Faith Stripped to Its Essence: A Discordant Pilgrimage Through Shusaku Endo’s Silence

Martin Scorcese’s new film based on Shusaku Endo’s Silence will raise a wide range of faith-related questions. And Patrick T. Reardon’s Faith Stripped to Its Essence is the perfect guide for group reading and discussion. Reardon provides commentary on the novel as well as questions for reflection and discussion. Chapters of the commentary are devoted to each of the main characters and their own experience of faith. Several chapters focus on the central character, the missionary priest Fr. Sebastian Rodrigues. These characters are all believers in one way or another, but are far from unified in their approach to living that faith in the real world.