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Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith
From the bestselling author of Hillbilly Elegy—an intimate account of why Vice President JD Vance strayed from the Christianity of his youth and what led him back to faith.
Communion is a spiritual exploration of what it means to be a Christian in all the seasons of life JD Vance has experienced—as a child, a young man, a husband, a father, and a leader.
Picking up in some ways where Hillbilly Elegy left off, Communion recounts how Vance's pursuit of material privileges ultimately led him into a secular wilderness.
Communion reveals how Vance regained his faith and discusses his conversion to Catholicism, how his faith guides his work in public life, and how it shapes his thoughts about the future.
Communion is a spiritual exploration of what it means to be a Christian in all the seasons of life JD Vance has experienced—as a child, a young man, a husband, a father, and a leader.
Picking up in some ways where Hillbilly Elegy left off, Communion recounts how Vance's pursuit of material privileges ultimately led him into a secular wilderness.
Communion reveals how Vance regained his faith and discusses his conversion to Catholicism, how his faith guides his work in public life, and how it shapes his thoughts about the future.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published June 16, 2026
About the author
J.D. Vance
7 books2,351 followersJames David Vance (born James Donald Bowman) is an American politician, lawyer, veteran, and a New York Times bestselling author, who served as the junior United States senator from Ohio from 2023 to 2025. A member of the Republican Party, he currently serves as the Vice-President of the United States of America.
After graduating from high school in his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, Vance served from 2003 to 2007 as a combat correspondent, with six months in Iraq. He then attended Ohio State University, graduating in 2009. He graduated from Yale Law School in 2013. His 2016 bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy got significant press attention during the 2016 election and became a feature film in 2020. It describes his upbringing in the Rust Belt, poverty, drug addiction, and Appalachian culture.
Vance defeated Democratic nominee Tim Ryan in the 2022 United States Senate election in Ohio. Initially opposed to Donald Trump's candidacy in the 2016 election, Vance has since become a strong Trump supporter. On July 15, 2024, Trump nominated Vance as his running mate at the Republican National Convention. He was the first US Marine veteran to be nominated for vice president.
After graduating from high school in his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, Vance served from 2003 to 2007 as a combat correspondent, with six months in Iraq. He then attended Ohio State University, graduating in 2009. He graduated from Yale Law School in 2013. His 2016 bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy got significant press attention during the 2016 election and became a feature film in 2020. It describes his upbringing in the Rust Belt, poverty, drug addiction, and Appalachian culture.
Vance defeated Democratic nominee Tim Ryan in the 2022 United States Senate election in Ohio. Initially opposed to Donald Trump's candidacy in the 2016 election, Vance has since become a strong Trump supporter. On July 15, 2024, Trump nominated Vance as his running mate at the Republican National Convention. He was the first US Marine veteran to be nominated for vice president.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
June 25, 2026
At its core, this cowardly book is an apologia for Christian nationalism, and a deeply dishonest one at that. I found something morbidly fascinating in the sum of influences laid bare in its pages (CS Lewis, Pope Leo XIII, René Girard, Peter Thiel). Despite all: boring and conventional.
June 24, 2026
A terrible terribly written book & totally fake Catholic.
June 24, 2026
Excellent and well-written book. I'd encourage anyone to read this, regardless of your political stripe. I once had a librarian look at me disdainfully when I checked out Hillbilly Elegy - she said she wouldn't even touch it. I thought that a shame, because she's missing out on a very good book and perspective.
June 24, 2026
Vice President Vance
I'm so impressed with his willingness to expose so much of his personal feelings at this time of his life. In a world of hate, he is opening himself up to so much possible hate talk directed at himself. But on the other hand he is sowing love. This is an excellent read no matter your beliefs of God and religion.
I'm so impressed with his willingness to expose so much of his personal feelings at this time of his life. In a world of hate, he is opening himself up to so much possible hate talk directed at himself. But on the other hand he is sowing love. This is an excellent read no matter your beliefs of God and religion.
June 26, 2026
When J.D. Vance’s formidable grandmother died, his connection to Christianity went with it. Although he’d been raised going to church with her on occasion, the faith had never become internalized; as he deployed to Iraq, he was moving further and further away from the memory of it. Communion is the story of how a young man came to believe again, and a reflection on how Christianity’s eternal truths have inspired him as a father, husband, and public servant.
Although I’ve been sold on this book as a memoir of his coming to the Catholic church – an improbable decision given his origins in Protestant hill country – that is not strictly the case. The first half follows his faith’s decline and fall, but I noticed ambiguity. Even in the desert, he was reading Chronicles of Narnia and wishing Jesus was more like Aslan – and when he’s in college and identifying as an atheist, he still notices contempt for Christians as if he’s still connected to the faith. While pursuing the cursus Mammonae – law school, clerking for a judge, lucrative practice – Vance began having a crisis of meaning. What was all this for? His coworkers were seemingly married to their jobs, with no time left for their children or the simple enjoyment of life. He realized, with a Girard-esque start, that he was simply modeling the desires and ambitions of those around him, just as if he were in high school again. Around this time, he fell in love with a woman, Usha, who seemed destined for a great career in the law – but she had little interest in getting and spending and laying waste to all her powers. She wanted an interesting job, but she wanted a meaningful life – children to love, a husband to experience adventures with – not to be a girlboss. Her perspective, and his realization that he needed to be a worthier partner, put Vance on a quest for meaning. The more he read, the more interesting he found the wisdom of the Church – particularly its social doctrine, which places the human person and not GDP at the center of social, economic, and political thinking. After a quiet evening reflecting in a cathedral while his son slept, he made the choice to swim the Tiber.
Communion is an intimate work; conversion stories cannot help be. Part of the story is his learning to accept grace, to realize that as haunted as he may be by his past of violent, dysfunctional relatives, it needn’t – won’t – define him. It dovetails neatly with Christianity’s message of grace and redemption, of escaping sin’s power. The second half of the book is more of a reflection on Christianity’s place in the West, both historically and now, and he muses on ways that the Christian appreciation of the person can inform politics. This is not your granddaddy’s ‘moral majority’: while no doubt agreeing that much of what is tolerated in society is destructive, like pornography, Vance focuses his thinking on other issues, particularly labor and the family. Given how central becoming a husband and father was to Vance changing his life, making him assess the why of things, he unsurprisingly agrees with the social doctrine (and others, like Wendell Berry) that the economy exists for human needs, not the other way around. Corporations should not be allowed to keep wages miserly by relying on illegal migrant labor, nor should apps that allow for the complete commodification of labor – calling in workers only when The Algorithm suggests they’ll deliver the most bang for the buck – be tolerated. Human beings are persons made imago Dei, not cogs to be manipulated or resources to be managed. We know what happens when those resources are wasted or those cogs are worn down in materialist societies: they are disposed of.
I devoured this book, staying up until the early hours of the next day and then gnawing on it all day the next. Those of you who are familiar with what I tend to read and write about are probably not surprised – trying to figure out what the flourishing life is, and how to guide people towards it, has been my passion for twenty years now. I think it’s rare, though, for someone who have this itch, this bug, this desire to break out of going with the flow, and asking – what’s it all for? I think it’s especially rare for politicians, because as honorable as some of their intentions might be, it’s a field of human endeavour that attracts those who crave power, authority, influence, etc. Seneca aside, I don’t think the pursuit of gold and the pursuit of wisdom overlap overmuch. But Vance proves in this book to be an author deeply versed in Augustinian thought, and that’s not just this layman’s notion: Bishop Robert Barron, who presumably knows a thing about patristics, said as much in his own review. One thing Vance criticizes throughout the text is that economics increasingly displaces morality as our default language to evaluate matters of concern to the republic – and his rejection of that in his earnest defense of humanity against the machine, is a throughline. Unfortunately, I think this book will be judged by many simply because of Vance’s role in the Trump administration, which is doubly sad because Vance and progressives who are oriented toward family needs could have a conversation. The political parties are changing, in both good and unhinged ways, and those who genuinely care more about the body politic rather than an ideology, need to find one another instead of trolling for twitter cred. Vance, like Sasse before him, and Ralph Nader too, is raising questions that can and should be considered by everyone.
