Randall B. Scott

Stephen Mansfield’s book, The Faith of Barack Obama, is well written and easy to read.  During the recent democrat primary and the upcoming presidential election, the candidate’s faith has, and will continue to be in the forefront.  Several controversial sound bites have been played over and over by the media.  This book provides the historical background that leaves the reader with a better understanding of Presidential candidate Barack Obama.

A confused, mixed race young man, growing up in Hawaii and Indonesia, attending both Christian and Muslim schools finds his faith in a black liberation theology church on the south side of Chicago.  Trinity Church was actively involved in the community.  Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s sermons were intellectually stimulating and Obama felt he had finally found the faith that he had been searching for.

Mansfield goes into detail on the theology of Rev. Wright and how it developed.  Listening only to the sound bites from the media, one would assume Rev. Wright was a racist, instigating racial tensions within the black community.  Mansfield explains how Rev. Wright comes to his conclusions and how Trinity church is ministering to the community.  Understanding doesn’t change my personal opinions but helps understand how a minister can spout such rhetoric from the pulpit.

One chapter investigates the faith of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and George W. Bush.  Although interesting, this chapter seems out of place with the rest.

In conclusion, Mansfield has introduced us to Barack Obama and the origins of his faith.  This is a must read book to gain insight into the man who may become our next President.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 1st, 2008 at 7:15 pm and is filed under Book Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.