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John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father
Peggy Noonan
Viking, 256 pages, $24.95

This warm tribute to Pope John Paul II by The Wall Street Journal contributing editor Peggy Noonan (When Character Was King) has the feel of someone reminiscing over the loss of a good friend—"Let me tell you my John Paul stories."

Noonan reflects on her personal encounters with the pope and recounts incidents from his life and election to the papacy. She explores his views on faith, prayer, sexuality, and human rights. Most moving are her accounts of his influence on her, which prompted Noonan to become serious about her Catholic faith.

Though she tends toward hagiography, she also notes John Paul's shortcomings in handling the American sex-abuse scandals. Those unfamiliar with John Paul might first want to read a chronological biography, since Noonan's observations sometimes lack context. She is at her best when urging us forward with the words and attitude of John Paul, "Be not afraid."

Only Human: Christian Reflections on the Journey Toward Wholeness
David P. Gushee
Jossey-Bass, 256 pages, $22.95

In this book, David Gushee, a ct columnist and professor of moral philosophy at Union University, tackles eight questions about human nature, including: Why do relationships matter? How do we become morally good? What should be our ultimate goal for life's journey?

The Bible assumes that all people share the same human nature and the same potential journey, from creation to sin to redemption, writes Gushee.

"In Christian thought," he writes, "we are left with the unshakable conviction that a Jeffrey Dahmer and a Mother Teresa are in fact both human beings created according to God's design, stained by sin, and objects of God's redemptive love in Jesus Christ."

Gushee explores the differences between body, soul, and spirit, and relates this three-in-one aspect of human nature to the Trinitarian nature of God. He also examines the role of relationships and community: God models relationship through the Trinity, and we are designed for relationship (although our relationships may be fragile or broken due to sin).

Gushee offers brief sketches of the lives of Martin Luther King Jr., Florence Nightingale, William Wilberforce, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer as examples of moral greatness.

This is a thoughtful, scholarly treatise on a multifaceted topic, rendered accessible by Gushee's lucid writing.

The Doors of the Sea: Where Was God in the Tsunami?
David Bentley Hart
Eerdmans, 108 pages, $14

The meaning of suffering and natural disaster is at the heart of this expanded Wall Street Journal essay by Eastern Orthodox theologian David Bentley Hart. That essay was written in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed nearly a quarter of a million people. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and other disasters, the book remains relevant.

Hart looks at various responses to tragedy, including the tirades of secular moralists who see disasters as proof for atheism. With this in mind, he explores Voltaire's Poéme sur le désastre de Lisbonne and passages from Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov.

Suffering, especially of innocent children, is not part of divine will, Hart argues. "When I see the death of a child," he writes, "I do not see the face of God, but the face of his enemy."

Hart also takes aim at theologies that argue that suffering reveals divine attributes and allows us to share in Christ's afflictions. He denounces those who say that people deservedly receive punishment or reward and that the suffering of innocents will bear spiritual fruit.

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December 2005, Vol. 49, No. 12