Although I’ve been sold on this book as a memoir of his coming to the Catholic church – an improbable decision given his origins in Protestant hill country – that is not strictly the case. The first half follows his faith’s decline and fall, but I noticed ambiguity. Even in the desert, he was reading Chronicles of Narnia and wishing Jesus was more like Aslan – and when he’s in college and identifying as an atheist, he still notices contempt for Christians as if he’s still connected to the faith. While pursuing the cursus Mammonae – law school, clerking for a judge, lucrative practice – Vance began having a crisis of meaning. What was all this for? His coworkers were seemingly married to their jobs, with no time left for their children or the simple enjoyment of life. He realized, with a Girard-esque start, that he was simply modeling the desires and ambitions of those around him, just as if he were in high school again. Around this time, he fell in love with a woman, Usha, who seemed destined for a great career in the law – but she had little interest in getting and spending and laying waste to all her powers. She wanted an interesting job, but she wanted a meaningful life – children to love, a husband to experience adventures with – not to be a girlboss. Her perspective, and his realization that he needed to be a worthier partner, put Vance on a quest for meaning. The more he read, the more interesting he found the wisdom of the Church – particularly its social doctrine, which places the human person and not GDP at the center of social, economic, and political thinking. After a quiet evening reflecting in a cathedral while his son slept, he made the choice to swim the Tiber.
Communion is an intimate work; conversion stories cannot help be. Part of the story is his learning to accept grace, to realize that as haunted as he may be by his past of violent, dysfunctional relatives, it needn’t – won’t – define him. It dovetails neatly with Christianity’s message of grace and redemption, of escaping sin’s power. The second half of the book is more of a reflection on Christianity’s place in the West, both historically and now, and he muses on ways that the Christian appreciation of the person can inform politics. This is not your granddaddy’s ‘moral majority’: while no doubt agreeing that much of what is tolerated in society is destructive, like pornography, Vance focuses his thinking on other issues, particularly labor and the family. Given how central becoming a husband and father was to Vance changing his life, making him assess the why of things, he unsurprisingly agrees with the social doctrine (and others, like Wendell Berry) that the economy exists for human needs, not the other way around. Corporations should not be allowed to keep wages miserly by relying on illegal migrant labor, nor should apps that allow for the complete commodification of labor – calling in workers only when The Algorithm suggests they’ll deliver the most bang for the buck – be tolerated. Human beings are persons made imago Dei, not cogs to be manipulated or resources to be managed. We know what happens when those resources are wasted or those cogs are worn down in materialist societies: they are disposed of.
I devoured this book, staying up until the early hours of the next day and then gnawing on it all day the next. Those of you who are familiar with what I tend to read and write about are probably not surprised – trying to figure out what the flourishing life is, and how to guide people towards it, has been my passion for twenty years now. I think it’s rare, though, for someone who have this itch, this bug, this desire to break out of going with the flow, and asking – what’s it all for? I think it’s especially rare for politicians, because as honorable as some of their intentions might be, it’s a field of human endeavour that attracts those who crave power, authority, influence, etc. Seneca aside, I don’t think the pursuit of gold and the pursuit of wisdom overlap overmuch. But Vance proves in this book to be an author deeply versed in Augustinian thought, and that’s not just this layman’s notion: Bishop Robert Barron, who presumably knows a thing about patristics, said as much in his own review. One thing Vance criticizes throughout the text is that economics increasingly displaces morality as our default language to evaluate matters of concern to the republic – and his rejection of that in his earnest defense of humanity against the machine, is a throughline. Unfortunately, I think this book will be judged by many simply because of Vance’s role in the Trump administration, which is doubly sad because Vance and progressives who are oriented toward family needs could have a conversation. The political parties are changing, in both good and unhinged ways, and those who genuinely care more about the body politic rather than an ideology, need to find one another instead of trolling for twitter cred. Vance, like Sasse before him, and Ralph Nader too, is raising questions that can and should be considered by everyone.
June 24, 2026
It’s a hodgepodge book which reflects its author in its inscrutability despite its overly self-effacing nature. It has some truly emotionally moving moments and the politics are relatively fluid and out of focus. It’s memoir.
June 26, 2026
It’s as if this book and 2016’s ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ were written by different men.
J. D. Vance is someone who is willing to say and do whatever to get ahead (*see flip-flopping stance on T-Rump). Plus, he has very little character. He is objectively creepy. And homophobic. That sucks.
I find him to be small-minded, inauthentic, hypocritical and difficult to stomach. The damage he is doing: Iran, DEI, Ukraine, immigration. Not to mention unspeakable acts against at least one couch.
Mostly, I am pissed about the hours I spent reading ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ 10 years ago. See, reading is my favorite thing (big thanks to my elementary school librarians -and- what’s up my nerds!). I invest in a shitload of books and in researching great books. I do not waste time and space on loser reads. I’ll stop a book partway in. Let it burn.
He stole my hours. He tricked many of us into liking him. I GAVE ELEGY 4⭐️ on this very platform.
He is currently close to power and using it to actively hurt people and our planet.
Have I mentioned he sucks? 🇺🇸
[In the spirit of full disclosure, I did not read Communion. Fool me once…]
J. D. Vance is someone who is willing to say and do whatever to get ahead (*see flip-flopping stance on T-Rump). Plus, he has very little character. He is objectively creepy. And homophobic. That sucks.
I find him to be small-minded, inauthentic, hypocritical and difficult to stomach. The damage he is doing: Iran, DEI, Ukraine, immigration. Not to mention unspeakable acts against at least one couch.
Mostly, I am pissed about the hours I spent reading ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ 10 years ago. See, reading is my favorite thing (big thanks to my elementary school librarians -and- what’s up my nerds!). I invest in a shitload of books and in researching great books. I do not waste time and space on loser reads. I’ll stop a book partway in. Let it burn.
He stole my hours. He tricked many of us into liking him. I GAVE ELEGY 4⭐️ on this very platform.
He is currently close to power and using it to actively hurt people and our planet.
Have I mentioned he sucks? 🇺🇸
[In the spirit of full disclosure, I did not read Communion. Fool me once…]
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 27, 2026
I know, I know... it's a book written by a politician. And we all know politicians are liars and sellouts. But I liked Hillbilly Elegy (notably written before Vance got into politics) and I think Vance is a fascinating person who also embodies this wider phenomenon of "recovering nihilists" discovering Catholicism, so I wanted to check this out.
============
The Good:
- Vance's description of how people lose their faith (social inertia, striver culture, poor theology) is insightful and relevant to many fallen away Christians especially those from the Bible Belt (like me). I do think *some* of his reasoning about "why Catholicism" is helpful for agnostics or nominal Christians just starting to look into the Church. Particularly his extended quote of the parable of The Stranger--of course this is not his own thought, but it's edifying and shows (I think) Vance genuinely has wrestled with hard questions and does believe (even if only in some Pascaline sense). The quotes from Augustine are good but pretty limited in scope--more about dealing with Creationism than anything super psychologically deep.
- The passages about his wife clearly show he loves that woman; this is pretty much the only thing we can know for sure about Vance's true convictions. Passages about Usha are some of the only ones where the writing actually comes alive and you get a sense that Vance the Man is speaking (and not Vance the Politician)
- Some (not all) of his defenses for the administration's policies are well-explained. I also think he makes good points about prioritizing human life over GDP and economic growth--but this is ironic considering his administration has impugned the dignity of (illegal) immigrants in its messaging (even if detentions and deportation are just by law). He offers no defense for this obvious disconnect and actually barely mentions Trump at all (and maybe this is a good thing--Trump, like a black hole, has a tendency to swallow entire constellations of thought whole)
============
The Bad:
- Only 1/2 of the book is really about Vance's conversion, and 95% of that was already published in an article he wrote for The Lamp back in 2020. Nothing that new despite marketing the book as his "conversion story".
