Beside Still Waters: Searching for Meaning in an Age of Doubt

Gregg Easterbrook says the ideal readers of Beside Still Waters: Searching for Meaning in an Age of Doubt are "those who seek the spiritual center--whose hearts are open to higher purpose but whose heads are aware of the many valid objections." To these readers, Easterbrook offers the gift of his contemplative, witty, well-informed essays on questions such as "whether the wars and repressions staged in the name of religion invalidate the ideals that arise from faith; whether our increasing knowledge of history demonstrates spiritual thought to have begun in mythology or superstition; [and] whether faith is on balance an advantageous force for society." Easterbrook is a reporter, not a religion expert, but he's managed to float an extraordinary amount of erudition on his fluid journalistic style. Because his learning is passionate rather than professional, he's able to explore his questions with openness and zeal. Beside Still Waters concludes with a startlingly scriptural refutation of God's omnipotence and a strong, smart argument that monotheism is inherently opposed to rigid denominationalism. Yet with equal strength and good sense, he defends the value of denominations. Maybe you're a good Christian, or a good Jew, or a good atheist. The balanced, vigorous, loving thoughts contained in Beside Still Waters can help you become something better than all of those, and necessary for being any of them--a good person. --Michael Joseph Gross