Hailed as a new classic in faith exploration, this remarkable book offers a rare chance to eavesdrop on a conversation between a believing father and a skeptical daughter about God, faith, and morals. World-renowned theologian Michael Novak accepts a unique challenge when his twentysomething daughter Jana sends him a long fax filled with practical questions about life and religion. His answers -- warm, wise, and unfaltering -- serve as guideposts to faith at a critical time in his daughter's life. For her part, Jana is not interested in a scholarly essay but in straight and honest replies; she challenges what she doesn't understand, and she never hesitates to bat back an answer she doesn't like.
The result is a lively, thought-provoking dialogue that addresses the concerns of Jana's generation while also taking on the questions of the ages -- from the purpose of religion in our lives, to how "good" must a Christian be, to the problems of suffering, compassion, and the existence of God. Enacting as it does the difficult passing on of a noble tradition, Tell Me Why offers an illuminating path for anyone searching to embrace or deepen their faith.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
CONTENTS
Jana's Challenge Arrives
I FOUNDATIONS
1 Why Does Religion, Any Religion, Matter?
2 Why Are There So Many Different Religions?
3 What Is God Like?
4 What Does It Do for Me, Whether There Is a God or Not?
II PARTICULARS
5 Why Is Our Family Catholic?
6 Can I Pick and Choose What I Believe?
7 But I Cannot Take the Bible Literally!
8 What Do We Mean by Hell? And Heaven?
III PRACTICALITIES
9 What Is Christian Sexual Love?
10 On Womanhood: Marriage, Friendship, Children
11 What About Abortion?
12 Do I Need to Be Mother Teresa?
The Last Word: Jana
Dad's Reading List for Jana
Acknowledgments
Index
