LETTERS

May/June 1997

Fulsomely Yours

Author Anker's [March/April] appreciation of the word "uxorious" was appreciated--but o! to find the word "fulsome" in line 2 misused was very sad!

Mrs. Robert W. Teague

York, Penn.

Mrs. Teague was one of a number of readers who pointed out that gaffe. Thanks to all who wrote. Visualize if you can the editor in sackcloth.--JW

King's Christian Novel?

Susan Wise Bauer [March/April] says that Stephen King's description of Desperationas a "deeply Christian book" will surprise anyone who has read it. I couldn't disagree more. After reading it I began to suspect, and hope, that King might actually be a Christian. I could think of no other explanation for the sort of book he has written. The God in Desperation is not "an undemanding fellow who assigns the job of overcoming Tak to his human creations, and then desperately hopes they can pull it off." On the contrary, the God in Desperation demands total commitment from the characters, and it is only through his strength and guidance that they are able to defeat evil.

Christina Stegall

South Hamilton, Mass.

Maquiladoras

Three points. First, I am surprised that well-traveled journalist Robert D. Kaplan [March/April] continues to use the term "Third World" when this label has become almost meaningless, especially after the collapse and fragmentation of the Soviet Union--the erstwhile "Second World." Second, there is no such word as "machiadoras" in Spanish. What Kaplan and Cromartie probably meant was "maquiladoras," the exploitative assembly and manufacturing plants established mostly by foreign capital in Northern Mexico. You may need someone who nous Espanish in your editorial team! Third, as a new subscriber I am thoroughly enjoying the content of each issue of your journal. Congratulations on your courageous and successful effort to approach American culture from an informed and critical biblical-Christian perspective!

Humberto M. Rasi

Silver Spring, Md.

Make that sackcloth and ashes.

Carter's Living Faith

Thanks for producing Books & Culture--the most exciting periodical I can think of. I'm disappointed that Betty Smartt Carter [March/April] gives so much space to Kenneth Morris's book on Jimmy Carter, which strikes me as a second-rate Ph.D. thesis, and so little to Carter's own book Living Faith, which Publishers Weekly lists as one of the year's top religious best-sellers. My wife and I found Living Faith a fascinatingly honest and appealing account not only of Carter's faith in Christ, but also of the high spots of his life with Rosalyn before, during, and after the White House. Particularly after--who else today is accomplishing so much for justice and peace (both

in the biblical sense), in the United States and the world? But I did like Betty Carter's concluding sentence. While Jimmy Carter may be no Lincoln, surely he will stand tall in history.

Donald T. Kauffman

Lancaster, Penn.

Preserving Public Philosophy

I must respectfully disagree with Ashley Woodiwiss [Jan./Feb.] that "public philosophy-talk . . . is not our crisis." I share Woodiwiss's commitment to encouraging the vitality of the Christian narrative and church against the functionalism of Sandel's "morality and religion." I also agree that the church's survival ultimately rests not on contemporary public philosophy, but on Christ's promise that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Yet I believe the churches of the United States still have a stake in contributing to a coherent public philosophy. Even with its faults, America's "civic religion" historically provided a framework within which the churches could make great strides in advancing the kingdom of God through evangelism and missions. The ongoing conversation on our nation's public character has too often lacked the prophetic insight a current, sophisticated evangelical public theology could provide. Now is hardly the time for Christians to turn their backs on "public philosophy-talk."

Timothy Hall

Central Michigan University

Mount Pleasant, Mich

May/June, Vol. 3, No. 3, Page 4

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