Living Faith

I really appreciated Carter's description of his personal faith and his attempts to live and practice Christianity in today's world. I think progressive Christians will find this book speaks to them in their attempts to reconcile a very real faith with an outward-looking and inclusive world-view. Being engaged in left-wing causes does NOT require abandoning religious faith, and we need more men and women to assert that there IS a religious left, too. In fact, for many, religious faith is the inspiration that leads us into politics. I can't beileve a man this kind and sincere and gentle was ever president, it seems so bizarre considering today's realities.

Former President Jimmy Carter is a truly outstanding person. He is very devoutly committed to his faith and he uses illustrations from his own life to affirm the faith that guides him. Carter is indeed a humble peacemaker and this book is a sterling testament to faith, hope and living a good life. It is a book for everybody regardless of faith. It is a book about core values and internal beliefs. It is a book about the power of sharing.

I doubt that I could be tempted to read a book authored by any political leader of my time -- or any time -- with [as of now] perhaps one exception. As a man of great intellectual curiosity, spiritual insight, and ethical depth, Jimmy Carter is a most uncommon leader; one who continues to make meaningful contributions to the welfare of humanity and who continues to offer thoughts worth considering. In this volume, a spiritual thread binds President Carter's consideration of economic, social, political, humanitarian, scientific, philosophical, religious, and very personal issues."No matter what we seek in life, we are more likely to find it if we are not self-centered but concentrate on something or someone outside ourselves."

After reading this you will be able see why Carter is renowned as a Sunday School teacher. This work began with material from lessons he has given in his Southern Baptist congregation. He enlivened it with examples from his life and how he has tried to live out the teachings of his faith. The result is a very warm, personal, and powerful biographical account of Christian discipleship in practice. It is not entirely gloss though; he also deals with times in his life when he struggled with his faith, and a few contemporary subjects like the "Jesus seminar" and the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention.Good: The stories from his life are inspiring, particularly of his work against racism in the south in the 60s and his current work in mediating international conflicts as part of the Carter Center. I also was touched by the "personal edge" that this book brings. Carter talks openly about his marriage, conflicts with his sons, his career changes, and personal discovery of God's leading for his life. It's powerful.Bad: Occasionally he gives excessive focus to justifying some of his political situations in the 70s. But this is just a small fault....Opinion: As someone who can identify both with Carter's political/social views and many of his spiritual understandings, I found it to be wonderful reading. In recent times the Bible has been widely misused by the political right to justify all sorts of heinious public policies, and those of us who differ have often been derided as less than Christian. In this context Carter's book is extremely refreshing. It's by far the most inspiring read of the year. The book is rather pricy, but well worth it in my opinion.

I do not read many "religious" books. However, I have a great admiration for President Carter because of his many, many selfless good deeds since leaving office. He is, in my opinion, one of the greatest American men of the second half of the twentieth century. What I truly liked about the book was realizing that this man, who I admire, wrestles with the same sort of spiritual/religious demons that I do. And I realized that he does not have any easy answers, but acknowledges that yes indeed life is often hard and there are many, many times when an honest person might be led to question the wisdom or indeed even the existence of God. In an era when there are so many pious, hypocritical political nitwits who cynically manipulate scripture and religion to further their own stupid, hateful prejudices and selfish political ends (and we all know who they are), President Carter's book - and indeed the beautiful example of his life - are incredibly welcome.