This is not a book that would seem at first glance to appeal to the evangelical mind. But Peck's writings did not clash with Christianity in Jim Guy's class. Guy resonated with Peck's criticism of science, his belief in miracles, and his flirtation with mysticism. Twenty-five years ago, Guy explained to his class, we were convinced that science could allow us to know everything. Now, attracted to postmodernism, we think we cannot know anything.
Peck stands right in the middle, the proper place to be.
Throw him anything. In anticipation of the event, the rest of the class time was devoted to a discussion of what questions the students ought to pose. Wendy Kaminer, the author of Sleeping with Extra-Terrestrials, sees a disturbing decline of reason in our public life, and warns of the consequences. To a certain kind of skeptical liberal, M. Scott Peck is the very embodiment of mindless twelve-step recovery. But the class environment was as warm and caring as Peck's reassuring text.