Keeping Faith: A Skeptic's Journey

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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004 - 324 pages

In his resonant account of a spiritual quest, Fenton Johnson examines what it means for a skeptic to have and to keep faith. Exploring Western and Eastern monastic traditions, Johnson lives as a member of the community at the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky and at the branches of the San Francisco Zen Center. Ultimately his encounter with Buddhism brings him to a new understanding and embrace of Christianity. Weaving together meditations on Johnson's spiritual journey with history and insights from modern monks, Keeping Faith offers a blueprint for a new way of practicing faith.

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Contents

In Search of the Unfound
3
The Gethsemani Encounter
8
Crossing the River
26
Origins of the Contemplative Life in the West
41
A Profound Silence
59
A Gethsemani Retreat
63
WaySeeking Mind
84
Antony Athanasius and the Rise to Power of Western Christianity
107
PART
165
Solitude
167
Desire
170
Union
183
Grace or Will?
207
Cultivating the Heart
223
Beyond Belief
243
18
250

God Alone
120
Being in Doing
140
The Coupling of Jewish Ritual and Greek Philosophy
156
Acknowledgments
311
Bibliography
317
Copyright

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About the author (2004)

FENTON JOHNSON is the author of two award-winning novels, Crossing the River and Scissors, Paper, Rock, and a memoir, Geography of the Heart. A contributor to Harper's Magazine and the New York Times Magazine, he currently teaches at the University of Arizona.

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