Review_NONFICTION
80 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ JULY 29, 2019
invites secular readers to consider
Christianity in the first chapter, and the
rest of the book is an explicit call to those
looking to follow Jesus’s example. He
explores the challenge of loving one’s
enemies and the connective nature of
suffering: “All of humanity has been
nailed on the cross... the Risen Lord is
the Lord in whose body we have all been
gathered. There is great hope in this
understanding.” For Nouwen, those who
choose to follow Jesus will be rewarded
with joy and the promise of God’s presence.
He also often draws on the Gospels to
invoke concrete examples of Jesus
preaching to his original followers, para-
phrasing many sayings and rules for
readers: “Pray for people that you do not
like. You really have to work at it,” and,
“We are suffering almost every moment
of our life. There is always something that
is a little hard... I think we should start
with focusing on our small problems.”
For Christians interested in Nouwen, this
collection of his writings will serve as a
fine introduction. (Sept.)Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls:
Unlocking the Jewish Roots of
Christianity
John Bergsma. Image, $25 trade paper
(272p) ISBN 978-1-9848-2312-0
Bergsma (Stunned by Scripture), theology
professor at the Franciscan University of
Steubenville, provides an accessible
introduction to parallels between the
Essenes (an ancient Jewish community)
and Christian doctrine. In chapters looking
at the Dead Sea Scrolls—remnants of the
Essenes’ library at Qumran—Bergsma
explores topics such as marriage and celi-
bacy, and the timing of the Last Supper.
His observations buttress the uncontro-
versial view that the scrolls shed light on
“the time period of Jesus and the early
growth of the Church.” As he summarizes:
“In structure, liturgy, and theology, the
Essenes and early Christians were remark-
ably similar, but they diverged sharply”
on some major things, such as Christ’s
divinity. The work’s biggest weakness is
in speculating beyond what is provable
according to current scholarship. Bergsma
contends that it’s significant that more
copies of the Book of Tobit (which is not
accepted as scripture by Jews or Protestants)
were found among the Dead Sea Scrollsreaders alike. (Oct.)Two Buddhas Seated Side by
Side: A Guide to the Lotus Sutra
Donald S. Lopez Jr. and Jacqueline I. Stone.
Princeton Univ., $29.95 (312p) ISBN 978-0-
691-17420-4
Scholars Lopez Jr. and Stone offer an in-
depth introduction to the Lotus Sutra—
one of the most influential texts of East
Asian Mahayana Buddhism—in this
comprehensive, highly technical work.
Their opening exploration of the Lotus
Sutra focuses on the work as a text of
timeless revelation (which captures the
Buddha’s words and actions) against a
backdrop of backlash from mainstream
Buddhism. Although originally composed
in India during the first century BCE,
over centuries the text rose in stature and
influence over Mahayana Buddhism.
Nichiren, the 13th-century Japanese
founder of the Nichiren Buddhist tradition,
reinterpreted the Lotus Sutra for what he
saw as an age of decline, emphasizing the
salvation of even the most deluded as long
as they accepted and embraced the sutra.
By unpacking the Lotus Sutra chapter by
chapter and explaining both the lesson
presented by the Buddha and the influence
on subsequent Buddhist lineages, Lopez
Jr. and Stone’s detailed analysis makes for
a welcome, admirable addition to the large
repertoire of more general Lotus Sutra
studies. Their incorporation of Nichiren
showcases the sutra as not merely a reli-
gious document, but a text of living faith
concerned with the salvation of everyday
people. Though readers with even a passing
interest in the topic will find this hard
going, this intricate text will be welcomed
by dedicated Buddhist readers curious
about the history of the Lotus Sutra. (Oct.)Following Jesus: Finding Our Way
Home in an Age of Anxiety
Henri J.M. Nouwen. Convergent, $25 (192p)
ISBN 978-1-101-90639-2
The late Dutch Catholic priest and
spiritual writer Nouwen (The Return of the
Prodigal Son) unpacks what it means to be
a follower of Jesus in modern society in
this excellent posthumous collection of
essays drawn from his lectures. Following
a moving introduction from friar Richard
Rohr in which Rohr argues Nouwen’s ideas
were prescient, Nouwen (1932–1996)imparted, lending their voices an all-
knowing quality. While the personal
stories of brushes with fame and fortune
provide the most entertainment, the
unspecific lessons (“There’s no fun waiting
for us after the work; there’s just more
work”) feel unnecessarily tacked on. Fans
of the author’s work will enjoy this peek
into his life, but readers looking for solid
advice will be disappointed. (Oct.)This Is My Body:
A Memoir of Religious
and Romantic Obsession
Cameron Dezen Hammon. Lookout, $17.95
trade paper (208p) ISBN 978-1-940596-32-7
Houston musician Hammon’s
engrossing debut reveals the underside of
“born again” evangelicalism on the
southern megachurch music circuit. Born
in New York City, Hammon was raised
Jewish and, while writing “post-grunge
folk-pop,” which she performed at “coffee-
houses and small clubs” in Lower
Manhattan, she embraced the Christian
community of Tribe house church and was
baptized at age 26. When she decides to
move to Houston with her long-distance
boyfriend, she
finds work as a
“worship
leader” who
sings and leads
prayers. Barely
making a living
in a job she
describes as a
cross between
worship and a
“Christian game
show,” Hammon is trapped in the world
of tenant-worker evangelicalism. To
make ends meet, she must endure the loss
of agency and sexual harassment and con-
tend with an unhappy marriage: it was a
“study in paradox. I should look young,
but not too young. I should look pretty,
but not too pretty.” Jumping back and
forth between New York and Houston,
the gripping narrative explores the strife
and renewal of Hammon’s multiple spiri-
tual awakenings. A lifelong “seeker,”
Hammon constantly reconsiders her spiri-
tual life until the book’s end. Hammon’s
candid exploration of how megachurch
worship culture objectifies women will
stun and move both Christian and general