Asking [Hardcover]

Too much communication in the world of religion is one-way: from clergy to lay persons who, if ever respectfully engaged, would become serious inquirers. The most desirable means of effective engagement is the give-and-take method of eliciting and clarifying questions and then drawing the questioner into the answering process. That, combined with the intellectual rigor of Enlightenment thinking in the formation of beliefs, will go a long way toward making contemporary religion a here-and-now enterprise, thus saving it from hopeless irrelevance. Sensitive to the cultural and power dynamics behind the church's attempts to control discourse about God, Cook faces honestly, bravely, and creatively into real theological questions posed by real people. The result is a book perfectly suited for lay and clergy readers who wish to build faith communities on a shared foundation of openness, mutuality, and trust. Elegantly and accessibly written, intellectually compelling and honest, Asking is a wonderful resource for individual and group inquiry. --Gary R. Hall Former Dean and President Seabury-Western Theological Seminary After a lifetime of reading, I can say that The Rev. Harry Cook does more than anyone I have ever known to stimulate thought and discussion about what is valuable in the Christian message for the early twenty-first century. Since the discovery of fire, man has progressed principally by asking questions--and Father Cook asks precisely the right ones in this essential little book. --Jack Lessenberry Michigan Radio and Wayne State University Harry Cook writes out of two basic convictions: that egalitarian dialogue rather than hierarchical pronouncement is the appropriate means of dealing with religious questions and issues, and that the same rational/empirical approach used in other areas should be used in dealing with religious questions and issues. What he deals with originates in his ongoing conversations with real people through forty years asl“(