Book Review

The Faith of Barack Obama
By Stephen Mansfield

Just before the presidential election this past November I signed up to read and review the book “The Faith of Barack Obama” by Stephen Mansfield on my blog. I thought this would be a great time to read about then Senator Obama from Illinois. The election was coming fast and it seemed that this new candidate would soon be our new President. I actually finished the book this past December after the election had been completed.

This book seems easy to read, coming in at just over 150 pages. It is a quick read, something you can do in one sitting if you like. So why has it taken me so long to get the review done of such an easy read? Well I guess I could blame it on the holidays or just being lazy. (Those that know me well can make their own call on that one!)

So here is my review on the book:

Overall I thought the book was very interesting and a must read for those interested in the background of our President-elect. I’m not really sure how many books are out there on this subject but considering the length of this one it seems like a good choice. One thing I did notice as I was reading the book was that it had several different “turns” that almost gave me the feeling of several “mini” books wrapped into one. So in this review I’ll break down the “mini” books.

The book starts well by going a certain direction and giving detailed history into the life of Barack Obama. It really seemed to focus on what influenced him and what shaped him growing up. I was amazed at how many different religious beliefs or non-beliefs were thrown at him as a child. It almost seems amazing that after reading about his childhood he has retained any belief system at all. If I were to explain the book to someone else before reading it I would talk about this section of the book. It seemed to carry the most facts and background.

The first turn in the book came midway through when it hit the chapter of life that spoke of Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his influence on Mr. Obama’s life. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is an important section of life and one of the most important it seems to Mr. Obama’s personal faith. But the author almost gets caught up in this portion of his life. We stop and really dig deeper into the life of Rev. Wright and the book almost has a subsection called “The Faith of Jeremiah Wright.” The author leads us on a visit to the Trinity United Church of Christ and tells the story from his perspective as a newcomer to the church. For me personally it almost had too much detail about Rev. Wright and I seemed to lose interest in the rest of the story.

The next big turn I will review here was one of the most interesting of the book. Like I’ve said before, this seemed to be another “mini” book within the whole. It compared the faith of John McCain, Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. I must admit that these few pages were very enlightening and interesting to compare and contrast with the life of Barack Obama. But again, I felt I was reading another book, something I didn’t really sign up for. I was lost in the fact that the author wanted to show or validate Mr. Obama’s faith by comparing and contrasting it with three other major players in American politics.

Finally, I am glad that I had the opportunity to read “The Faith of Barack Obama” and would recommend it to others after explaining to them what is held in the book. That the book takes several turns and has several “mini” books within the larger book. But one big question I have after reading this book is “Do I know more about the faith of Barack Obama?” I do believe after reading the book that he has made a decision in his life to live for Jesus Christ. But I’m curious as to what that looks like in his everyday life. Has his upbringing caused his to add to his belief in Jesus? Are there many roads to heaven? How does his faith really impact his political views? I walked away with many more questions than when I began. But the insight and background did help me with some.

With this in mind, “The Faith of Barack Obama” is a good and informative read.

But the book here.