Reasons to Believe
One Man's Journey Among the Evangelicals and the Faith He Left Behind
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- 10,99 €
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- 10,99 €
Descrizione dell’editore
As a teenager, John Marks was a born-again Christian, but eventually abandoned his faith. Years later, as a producer for the TV show “60 Minutes,” he interviewed a couple about the Left Behind series, the bestselling Christian novels about the apocalypse. At the end of the interview, they asked John a question: would he be left behind? In other words, had he accepted Jesus as his savior or would he go to hell?
Reasons to Believe is Marks’s answer to that question. As a former Evangelical Christian, he attempts to understand those who now condemn his way of life. He grapples with the message that millions of Evangelicals attempt to deliver to their fellow citizens every day, speaking with missionaries, political activists, theologians, musicians, and filmmakers -- the rich and powerful, the poor and broken, and the pastors who have turned small congregations into megachurches. Marks also tells the story of how, along the way, he finally came to terms with his own faith.
John Marks spent a decade at U.S. News and World Report before becoming a producer at “60 Minutes.” He is the author of three novels and has an M.A. in creative writing from the University of Iowa. He lives in Massachusetts with his family.
“Marks’ testament is a moving memoir of a Texas boy and the rise and fall of his Christian faith ... even when discussing institutional and intellectual developments, though, Marks focuses on individuals, and he is moving and eloquent in describing the folks he meets along the way. Marks provides a sympathetic primer on a diverse movement and people.” – Chicago Tribune
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Marks's first work of nonfiction began as a segment that he produced for 60 Minutes on the Left Behind phenomenon. During the research, a devout evangelical Christian couple made a deep impression on him, leaving him with the question of whether he would be left behind when Christ returns on judgment day. The problem gnawed at him. After getting laid off from 60 Minutes, the novelist (The Wall; War Torn) embarked on a two-year quest to uncover the wellsprings of America's most popular religion. While this memoir of longing and doubt treads some of the same territory explored by atheists such as Sam Harris, it is the first that doesn't simply reject the evangelical worldview. Marks discovers much that is positive, especially in the way churches rallied to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. What makes this book most compelling, however, are the ways in which Marks allows his interviewees to engage him as a potential convert. He is so sympathetic to them that until the very last page it is uncertain whether he will decide to abandon his secular life. In the end, Marks gives us a stunning glimpse of American evangelicalism in all its variety.
