Synopses & Reviews
From a fellow believer, a poignant look at the way many Christians give their faith a bad name by treating other Christians with suspicion and intolerance. A lifelong pilgrim and seeker, Robert Benson has shared prayers, rituals, conversations and arguments with members of many different churches. His experiences have led to moments of great joy and fellowship, but they have also opened his eyes to the intolerance, hypocrisy, and hard-heartedness that threaten to dismember Christianity, the body of Christ. The Body Broken is Benson's audaciously honest and moving meditation on the meaning of his own faith and the faith of others. Using the body in both its metaphorical and theological incarnations, Benson writes gracefully about what binds Christians together and what keeps them apart. He recounts his personal journey from Nazarene to Methodist to Episcopalian and introduces people and differing expressions of faith he encountered along the way. There are ordinary folk, including his childhood friends and family, as well as such legendary religious thinkers as Henri Nouwen. Some of the anecdotes--particularly the stories about his own brother's mental illness and suicide--are heartbreakingly painful; others bring to light the inherent goodness of people who manage, even in difficult times, to remain hopeful and compassionate. Although Benson acknowledges that there are (and always will be) very real differences among the ways Christians live out their faith, he also shows that they all share essential beliefs about God and all are dependent on God's mysterious mercy and grace. Reminiscent of books on Christian spirituality by Henri Nouwen, Kathleen Norris, Frederic Buechner, and AnnieDillard, Benson's stories and commentary illuminate, with wit and wisdom, the struggles Christians face today. A powerful, important examination of the intolerance that has become an all too familiar part of present-day life, The Body Broken lays a foundation for a Christian community that embraces a spirit of brotherhood even as it honors the difference among denominations.
About the Author
Robert Benson is the author of six previous books, including
Living Prayer,
Venite : A Book of Daily Prayer, and Between the Dreaming and the Coming True. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee.