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At Play in the Lions' Den: A Biography and Memoir of Daniel Berrigan
INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER 2018 ILLUMINATION AWARD GOLD MEDAL WINNER (BIOGRAPHY)
Daniel Berrigan (1921-2016), a Jesuit priest and poet, was one of the preeminent Christian peacemakers of his time. After gaining notoriety in 1968 through his role, along with his brother Philip, in destroying Vietnam-era draft files as part of the Catonsville 9, he helped elevate the Christian conscience with regard to issues of war and violence. Resistance to the Vietnam War was followed by decades of protest against nuclear weapons, including his participation in the first "Plowshares" action, the symbolical disarming of nuclear warheads.
But Berrigan's efforts on behalf of life also involved care for the dying and ministry to those suffering from AIDS. Jim Forest, who worked with Berrigan in building the Catholic Peace Fellowship in the 1960s, draws on his deep friendship over five decades to provide the most comprehensive and intimate picture yet available of this modern-day prophet. Extensive photographs and quotations from Berrigan's writings complete the portrait.
Daniel Berrigan (1921-2016), a Jesuit priest and poet, was one of the preeminent Christian peacemakers of his time. After gaining notoriety in 1968 through his role, along with his brother Philip, in destroying Vietnam-era draft files as part of the Catonsville 9, he helped elevate the Christian conscience with regard to issues of war and violence. Resistance to the Vietnam War was followed by decades of protest against nuclear weapons, including his participation in the first "Plowshares" action, the symbolical disarming of nuclear warheads.
But Berrigan's efforts on behalf of life also involved care for the dying and ministry to those suffering from AIDS. Jim Forest, who worked with Berrigan in building the Catholic Peace Fellowship in the 1960s, draws on his deep friendship over five decades to provide the most comprehensive and intimate picture yet available of this modern-day prophet. Extensive photographs and quotations from Berrigan's writings complete the portrait.
240 pages, Paperback
Published November 16, 2017
23 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
Jim Forest
52 books32 followersJim Forest is a writer, Orthodox Christian lay theologian, educator, and peace activist. As a young man, Jim served in the U.S. Navy, working with a meteorology unit at the U.S. Weather Bureau headquarters near Washington, D.C. It was during this period that he became a Catholic. After leaving the Navy, Jim joined the staff of the Catholic Worker community in Manhattan, working close with the founder, Dorothy Day, and for a time serving as managing editor of the journal she edited, The Catholic Worker.
In 1964, while working as a journalist for The Staten Island Advance, in his spare time he co-founded the Catholic Peace Fellowship, working closely with Tom Cornell. This became a full-time job for both of them in 1965, a time that coincided with deepening U.S. military engagement in Vietnam. The main focus of their work was counseling conscientious objectors.
In 1968, while Jim working as Vietnam Program Coordinator of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Jim and thirteen others, mainly Catholic clergy, broke into nine Milwaukee draft boards, removing and burning some of the files in a nearby park while holding a prayer service. Most members of the "Milwaukee Fourteen" served thirteen months in prison for their action.
In the late sixties and mid-seventies, Jim also worked with the Fellowship of Reconciliation, first as Vietnam Program coordinator and later as editor of Fellowship magazine. From 1977 through 1988, he was Secretary General of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, work which brought him to the Netherlands. He received the Peacemaker Award from Notre Dame University's Institute for International Peace Studies and the St. Marcellus Award from the Catholic Peace Fellowship.
In 1988, Forest was received into the Orthodox Church. Since 1989, he has been international secretary of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship as well as editor of its quarterly journal, In Communion. Jim had a long-term friendship with Thomas Merton, who dedicated a book to him, Faith and Violence. Jim also accompanied the famed Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh. He and his wife Nancy, a translator and writer, live in Alkmaar, The Netherlands.
In 1964, while working as a journalist for The Staten Island Advance, in his spare time he co-founded the Catholic Peace Fellowship, working closely with Tom Cornell. This became a full-time job for both of them in 1965, a time that coincided with deepening U.S. military engagement in Vietnam. The main focus of their work was counseling conscientious objectors.
In 1968, while Jim working as Vietnam Program Coordinator of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Jim and thirteen others, mainly Catholic clergy, broke into nine Milwaukee draft boards, removing and burning some of the files in a nearby park while holding a prayer service. Most members of the "Milwaukee Fourteen" served thirteen months in prison for their action.
In the late sixties and mid-seventies, Jim also worked with the Fellowship of Reconciliation, first as Vietnam Program coordinator and later as editor of Fellowship magazine. From 1977 through 1988, he was Secretary General of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, work which brought him to the Netherlands. He received the Peacemaker Award from Notre Dame University's Institute for International Peace Studies and the St. Marcellus Award from the Catholic Peace Fellowship.
In 1988, Forest was received into the Orthodox Church. Since 1989, he has been international secretary of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship as well as editor of its quarterly journal, In Communion. Jim had a long-term friendship with Thomas Merton, who dedicated a book to him, Faith and Violence. Jim also accompanied the famed Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh. He and his wife Nancy, a translator and writer, live in Alkmaar, The Netherlands.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 30, 2020
That Troublesome Priest
There was a time when Catholic priests were controversial for courageously fighting injustice rather than for child molestation and the single issue politics of abortion. Dan Berrigan was one of the most controversial, most inspiring, and therefore most feared priests of my generation. Arguably he and his brother Phil, more than any others, changed the collective mind of a country, at least for a time, about the absurdity of warfare.
Neither Christianity, nor any other religion whatever its ethical teaching, makes better people. The American leaders who prosecuted the war in Vietnam almost all professed religious faith. Yet they lied, schemed and conspired to wreak sustained havoc on the world the consequences of which we are still living through. The classified documents which are known collectively as the Pentagon Papers show the depth and breadth of political corruption that caused and sustained that conflict. Daniel Berrigan was one of those who blew the whistle on the institutional mendacity and international thuggery of senior members of the United States government. “One of those rare priests asking questions few wanted to hear.”
The governmental tactics employed then have since become standard for promoting an acceptance of violence and the inevitable economic and social consequences of war: promote fear; provide a theory of necessary national interest; and misrepresent actions. Vietnam was the public relations testing ground for subsequent adventures in Central America, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Vietnam exploded the myth of American exceptionalism.
And religion was and remains implicated in all of this: “The powers of the state show a mysterious concern for the integrity of the word of God” when it is useful for propaganda. And then, as now with Trumpist evangelicals, “A universal Love has narrowed itself to accept hate and to command hate.” Still today, it is difficult to find a mention much less public protest by senior church leaders on topics like extraordinary rendition, Guantanamo Bay, deportation, racial hatred, and the mis-use of religion to oppress one’s fellow citizens. Christianity has shown itself to be no more exceptional than America.
Berrigan‘s ‘No,’ therefore, was most notably, but not solely, to civil society. Injustice is where one finds it. And Berrigan found it inside his Jesuit order and in his Church. Their tolerance of racism, their clericalism and ecclesiastical nationalism, their bland acceptance of the morality of nuclear warfare, their contradictory doctrines regarding human life were also on his agenda. Having undergone 15 years of intensely disciplined Jesuit formation, Berrigan could hardly be considered a congenital rebel, someone who merely likes to express dissatisfaction with the status quo. He was a confirmed member of the insider establishment. His gripe was with behavioral injustice not with any existing firm of social organization.
The reason this is important is that the heated criticism of his own order and church demonstrated that his resistance, although it had political consequences, was moral not political. He didn’t join any secular political group, nor did he lobby politicians. He never sought, or received, political support from the institutions of which he was a member. Nor did he join others which were involved in merely political protest. His resistance was a matter of personal conscience not politics. He defied the law; he didn’t advocate how it should be changed. In short, Berrigan was a front line soldier who put himself not others in jeopardy. He was a model of moral behavior not a director of how to behave. He acted to fulfill the social activist’s, Dorothy Day’s, urging to protestors to “fill the jails” With their own bodies in order to stop the war.
Dan Berrigan’s brother, Phil, in fact insisted on the principle of challenging the law publicly. “Those who violate the law should be prosecuted,” he said. Imprisonment was part of the protest. And both brothers did pay the price for their part in the disclosure of the details of the mendacity and violence perpetrated by his government. Dan was convicted of various felonies associated with his protests and sentenced to 3 years in federal prison. For a time he was, incredibly, on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list of criminals. Phil spent a total 0f 11 years inside.
The brothers’ only defense was that as Christians it was necessary for them to say ‘No’ to the legal and moral standards of the society in which they had been raised. They did not protest either the conviction or the sentence. In a sense these were part of the point - to suffer the civil consequences of one’s convictions is as important as the act of disclosive protest. Comparison with the whinging martyrs of later years - one thinks of a Julian Assange - is instructive.
I find it interesting that the sexual scandals of the Catholic Church were eerily anticipated by its persistent (and persisting) moral callousness on so many other issues. Berrigan threatened not the doctrine of the church but its authority, its credibility, and above all its power. The technique for dealing with deviation for the party line is the same for those who blew the whistle on injustice by and within the church as it was for those sexual abusers: move the offender elsewhere: “The Roman Catholic manner of dealing with such a priest is not to debate him, not to offer alternative arguments, but simply to silence him and send him to another country where his attempt to give Christian witness will not offend.” Clearly there is something inherently amiss in an institution which treats a moral hero with the same punishment as a moral degenerate.
Where Christian witness is not offending, and especially offending those in power, it is vacuous piety or tribal cant. If there is a lesson to be learned from Berrigan’s life, I think it is exactly that. The primary reason for the decline in both the membership of the church and its credibility, is its perennial reluctance to cause offense to those in charge of worldly affairs, and the affairs of the church itself. It has demonstrated repeatedly that its primary concern is self-preservation. Perhaps with more troublesome priests like Dan Berrigan, some sort of renewal is possible. But I’m not holding my breath.
There was a time when Catholic priests were controversial for courageously fighting injustice rather than for child molestation and the single issue politics of abortion. Dan Berrigan was one of the most controversial, most inspiring, and therefore most feared priests of my generation. Arguably he and his brother Phil, more than any others, changed the collective mind of a country, at least for a time, about the absurdity of warfare.
Neither Christianity, nor any other religion whatever its ethical teaching, makes better people. The American leaders who prosecuted the war in Vietnam almost all professed religious faith. Yet they lied, schemed and conspired to wreak sustained havoc on the world the consequences of which we are still living through. The classified documents which are known collectively as the Pentagon Papers show the depth and breadth of political corruption that caused and sustained that conflict. Daniel Berrigan was one of those who blew the whistle on the institutional mendacity and international thuggery of senior members of the United States government. “One of those rare priests asking questions few wanted to hear.”
The governmental tactics employed then have since become standard for promoting an acceptance of violence and the inevitable economic and social consequences of war: promote fear; provide a theory of necessary national interest; and misrepresent actions. Vietnam was the public relations testing ground for subsequent adventures in Central America, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Vietnam exploded the myth of American exceptionalism.
And religion was and remains implicated in all of this: “The powers of the state show a mysterious concern for the integrity of the word of God” when it is useful for propaganda. And then, as now with Trumpist evangelicals, “A universal Love has narrowed itself to accept hate and to command hate.” Still today, it is difficult to find a mention much less public protest by senior church leaders on topics like extraordinary rendition, Guantanamo Bay, deportation, racial hatred, and the mis-use of religion to oppress one’s fellow citizens. Christianity has shown itself to be no more exceptional than America.
Berrigan‘s ‘No,’ therefore, was most notably, but not solely, to civil society. Injustice is where one finds it. And Berrigan found it inside his Jesuit order and in his Church. Their tolerance of racism, their clericalism and ecclesiastical nationalism, their bland acceptance of the morality of nuclear warfare, their contradictory doctrines regarding human life were also on his agenda. Having undergone 15 years of intensely disciplined Jesuit formation, Berrigan could hardly be considered a congenital rebel, someone who merely likes to express dissatisfaction with the status quo. He was a confirmed member of the insider establishment. His gripe was with behavioral injustice not with any existing firm of social organization.
The reason this is important is that the heated criticism of his own order and church demonstrated that his resistance, although it had political consequences, was moral not political. He didn’t join any secular political group, nor did he lobby politicians. He never sought, or received, political support from the institutions of which he was a member. Nor did he join others which were involved in merely political protest. His resistance was a matter of personal conscience not politics. He defied the law; he didn’t advocate how it should be changed. In short, Berrigan was a front line soldier who put himself not others in jeopardy. He was a model of moral behavior not a director of how to behave. He acted to fulfill the social activist’s, Dorothy Day’s, urging to protestors to “fill the jails” With their own bodies in order to stop the war.
Dan Berrigan’s brother, Phil, in fact insisted on the principle of challenging the law publicly. “Those who violate the law should be prosecuted,” he said. Imprisonment was part of the protest. And both brothers did pay the price for their part in the disclosure of the details of the mendacity and violence perpetrated by his government. Dan was convicted of various felonies associated with his protests and sentenced to 3 years in federal prison. For a time he was, incredibly, on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list of criminals. Phil spent a total 0f 11 years inside.
