead of compulsory, as it had always been. There are many other fascinating glimpses into people's journeys of faith, but the highlight for me was reading about Harvard's spiritual roots and the efforts to reclaim them. Warmly recommended
Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful essays for every mood.
Review: This book is composed of forty-three bite-sized essays by various persons who have had some relation to Harvard U. (Taken classes, guest-lectured, fed a squirrel on campus.) Not all are brilliant or profound, but many are, and most of the others are worth reading. My favorites were the Solzhenitsyn and Robert Coles essays, that I had read elsewhere, Nicholas Woltershorff's classy biographical essay, Krisher Sairsingh's story of conversion to Christianity from Hinduism (he is the cousin of Rabi Maharaj, author of Death of Guru), Poh Lian Lim's essay on sexual dignity, Robert Massie's funny experience as a monk in business school, Charles Thaxton on the Christian roots of science, (his book on the subject, The Soul of Science, is great!) and John Rankin on "Power and Gender at the Divinity School," which is also autobiographical and funny. (Sorry. I meant to end that sentence sooner, but kept remembering other good essays.) The story by the student who later died of cancer is also moving. As you can see, the book is diverse, even a bit scattered; but you don't have to read them all at once, or even read them all at all. Read one per cup of hot chocolate and donut, and call your pastor in the morning. Having myself passed through years of Humanist, Marxist and skeptical indoctrination in school, I see no need to rely on independant thought to come to materialistic conclusions; skepticism has poured in on me all my life from the ether, like background radiation. The reason I am a Christian is that I found this "ancient means of describing how the world works" does in fact describe it better than modern skeptics and other anti-Christian writers. (Of whom I have read a fair number.) Many of the authors of these essays, at one point in their careers, shared the same blind prejudices against Christianity as this skeptic. It was often learning to think for themselves that pulled them out of it. The California lawyer is undoubtedly right when he implies that not everyone who goes to Harvard is open to truth. (Whether or not that makes them "morons" is another question.) But here you can read the story of some who I think were.
Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful essays for every mood.
Review: This book is composed of forty-three bite-sized essays by various persons who have had some relation to Harvard U. (Taken classes, guest-lectured, fed a squirrel on campus.) Not all are brilliant or profound, but many are, and most of the others are worth reading. My favorites were the Solzhenitsyn and Robert Coles essays, that I had read elsewhere, Nicholas Woltershorff's classy biographical essay, Krisher Sairsingh's story of conversion to Christianity from Hinduism (he is the cousin of Rabi Maharaj, author of Death of Guru), Poh Lian Lim's essay on sexual dignity, Robert Massie's funny experience as a monk in business school, Charles Thaxton on the Christian roots of science, (his book on the subject, The Soul of Science, is great!) and John Rankin on "Power and Gender at the Divinity School," which is also autobiographical and funny. (Sorry. I meant to end that sentence sooner, but kept remembering other good essays.) The story by the student who later died of cancer is also moving. As you can see, the book is diverse, even a bit scattered; but you don't have to read them all at once, or even read them all at all. Read one per cup of hot chocolate and donut, and call your pastor in the morning. Having myself passed through years of Humanist, Marxist and skeptical indoctrination in school, I see no need to rely on independant thought to come to materialistic conclusions; skepticism has poured in on me all my life from the ether, like background radiation. The reason I am a Christian is that I found this "ancient means of describing how the world works" does in fact describe it better than modern skeptics and other anti-Christian writers. (Of whom I have read a fair number.) Many of the authors of these essays, at one point in their careers, shared the same blind prejudices against Christianity as this skeptic. It was often learning to think for themselves that pulled them out of it. The California lawyer is undoubtedly right when he implies that not everyone who goes to Harvard is open to truth. (Whether or not that makes them "morons" is another question.) But here you can read the story of some who I think were.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is a heart-moving collection by Harvard believers.
Review: This collection of extraordinary lives and testimonies emerges from Harvard's Christian community, including Pulitzer prize winner Robert Coles, speaker Mother Teresa, Elizabeth Dole, Aleksandr Solzhinitsyn, Dick Keyes, astronomer Owen Gingerich, Olympic skater Paul Wylie, Brent Foster (a sophomore battling bone cancer), jazz pianist and apologist Bill Edgar, Jeff Barneson. We are 40 writers together, like a symphony of various disciplines, cultures, and generations. A beautiful theme emerges with many harmonies. Together, writers see, through the fog of culture and their own suffering, Jesus Christ -- Veritas -- the first light of America's first College.
Rating: 
Summary: Wide array of topics
Review: This is a compilation of essays from various Harvard alumnus and is quite an interesting read. Although I ended up skipping a few of the essays, I generally found most of the topics enjoyable and enlightening. Monroe edited the book to show that Harvard is not the godless institution that it sometimes gets labeled as, and the personal testimonies and stories are a great display of the university's true spirit. My favorite essays were: Questions in a Quiet Moment; After the Gang, What?; Disillusioned; A Professor Under Reconstruction; Facing Death, Embracing Life; Perfectionism, Shame, and Liberation; Christ and Karma: A Hindu's Quest for the Holy; Power and Gender at the Divinity School; In Sorrow, Joy; and Feasting at the Table of the Lord.
Rating:
Summary: Wide array of topics
Review: This is a compilation of essays from various Harvard alumnus and is quite an interesting read. Although I ended up skipping a few of the essays, I generally found most of the topics enjoyable and enlightening. Monroe edited the book to show that Harvard is not the godless institution that it sometimes gets labeled as, and the personal testimonies and stories are a great display of the university's true spirit. My favorite essays were: Questions in a Quiet Moment; After the Gang, What?; Disillusioned; A Professor Under Reconstruction; Facing Death, Embracing Life; Perfectionism, Shame, and Liberation; Christ and Karma: A Hindu's Quest for the Holy; Power and Gender at the Divinity School; In Sorrow, Joy; and Feasting at the Table of the Lord.
Rating:
Summary: Great book, widely varied themes
Review: This is a great book. Many of the essays seem to be thoughtful accounts of intelligent people who are trying to be honest about their experiences with God. While great for covering many different topics, the lack of focus on a single theme keeps the book from being a perfect treatise on any one subject matter. A good read for someone who thinks Christians are just people who turned off their brains because they need an emotional crutch.
Rating:
Summary: A Spiritual Journey Through Academia
Review: Who says those of us in academia cannot think as intellectuals without feeling as Christians? To me, the two are not mutually exclusive; apparently, neither are they to editor Kelly Monroe or to the dozens of the book's essayists, including Elizabeth Dole, Paul Wylie, and Mother Teresa. This collection of essays encourages any Christian valuing the mind as much as the spirit to take heart--amazing moves of God happen everywhere, even in the highest institutions of academia. A definite must-read for the intellectual Christian!
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