"This" being whatever project, or good cause, or book topic in which the interviewee is involved. One of my favorite questions to ask interviewees is, “Why do you have a heart for this?”
The question usually gets past the general, rational answer to the specific, personal answer. Whatever the topic, there are always perfectly logical, ethical reasons to care, but the “heart question” gets at the emotional energy that is almost always driving the person to dedicate him or herself with passion.
I knew there would be an interesting answer to that question today when I interviewed Pamela Eisenbaum, a practicing Jew teaching in a Christian seminary. Dr. Eisenbaum is the author of the upcoming book, Paul Was Not a Christian (HarperOne, September 2009.) The book is the culmination of her fascination, and resulting scholarly work, about the apostle Paul.
Why Paul? Among other reasons, Dr. Eisenbaum says she relates to Paul.
Growing up, her father was a doctor in the military. "Military bases are not exactly Jewish neighborhoods,” she told me. “I was a Jew among Gentiles, a lot like Paul.”
Look for the Q&A later this fall.
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