The brothers’ only defense was that as Christians it was necessary for them to say ‘No’ to the legal and moral standards of the society in which they had been raised. They did not protest either the conviction or the sentence. In a sense these were part of the point - to suffer the civil consequences of one’s convictions is as important as the act of disclosive protest. Comparison with the whinging martyrs of later years - one thinks of a Julian Assange - is instructive.
I find it interesting that the sexual scandals of the Catholic Church were eerily anticipated by its persistent (and persisting) moral callousness on so many other issues. Berrigan threatened not the doctrine of the church but its authority, its credibility, and above all its power. The technique for dealing with deviation for the party line is the same for those who blew the whistle on injustice by and within the church as it was for those sexual abusers: move the offender elsewhere: “The Roman Catholic manner of dealing with such a priest is not to debate him, not to offer alternative arguments, but simply to silence him and send him to another country where his attempt to give Christian witness will not offend.” Clearly there is something inherently amiss in an institution which treats a moral hero with the same punishment as a moral degenerate.
Where Christian witness is not offending, and especially offending those in power, it is vacuous piety or tribal cant. If there is a lesson to be learned from Berrigan’s life, I think it is exactly that. The primary reason for the decline in both the membership of the church and its credibility, is its perennial reluctance to cause offense to those in charge of worldly affairs, and the affairs of the church itself. It has demonstrated repeatedly that its primary concern is self-preservation. Perhaps with more troublesome priests like Dan Berrigan, some sort of renewal is possible. But I’m not holding my breath.
January 26, 2018
In my completely neutral and unbiased opinion, this book written by my father about the radical priest after whom I was named is pretty good. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
February 28, 2018
As a Catonsville resident, and given the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Catonsville 9 anti-war action, I was interested in knowing more about that event and the participants. This sympathetic, loving biography of Fr. Daniel Berrigan helped me appreciate that action within the larger scope of a remarkable life of protest, prayer, writing, and service.
July 10, 2018
A beautiful and intimate trip through the life of Fr. Dan taken with a guide who had accompanied this modern Prophet. Outstanding.
September 6, 2018
What a life, made more interesting by it's imperfections. Great read.
I didn't know e.g. that Pedro Arrupe survived the dropping of the atomic bomb...
"Is the new revolutionism ...simply irresponsible, capricious, idiotic, pointless, haphazard and inviting disaster... The obsession with being with "it" whatever "it" may turn out to be ... sheer mindlessness and hopelessness." - Thomas Merton p. 108-109
"I am struck by the harrowing fact that the chief assault in war is against children. The sentence of Bonhoeffer keeps invading me, "How are the unborn to live?" . . . My classroom faces a sign on a mad main avenue: "Abortions" - and a phone number. As though one were offering groceries, tax advice, or used cars. It strikes me that Bonhoeffer's sentence takes on a horrific new resonance. How are the unborn to live?..." - Daniel Berrigan p.206-208
People would have much preferred it if God had said, "Thou shall not kill except in war." - DB
Also interesting, Day and Merton didn't want them to burn the files, seeing it as an act of violence (even against property), slippery slope/ outside the Gandhian/ King path.
"Stay focused on the Gospel and let the rest take care of itself." -DB
"Does it not say in an old book that Christians venerate and claim to read from time to time, 'If your enemy hungers, feed him?" - DB
"In order to kill and call the killing politics, one must justify the killing. And the best way to justify killing is to deny one kills at all. The hand signs the death warrant, the mind rips it up, denies it exists. And someone dies - always, inevitably, the children, the old, the defenseless." - 201
I didn't know e.g. that Pedro Arrupe survived the dropping of the atomic bomb...
"Is the new revolutionism ...simply irresponsible, capricious, idiotic, pointless, haphazard and inviting disaster... The obsession with being with "it" whatever "it" may turn out to be ... sheer mindlessness and hopelessness." - Thomas Merton p. 108-109
"I am struck by the harrowing fact that the chief assault in war is against children. The sentence of Bonhoeffer keeps invading me, "How are the unborn to live?" . . . My classroom faces a sign on a mad main avenue: "Abortions" - and a phone number. As though one were offering groceries, tax advice, or used cars. It strikes me that Bonhoeffer's sentence takes on a horrific new resonance. How are the unborn to live?..." - Daniel Berrigan p.206-208
People would have much preferred it if God had said, "Thou shall not kill except in war." - DB
Also interesting, Day and Merton didn't want them to burn the files, seeing it as an act of violence (even against property), slippery slope/ outside the Gandhian/ King path.
