John Marks (1)

In Reasons to Believe: One Man’s Journey Among the Evangelicals and the Faith He Left Behind,
John Marks has reached across sectarian lines to present the evangelical world from the inside out at a time when our country is increasingly divided over questions of faith, spirituality, morality, and ... (more)the meaning of life. A former producer for “60 Minutes” and a journalist for “US News and World Report,” Marks felt a growing tension between the secular life he was living and his evangelical past. In doing his research Marks found that over 60 million Americans claim to be evangelical Christians yet their rates of divorce, homosexuality, addiction, etc., are the same as everyone else’s. This book is an attempt to gain a better understanding of both sides. Co-sponsored by Readers' Books and the Forum Committee of the First Congregational Church. Donation $5.

In conjunction with the Ojai Film Society screening of "Purple State of Mind" -- Marks' ground-breaking documentary about American evangelicalism -- at the Ojai Playhouse at 4:30 PM & a dinner with the author at the Village Jester.
Marks’s first work of nonfiction began as a segment that he ... (more)produced for "60 Minutes" on the Left Behind phenomenon. During the research, a devout evangelical Christian couple made a deep impression on him, leaving him with the question of whether he would be left behind when Christ returns on judgment day. The problem gnawed at him. After getting laid off from "60 Minutes", the novelist ("The Wall"; "War Torn") embarked on a two-year quest to uncover the wellsprings of America’s most popular religion. While this memoir of longing and doubt treads some of the same territory explored by atheists such as Sam Harris, it is the first that doesn’t simply reject the evangelical worldview. Mark discovers much that is positive, especially in the way churches rallied to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. What makes this book most compelling, however, are the ways in which Marks allows his interviewees to engage him as a potential convert. He is so sympathetic to them that until the very last page it is uncertain whether he will decide to abandon his secular life. In the end, Marks gives us a stunning glimpse of American evangelicalism in all its variety. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Bruce Feiler : "Illuminates a world that most people think they know... will reshape your views of the future of faith."

Brian McLaren: "A penetrating view into what has been the dominant strain of Christian faith in America in recent decades."

Publishers Weekly (starred review): "Marks gives us a stunning glimpse of American evangelicalism in all its variety."

U.S. News & World Report: "For an intelligent, first-person tour through the large American evangelical landscape, readers could not do much better than John Marks’s REASONS TO BELIEVE."

With special guest Craig Detweiler.
6pm Reception, 7pm Author's Lecture
Thursday, March 13
Admission: $10; $5 for AHC members;
free for MMH members

"A former 60 Minutes producer, Marks has written a closely-observed depiction of evangelicals as well as a personal story of faith found, lost, and found again. While interviewing followers of the Left Behind series for an assignment, Marks was asked about his own beliefs. His search for an answer led ... (more)him to talk with a wide range of theologians, activists, missionaries, and fi lmmakers. The talk will include a screening from Purple State of Mind, the documentary film on the same subject, made by Marks and Craig Detweiler." (Politics and Prose website)