The Faith of Barack Obama

When I had the opportunity to receive a review copy of The Faith of Barack Obama, I was intrigued.  I have actually not read or listened to anything about the presidental candidates up to this point in time, so I looked forward to digesting something more than biased sound bites from the press. But after completing the book, I had to conclude that it was mistitled.  Instead of The Faith of Barack Obama Mr. Mansfield would have been more honest to title it My Faith in Barack Obama.

Because I was expecting to read an unbiased exploration of the senator from Illinois, I was frankly bewildered from the first page.  In fact, I was uncertain whether I was reading a book about a freshman senator or a biography about the future god emperor of a planet.  The first page contains the sentence “Clearly, he (Obama) already had some sense of his destiny.”  The melodrama only gets worse.  Before we even get to Chapter One I had to slosh through descriptions of Senator Obama like ”wise” “masterful” “defining theme” “sweeping” “vision” “astonishing popularity” “Midas touch” “signposts of destiny” “exotic background” “rare breed” “refreshing change” “charm” “endearing” and “he will carry that banner to whatever heights of power his God and the American people allow.”

In a book published by a company with an orthodox Christian heritage, I expected a spiritual biography to contain some analysis as to whether a man is truly regenerate, and if so how his walk with Christ has impacted his life.  Instead, I found an idolized account of an unfortunate man who seems to have had a horribly spiritually confused and turbulent childhood, who eventually attached himself to a church led by a pastor whose profound aberrations from orthodox Christianity are too numerous to recount here.  I read of a man who states he doesn’t believe in the cardinal Christian doctrines of hell or that Christ is the only way to the Father, but does believe that his atheist mother “was in many ways the most spiritually awakened person that I’ve ever known.”

Aside from the distracting melodramatic tone, the book is well-researched and factual, and does have some helpful if not profound analysis of the various forces that have shaped the current American religious/political climate.  However, I was unconvinced that Mansfield truly understands how the evangelical theology of many followers of Christ impact their judgments and decisions regarding politics and politicians.

For an author that is obviously sympathetic toward Senator Obama, this book did not give me as an evangelical Christian any reason at all to view his religion as a reason to support him as a presidental candidate.  Considering that Senator Obama’s religious views & biography have already been well described in other works, The Faith of Barack Obama adds little of substance.  A dissappointing read.

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• I Am A Reformed Evangelical (Whatever That Means!)
• Family Driven Faith
• Desiring God by John Piper
• Reflections of T4G Day Three
• How to Dress to Catch Sheep