DATE: Saturday, June 21, 1997               TAG: 9706200122

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Issues of Faith 

SOURCE: Betsy Wright 

                                            LENGTH:   70 lines

READERS TELL OF BOOKS THAT IMPACT THEIR LIVES

Last Week's Issue of Faith: Books that influence one's religious beliefs.

This Week's Reader Response:

From the Rev. Kevin L. Wilson, Highland Baptist Church in Portsmouth: ``The Gospel According to Jesus, by John F. MacArthur, Jr. Zondervan Publishing House. The author offers this work as an antidote to the sickness of superficial and lukewarm Christianity. If you are uncertain about your (status), you will not be after reading this book; you will know whether you are genuinely saved or religiously lost.

``Are Christians Destroying America? by Tony Evans. Moody Press. The (answer) is quite obviously `yes' and the author goes on to explain that the responsibility for the decline of our nation is neither due to Hollywood, MTV or Washington, but that the blame lies with the deterioration of the Church, the Christian Right and theological fashionableness.

``The Coming Cashless Society by Thomas Ice and Timothy Demy. Harvest House Publishers. The authors clearly outline that while the technological sophistication of Smart Cards, debit cards and the like are not evil in and of themselves, these coupled with the slow disappearance of banks and cash, are all paving the way for the antichrist to have a convenient system available to him for the inevitable enforcement of the pre-PIN A.T.M. number of 666.''

From Lincoln J. Smith of Virginia Beach: ``The classic book by William James (1902) titled The Varieties of Religious Experience does an excellent job in describing both the experience and resulting behavior patterns. In a nutshell, such an experience essentially represents the shift in attitude from a fearful self-centered behavior in an insecure and hostile world to that of one who is grateful to be alive as simply part of the greater whole in a world which is perceived to be good.

``Another good work which effectively describes the conversion experience in a secular non-religious sense is The Way of Transformation by Karlfried Graf Durckheim . . .

``The two most influential and eye-opening books which assisted me in grasping religious understanding at depth - without any promotion of Christianity - were: 1) The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley and 2) Forgotten Truths by Huston Smith . . . (I also recommend) The Sermon on the Mount by Emmet Fox and Crossing the Threshold of Hope by His Holiness John Paul II . . . ''

From Rob Lauer of Portsmouth: ``Some of the books that have influenced my religious beliefs are, of course The Holy Bible, The Book of Mormon, On Man and the Universe by Aristotle, Treatise on Man by Thomas Aquinas, The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine, The Book of J by Harold Bloom, The American Religion also by Harold Bloom, and The Pearl of Great Price by Joseph Smith.''

From Kris McTague of Virginia Beach: ``I highly recommend the book How Do You Spell God by Rabbi Mark Gelman and Monsignor Thomas Hartman. They are informally known as `The God Squad' on their nationally syndicated television show on cable. The book was really written for children, but it's very readable and enjoyable for adults who wish to know more about the world's religions.''

From Pat Stultz of Norfolk: ``Like you and Thomas Jefferson, I love books. I've found in some fiction, gifts of the authors' faith. Chaim Potok's characters feed me bites of Jewish culture. He captures the conflict of being chosen, yet intellectually challenged.

``Toni Morrison's characters are quickened by God's love. Despite a choke-chain of segregation, their whole bodies pulsate to praise God.

``Tony Hillerman's characters show their Native American faith and let me see their visions. Forrest Carter's grandparent characters in The Education of Little Tree instruct how to shape the spirit of all of us children of God. Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment resolves all doubt about consequences for our actions.

``When I read the Scriptures, I can hear my Daddy's voice. He memorized and quoted so much while he lived that he so enabled me to find my answers and he left his voice for me to hear in his favorite book, The Bible.''

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