"Stay focused on the Gospel and let the rest take care of itself." -DB
"Does it not say in an old book that Christians venerate and claim to read from time to time, 'If your enemy hungers, feed him?" - DB
"In order to kill and call the killing politics, one must justify the killing. And the best way to justify killing is to deny one kills at all. The hand signs the death warrant, the mind rips it up, denies it exists. And someone dies - always, inevitably, the children, the old, the defenseless." - 201
May 27, 2021
This book is a window into a region of Catholic practice and history that often goes unstudied: the Catholics who have protested war, racism, inequality, and marginalization; who comforted the dying during the worst of the AIDS epidemic, and who have been willing to face repeated arrest and imprisonment to draw attention to injustice and systemic violence. Were I to design a curriculum for a catechism course for confirmation-age adolescents or adults, I would definitely include some discussion of Daniel Berrigan, Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, and company. There is also ample useful material in this book for anyone teaching about the 1960's or the Vietnam War era: for example, none of the materials I consulted to teach my course on the Vietnam War mentioned the Catonsville Nine, the Baltimore Four, the Milwaukee Fourteen, the Harrisburg Seven, etc. Granted, there's only so much time in a semester, but it's still a compelling bit of history.
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December 11, 2022Sometimes you just get the right book at the right time. This was that book for me. I need to find a hard copy for my library.
June 15, 2021
You know I had to give this five stars. Daniel Berrigan is my boy. Love this so many times over.
July 14, 2018
Wow. Wow. Reading this was like watching RBG; I kept thinking "I remember this. Oh, this is how that is connected. Oh, yes, this is the challenge. This is our roots. This is how we need to nourish ourselves. Wow." I also appreciated Jim Forest's even, steady voice. He was a part of this history and the occasional photo and story documents this, but his voice is not intrusive here.
(and I appreciated the side bar quotes which were not repeated in the text. One could skim this book by looking at the photos and reading the side bars.)
Personal note: Nick and I were at Dan Berrigan's funeral. What I remember is how the tightly packed church SANG. Everyone knew the words and the voices reverbated in my chest.
(and I appreciated the side bar quotes which were not repeated in the text. One could skim this book by looking at the photos and reading the side bars.)
Personal note: Nick and I were at Dan Berrigan's funeral. What I remember is how the tightly packed church SANG. Everyone knew the words and the voices reverbated in my chest.
December 10, 2020
He served two years in a United State federal prison. For a short time, his name was included on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. He was exiled from the United States and forced to seek refuge in Latin America for four months. Over the span of forty-four years, he was arrested hundreds of times. Is this the rap sheet of an organized crime boss, domestic terrorist, or international drug lord? No, this is merely a sampling of the notorious record of Father Daniel Berrigan, Catholic priest, Jesuit, and peace activist. In addition to all of the above, Father Dan holds the distinction of being the first Catholic priest arrested during a war protest in US history. Beyond his run-ins with authorities and his superiors, Father Dan was also an accomplished poet, author, playwright, professor, and community organizer. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize twice and won a Tony Award. He published over sixty books. He served on the faculty of at least a dozen universities including Cornell, Yale, Berkley, Loyola, and Fordham. Above all else though, Father Daniel Berrigan was a peace maker. He strived to live out the words of Jesus in radical fashion.
At Play in the Lions' Den: A Biography and Memoir of Daniel Berrigan is a biography of Father Daniel Berrigan written by his friend and fellow peace activist Jim Forest. I’ve been doing a lot of research on Father Dan as of late, and Forest’s book is the most complete and engaging account of Father Dan’s life I have found thus far. Forest provides a complete overview of Berrigan’s life spanning his early childhood in northern Minnesota all the way to his final days, his funeral, and his lasting legacy. Through it all, the passion with which Father Dan sought to live out the Gospel of Jesus is brought to life.
If I had to describe this book with one word, it would be “inspiring”. In a Church that often feels misguided, hypocritical, overtly political, and all too willing to ignore Jesus’ teaching, Father Dan’s witness reminds us that this is nothing new. Father Dan was just as frustrated with many of these same tendencies over 50 years ago. His life is a case study in how to stay true to the mission of Christ while operating amidst an institution that many times feels like they are working against you.
From cover to cover “At Play in the Lions’ Den” is full of interesting details and powerful words from Daniel Berrigan’s life. I found myself earmarking page after page and highlighting many a line for future reference. I plan to have this book on my shelf for years to come.
