To say the United States is returning to religion isn't quite right. Polls since 1950 have shown 80 percent of Americans consider themselves religious.
But if talk shows, news magazines and book publishers are an indication, religion is increasingly on people's minds in the '90s. In the publishing world, books on various aspects of spirituality abound. Stephen Mitchell has three different religious books on the shelf for Harper & Row, including the immensely popular "The Gospel According to Jesus." Paragon House is trumpeting its new biography of Martin Buber and half a dozen other major houses have religious books out.So for our holiday books page, we've decided to look at five books on religion that make good gifts and good reading at a reflective time of year.
JACOB'S JOURNEY: WISDOM TO FIND THE WAY, STRENGTH TO CARRY ON; by Noah benShea; Villard Books; 116 pages; $17.
"All happy families resemble one another," Tolstoy says in the opening lines of "Anna Karina."
You might paraphrase it as "All good people resemble one another." The writing of St. Augustine, for instance, calls up the writing of Albert Schweitzer. Schweitzer calls up Mother Teresa, who calls up the Dalai Lama.
And all of them have much in common with Noah benShea's literary creation, Jacob the baker. Pious, gentle, wise and warm, Jacob is the embodiment of Jewish wisdom and the wisdom of all mankind.
We first met Jacob in "Jacob the Baker," a wonderful little book of aphorisms and insights. Now we have "Jacob's Journey." Being a celebrity, it seems, has confused poor Jacob, so he decides to set out on a journey - a pilgrimage of sorts - to find peace and a proper frame of mind. Needless to say the journey is also an internal one.
The people Jacob meets on his trek teach him about himself - and others. And what Jacob has to say is not always easy to hear."People don't want to hear this," said Joseph with a tone of warning.
"You are right," said Jacob. "We make the day dark by shutting our eyes. When we have put out our candles so we can go to sleep, we don't want to be disturbed."
THE GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE; by Madeline L'Engle, with reproductions of Giotto's frescos from the Scrovegni Chapel; 100 pages; $19.95.
Madeline L'Engle is the children's author who gave us the classic "A Wrinkle in Time" (a book that actually begins "It was a dark and stormy night. . . ."). Over the past few years, however, her work has grown more and more spiritual. This Christmas volume is her most overtly religious book yet.
"The Glorious Impossible" is the story of Jesus. The author took her inspiration for the text from a series of Giotto's frescos. And the combination of pictures and prose is enchanting.
After spending several pages on the Nativity, L'Engle quickly moves through the life of Jesus - baptism, the miracles, the washing of the feet - and finishes with a section on the crucifixion.
The book is written for children, with L'Engle's elegant style keeping the text simple, yet not simplistic. The opening lines of the book are typical:An angel came to Mary. A 14-year-old girl was visited by an angel, an archangel. In Scripture, whenever an angel appears to anyone, the first words usually are "FEAR NOT!" - which gives us an idea of what angels must have looked like.
THE FORGOTTEN CAROLS: Book and CD (or tape); by Michael McLean; Deseret Book; (book $13.95, compact disc $14.95, tape $13.95).
Michael McLean is the LDS composer who's given the culture a good many of its musicals and songs ("You're Not Alone" is just one example).
And McLean is the first to offer a multimedia presentation for Christmas. "The Forgotten Carols" is a "novella" published handsomely by Deseret Book. As the story moves along it quickly becomes what can only be called a "prose musical." As the reader follows the text, the characters in the novel break into song (hence the accompanying compact disc or tape.) At the back of the book McLean includes the sheet music to the songs with his hand-written lyrics.
As the advertising boys say, "quite a concept."
And probably the most innovative book of the season.
STAR OVER BETHLEHEM; by Agatha Christie Mallowan; Berkely Books; 84 pages; $6.95 (paper).
Who is the best-selling author of all time? Agatha Christie, the British crime novelist who gave us "Murder on the Orient Express" and dozens of other whodunits.
"Star over Bethlehem" is the other side of Christie - Christie with literary ambitions. The book, small as it is, contains many tales, poems and allegories on the birth of Christ - Christie's namesake.
This, for instance, from the title story:And Lucifer, Son of the Morning, laughed aloud in ignorance and arrogance and flashed through the sky like a burning streak of fire down to the nethermost depths. . . .
In the East, three Watchers of the Heavens came to their Masters and said:
"We have seen a Great Light in the Sky. It must be that some great Personage is born."
A POET'S BIBLE; by David Rosenberg; Hyperion; 400 pages; $22.95.
Here's a book that will charm people of all faiths (and upset a few from all, just for good measure).
In "The Poet's Bible," David Rosenberg - co-author of "The Book of J" with Harold Bloom - takes some of the most enduring poetry of the Old Testament and attempts to make it sing with a modern voice. It's what Shakespeare would call "adding fragrance to the violet."
Rosenberg is no Shakespeare, of course, but what he offers is very good. He takes the heart from Job, Lamentations, Isaiah and other books and gives it the power of modern speech. Poet Donald Hall praises the work for bringing biblical verse "into the language, into the living body of a vital tradition."
This, from Job:
Oh, if I could know
where to go
and there
find him
at home
in his seat of justice
my mouth would be full
like a river
of what my heart must say
my mind open
like a window
to hear his words