Religion-Philosophy – Page 2 – Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Women, HIV & the Church: In Search of Refuge

By Scott J. Pearson | July 19, 2025July 19, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

First, I want to acknowledge the nobility of this book’s purpose. HIV is a dehumanizing condition that only worsens with stigma. Today, both women and orphans are disproportionately affected, and both groups have traditionally been objects of the church’s compassion. However, such a compassionate orientation hasn’t been the case with HIV; instead, stigma reigns, especially in countries hardest hit by the epidemic. This book represents a direct call for the church to instead reclaim its…

Religion-Philosophy Science Society

Science, Faith & Society: A Searching Examination of the Meaning & Nature of Scientific Inquiry

By Scott J. Pearson | May 28, 2025May 28, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

In this book, philosopher of science and eminent chemist Michael Polanyi warns, scientific inquiry cannot exist without a society and a culture that supports it. That is, science’s light can be extinguished if society decides to stamp it out. The freedom to learn about nature requires not only economic supports but also cultural supports. Writing just after the conclusion of World War II, he argues that scientific progress in Europe needs the foundation of a…

Religion-Philosophy

Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People

By Scott J. Pearson | May 4, 2025May 4, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

Nadia Bolz-Weber co-founded a Lutheran church in downtown Denver, Colorado. Her life story itself is interesting, but this book tells the stories of her parishioners. Most of these people do not fit the traditional mold of a “Christian saint” yet have life experiences that integrate with the Christian Gospel. Yet she finds God’s touch in each one of them. Therefore, she writes openly about how they have affected her and taught her. Nadia’s central point…

Religion-Philosophy

The Virtue of Dialogue: Becoming a Thriving Church Through Conversation

By Scott J. Pearson | April 7, 2025April 7, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

Increasingly, Christian churches have become echo chambers that only amplify a given leader’s viewpoint. Their messages resemble denominational perspectives or, recently, boost an interdenominational framework loosely resembling political ideologies. To many, like myself, such a framework conveniently forgets about the diverse, historic nature of Christian theology. Englewood Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, was once a megachurch but shrank in membership as decades wore on. It revived itself through becoming a conversational center where people participated…

History Religion-Philosophy Society

Jesus & John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith & Fractured a Nation

By Scott J. Pearson | April 5, 2025April 6, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

This history describes how evangelical culture and its attitudes about masculinity have shaped white Christianity and American politics. In so doing, it tries to describe why evangelical Christians, supposedly the among the most devout and religious, have chosen to support a politician who is anything but devout and resembling the Bible’s Jesus. Frankly, Kristin Kobes du Mez, a minister’s daughter, does an honest, thorough job. The evangelicalism she describes is wedded more closely to patriarchy…

Fiction-Stories Religion-Philosophy

Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis

By Scott J. Pearson | March 1, 2025March 1, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

With evangelicals attempting a hold on political power in the name of morality, this book is as relevant today as it was when it was first penned around 100 years ago. Personally, I’m a devout Christian and coordinate a Sunday School class. I’m also a lover of truth and, like Sinclair Lewis, find the evangelical movement’s unwillingness to accept uncomfortable truths troublesome. This book scandalized the American public in 1927, and its study of humans’…

Kids Leadership Religion-Philosophy

The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict

By Scott J. Pearson | February 15, 2025February 15, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

Leadership is a tricky task. No amount of technical excellence makes a good leader. The Arbinger Institute, a leadership research group, suggests that a heart at peace internally is the most important component for individuals to lead effectively. They contend this assertion applies to almost every realm of leadership, from parenting and organizations to world politics. And they show exactly how in this leadership fable. This story tells about a group that resolves family conflicts…

HIV/AIDS Religion-Philosophy Society

Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics & the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear

By Scott J. Pearson | December 16, 2024December 16, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

American religion has bifurcated along ideological lines in recent decades. Some voices trumpet a moralistic approach while others trumpet a compassion-driven approach. Some of the early splitting can be observed in the story of how the church treated those afflicted by AIDS in the 1980s. Moralistic voices today still seem to hold the loudest places in the Christian church, but compassionate approaches can be seen everywhere. Journalist Michael O’Loughlin records some of those stories before…

Religion-Philosophy Society

Revolutionary Nonviolence: Organizing for Freedom by James M. Lawson, Jr.

By Scott J. Pearson | December 11, 2024December 11, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

In hindsight, concepts about nonviolence indeed have proven the most revolutionary ideas from the twentieth century. The century itself was marred by mass violence – two World Wars, communist revolutions, the invention of the atomic bomb, and a Cold War threatening imminent destruction. Yet nonviolence exploited its foothold. Mahatma Ghandi used nonviolence to lead India to independence from the British Empire. Polish protestors used nonviolence to usher in the fall of communism. And civil-rights protestors…

Biography-Memoir Religion-Philosophy

Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint

By Scott J. Pearson | October 27, 2024October 27, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Because of its followers, Christianity has gotten a bad wrap. Perhaps that’s just in recent years, but I know enough to suspect that it’s always been so. To put people in the pews, many pastors have appealed to minor parts of the Bible while omitting parts that would make its followers uncomfortable. Like the fact that Jesus hung out with prostitutes. Or that God’s loving forgiveness of humanity is absolute. Or that the first Christian…