- Much of the book deals with apologetics for policy which don't concern the primary audience of this book (conservatives who already support him) and will never convince anyone else... so why is it here? There are some ways he tries to tie Catholic social teachings to policy but they're too superficial to impact the intended audience (devout Catholics) imo
- The book is disorganized and unfocused in its presentation, and Vance's style, like his IRL speaking, is clear, concise, and icy cold (not very endearing). One does not come away from this book an impression of warmth, or even sincerity (shocker lol)
============
The Ugly:
- During the description of Vance's final conversion to the Catholic Church, he brings up the topic of clergy abuse. A relevant and reasonable obstacle for conversion, but his handling of the issue seems designed more to subtly attack the bishops than offer insight into his own conversion. Why do I say this? On page 165-166, he quotes a statement from the 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report which explicitly mentions the anal rape of children by clergy. Why is this here? Vance describes him and Usha being super fired up to protect their kids after this report released, questioning his desire to convert, and then suddenly... it's resolved after one conversation with his Dominican priest friend? Forgive me for wanting more information on his change of heart. Unlike almost all the other material on his conversion, these concerns about abuse were NOT in his 2020 Lamp article. So it was added *for this book*. Given this addition--and his sparse accounting of overcoming such an enormous hurdle to conversion--followed only two chapters later by a 5 page defense of Trump's immigration policy against the USCCB (not even a bad defense, but you see the imbalance) it's natural to question why this abuse quote was included. I personally suspect there are many, many wicked bishops in Hell, but all this struck me as a ploy for Vance to remind the public that the bishops (deservedly) have little credibility--*but only insofar as to neuter the attacks on his own policies*, not to actually grapple with how to personally develop trust in God who allows abuse (something that would have been far more edifying but is barely touched upon)
- The little blurb at the end about Charlie Kirk definitely being pro-Israel was bizarre and completely out of left field. It read like a subtweet. I'm no Candace Owens cultist, but if Vance was trying to dissuade suspicion about Kirk's death... the lady doth protest too much methinks
- Finally... my biggest gripe with this book is the same gripe I had after reading Vance's 2020 article for The Lamp, except I was willing to give 2020 Vance (not even a year into his conversion) the benefit of the doubt, because all conversions have mixed motives... but 6 years later and this guy is still singing the same tune, except now he's the (second) most powerful Catholic in the world. So I'll be direct, the gripe is this: it seems Vance has not really encountered Jesus in any personal sense. Vance appears to understand Catholicism as merely a venerable institution or system for "virtue" and "civilization". All throughout this book, Vance talks about how "Catholicism" helps him be a more virtuous father, cured him of striver culture (dubious, but okay lol), protects the rights of workers, etc. He talks about Rene Girard and memetic desire and how we project our faults onto innocent victims, but Christianity reverses this, etc. And this is all good and true.
But to quote Flannery O'Connor (talking about the Eucharist): "If it's just a symbol, then to Hell with it!" Like CS Lewis and Nietzsche before him said, if Christianity is not true, then not only is it NOT "useful" or "virtuous", it's farcical, complete bullshit, even wicked! What other "institution" asks one to love not only their neighbor, but their *enemy*? To "not love the world and the things of the world"? To identify with weakness and sin and dependency, and not strength or glory or success? Take Girard's scapegoat theory. Why is it "good" that we care about the misfit at all? Why *not* scapegoat them, crush them? Why not pursue power and prosperity and pleasure? This is Dionysus vs the Crucified, and it's really at the heart of why Christianity is either true or totally evil. Unfortunately Vance floats far above the roiling surface of this debate.
Contra Vance, the Church is not a system whose function is building civilizations or making us really virtuous successful people. In fact, the more virtuous and successful at "being Christian" we think we are, the worse we are doing at it! Someone might ask, if the Church isn't a system or venerable institution, then what is it? It is this: the Church is the body of Christ, and she was established by Christ (not by poets or philosophers or earthly kings) and her function is to *help people encounter God by the proclamation of the Gospel*, that is, repentance and mercy, Christ crucified and resurrected... everything else--her visibility, her authority, her sacraments, her many incredible teachings, serves this one purpose--to assist the grace of God (and it is grace, not the Church) in transforming our hearts. If this shaft of light has graced a corner of Vance's heart, this book does not tell.
=============
Overall I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone except Catholics who follow politics and are trying to understand just what kind of Catholic JD Vance is. But this book only really tells you what kind of Catholic he *probably is not*: a deeply converted one. But someday he may be. And so may I. Pray for him. Pray for me.
============
The Good:
- Vance's description of how people lose their faith (social inertia, striver culture, poor theology) is insightful and relevant to many fallen away Christians especially those from the Bible Belt (like me). I do think *some* of his reasoning about "why Catholicism" is helpful for agnostics or nominal Christians just starting to look into the Church. Particularly his extended quote of the parable of The Stranger--of course this is not his own thought, but it's edifying and shows (I think) Vance genuinely has wrestled with hard questions and does believe (even if only in some Pascaline sense). The quotes from Augustine are good but pretty limited in scope--more about dealing with Creationism than anything super psychologically deep.
- The passages about his wife clearly show he loves that woman; this is pretty much the only thing we can know for sure about Vance's true convictions. Passages about Usha are some of the only ones where the writing actually comes alive and you get a sense that Vance the Man is speaking (and not Vance the Politician)
- Some (not all) of his defenses for the administration's policies are well-explained. I also think he makes good points about prioritizing human life over GDP and economic growth--but this is ironic considering his administration has impugned the dignity of (illegal) immigrants in its messaging (even if detentions and deportation are just by law). He offers no defense for this obvious disconnect and actually barely mentions Trump at all (and maybe this is a good thing--Trump, like a black hole, has a tendency to swallow entire constellations of thought whole)
============
The Bad:
- Only 1/2 of the book is really about Vance's conversion, and 95% of that was already published in an article he wrote for The Lamp back in 2020. Nothing that new despite marketing the book as his "conversion story".
- Much of the book deals with apologetics for policy which don't concern the primary audience of this book (conservatives who already support him) and will never convince anyone else... so why is it here? There are some ways he tries to tie Catholic social teachings to policy but they're too superficial to impact the intended audience (devout Catholics) imo
- The book is disorganized and unfocused in its presentation, and Vance's style, like his IRL speaking, is clear, concise, and icy cold (not very endearing). One does not come away from this book an impression of warmth, or even sincerity (shocker lol)
============
The Ugly:
- During the description of Vance's final conversion to the Catholic Church, he brings up the topic of clergy abuse. A relevant and reasonable obstacle for conversion, but his handling of the issue seems designed more to subtly attack the bishops than offer insight into his own conversion. Why do I say this? On page 165-166, he quotes a statement from the 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report which explicitly mentions the anal rape of children by clergy. Why is this here? Vance describes him and Usha being super fired up to protect their kids after this report released, questioning his desire to convert, and then suddenly... it's resolved after one conversation with his Dominican priest friend? Forgive me for wanting more information on his change of heart. Unlike almost all the other material on his conversion, these concerns about abuse were NOT in his 2020 Lamp article. So it was added *for this book*. Given this addition--and his sparse accounting of overcoming such an enormous hurdle to conversion--followed only two chapters later by a 5 page defense of Trump's immigration policy against the USCCB (not even a bad defense, but you see the imbalance) it's natural to question why this abuse quote was included. I personally suspect there are many, many wicked bishops in Hell, but all this struck me as a ploy for Vance to remind the public that the bishops (deservedly) have little credibility--*but only insofar as to neuter the attacks on his own policies*, not to actually grapple with how to personally develop trust in God who allows abuse (something that would have been far more edifying but is barely touched upon)
- The little blurb at the end about Charlie Kirk definitely being pro-Israel was bizarre and completely out of left field. It read like a subtweet. I'm no Candace Owens cultist, but if Vance was trying to dissuade suspicion about Kirk's death... the lady doth protest too much methinks
- Finally... my biggest gripe with this book is the same gripe I had after reading Vance's 2020 article for The Lamp, except I was willing to give 2020 Vance (not even a year into his conversion) the benefit of the doubt, because all conversions have mixed motives... but 6 years later and this guy is still singing the same tune, except now he's the (second) most powerful Catholic in the world. So I'll be direct, the gripe is this: it seems Vance has not really encountered Jesus in any personal sense. Vance appears to understand Catholicism as merely a venerable institution or system for "virtue" and "civilization". All throughout this book, Vance talks about how "Catholicism" helps him be a more virtuous father, cured him of striver culture (dubious, but okay lol), protects the rights of workers, etc. He talks about Rene Girard and memetic desire and how we project our faults onto innocent victims, but Christianity reverses this, etc. And this is all good and true.