In the end, this book is about peacemaking because it is impossible to separate Daniel Berrigan from that activity. Father Dan dedicated his life to putting Jesus’ words into action – “Blessed are the peacemakers”, “Love your enemies”, “Turn the other cheek”, and “You shall not kill”. Father Dan did all he could to try to get people’s attention, to change hearts, to change minds, to try to end the US military draft, to put an end to war in all of its forms. These are all things we need to continually relearn and restart. Our world could use more of his prophetic voice today.
At Play in the Lions' Den: A Biography and Memoir of Daniel Berrigan is a biography of Father Daniel Berrigan written by his friend and fellow peace activist Jim Forest. I’ve been doing a lot of research on Father Dan as of late, and Forest’s book is the most complete and engaging account of Father Dan’s life I have found thus far. Forest provides a complete overview of Berrigan’s life spanning his early childhood in northern Minnesota all the way to his final days, his funeral, and his lasting legacy. Through it all, the passion with which Father Dan sought to live out the Gospel of Jesus is brought to life.
If I had to describe this book with one word, it would be “inspiring”. In a Church that often feels misguided, hypocritical, overtly political, and all too willing to ignore Jesus’ teaching, Father Dan’s witness reminds us that this is nothing new. Father Dan was just as frustrated with many of these same tendencies over 50 years ago. His life is a case study in how to stay true to the mission of Christ while operating amidst an institution that many times feels like they are working against you.
From cover to cover “At Play in the Lions’ Den” is full of interesting details and powerful words from Daniel Berrigan’s life. I found myself earmarking page after page and highlighting many a line for future reference. I plan to have this book on my shelf for years to come.
In the end, this book is about peacemaking because it is impossible to separate Daniel Berrigan from that activity. Father Dan dedicated his life to putting Jesus’ words into action – “Blessed are the peacemakers”, “Love your enemies”, “Turn the other cheek”, and “You shall not kill”. Father Dan did all he could to try to get people’s attention, to change hearts, to change minds, to try to end the US military draft, to put an end to war in all of its forms. These are all things we need to continually relearn and restart. Our world could use more of his prophetic voice today.
March 28, 2021
Jim Forest did the world a favor writing this review of Daniel Berrigan's life from his first-person involvement with Daniel and brother Phil. There was little perspective in the 60s during the Vietnam War protests, so anybody caught up in it might want to review those years from a 2021 angle. The book taught me one reason the Berrigans fought so hard against things: they did NOT like the Catholic Church's position that there was such a thing as a 'just war.' For this one thing, they threw their lives against the machinery of war and I do believe it made a difference. The toll on them and their family was too much. Daniel was less a 'prophet' than a poet and mystic who lived in the metaphors he wrote. He was teacher who had enough of 'talking about christianity' and wanted to 'step out' into the ring and take it all on. Problem is: there are enough injustices to last a thousand lifetimes. . . . A 'must read' if you took part in Mobilizations to End the War and wore a button on your pea coat proclaiming 'Make love, not War.'
October 11, 2025
A principled man who made waging war and nuclear weapons his target- to stop them. The late Jim Forest knew the man well, and showed a multi-faceted picture on Dan Berrigan's character. From hindsight, I would question the wisdom of their way of their symbolic, nonviolent resistance to war. Christian principles will never convince the unregenerate minds that declare or initiate the making of war. Jesus said there would be wars. I also lived as these events were happening and saw how little these protests meant to the politicians. Wars, the development of chemical and nuclear weapons, and the bombing of civilians have continued. Greedy and power-hungry people will seize power, or at least seek and attain positions of political leadership where gain can be had through violence. But despite this, it's clear that Fr. Dan Berrigan's heart was in the right place and that he acted on his principles.
June 25, 2020
Wonderful, inspiring, challenging. Dan and Phil Berrigan were heroes to me in the 70’s and 80’s and this book is a perfect read for our world in 2020. Their call for radical systemic change and peace through challenge, non-violence, courage and kindness is a difficult road - an impossible road - an imperative road.
March 13, 2020
I liked it but the drama wasn't there as I was anticipating. Kind of a dry relating of Berrigan's life IMHO. But I'm glad I read it---it gives the story of one of the most important American Catholics (and his brother, Phil) in the last 60 years.
May 15, 2022
One of the most brave living among us ... we need more of his kind!
February 27, 2023
honestly pretty good for a forced theology read
August 8, 2023
Engaging, thoughtful, and very readable biography of Father Daniel Berrigan. Written with kindness, but not unaware of his flaws.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews