What We're Reading

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Before she became a rapidly ascendant Dutch parliamentarian, a staunch advocate for women and girl's rights, and Public Enemy #1 for radical Islam, she was taught Muslim values and clan tradition by her grandmother "on a grass mat under the talal tree" in her native Somalia. This captivating memoir follows the author, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, through her childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. The reader is given access to her honest and intense periods of embracing, struggling and eventually rejecting much of the social and value system of her upbringing. The consequences of these choices, and her public persona, have brought constant death threats and a virtual exile in the US.

This riveting story provides extraordinarily rich detail on what life in the Muslim majority world sometimes looks like, particularly for girls. Hirsi Ali both witnesses and experiences terrible tragedies - from genital mutilation to brutal beatings to destitution in refugee camps. Her ability to escape a forced marriage, find political asylum in Holland, and discover the courage to tell her story so boldly makes her an exceptional case. As Hirsi Ali puts it, "How many girls born in Digfeer Hospital in Mogadishu in November 1969 are even alive today?"

After the 9/11 attacks, she writes: "It was not a lunatic fringe who felt this way about America and the West. I knew that a vast mass of Muslims would see the attacks as justified retaliation against the infidel enemies of Islam. War had been declared in the name of Islam, my religion, and now I had to make a choice. Which side was I on?" Readers who are predisposed to fearing Muslims and seeing them in monolithic terms will no doubt find some measure of validation from Hirsi Ali's account.

Arriving at such a conclusion would be no less tragic than the devastation wrought by war in Somalia. The jewel that Hirsi Ali freely offers to her non-Muslim readers is understanding. The reader gets an extended view of the deeply-held convictions and the entwined social, political, and religious systems that give identity to one-fifth of the world's population. While we do not need to agree with every practice and doctrine - and certainly at times, we might vehemently disagree - we also cannot view it as a single system to be toppled or conquered - a mistake made all too often throughout history.

For me, this book is not about the triumph of secularism or feminist ideals. It's worth noting that Hirsi Ali does not offer an idyllic view of the West, although her critique there is more subtle. The most instructive thing about Hirsi Ali's life is what led to her most profound changes - a safe and uncontrolled engagement with thoughtful individuals from a world foreign and initially suspicious to her. Despite all of the teachings she received as a child about the evils of the West, it was when she was exposed to alternatives to her fundamentalist upbringing that she freely chose a different path.

For more information on how Christians and Muslims will need to contend with the continued global growth of one another's respective populations, please visit our Guiding Trends page here--> Guiding Trends.

Paul Park

God is Back by John Micklethwawit & Adrian Wooldridge

It was a commonly held belief in the late 1960s that religion was obsolete and people in the 20th century had no need for faith. The cover of Time magazine in 1966 asked the question, “Is God Dead?”, while many in America espoused the writings of the 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and his assertion that “God is Dead.” In God is Back, John Micklethwait, editor in chief of The Economist and Adrian Wooldridge, Washington Bureau chief for the magazine, have collaborated in an “attempt to explain...how and why God has fought His way back into the modern world.”

Micklethwait and Wooldridge divide their book into four parts: The first part focuses on the various approaches to religion in Europe and America and how it has evolved in different ways over the past two hundred years. The authors point out that religion and modernity worked hand-in-hand in America, while modernity crushed religion in Europe—leaving it secularized. Putting America at the heart of this book, the writers claim that “the Founding Fathers clever compromise over religion not only allowed God to survive and prosper in America, it also provided a way of living with religion—of ensuring that different faiths can coexist.”

The ways that religion and pluralism are thriving as an economic force and political influence in America today is the focus of Part Two. Part Three examines how America is exporting capitalism and religion simultaneously, through the global spread of American-style religion and the push by Evangelicals into the political sphere. They make an important claim that in the developing world, Pentecostalism has been perfected and is now returning reinvigorated to America. It is in Part Four of the book that the authors give examples of how religion is an effective power and the main reason for many bloody conflicts around the world. They examine the relationship between secularism, Christianity and Islam. The authors recognize the challenges presented by radical Islam and argue that the solution lies in America promoting in Muslim nations what it did in its own history—separating Church from State and allowing pluralism.

God is Back is an informative and well-written book on the role of religion in the world today. While the title of the book suggests a world focus, Micklethwait and Wooldridge spend most of their time on America, with over half the chapters devoted to American religion and politics. If you’re interested in the future of religion with a more global view and Christianity in particular, we also recommend Philip Jenkins’ book, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity.

For more information on how major shifts in the religious landscape may impact our world in the coming decade, please visit our Guiding Trends page here--> Guiding Trends.

Joanne Whitman

The Age of Paradox by Charles Handy

"Charles Handy is a UK professor and consultant in manner of Peter Drucker. Though a business book, curiously, I found The Age of Paradox most helpful in understanding my walk with Christ. Handy exposes the challenges of managing paradoxical concepts. “Lose your life to gain it” is a Christian paradox that reading this brought to mind. In an application that has been most helpful in my work at First Fruit, the book gives a wonderful explanation of “S” curves and their role in understanding and managing change."

Rob Martin

The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun and Paul Hathaway

"This personal testimony of Brother Yun inspired me as I read of his extreme courage and God’s miraculous intervention in the face of pure evil. Brother Yun was simply trying to follow his Master as he was led into and through impossible situations in prison for his faith. God used this humble servant and his family to begin an underground evangelism explosion in China, which continues today. This is a profound story of God’s amazing grace coupled with an unshakable faith, which serves to both inspire and challenge the reader."

Joanne Whitman

Serving With Eyes Wide Open by David Livermore

"In the past several years I have heard much deliberation regarding the relevancy and effectiveness of cross-cultural missions especially regarding short term trips. The reason I liked this book is that Livermore identifies the weaknesses in the way we think about and engage in short-term missions without negating the validity of this mission strategy. He encourages cross-cultural ministry to be done intelligently and pragmatically, and he offers valuable insight in serving with sensitivity."

Lori Drexler

God Is at Work: Transforming People and Nations Through Business by Ken Eldred

"For those working at the intersection of business and Christian ministry, Ken Eldred’s book provides an excellent overview of the emerging “business as missions” movement – its objectives and approaches. The book provides fascinating cases of companies who are attempting to achieve economic, spiritual and social impact – including a number of examples from Mr. Eldred’s own professional experience."

Paul Park

To Change China: Western Advisors in China by Jonathan D. Spence

"As anyone who has done work in China can attest, the vast nation of 1.3 billion people can be simultaneously captivating and mystifying. Jonathan Spence’s book illustrates that many a Western advisor over the last three hundred years have come away similarly confounded by the alluring yet enigmatic country. Mr. Spence, a professor of history at Yale, writes these biographical accounts in fascinating, first-person detail, serving as a humbling tale for those who are hoping to see change in China."

Paul Park