But to quote Flannery O'Connor (talking about the Eucharist): "If it's just a symbol, then to Hell with it!" Like CS Lewis and Nietzsche before him said, if Christianity is not true, then not only is it NOT "useful" or "virtuous", it's farcical, complete bullshit, even wicked! What other "institution" asks one to love not only their neighbor, but their *enemy*? To "not love the world and the things of the world"? To identify with weakness and sin and dependency, and not strength or glory or success? Take Girard's scapegoat theory. Why is it "good" that we care about the misfit at all? Why *not* scapegoat them, crush them? Why not pursue power and prosperity and pleasure? This is Dionysus vs the Crucified, and it's really at the heart of why Christianity is either true or totally evil. Unfortunately Vance floats far above the roiling surface of this debate.
Contra Vance, the Church is not a system whose function is building civilizations or making us really virtuous successful people. In fact, the more virtuous and successful at "being Christian" we think we are, the worse we are doing at it! Someone might ask, if the Church isn't a system or venerable institution, then what is it? It is this: the Church is the body of Christ, and she was established by Christ (not by poets or philosophers or earthly kings) and her function is to *help people encounter God by the proclamation of the Gospel*, that is, repentance and mercy, Christ crucified and resurrected... everything else--her visibility, her authority, her sacraments, her many incredible teachings, serves this one purpose--to assist the grace of God (and it is grace, not the Church) in transforming our hearts. If this shaft of light has graced a corner of Vance's heart, this book does not tell.
=============
Overall I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone except Catholics who follow politics and are trying to understand just what kind of Catholic JD Vance is. But this book only really tells you what kind of Catholic he *probably is not*: a deeply converted one. But someday he may be. And so may I. Pray for him. Pray for me.
June 26, 2026
A powerful story of finding meaning, through marriage, fatherhood, and eventually God, and how he believes each of those elements can create a better society. Originally started as a sequel to Hillbilly Elegy, the Vice President writes of a deeply personally spiritual journey. The mixing of cultural and economic insights written with appreciable candor continues the same style that made his debut memoir such a hit.
When read with political lens, Vance makes it clear that he would be a much different leader than both Trump, and the Republican leaders of the past. A clear disdain for wealthy business leaders, and disappointment in the culture that creates the modern high-paid, high working hours employees. “I eventually realized that elite professional life demands a disconnection from much of what makes us human.” He frequently bemoans the focus on GDP over family life and the unmeasured toll that has taken on society. He considers the benefits of paid family leave and policies against Big Tech as ways the GOP should evolve, even if they run counter to traditional small government conservative ideas. He even hints at a yearning for a more European quality of life, with beautiful architecture and a Japanese society focused on safety and orderliness, over traditional American ideas of maximum independence.
“God made us to work, yes. But to work to sustain our lives and to create beautiful and amazing things. An economy geared toward creation and dignity may very well produce more real prosperity than one geared toward finance and accumulation. This would undoubtedly be a more Christian economy”
Vance, while espousing support for religious liberty, believes strongly that America is a Christian nation and points repeatedly to the downfalls in Europe as it has departed from Christianity. Criticizing the decline of formal religion, he decries the modern movements that have replaced religion for some “at some point, Covid protocols began to feel like their own secular religion…The lack of grace and zealous enforcement of social rules rivaled any religious tyranny I’d ever encountered.” This combined with his repeated critiques of a culture that values work over family, and how the very mundane work of family; changing diapers, making food, caring for the elderly, makes us more human and Christian, even if economically we, individually and our national GDP, are worse off
Communion is a call to Christ, but also a call to parenthood, where Vance himself seems to have found most of his purpose and insights from. It’s a call to repentance, for the world, but refreshingly to see from a modern leader, to himself as well.
When read with political lens, Vance makes it clear that he would be a much different leader than both Trump, and the Republican leaders of the past. A clear disdain for wealthy business leaders, and disappointment in the culture that creates the modern high-paid, high working hours employees. “I eventually realized that elite professional life demands a disconnection from much of what makes us human.” He frequently bemoans the focus on GDP over family life and the unmeasured toll that has taken on society. He considers the benefits of paid family leave and policies against Big Tech as ways the GOP should evolve, even if they run counter to traditional small government conservative ideas. He even hints at a yearning for a more European quality of life, with beautiful architecture and a Japanese society focused on safety and orderliness, over traditional American ideas of maximum independence.
“God made us to work, yes. But to work to sustain our lives and to create beautiful and amazing things. An economy geared toward creation and dignity may very well produce more real prosperity than one geared toward finance and accumulation. This would undoubtedly be a more Christian economy”
Vance, while espousing support for religious liberty, believes strongly that America is a Christian nation and points repeatedly to the downfalls in Europe as it has departed from Christianity. Criticizing the decline of formal religion, he decries the modern movements that have replaced religion for some “at some point, Covid protocols began to feel like their own secular religion…The lack of grace and zealous enforcement of social rules rivaled any religious tyranny I’d ever encountered.” This combined with his repeated critiques of a culture that values work over family, and how the very mundane work of family; changing diapers, making food, caring for the elderly, makes us more human and Christian, even if economically we, individually and our national GDP, are worse off
Communion is a call to Christ, but also a call to parenthood, where Vance himself seems to have found most of his purpose and insights from. It’s a call to repentance, for the world, but refreshingly to see from a modern leader, to himself as well.
June 26, 2026
There is a book already named Communion by bell hooks, I believe the name was chosen to override that book. Also the Hillbilly Elegy title was a riff on Appalachian Elegy to bury another title. Nothing to see with this book more propaganda.
June 24, 2026
I found the faith journey part and criticism of modern American values, priorities, and lifestyles compelling. Vance is part of a growing trend of Catholic and Orthodox Christian converts attracted to the faith by history, intellectualism, ritual, and continuity with the early Church. This is a rejection of the emotionalism, often thin theology, and ahistorical nature of Evangelical Protestantism and liberalism of Mainline Protestantism in addition to being a rejection of elite secular Western norms. The more I read about these Catholic and Orthodox converts the more they remind me of Neo-Trad (conservative Sufi) converts and the newly religious (those from Muslim families attracted to Neo-Trad Sufism in their adult lives). Or even Baal Teshuva newly observant Jews. There is clearly a yearning for a deeper meaning, tradition, moral guidelines, and a connection to history that transcends religious lines.
Vance is making an argument for a specific type of Catholic appeal. One that often leads to the Latin Mass. Not the cultural Catholicism of places like my hometown of St. Louis where fish fries, CYC sports, and Catholic schools with secular outcomes are the norm. The natural alternative for Vance is Orthodox Christianity or Reformed Protestantism. The problem of Orthodoxy often being a problem familiar to Muslim converts- you may lack the ethnic component to truly fit into your new faith home despite their efforts to welcome you. The problem with Reformed Theology is the Protestant problem- it's only so deep and only goes back so far. Thus Catholicism, even with its decline in status in the US and the West, and a history of serious institutional corruption.
Vance quoting St. Augustine is something no Catholic I grew up with would do and I was surrounded by them. At my Southern Baptist Church very few, including the teachers, had more than a rudimentary understanding of theology and Church history. I've seen this with Muslims too. Converts obsessively arguing over Madhabs and Fatwas and small issues of Aqeedah and Fiqh. These are issues few born Muslims know or care about. Go and ask a random Muslim on the street what their Madhab is or if they're Ashari, Maturidi, or Athari. You'll be greeted with blank stares 90% of the time. These theological arguments aren't important to them and they historically have not been issues many Muslims have cared about as most believers were illiterate until the last few generations. Islam is and has been for the vast majority of Muslims what is taught to the believers by their families and in their community. In modern times this often involves public schools in Muslim-majority societies.
Vance is seeking to take this Catholic worldview and make the argument that secularization has been bad for the West (which I wholeheartedly agree with) and the Church provides much of the antidote (which I also generally agree with).
This should be familiar to Muslims of my generation influenced by Islamic Revivalist politics and the Ikhwan- religion as a political tool as the answer to what ails society and an alternative political system. However, what we learned was that Muslim political parties were often the source for the decline of religion in the society (Morsi in Egypt, Khamanei in Iran, etc) and that Muslim political actors, most notably the Ikhwan, were willing to sacrifice religion in pursuit of political power (and in the US and UK this means an alliance with the Left). The model that is perhaps more compelling is one such as you have in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and other Gulf states. Rulers who are generally influenced by religion, but not so rigidly they can't work towards progress and the national interest, and a public who are informed by faith as inherent to their culture without making it into a revolutionary political ideology. I see this understanding of faith as close to the role Christianity played in the US and most of the West until the last few generations. More of a guardrail to ensure people and society doesn't get too crazy than a theocratic political system.
