Keeping Faith : A Skeptic's Journey

Rating:
Summary: Enlightening personal tale
Review: As the author moves into history and doctrine in the second and third sections of this book, I was often tempted to quibble. His comments about sexuality and religion ignored the Buddhist tantric tradition of Tibet, his discussion of St. Augustine ignored Augustine's "God became man that man might become God," he accepts the questional premise of the feminine goddess preceding the masculine god as universal ... However, this "imprecision" is a strength in this book. The book is a personal account of an individual's working through of issues regarding religious institutions, spirituality and dogma through his exploration of monasticism in the Zen Buddhist and Latin Rite Catholic traditions. It is not the work of a religious scholar - historian, theologian or spiritual director.

The issues for Fenton Johnson revolve most strongly around the issues of sexuality, sexual abuse, discrimination by gender or sexual preference ... What is most impressive about his account, is the gradual change in his questions - as his questions become better formulated, tentative answers begin to form. In these questions and answers, the author recognizes the similarity of the religious journey as experienced through different paths. He learns to question and address his anger towards the institutional Catholic Church.

The end of the journey as reported at the end of this volume implies significant room for and capacity to further modifications of his view. I would readily recommend this book to individual's seeking a role for faith in their lives. Fenton Johnson's account of his personal search should encourage others to recognize that in their struggle and skepticism they are not alone, that there are at least partial answers available if they learn to frame their questions appropriately.

Rating:
Summary: Great guide to beginning a spiritual journey!
Review: This is a fantastic book. As someone who has been working hard to understand religion and its influence on western culture, I have to say this book is a great first step. I found Johnson asked many of the same questions that I was asking. He then did the legwork to answer those questions, always including plenty of support for his points. Often, I would read a paragraph and write a thought about it in my reading journal only to reach the end of the page and find the exact thought I had just written right there in the book. This was like reading a book about myself...and yet it would seem johnson (a middle aged gay man who lives in san francisco) and I who am an 18 year old female and have rarely been out of my sheltered hometown in Idaho would have little in common. This is a fantastic book and has provided guidance for where to go next on this journey which will no doubt be quite long indeed. I recommend this book to anyone who is ready to begin a spiritual quest.