My Grandfather's House: A Genealogy of Doubt and Faith [Paperback]

Perhaps one of the most original and reflective conversion stories in print. Clark creates a self-portrait from the reflection he finds of himself in the 500-something years of his family's history. Amazingly researched, beautifully written. Probably has a special appeal to people of English ancestry and, of course, to those who contemplate theological mysteries.

Unlike the other two reviewers, I had no problem with his discussion of Protestantism. Rather, I felt that he had a firm understanding of the content of his book.

A man with a historian's soul wrote this book, going even beyond the Harvard professor/host of "Who do You Think You Are?" on PBS-TV who guides celebrities on their genealogical quests. Robert Clark's quest is about his family history of faith and doubt, rather than about DNA. Yet it poses questions that most of us might ask at some time in our lives.

Like many Americans, 500 years ago, all of Clark's ancestors were Roman Catholic. During the reign of Henry VIII, they became Protestant, presumably Anglican. By 350 years ago, his ancestors immigrated and became "all kinds of Protestants and atheist" Americans. Then, two weeks before his own baby was baptized Catholic, Clark was "taken back" into the Catholic Church. The statements he makes about his own journey may be entirely subjective, or may be fairly common. For instance:

"Committed atheists who with perfect untroubled assurance believe or want to believe in something beyond quotidian reality are rare."

"For most people, disbelief is neither an idea or conviction but an unresolved question, unmet aspiration, a fulfillment unable to bring about or even imagine."

"Faith has more to do with the imagination, with how we see and what we can envision, than in reason or will."

From such an imagination, Clark found a "disposition toward God and a sense of God's disposition towards us." Then, he rethought what kind of person he was, and contemplated whether he was loved by a Holy Spirit for or in spite of himself.

Whether his journey was common or unique, I don't know. But the questions he poses make fascinating reading to those intrigued with the ties of faith to skepticism, and why and how one comes to embrace belief in a Holy Spirit from a stance totally alienated to such a change of heart and mind.

The author is certainly not a theologian, but he is a magnificent storyteller. I read this book primarily for the story of the author, but found myself pulled into the tale of his English ancestors, something that I would not have read about under normal circumstances. I enjoyed very much his weaving together of his own personal spiritual journey with that of his forbearers.

While the other reviewer thought that his description of Lutheranism was off base (I agree), I would remark that the Universalist or Puritan trajectory of the Reformation was not an illogical outcome given some of the premises of Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli concerning the nature of revelation, the church, the bible, matter, redemption, damnation and self. They are certainly not the only possible outcomes, which the author sort of implies, but they are certainly connected intellectually to Luther.

If you want to know more than you want to know about the relationships of the Naturalist Emerson and Thoreau, or neat details about Hawthorne and Melville, not to mention countless other luminaries, this book's later chapters will certainly be of interest to you.

You may find "Surprised By Joy" by C. S. Lewis enjoyable as a spiritual autobiography. Of course, Thomas Merton's "Seven Story Mountain" is incredible for its style and content.