How does the US and the West arrive at such a point as Vance argues for? Or return? I'm afraid Vance didn't answer these questions. I will say that no modern figure has embodied my political vision more than Pope John Paul II and I've also been a fan of Pope Francis and our current American Pope. I just remarked to some friends the other day how Pope Leo is current and addressing the true issues of modern society and our imams seldom talk about anything relevant to our lives and when they attempt to it's normally an idiotic political diatribe.
When Vance attempts to weave Trump Administration policies into the narrative and fawns over his wife Usha at every opportunity (which I'm sure comes off sweet to some romantics) I find the book a chore. Vance is clearly still working out some things in this book, as he did in Hillbilly Elegy, and has some unresolved issues from his childhood like many of us do without the benefit of such a platform.
Vance applies Christian ethics to ideas of economics. One of the beautiful things about the Muslim community is there are brothers at the mosque that I've been seeing for decades. I don't know what their job is and I don't care. We are praying together as brothers and there is no need for them to share their CV with me. This is contrast to modern American professional norms. In settings of educated (usually secular) professions people often rattle off their resumes within seconds of meeting them. Our phones go off constantly with emails from work. After work we are invited to work happy hours and parties. Our work has become central to our identities in a very unhealthy way. Work should just be a means to spend more time with your family and do the things you enjoy. Not the end. I agree with Vance when he makes these arguments. I haven't seen the administration he serves in do much about it.
I see quite the opposite from most Republicans. The same can be said for a host of issues Vance mentioned. We shouldn't worship the GDP, we should see children as a blessing and not a burden, we should reject workist culture, we should care for our elders and treasure them, we should not succumb to a pessimistic view of America, we should not measure success in terms of consumption. Family, values, quality of food, children, learning, travel, and so many things are more important than contributing to the GDP and making Wall Street and Big Tech happy. So, yes, I agree with the words of Vance in this book, but where are the policies that will enable more Americans to have affordable housing, to have more children and give them a decent home, to not be forced to put elders in nursing homes, and not have to work insane hours and multiple jobs to just survive?
Another value Pope Francis and Leo have been emphasizing is empathy and love for fellow humans. Of course toxic empathy is bad. Having empathy for the murderer, robber, and sex offender and not the victims (and future victims) isn't an admirable trait.But striving to be empathetic humans in general is a good trait. Sober empathy. We cannot help everyone at all times but we can help many. This seems difficult to reconcile with Haitians are eating dogs and cats in Ohio and Muslims are attempting to turn Texas and Oklahoma into Caliphates governed by Shariah Law. One cannot make an appeal to Christian ethics while being engaged in crude, otherizing, and hateful language towards political opponents, ethnic and religious minorities, and those in foreign lands.
As we all know 2028 will see Vance in the ring against Marco Rubio I would like to see a similar book on faith from Marco. Unlike Vance, he never fell away from faith, and didn't go through a period of atheism. Marco has had an interesting faith journey, has a devout wife, and raised Christian children, but he is a Catholic who often attended an Evangelical church, and was a Mormon for part of his childhood. That's an interesting story I wanna hear about..
Vance is making an argument for a specific type of Catholic appeal. One that often leads to the Latin Mass. Not the cultural Catholicism of places like my hometown of St. Louis where fish fries, CYC sports, and Catholic schools with secular outcomes are the norm. The natural alternative for Vance is Orthodox Christianity or Reformed Protestantism. The problem of Orthodoxy often being a problem familiar to Muslim converts- you may lack the ethnic component to truly fit into your new faith home despite their efforts to welcome you. The problem with Reformed Theology is the Protestant problem- it's only so deep and only goes back so far. Thus Catholicism, even with its decline in status in the US and the West, and a history of serious institutional corruption.
Vance quoting St. Augustine is something no Catholic I grew up with would do and I was surrounded by them. At my Southern Baptist Church very few, including the teachers, had more than a rudimentary understanding of theology and Church history. I've seen this with Muslims too. Converts obsessively arguing over Madhabs and Fatwas and small issues of Aqeedah and Fiqh. These are issues few born Muslims know or care about. Go and ask a random Muslim on the street what their Madhab is or if they're Ashari, Maturidi, or Athari. You'll be greeted with blank stares 90% of the time. These theological arguments aren't important to them and they historically have not been issues many Muslims have cared about as most believers were illiterate until the last few generations. Islam is and has been for the vast majority of Muslims what is taught to the believers by their families and in their community. In modern times this often involves public schools in Muslim-majority societies.
Vance is seeking to take this Catholic worldview and make the argument that secularization has been bad for the West (which I wholeheartedly agree with) and the Church provides much of the antidote (which I also generally agree with).
This should be familiar to Muslims of my generation influenced by Islamic Revivalist politics and the Ikhwan- religion as a political tool as the answer to what ails society and an alternative political system. However, what we learned was that Muslim political parties were often the source for the decline of religion in the society (Morsi in Egypt, Khamanei in Iran, etc) and that Muslim political actors, most notably the Ikhwan, were willing to sacrifice religion in pursuit of political power (and in the US and UK this means an alliance with the Left). The model that is perhaps more compelling is one such as you have in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and other Gulf states. Rulers who are generally influenced by religion, but not so rigidly they can't work towards progress and the national interest, and a public who are informed by faith as inherent to their culture without making it into a revolutionary political ideology. I see this understanding of faith as close to the role Christianity played in the US and most of the West until the last few generations. More of a guardrail to ensure people and society doesn't get too crazy than a theocratic political system.
How does the US and the West arrive at such a point as Vance argues for? Or return? I'm afraid Vance didn't answer these questions. I will say that no modern figure has embodied my political vision more than Pope John Paul II and I've also been a fan of Pope Francis and our current American Pope. I just remarked to some friends the other day how Pope Leo is current and addressing the true issues of modern society and our imams seldom talk about anything relevant to our lives and when they attempt to it's normally an idiotic political diatribe.
When Vance attempts to weave Trump Administration policies into the narrative and fawns over his wife Usha at every opportunity (which I'm sure comes off sweet to some romantics) I find the book a chore. Vance is clearly still working out some things in this book, as he did in Hillbilly Elegy, and has some unresolved issues from his childhood like many of us do without the benefit of such a platform.
Vance applies Christian ethics to ideas of economics. One of the beautiful things about the Muslim community is there are brothers at the mosque that I've been seeing for decades. I don't know what their job is and I don't care. We are praying together as brothers and there is no need for them to share their CV with me. This is contrast to modern American professional norms. In settings of educated (usually secular) professions people often rattle off their resumes within seconds of meeting them. Our phones go off constantly with emails from work. After work we are invited to work happy hours and parties. Our work has become central to our identities in a very unhealthy way. Work should just be a means to spend more time with your family and do the things you enjoy. Not the end. I agree with Vance when he makes these arguments. I haven't seen the administration he serves in do much about it.
I see quite the opposite from most Republicans. The same can be said for a host of issues Vance mentioned. We shouldn't worship the GDP, we should see children as a blessing and not a burden, we should reject workist culture, we should care for our elders and treasure them, we should not succumb to a pessimistic view of America, we should not measure success in terms of consumption. Family, values, quality of food, children, learning, travel, and so many things are more important than contributing to the GDP and making Wall Street and Big Tech happy. So, yes, I agree with the words of Vance in this book, but where are the policies that will enable more Americans to have affordable housing, to have more children and give them a decent home, to not be forced to put elders in nursing homes, and not have to work insane hours and multiple jobs to just survive?
Another value Pope Francis and Leo have been emphasizing is empathy and love for fellow humans. Of course toxic empathy is bad. Having empathy for the murderer, robber, and sex offender and not the victims (and future victims) isn't an admirable trait.But striving to be empathetic humans in general is a good trait. Sober empathy. We cannot help everyone at all times but we can help many. This seems difficult to reconcile with Haitians are eating dogs and cats in Ohio and Muslims are attempting to turn Texas and Oklahoma into Caliphates governed by Shariah Law. One cannot make an appeal to Christian ethics while being engaged in crude, otherizing, and hateful language towards political opponents, ethnic and religious minorities, and those in foreign lands.
