Includes bibliographical references (p. 249-266) and index.

Beginning the journey -- The story of Joshua and his warrior god -- Viktor Frankl and the search for meaning -- The Jesus of history and the Christ of faith dissonance and dialectics -- The miraculous conception of the first-century Christian community -- The development of second-century Christianity from paralyzing trauma to new identity -- Barack Obama and the journey to community -- The biblical narrative, what's your story? -- Rituals for better or worse -- Religion and science in loyal opposition -- Mikhail Gorbachev and the collision of faith and fact.