HISTORY · CHRISTIANITY
Harvey Gallagher Cox
The child was wakened by the knotting of the snake's coils about his waist.
— from Fire from Heaven
Most acclaimed
The feast of fools
1994
The author defines festivity as the capacity for genuine revelry and joyous celebration and fantasy as the faculty for envisioning radically alternative life situations. He proposes that a revival of both feast and fantasy will rejuvenate modern spirtuality by imitating the medieval Feast of Fools, where spirtual life was celebrated while political church traditions were socially mocked and evaluated.
Fire from Heaven
Unlike traditional Protestant and Catholic churches, whose memberships are dwindling, pentecostalism, the most experiential branch of Christianity, has become the fastest-growing form of worship on Earth, and, if present trends continue, could surpass even Catholicism by the turn of the century. From its obscure beginnings a hundred years ago in a tiny black church on Azusa Street in Los Angeles it has grown, especially in the past two decades, to over 410 million people worldwide, becoming the dominant expression of Christian worship in mega-cities throughout the world, from New York and Mexico City to Seoul, Korea. In an effort to understand its extraordinary appeal Harvey Cox has traveled the world to speak and worship with pentecostal congregations on four continents, and he has come to the conclusion that this explosion of spirituality represents a tidal change in what religion itself is and what it means to people.
Just As I Am
1997
E. Lynn Harris's blend of rich, romantic storytelling and controversial contemporary issues like race and bisexuality have found an enthusiastic and diverse audience across America. Readers celebrate the arrival in paperback of his second novel, Just As I Am, which picks up where Invisible Life left off, introducing Harris's appealing and authentic characters to a new set of joys, conflicts, and choices. Raymond, a young black lawyer from the South, struggles to come to terms with his sexuality and with the grim reality of AIDS. Nicole, an aspiring singer/actress, experiences frustration in both her career and in her attempts to find a genuine love relationship. Both characters share an eclectic group of friends who challenge them, and the reader, to look at themselves and the world around thern through different eyes. By portraying Nicole's and Raymond's joys, as well as their pain, Harris never ceases to remind us that life, like love, is about self-acceptance. In this vivid portrait of contemporary black life, with all its pressures and the complications of bisexuality, AIDS, and racism, Harris confirms a faith in the power of love -- love of all kinds -- to thrill and to heal, which will warm the hearts of readers everywhere.