As we all know 2028 will see Vance in the ring against Marco Rubio I would like to see a similar book on faith from Marco. Unlike Vance, he never fell away from faith, and didn't go through a period of atheism. Marco has had an interesting faith journey, has a devout wife, and raised Christian children, but he is a Catholic who often attended an Evangelical church, and was a Mormon for part of his childhood. That's an interesting story I wanna hear about..
June 27, 2026
You may be wondering why I read and am reviewing this book. I felt compelled to be active in the conversation that was bound to follow its publication. I wanted to go in with an open mind as well knowing that the author has further political ambitions and we will be hearing more and more from him as his term as Vice President continues.
That being said, I have to admit that as a “Cradle Catholic” and then after attending a Catholic university, I was curious as to what Vance’s faith journey. Prior to his entrance to the main stage of politics, I had read Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis and found it to be surface level in its examination of the grater Appalachian experience and lacking in insight when considering his “just pull yourself up by you bootstraps” message. But as for the writing I did not find it terrible and he has a voice that translates to audio nicely. I have to say that after listening to Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith and going in with an open heart and mind. I found it to, once again, be lacking true insight.
If we can assume that Vance wrote this, entirely himself, which I don’t doubt as it has the same signature tone of Hillbilly Elegy and his other content. Then I can say that he appears to be quite well read as it concerns Catholic theology and philosophy. He not only cites the usual suspects (Augustine, Aquinas ect.) but also Papal Encyclicals. What I found to be lacking is any real personal relationship with Catholicism. I feel that he values the Church, respects its teachings, and is active in exploring the teachings, but I just didn’t feel that he really reflected a personal relationship with the Church. Not to be confused with a relationship with Jesus, which he certainly has, through a history and personal relationship rooted in his Protestant/Evangelical upbringing.
My main grievance with this book is the amount of politics that he infused into a message that should not be political. He was sneaky in his way of using an aspect of his religious journey to shoehorn in a long diatribe about a political option, theory, or policy that he has been a part of. This aspect of the book was the most dishonest. What he was saying does not match what he has been doing as part of our government. I don’t see his support of livable wages, union solidarity, parental leave, or his application of what he deems “Christian morals and ethics”. I know that I will not agree with his politics and that is okay! But as a reader it felt disrespectful to advertise on the premise of religion and then use it as a springboard for his eventual Presidential Run.
The real message I took away from this book was that he was trying to illustrate that he is just a normal guy who does normal things. He just happens to have a political platform and has decided that his calling is to make a “Christian” difference in our world. But that message leaves me wanting. While I probably would not vote for him, I understand that he is going to probably be a part of our political landscape for a long while and I just hope that he can further craft his thoughts and feelings in a way that people can at least understand and respect (even when they disagree).
I can appreciate his love and devotion to his family, his wife, and his children.
I can appreciate his love for where he came from in Ohio and was particularly was moved by his reflections on grief and his relationship to his loved ones who have passed through the stewardship of his family’s cemetery. Also, the The Year of Magical Thinking mention was wild. (Unrelated to this book but if anyone wants another grief/loss read I would suggest Everything Beautiful in Its Time: Seasons of Love and Loss )
Would I recommend this? It depends. I would recommend this to those who want to know what he wrote so they could form their own opinions. It wasn’t the worst thing ever, and it doesn’t hurt to be informed. But, I would not recommend this on the basis of enjoyment or necessarily quality. Once again, I would not say this is poorly written but I do not feel that he was attempting to create some long lasting, philosophical text. This is just a memoir written in the popular nonfiction style of today.
Note: I am giving this 3/5 stars on the basis that this is written as his personal experience/feelings and I do not feel just in rating it as anything other than a neutral 3.
That being said, I have to admit that as a “Cradle Catholic” and then after attending a Catholic university, I was curious as to what Vance’s faith journey. Prior to his entrance to the main stage of politics, I had read Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis and found it to be surface level in its examination of the grater Appalachian experience and lacking in insight when considering his “just pull yourself up by you bootstraps” message. But as for the writing I did not find it terrible and he has a voice that translates to audio nicely. I have to say that after listening to Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith and going in with an open heart and mind. I found it to, once again, be lacking true insight.
If we can assume that Vance wrote this, entirely himself, which I don’t doubt as it has the same signature tone of Hillbilly Elegy and his other content. Then I can say that he appears to be quite well read as it concerns Catholic theology and philosophy. He not only cites the usual suspects (Augustine, Aquinas ect.) but also Papal Encyclicals. What I found to be lacking is any real personal relationship with Catholicism. I feel that he values the Church, respects its teachings, and is active in exploring the teachings, but I just didn’t feel that he really reflected a personal relationship with the Church. Not to be confused with a relationship with Jesus, which he certainly has, through a history and personal relationship rooted in his Protestant/Evangelical upbringing.
My main grievance with this book is the amount of politics that he infused into a message that should not be political. He was sneaky in his way of using an aspect of his religious journey to shoehorn in a long diatribe about a political option, theory, or policy that he has been a part of. This aspect of the book was the most dishonest. What he was saying does not match what he has been doing as part of our government. I don’t see his support of livable wages, union solidarity, parental leave, or his application of what he deems “Christian morals and ethics”. I know that I will not agree with his politics and that is okay! But as a reader it felt disrespectful to advertise on the premise of religion and then use it as a springboard for his eventual Presidential Run.
The real message I took away from this book was that he was trying to illustrate that he is just a normal guy who does normal things. He just happens to have a political platform and has decided that his calling is to make a “Christian” difference in our world. But that message leaves me wanting. While I probably would not vote for him, I understand that he is going to probably be a part of our political landscape for a long while and I just hope that he can further craft his thoughts and feelings in a way that people can at least understand and respect (even when they disagree).
I can appreciate his love and devotion to his family, his wife, and his children.
I can appreciate his love for where he came from in Ohio and was particularly was moved by his reflections on grief and his relationship to his loved ones who have passed through the stewardship of his family’s cemetery. Also, the The Year of Magical Thinking mention was wild. (Unrelated to this book but if anyone wants another grief/loss read I would suggest Everything Beautiful in Its Time: Seasons of Love and Loss )
Would I recommend this? It depends. I would recommend this to those who want to know what he wrote so they could form their own opinions. It wasn’t the worst thing ever, and it doesn’t hurt to be informed. But, I would not recommend this on the basis of enjoyment or necessarily quality. Once again, I would not say this is poorly written but I do not feel that he was attempting to create some long lasting, philosophical text. This is just a memoir written in the popular nonfiction style of today.
Note: I am giving this 3/5 stars on the basis that this is written as his personal experience/feelings and I do not feel just in rating it as anything other than a neutral 3.
June 26, 2026
“In a spirit of humility, I ask that you pin the shortcomings of this book on the man who wrote it, not the faith that inspired it.” J. D. Vance
In this memoir, J. D. Vance shares how he reconciled the trauma of his past with who he was becoming as an adult, life partner, family man & leader. He rejected using his past as an excuse, chose not to languish in victimhood, but tapped into his own personal agency to learn a new way of life. Chief among his influences was/is his wife, Usha. Of her he writes, “She [Usha] was the tornado in the Wizard of Oz. Before her, I existed in black and white. Now, the full color of the world revealed itself.”
Through his years in the military & at college, Vance realized that crude superficial goals like credentials, careers, & money would never form the basis of a truly good life. As he searched for meaning, he read Christian writers (C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, etc.), talked to priests & thought deeply. Eventually, he returned to the church and allowed God’s grace to help him deal with his past trauma, personal guilt & need for forgiveness. Since then, he has sought for his Christian faith to permeate all aspects of his life--especially parenting--and including public service.
Two Bible passages hold special meaning for him:
II Corinthians 4:7-10: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.”
Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
He ends the book ruminating on why God allows tragedies—like his own father’s death from cancer in 2023 and his friend Charlie Kirk’s assassination in 2025—and how God uses them. Vance remains convinced that an all-powerful God loves us & that the Christian church will endure.
In this memoir, J. D. Vance shares how he reconciled the trauma of his past with who he was becoming as an adult, life partner, family man & leader. He rejected using his past as an excuse, chose not to languish in victimhood, but tapped into his own personal agency to learn a new way of life. Chief among his influences was/is his wife, Usha. Of her he writes, “She [Usha] was the tornado in the Wizard of Oz. Before her, I existed in black and white. Now, the full color of the world revealed itself.”
