Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia

Books Read by Quest Previously

Sponsored by the Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia

To register, order the book or for more information, call (215) 222-1012 or email ash@interfaithcenterpa.org.

The Amish in the American Imagination (2001)

By David Weaver-Zercher

David Weaver-Zercher, assistant professor of American religious history at Messiah College, investigated American reactions to the Amish throughout the 20th century. In this text, the author presents his findings from the investigation, which include impressions of the Amish by Americans and what these reveal about mainstream American culture. Weaver-Zercher makes the argument that Americans outside of the Amish community created its impressions of the Amish for ideological and commercial purposes among other reasons.

The Battle for God (2000)

By Karen Armstrong

In The Battle for God, Karen Armstrong concentrates on a few of the fundamentalist movements that have surfaced in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. By looking at selected groups—American Protestant fundamentalists, Jewish fundamentalists in Israel and Muslim fundamentalists in Egypt, a Sunni majority country, and in Iran, a Shi’iah majority country—Armstrong examines the phenomenon in greater depth than would be possible in a more comprehensive survey. Her insights provoke self-examination as well as an appreciation for the religious expression of others.

Buddha (2001)

By Karen Armstrong

Karen Armstrong has been acclaimed for her scholarship in works the New York Times calls "penetrating, readable and prescient." In lucid and compelling prose, Armstrong’s Buddha brings to life the archetypal religious icon and the man who came known to be the Buddha. Buddha also focuses on the culture and history of the time period in which the Buddha lived as well as the Buddha's place in the spiritual history of humanity.

The Faith Club (2006)

By Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner

After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, three women each from different religious traditions—Islam, Christianity, and Judaism—met in an endeavor to write a children’s book about the three traditions. What emerged was a book about their own dialogue and conversations about their respective religious traditions and the differences and similarities among them. The conversations, although often very difficult, led to deeper understanding of and respect for one another, a deeper knowledge of the self and a journey of faith and friendship.

Faith, The Yes of the Heart (1999)

By Grace Adolphsen Brame

Faith, The Yes of the Heart explores the intertwining of theology and spirituality from a Lutheran perspective. The author, Grace Adolphsen Brame, begins her work with the assertion that her audience is more familiar with Martin Luther's theology than Luther's spirituality. Taking the time to examine Luther's spirituality—his personal relationship with God and his "faith of the heart"—is worth the journey, Brame contends, because it is this side of Luther's work that can give life and hope.

In writing about the integration of theology and spirituality, Brame discusses some of the most fundamental and age-old questions: Why was I created? Does God really love me? How do we live what we receive? Where is God when we suffer? Can I stake my life on God? As she writes about these issues, Brame shares her own perspective and spiritual journey as well as the thoughts of many others from over the centuries.

Garland Around My Neck: The Story of Puran Singh of Pingalwara (2001)

By Pantwant Singh

In this book, author Pantwant Singh presents the life of Puran Singh of Pingalwara, a Sikh colossus who spent his life working to bring dignity to the marginalized in Indian society and to make aware the importance of a healthy environment.

 

 

Holy Mother: Being the Life of Sri Sarada Devi, Wife of Sri Ramakrishna and Helpmate in His Mission (1962)

By Swami Nikhilananda

Holy Mother is a biography of Sarada Devi, a woman who was born and lived in a small village in Bengal, India about 150 years ago. She lived the majority of her life outside of the realm of public life as was expected of Hindu women living of her day. Yet her influence on the world beyond her private world was quite spectacular. Over the course of her life, she became the guiding force behind the monastic order the Ramakrishna Mission, which was established in the early part of the 20th century. This organization took leadership roles in many areas, such as in the field of education and in social reforms in India and has followers in many countries.

Islam and World Peace: Explanations of a Sufi (1987)

By M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen

Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen was a Muslim Sufi from Sri Lanka. This book is a compilation of his life’s work—to teach people the true meaning of Islam. In the text, the reader discovers Muhaiyaddeen’s perspective about his tradition, which includes the following:

Islam is equality, peacefulness, and unity; those who claim to be in Islam must destroy the evil qualities that arise from within their heart. We must all wage a holy war against the evil qualities that come to destroy our good qualities. This holy war, this Jihad, is not something that can be fought on the outside; our real enemies have been within us since birth. Our own evil qualities are killing us. They are the enemies that must be conquered.

Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism (1984)

By Richard L. Bushman

Richard L. Bushman, PhD, a professor emeritus at Columbia University, specializes in American history. In this text, Bushman presents a history of John Smith, “founder” of the Mormon tradition as well as a history of the first pivotal years of this tradition.

 

 

Night (1960)

By Elie Wiesel

Night is an abbreviated version of Elie Wiesel’s memoir. In this book, Wiesel tells his personal story through the life of Eliezer, a teenage Jewish boy growing up in a small town in Transylvania in the 1940’s. When the Germans take hold of the town, Eliezer and his family are sent to concentration camps. Wiesel describes the many horrific experiences Eliezer has while at the camp, which eventually lead to Eliezer’s loss of faith in God. The book concludes with Eliezer’s rescue from the concentration camps, but this is not the end of the story, for Night is the first book of the trilogy Night, Dawn, and Day.

Olya’s Story (1993)

By Olya Roohizadegan

Olya is a Baha'i woman from Shiraz, Iran who was sent to prison at the beginning of Iranian revolution in 1979 solely because she is a practicing Baha'i. After miraculously being released from prison, Olya wrote this autobiography in order to fulfill a promise she made to herself and to nine young women who had been killed. This book tells a true story of events; its heroes and heroines were ordinary people living ordinary lives until the course of events brought them face-to-face with choices that few of us are ever asked to make. The choices they made changed the course of their lives and, consequently, the lives of countless others who have heard their stories.

An Orphan in History: One Man’s Triumphant Search for his Jewish Roots (1982)

By Paul Cowan

Paul Cowan was a writer for The Village Voice and a well known author who died in 1988 of leukemia while still in his forties. Raised in a thoroughly assimilated Jewish home, married to a fellow social activist of Protestant background, Cowan found his way back to a meaningful Jewish life after the sudden death of his parents in a fire. His wife, who eventually became a Reform rabbi, wrote the afterword to this spiritual autobiography. The book is a window into American Jewish history and the question of Jewish identity in our time. Cowan's personal story raises the issues of suffering and religious faith, religion and politics, and intermarriage.

The Questions of Jesus: Challenging Ourselves to Discover Life’s Great Answers (2004)

By John Dear

In The Questions of Jesus, author John Dear points out that Jesus, like any great teacher and rabbi, "has a question for everyone he meets, for every occasion, for every experience, for every potential disciple." He uses these questions as a starting point, an invitation to readers to discover the lessons the questions contain by searching the readers’ own hearts and minds for answers.

 

The Quiet Rebels:  The Story of the Quakers in America (1969)

By Margaret Hope Bacon

In The Quiet Rebels, Margaret Hope Bacon presents an historical work, bringing the reader from the first question, "Who are the Quakers?" through their journey from Britain to the New World and up to the present day.

Some other questions addressed are: the role of clergy in the Quaker tradition, the effect of Quietism on the community, and the relationship between the Quakers and the Native Americans. Simple in style, the author presents the Quaker journey in a most interesting and fascinating way, offering insight into why the Society of Friends (Quakers) continues to exercise influence in the United States quite disproportionate to its numbers.

The Seven Valleys (1992)

By Bahá’u’lláh, Translated by ‘Alí-Kuli Khán

Written in the mid-19th century, The Seven Valleys was an essay included in a letter from Bahá’u’lláh, the “founder” of the Bahá’i tradition, to Shayk Muhyí’d-Dín. The essay is largely a discussion about the mystical path of attaining union with God through submission to God’s will.

The Spiral Staircase: My Climb out of Darkness (2004)

By Karen Armstrong

In this book, Karen Armstrong, eminent scholar, writer and gifted theologian, departs from her focus on the texts of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and takes the reader into the inner sanctum of her own personal spiritual journey. Her quest unfolds through the honesty and poignancy she brings to the telling of 'her story'. As the reader moves through the story, her journey may elicit questions and reflection about one’s own religious identity formation.

Why I am a Muslim: An American Odyssey (2004)

By Asma Gull Hasan

Asma Gull Hasan is an American Muslim of Pakistani descent. In this book, she describes the beliefs and the principles that have guided her life. She sees many common mores, customs, political similarities, beliefs and ideals between classical Islam and principles of American democracy. She loves the United States and Islam and sees little conflict between the two.
Although she sees rigidity in some Islamic cultures, Ms. Hasan does not believe in such rigidity. She feels that she has the right under Islam to practice in the way that suits her, in the culture in which she was born and lives.