The New Faithful, by Collen Carroll

The day before Congress voted to support George W. Bush's "use of force" in Iraq a young man stood at the center of the Duke University campus near the end of an hour-long peace rally and announced, "I am a Christian. I am against this war." Many others in the 60 minutes preceding his statement had offered sound political, social and economic arguments against war, and all of us had participated in the rally cries of "No blood for oil." But no one else had claimed faith as the driving force for anti-war sentiment. The young man reminded us that Jesus said, "Quit fighting," and himself did exactly that. In this young man's opinion, that truth alone is reason enough for Christians to oppose war.

Young people willing to stake their reputations on the truth of the gospel provide the subject matter for Colleen Carroll's book. At no time does Carroll use the term "orthodox" to refer to the Orthodox Church, but members of that faith tradition are certainly sheltered under her umbrella. Her self-proclaimed purpose for writing the book is to chronicle the stories of young people whose lives are shaped by the decision to embrace the moral roots of orthodox Christianity. Carroll herself is a young Roman Catholic who identifies with the "orthodoxy" she describes.

I delighted in the resurgence of conventional faith practices recorded in Carroll's first chapters, such as regular participation in the Eucharist, defense of ecclesiastical authority, and sustained prayer lives. She also heralds the newfound appreciation among young adults for a liturgical tradition that many of us have consistently embraced.