Through his years in the military & at college, Vance realized that crude superficial goals like credentials, careers, & money would never form the basis of a truly good life. As he searched for meaning, he read Christian writers (C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, etc.), talked to priests & thought deeply. Eventually, he returned to the church and allowed God’s grace to help him deal with his past trauma, personal guilt & need for forgiveness. Since then, he has sought for his Christian faith to permeate all aspects of his life--especially parenting--and including public service.
Two Bible passages hold special meaning for him:
II Corinthians 4:7-10: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.”
Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
He ends the book ruminating on why God allows tragedies—like his own father’s death from cancer in 2023 and his friend Charlie Kirk’s assassination in 2025—and how God uses them. Vance remains convinced that an all-powerful God loves us & that the Christian church will endure.
June 27, 2026
I made it fifty pages into this when I realized that even if the Pope himself was reading the bible to him while Jesus Christ washed his feet JD Vance still wouldn’t understand what is going on at church. This book was a PR stunt.
June 26, 2026
Not worth it, simply boring drivel, taking shots at lots of folks, not very introspective...I was hoping for better
June 26, 2026
I hate this couch fucker and he hates his wife. Writes a book about converting to Catholicism but uses a Methodist church on the cover. And is also hated by two popes
Read
June 26, 2026Solid book, certainly not worthy of the other low ratings it seems to have received. Vance is uniquely intelligent in describing his life philosophy, and particularly in describing his return to faith, and I was more impressed by that than anything. I also give credit to his continued narrative of surrendering the measurable, salary, prestige, GDP, whatever, in the name of the immeasurable, time with family, strong moral character, all around happiness. I'm a great fan of many of these sentiments. I was disappointed that he did not seem to apply the same intelligence to defending his policy stances in the later chapters of the book. I really like his ideas of how individuals should pursue happiness and virtue and whatnot, but he seems to make a jump in assuming that our national community shares many of the same virtues as a local community, a family, or otherwise. While I like this ideal, I don't believe the bond of being an American, however strong it may be, can compare to any obligation one feels to those close to them. But perhaps Vance has a stronger defense of this elsewhere. Anyhow, this is no place to rant on policy minutia, he is a strong writer and clearly very, very intelligent. I was emotionally moved many times, especially in the earlier chapters, because I share many of his sentiments on value. Would love to hear his opinions on Kierkegaard, both morally and theologically.
June 26, 2026
He’s humble, he’s honest, and he’s always learning and growing. He’s spot on that our country needs to first focus more on helping families cultivate virtuous children, not the GDP (it will work itself out if we focus on the former). All the 1-star reviews didn’t read the book. And I truly believe Jesus DID heal his grandfather now that he’s in the presence of God.
June 26, 2026
As a person of faith and interested student of different religions, I wanted to read Vance's thoughts. I am interested in faith journeys, especially (in his case) how his faith interacts with politics on a personal basis. I had hoped for more. This book isn't worth the time it took to read it. It is shallow. Skip it. I am not sure what the 1 star represents, but I could not leave a zero rating.
June 26, 2026
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonored, and unsung.
-- Sir Walter Scott
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonored, and unsung.
-- Sir Walter Scott
June 24, 2026
This book serves two purposes at once. A personal account of his conversion to Christianity, and specifically to Catholicism, and a kind of political-theological statement of J.D. Vance’s governing vision.
There is much to examine here, but the most interesting aspect of the book is what it leaves underdeveloped. I understand why someone might convert to Catholicism. What I did not fully understand by the end of Vance’s account is why he moved from atheism to belief in God, and then from belief in God to Catholicism in particular. I am not cynical enough to dismiss the conversion as insincere. In fact, from a purely political standpoint, a return to evangelical Christianity would probably have served him far better than Catholicism.
That makes the thinness of his explanation of theology surprising to me personally. It is unfortunate, because the Western canon is almost impossible to understand without serious engagement with Catholic thinking. For example, the entire social justice ethos owes its existence in large part due to the Catholic Church. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas are not decorative footnotes to random superstition. Whether one believes in god or not, they are among the central architects of Western intellectual life. Yet Vance seems to move past this tradition swiftly. Although he says that he intellectualized his way toward faith, he spends relatively little time with the enormous philosophical inheritance that might have made that claim more vibrant.
Vance is, in my view, remarkably perceptive when describing the lives of many members of the laptop or penthouse class. He may be completely lying of course, politics is all theater after all.
For almost anyone trying to build a career in America, this part of the book is highly relatable. As a "striver", I recognized the emotional exhaustion and internal architecture of modern ambition. The pressure to convert every hour and friendship into future advantage is quite tiring. This, unexpectedly, is the book’s strongest register. Vance is less persuasive when explaining Catholicism as a system of belief than when describing the emptiness of life that made belief a necessity to him in the first place. I have to admit, he is quite good at this.
For Vance, the hollowness of capitalism and hyper-commercialism has imposed a profound cost. We have exchanged God for money, family for consumption, intimacy for pornography, and beauty for advertising. Cathedrals have given way to billboards and family time has given way to corporate interests. He is critical of how economists rail about GDP all the time. How we've lost sense of any moral absolutism, and believes life should be a little less "optimized" with the help some Christian ethos. However polemical the formulation, I find the underlying concern easy to sympathize with. It calls to mind the Oxford historian John Anthony McGuckin’s line that Christianity can hope to:
"outlast any spirit of atheism or secularist humanism that tries to extinguish and replace the lights of Christendom with less transcendent twinkling relativisms."
It is also the book’s most contentious part, certainly for the New York Times, the New Yorker, The Atlantic, and the broader class of activists who, together with their counterparts on the right, have created the country’s cultural balkanization.
J.D. Vance may be among the most senior explicit Christian politician in recent memory. He is not merely a Christian who happens to hold office. He wants to govern, at least in part, as a very explicit Christian. To Vance, America's cultural decline is a symptom of a society that has lost the Christian grammar by which it once understood itself. He doesn't come across dogmatic about it (which could be a political calculation obviously), he’s not whining about LGBT issues or anything, instead it's almost like he wants some kind of return to a Christian, cultural milieu.
This is where his critics will likely concentrate their fire. The question of church and state is the obvious and easy point of attack. We're in for interesting times...
There is much to examine here, but the most interesting aspect of the book is what it leaves underdeveloped. I understand why someone might convert to Catholicism. What I did not fully understand by the end of Vance’s account is why he moved from atheism to belief in God, and then from belief in God to Catholicism in particular. I am not cynical enough to dismiss the conversion as insincere. In fact, from a purely political standpoint, a return to evangelical Christianity would probably have served him far better than Catholicism.
That makes the thinness of his explanation of theology surprising to me personally. It is unfortunate, because the Western canon is almost impossible to understand without serious engagement with Catholic thinking. For example, the entire social justice ethos owes its existence in large part due to the Catholic Church. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas are not decorative footnotes to random superstition. Whether one believes in god or not, they are among the central architects of Western intellectual life. Yet Vance seems to move past this tradition swiftly. Although he says that he intellectualized his way toward faith, he spends relatively little time with the enormous philosophical inheritance that might have made that claim more vibrant.
Vance is, in my view, remarkably perceptive when describing the lives of many members of the laptop or penthouse class. He may be completely lying of course, politics is all theater after all.
For almost anyone trying to build a career in America, this part of the book is highly relatable. As a "striver", I recognized the emotional exhaustion and internal architecture of modern ambition. The pressure to convert every hour and friendship into future advantage is quite tiring. This, unexpectedly, is the book’s strongest register. Vance is less persuasive when explaining Catholicism as a system of belief than when describing the emptiness of life that made belief a necessity to him in the first place. I have to admit, he is quite good at this.
For Vance, the hollowness of capitalism and hyper-commercialism has imposed a profound cost. We have exchanged God for money, family for consumption, intimacy for pornography, and beauty for advertising. Cathedrals have given way to billboards and family time has given way to corporate interests. He is critical of how economists rail about GDP all the time. How we've lost sense of any moral absolutism, and believes life should be a little less "optimized" with the help some Christian ethos. However polemical the formulation, I find the underlying concern easy to sympathize with. It calls to mind the Oxford historian John Anthony McGuckin’s line that Christianity can hope to:
"outlast any spirit of atheism or secularist humanism that tries to extinguish and replace the lights of Christendom with less transcendent twinkling relativisms."
