Synopses & Reviews
An evocative exploration of Oprah Winfrey's religious beliefs, from her rejection of her Baptist upbringing to her controversial rise as an icon of church-free spirituality.
Born into poverty in Mississippi in 1954 and rising through talent, hard work and despite tragedy-she was raped at the age of nine and lost an infant son at 14-Oprah Winfrey has become one of the wealthiest, most powerful, and most popular women of her age. These facts alone would make Winfrey worthy of study, yet what makes her of even more profound impact on American society is her decision to champion the cause of New Age Christianity. She is, as Christianity Today has proclaimed, a postmodern priestess-an icon of church-free spirituality. Rejecting her Baptist roots, Winfrey has become a champion of the Course in Miracles, a seminar in which Christianity is reinterpreted in terms of self-actualization, personal divinity, and self-empowerment. She has also become a disciple of Eckhart Tolle, the increasingly popular teacher of a form of spirituality that blends Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Christianity.
Author Stephen Mansfield explores the Winfrey spiritual phenomenon-much as Mansfield has with figures like George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Pope Benedict XVI, and Winston Churchill.
Synopsis
New York Times best-selling author, Stephen Mansfield, traces the fascinating and influential life of Oprah Winfrey, profiling her quest for spiritual enlightenment?a well-publicized journey featuring a caravan of experts, mystics, and gurus?all claiming to have a prescription for inner peace and personal well-being. Mansfield shows how Oprah's story fits into our larger cultural experience and reveals why her spiritual discoveries have resonated so loudly in today's popular culture. In so doing, he sheds needed light on the dangers of a spiritual journey fueled solely by a desire for self-actualization.
In the end, we find that the story of Oprah is, in fact, the story of us?of a generation searching desperately for something meaningful to believe in.
"Wow. Stephen Mansfield reveals the Oprah story no other dares to tell?and with a two-edged sword that rightly divides the truth from the lies." ?STAR PARKER, nationally syndicated columnist and media commentator
"As a lens can focus all the sun into one searing spot of incandescence, Where Has Oprah Taken Us? focuses the vastness of popular culture through the lens of Oprah's amazing life to bring us this towering and insightful story. Stephen Mansfield offers us an unvarnished account of Winfrey's life (and our own spiritual wandering) told graciously and irresistibly. You will be thrilled, disturbed, and astounded, but ultimately inspired and uplifted." ?RABBI DANIEL LAPIN, American Alliance of Jews and Christians