God in the Balance: Christian Spirituality in Times of Terror

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Summary: A post-9/11 theological manifesto
Review: "God in the Balance: Christian Spirituality in Times of Terror," by Carter Heyward, is a work of Christian theology that attempts to address spiritual and ethical issues in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The back cover notes that the author is a theology professor at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The book is very much in the liberal/progressive/radical Christian tradition; Heyward cites such figures as Mohandas K. Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Desmond Tutu. At 110 pages, it's a fairly short book.

Heyward's words are consistently thought-provoking. She discusses many topics: the idea of a just war, the idea of loving one's enemies, the concept of God as mother, etc. She is very critical of the Bush administration and of the "[Jerry] Falwell-[Pat] Robertson version of Christianity." Some of the most compelling material in the book deals with her involvement in a therapeutic horse riding program; ultimately she points toward a theology that more fully embraces the worth of non-human beings. Overall, a compelling work from a consistently interesting theologian.