We read Holy Envy in our book group and all really appreciated it. It is written by a former Religion 101 professor (who is a Christian) about how teaching college kids the diversity of world religions really help her admire parts of each of them.

Too often we focus on our differences and it was refreshing to hear about what is good in what is unlike ourselves. This feels especially important at this time, when we need to go way beyond tolerance to love and support for pluralism of culture, as it is feeling thwarted by a single world view, which is largely unshared.

Some quotes from the book:

• When trying to understand another religion, you should ask the adherents of that religion and not its enemies. Don’t compare your best to their worst.
• We may have exactly one shot at communicating who we are to people who know nothing about us – or who think they already know a lot about us– but who, in either case, will remember us as the embodiment of our entire tradition, the prime exemplars of our faith.
• ‘I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.’ That is something else Jesus says in John’s gospel. He does not elaborate, but I like imagining the God of many sheep, many folds, many favorites, many mansions. This is how far my holy envy has brought me: from fearing that Jesus will be mad at me for smelling other people’s roses to trusting that Jesus it the Way that embraces all ways. Because there is only one of me, I can only walk one way at a time, but that does not prevent me from believing that other people might be walking their ways with equal devotion and good will.
• The Imam quoted Muhammad as saying, “the ink of the scholar is more precious than the blood of the martyr.” He said after 9/11 that the action of the hijackers exposed the falseness of their claim to be Muslims. The only sympathy possible for them was the sympathy one might have for people who have lost their minds.

I really recommend this short, readable book, where this author really does a public service, not only for her college students, but for us as well. Interfaith is the reality of our world and it is beautiful. There are as many paths to God as there are people, even while wisdom and Truth ring unified as one. I give this profound little book five stars. This is what real ministry looks like.