Interdisciplinary Book and Film Reviews

When God Talks Back:  Understanding the American Evangelical    Relationship with God By      T.M. Luhrmann Reviewed by       Geoffrey W. Sutton We are His portion and He is our prize, Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes. If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking; So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss, And my heart turns violently inside of my chest. I don’t have time to maintain these regrets When I think about the way that He loves us: John Mark McMillan (2005) I quoted a portion of the McMillan song because it is one of those subgenres of Christian music dubbed "Jesus is my boyfriend." If you observe Pentecostal youth singing with eyes closed and arms raised and swaying you get a real sense of a love relationship between a young woman and a personified God. The idea of a relationship with God is not new, but the focus on a present intensely personal speaking relationshi...

Testing Prayer:  Science and Healing   By Candy Gunther Brown Reviewed  by Geoffrey W. Sutton I'm posting this review in the early stages of the 2020 Coronavirus. China has quarantined large portions of their population. Italy has been shut down. Europe is preparing for trouble. The US health agencies have issued warnings. Europeans are banned from entering the USA.  On social media, some Christians are minimizing the problem to temper reports they see as exaggeration. Others are talking about God's protection and still others remind people of God's healing power. Meanwhile, people are engaged in panic buying of cleaning agents and toilet paper. Panic is in the air. "It's a pandemic," we are told. Do you believe in God’s power to heal?  I have lived with and studied Pentecostals for most of my life so, I am interested in the scientific study of their beliefs, practices, and experiences. Pentecostals are not alone in believing in ...