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AJ Cronin's inspiring novel of a controversial Scottish priest on a mission in China, where he learns the true meaning of humanity--and of faith. Francis Chisholm--a kindhearted and straightforward Scottish priest--walks a path of his own, making him unpopular with other members of the clergy. Ostracized by the clerical community and looked down on by his superiors, Chisholm takes a position in China where he supervises a mission beset by poverty, civil war, and plague. He encounters fierce resistance from the local Chinese who distrust his motives, especially as they do not understand or condone his faith. Despite enormous obstacles and temptations, Father Chisholm continues to live in accordance with what he holds as the ultimate truth--serving humanity is the one true religion of the world. The Keys of the Kingdom was adapted into the 1944 film starring Gregory Peck as Fr. Francis Chisholm, a role for which he earned his first Best Actor Oscar nomination. Hailed as "a magnificent story of the great adventure of individual goodness" by the New York Times Book Review and "full of life and people and color" by Harper's Magazine, The Keys of the Kingdom is considered by many to be AJ Cronin's finest work. … (more)
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“And now you are discovering how terribly human we are. Yes, it’s unholy that your ‘rebellious nature’ should fill me with joy, but I find it a wonderful antidote to the monotonous piety I am subjected to. You are the stray cat, Francis, who comes stalking up the aisle when everyone is yawning their head off at a dull sermon. That’s not a bad metaphor—for you are in the church even if you don’t match up with those who find it all by the well-known rule. I am not flattering myself, when I say that I am probably the only cleric in this diocese who really understands you. It’s fortunate I am now your bishop.”
“I know that, Your Grace.”
“To me,” His Lordship meditated, “you are not a failure, but a howling success. You can do with a little cheering up—so I’ll risk giving you a swelled head. You’ve got inquisitiveness and tenderness. You’re sensible of the distinction between thinking and doubting. You’re not one of our ecclesiastical milliners who must have everything stitched up in neat little packets—convenient for handing out. And quite the nicest thing about you, my dear boy, is this—you haven’t got that bumptious security that springs from dogma rather than from faith.”
This is a book to read and enjoy and learn from the good father.