Book Review: The Spiritual Mandela *mini review*

                                                                                   BOOK INFORMATION:                                                                  

Nelson Mandela said nothing about his personal religious beliefs in his writings or in his public pronouncements. But those who were close to him know that he held Christian views, and, at his request, the final part of his funeral followed the Methodist service rather than a traditional Xhosa ceremony. This book traces the spiritual aspect of Mandela's life, from his youth in a traditional Thembu village, to his education at Wesleyan and Methodist mission schools, to his time as an activist, his period on Robben Island and the years thereafter. It explores the way that he balanced Christianity with traditional African beliefs, and with his political views, and how he reconciled his own beliefs with the fact that religion had been used as a tool to oppress his people. Based on interviews with some of Mandela's close colleagues, such as Ahmed Kathrada, as well as priests and other religious figures with whom he interacted, this book unearths an unknown dimension of recent history's most famous man.

                                                                        MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK                                                              

I went into this book without knowing much about Mandela. The Spiritual Mandela by Dennis Cruywagen, is a well-written book. You can tell the author really did the research about his life, works, and belief system. Which is something I appreciated. 

The book follows the life of Nelson Mandela. It does this in a chronological order. It talks a lot about different church influences on the education, development, and beliefs of him. I have never really been that interested in him sadly. I didn't realize just how wonderful of a man he really was. 

I was really interested in how he integrated his tribal traditions with the church and a belief in God. I really enjoyed learning more about his teachings and how he celebrated his God and his beliefs. He was a prayerful man, which I really enjoyed. I would have loved some quoted prayers of his if he did any prayers in person. 

Overall I really don't know enough about him to really make any claim to the validity of what is said in this book. I will say the book was very well written.