It is also the book’s most contentious part, certainly for the New York Times, the New Yorker, The Atlantic, and the broader class of activists who, together with their counterparts on the right, have created the country’s cultural balkanization.
J.D. Vance may be among the most senior explicit Christian politician in recent memory. He is not merely a Christian who happens to hold office. He wants to govern, at least in part, as a very explicit Christian. To Vance, America's cultural decline is a symptom of a society that has lost the Christian grammar by which it once understood itself. He doesn't come across dogmatic about it (which could be a political calculation obviously), he’s not whining about LGBT issues or anything, instead it's almost like he wants some kind of return to a Christian, cultural milieu.
This is where his critics will likely concentrate their fire. The question of church and state is the obvious and easy point of attack. We're in for interesting times...
June 25, 2026
I was impressed by this book. That definitely doesn't mean I'm going to vote for the guy come 2028, but that's not the point. I'm sure this was written with his eye on his campaign in a couple of years, and I've heard the argument that this is probably an attempt at coalition-building within a fracturing christian right. I think this was much more his attempt to explain how his views of religion and spirituality influence his policy preferences to college-educated centrist/swing voters (like me), not an attempt to justify himself to a christian coalition that's seeing some cracks right now.
As a memoir, I was a big fan of this book. I loved hillbilly elegy, not necessarily because it was the "trump whisperer" explaining why poor whites voted for Trump (although I found that interesting), but because it was an inspiring story. I really enjoyed this book, but for slightly different reasons. While I disagree with his policy applications and strategies to accomplish some of his political goals, a lot of the things he spoke about in this book resonated with me. I especially loved his discussion of the dangers of hyperfocusing on GDP at the expense of non-measurable yet far more important things, like our families. That did not feel like an empty emotional appeal to the median voter. Perhaps this is just because I listened to the book rather than reading it, but it felt sincere, which I appreciated. But maybe that's just bc politicians are professionals at connecting with people.
Now, I have a lot of issues with the Trump administration and I have my own slew of criticisms of JD, but I think he's a generally good person trying to do good things and making mistakes, like I do. I think this book really helped me to develop more compassion for those with competing political views. I don't often have a favorable view of any current political figure but this helped me remember that many people can have good reasons for policies I disagree with. I left this book, maybe naively, believing that JD is doing what he thinks is best for the country. I just don't think he's right on all of those things. But I have a strong respect for the motivations he outlined in this book.
As a memoir, I was a big fan of this book. I loved hillbilly elegy, not necessarily because it was the "trump whisperer" explaining why poor whites voted for Trump (although I found that interesting), but because it was an inspiring story. I really enjoyed this book, but for slightly different reasons. While I disagree with his policy applications and strategies to accomplish some of his political goals, a lot of the things he spoke about in this book resonated with me. I especially loved his discussion of the dangers of hyperfocusing on GDP at the expense of non-measurable yet far more important things, like our families. That did not feel like an empty emotional appeal to the median voter. Perhaps this is just because I listened to the book rather than reading it, but it felt sincere, which I appreciated. But maybe that's just bc politicians are professionals at connecting with people.
Now, I have a lot of issues with the Trump administration and I have my own slew of criticisms of JD, but I think he's a generally good person trying to do good things and making mistakes, like I do. I think this book really helped me to develop more compassion for those with competing political views. I don't often have a favorable view of any current political figure but this helped me remember that many people can have good reasons for policies I disagree with. I left this book, maybe naively, believing that JD is doing what he thinks is best for the country. I just don't think he's right on all of those things. But I have a strong respect for the motivations he outlined in this book.
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June 25, 2026It surprised me that JD Vance wanted to discuss his faith so in depth in a book before he makes a run for president. I’m assuming he just wanted to get that discussion out in the open so everyone can debate it now and not during an election. His words are straightforward without a lot of embellishment. I wanted more descriptive language and more inside scoop on what he actually thinks. I wanted him to be funny or sad or give quotable one liners. This is mostly the story of his faith journey with some politics and personal opinions thrown in. I don’t know, it was fine, but I don’t feel like a got to know JD Vance, the person. Or maybe he’s just boring. I truly loved Hillbilly Elegy. But sometimes the second book after a shining debut, can feel like an obligation rather than inspiration. I did fly through this in one day with both the audio and ebook. When I started reading, this book had a one star rating from all the Goodreads hater raters who rated one star, but did not read the book. How petty. Now all the ratings and reviews are deleted. Would love to know what others thought of this after reading.
June 26, 2026
As a Protestant with many Catholic friends, I thought that Vance’s path to Catholicism, but also his ties back to Protestantism, was insightful, respectful, and well rounded.
He was intellectually honest in his views and would often address and shed light on dissent to a viewpoint he holds—religious, political, or personal. He is introspective into his own thoughts and why or why not his views have changed. A book about your journey back to faith would not have been insightful or for that matter interesting, if that was not true. For Vance, it is true.
At its core, it’s a personal journey of faith (and testimony), and as a believer, I find these very, very interesting and encouraging. And this was no different!
He’s very intelligent, yet writes and speaks in a way that is not pretentious at all. I enjoyed the many references to books and thinkers that impacted his life and faith journey. Many are the same in my life and some I had not heard of before.
Glad I read this book.
He was intellectually honest in his views and would often address and shed light on dissent to a viewpoint he holds—religious, political, or personal. He is introspective into his own thoughts and why or why not his views have changed. A book about your journey back to faith would not have been insightful or for that matter interesting, if that was not true. For Vance, it is true.
At its core, it’s a personal journey of faith (and testimony), and as a believer, I find these very, very interesting and encouraging. And this was no different!
He’s very intelligent, yet writes and speaks in a way that is not pretentious at all. I enjoyed the many references to books and thinkers that impacted his life and faith journey. Many are the same in my life and some I had not heard of before.
Glad I read this book.
June 26, 2026
I have fallen in love with JD over his time as Vice President, and I am so impressed and awed at his vulnerability in writing this book. I don't know how many modern-day politicians would have enough guts to write and publish a book about their personal journey and relationship with Christianity. I am a devout Christian, though not Catholic as JD is, and I resonated with much of this book. I appreciated the background he provided, and how many of his reasons for becoming an athiest later became the push he needed to embrace Christianity. His ideas are very thought-provoking and will resonate with any Christian, regardless of your denomination.
June 26, 2026
I admire him as a person especially after reading his Hillbilly Elegy. His perspective finding God again and what he believes was vulnerable and eye opening for me. He made some points that were really interesting. “I acknowledged that yes, everyone would believe if they saw a real life miracle. But the Christian argument is a bit more complicated: No matter what we see we are all templated by doubt. The Peter whom had pulled out of the sea is the same Peter we denied Christ three times shortly before His Crucifixion.”
June 26, 2026
i read this book because i do find JD Vance to be interesting, and i suppose i'm spiritually still a reporter. it's fine. the first 2/3 was probably mostly written prior to his political career, and contains some interesting-ish reflections on life and religion and whatnot. the latter 1/3 is typical politician-book stuff. the biggest takeaway i have is that it's striking how different he comes across in the book (thoughtful, even humble) versus how he comports himself as vice president
June 27, 2026
As a single crazy cat lady...I loved this book. So good to read about a man finding Christ, yearning to learn, and really listen to his heart and after being an atheist, to be more a knowledgeable Catholic.
This book weaves present day geo-political goings on, with the religious/non religious aspects which can affect life.
JD is so curious and such an open person, nice to see. All Glory to God.
This book weaves present day geo-political goings on, with the religious/non religious aspects which can affect life.
JD is so curious and such an open person, nice to see. All Glory to God.
June 26, 2026
A Personal Story unlike any politician ever
Thanks JD for telling your story.
I enjoyed and more importantly was encouraged by your observations on your own experiences and you did well to extend them to the reader.
Well done.
If you decide to be our next President of the United States of America, keep being accessible to the people.
Great job.
Thanks JD for telling your story.
I enjoyed and more importantly was encouraged by your observations on your own experiences and you did well to extend them to the reader.
Well done.
If you decide to be our next President of the United States of America, keep being accessible to the people.
Great job.
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June 26, 2026we all have our own Journey and JD Vance journey to our shared faith is remarkable. I great read for any Christian. But great for us Catholic to be reminded of why the Catholic faith gives us the fullness.
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