The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith and Politics in a Post-Religious Right America, by Jim Wallis. HarperOne, 2008. Hb., 352 pp.  $25.95.

Before you read the first word of Jim Wallis’ transformative new book, you know something is different. Lined up like a political and theological renewal of the old television show The Odd Couple are names we know separately as representatives of vastly different worldviews.

All three are stories about irresistible force. One is historical, one is modern fiction, and the other is literally straight out of a comic book.  In all three, there’s lots of random violence.  In all three, the hero prevails, but what varies is whether the hero is himself the monster.

            Genghis Khan didn’t grow up in palaces, even though his father was a local chieftain. They were nomads; they lived in tents and traveled with the herds. His father took him, at age nine, to be betrothed in a political alliance with a neighboring tribe, but Temudjin, even as a child, could do nothing other than be guided by his own lights. He picks a girl from another, less powerful tribe, which was a less honorable choice for his father, and, it turns out, also fatal.

What could be better than being well-educated, but slightly bored, children jumping into a wardrobe closet and finding a magical land called Narnia where you have cool adventures with your siblings, and become royalty? Well, how about finding yourselves transported, a few years later, poised to return as conquering heroes?

Both are action-adventure movies, and with both, suspension of disbelief is easier done with tongue firmly planted in the cheek. We’re just having fun here, we’re not really trying to convince you that it’s real, so just sit back and enjoy the story.