Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
Part I The Case for Faith
1 From the Air 3
2 The Common Ground 9
Dialogue with Atheists 11
St. Thomas More (1478-1535) 13
3 Freedom to Believe and Not Believe 16
Not All Christians Are the Same 17
Science and Religion 18
Religious Experience 21
Bl. Oscar Romero (1917-1980) 26
Part II Challenges to Faith
4 Religion and War 33
5 Faith, Religion, and Child Sexual Abuse 37
The Witness to Truth 42
6 Is the Bible Fact or Fiction? 45
7 The Historical Jesus 50
8 A Loving God, Jesus, and Good Friday 53
9 A Loving God, Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory 62
10 Women's Leadership 66
St. Mary Mackillop (1842-1909) 70
11 The Challenge of the Gospel 74
St. Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997) 77
12 Religion, Politics, and Law 82
Dorothy Day (1897-1980) 87
Part III The God of Love and the Problem of Evil
13 Belief in Times of Tragedy 97
14 The Nature of God 104
God's Holiness and Love 107
15 Our Search for Meaning 110
Different Types of Evil 113
16 The Role of Prayer 115
A Big-Picture God 119
17 St. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) 123
Discernment of Spirits 129
18 Free Will and the Problem of Evil 133
19 What of Miracles? 136
20 God Our Friend 138
21 Love in Truth and Action 142
Part IV Lifetime Lessons on Prayer
22 What Is Prayer? 147
Doing Your Best 147
23 When Prayer Is Personal 152
The Personal Is Social 153
Images of God 154
Christian Prayer 156
24 When Prayer Is Public 164
The Word of God 168
Gathering with the Assembly 169
25 Mary and the Saints 173
Reclaiming Mary Now 176
Mother of the Poor 178
26 The Effects of Prayer 182
A Sinful Church 183
Witness in Word and Action 184
Enculturation 185
Liberation 186
27 Jenny and Sebastian 190
Conclusion 197
Notes 201
Index 207
