Jeffery L. Sheler is an award-winning freelance journalist who has covered the American religion scene for nearly two decades. As a senior writer for U.S. News & World Report for many years he authored more than 35 cover stories on religious topics ranging from American evangelicalism to the pedophile scandal in the Roman Catholic Church. He is also the author of Is the Bible True? (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999), which was named one of the top ten religion books of 2000 by Christianity Today magazine.

Sheler is an occasional correspondent on the weekly PBS public affairs program "Religion & Ethics News Weekly," is a frequent guest on national radio broadcasts, and has appeared on network television programs including "Early Today on NBC," "Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN)," "The Situation Room (CNN), "CNN Headline News," "CNN Crossfire," and "John McLaughlin One On One." He continues to write for U.S. News as a contributing editor. His written work also has appeared in Readers Digest and Smithsonian Magazine. He is immediate past president of the Religion Newswriters Association.

BOOKS

See a list of 2006 author appearances

BelieversBelievers: A Journey into Evangelical America
Viking Adult (September 14, 2006)

BELIEVERS is a chronicle of Sheler's journalistic expedition deep into the American evangelical subculture - a journey that aims to make sense of the often disparate images of evangelicals that have emerged in the public mind during the past 20 years. The book takes readers to the places where today's evangelicals live, work, and worship, to meet them firsthand and discover how their unique brand of Christian faith shapes their lives and how they, in turn, are shaping and being shaped by their communities and the wider culture around them.

Through poignant personal stories presented in a compelling narrative style, Sheler - longtime religion editor for U.S. News & World Report and a former evangelical - paints a full-blooded portrait of a people of faith who believe in the power of the gospel to transform lives and of their pursuit of a vision for a just and righteous America.

What others are saying about BELIEVERS

"Jeffery L. Sheler portrays American evangelicals as they really are, not as their political spokesmen-or, for that matter, their secular critics-imagine them to be. Join him on his journey through the heartland of American Christianity."
-- Alan Wolfe, author of The Transformation of American Religion

"America's sixty million Evangelical Christians have too often been lumped together and stereotyped by reporters who have failed to do their homework. At last, a book by a thoughtful religion reporter that offers readers a fair and compelling portrait of the Christians in our midst-Believers who often find themselves on the front lines of America's culture wars."
-- Peggy Wehmeyer, former religion correspondent, ABC News

BELIEVERS excerpt

"It became increasingly clear to me that the evangelical movement that I once had regarded as my home had become a stranger to me. In a relatively short span of years it had grown, evolved, and diversified into something almost unrecognizable, an accelerating stream of American spirituality that had exploded into a churning torrent of confusing crosscurrents. So the question I once found so cynical and disconcerting became my own. Who are these sixty million Americans who call themselves Evangelical Christians? What are their motives, aspirations, and agendas? Who speaks for them, and who does not? What is their vision for America, and what might it mean for the rest of us? This book is my search for the answers."

-- from the Prologue

 

Also by Jeffery L. Sheler:

Is the Bible True?Is the Bible True? How Modern Debates and Discoveries Affirm the Essence of the Scriptures
(HarperSanFrancisco, 1999)

Named one of the top ten religion books of the year 2000 by Christianity Today. In this lucid, insightful work, Sheler sifts through the claims and counterclaims of contemporary biblical studies. After carefully investigating the full spectrum of cutting-edge research, he concludes that the weight of the historical evidence upholds the essential truth of the Exodus, the Gospel accounts of Jesus, and other vital elements of the Bible.

Author Appearances 2008

·  CNN's "The Situation Room" 2/12/08 -  Sheler comments on the 2008 presidential election in a piece reported by CNN's Mary Snow.  Click here to view the story on CNN's website.

Author Appearances 2007
·  CNN's "The Situation Room" 3/14/07 -  Sheler comments on a feud among evangelicals over global warming, in a piece reported by CNN's Mary Snow. Click here to view the story on CNN's website.
·  "Up Front & Unscripted" 6/2/07 - Hear Sheler interview God Is Not Great author Christopher Hitchens at Book Expo America in New York City. Click here to go to BEA's podcast page where you may listen to or downlad the program. To read a Publishers Weekly account of the interview click here.
·  See Sheler's "appearance" on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" March 21, 2007.

Author Appearances 2006

A Sheler Sampler

 "DEBATING DAVINCI. With the arrival of the movie, criticism of the Dan Brown blockbuster heats up." U.S. News & World Report, May 22, 2006.

"NEARER MY GOD TO THEE. Their distinctive faith aside, evangelicals are acting more and more like the rest of us." U.S. News & World Report, May 3, 2004.

"A CHRISTIAN DYNASTY. How Billy Graham’s kids are firing up his crusade." U.S. News & World Report, December 23, 2002.

"THE FIGHT FOR HISTORY. In the Holy Land, archaeology itself is a battleground. Will the Bible win out?" U.S. News & World Report, December 24, 2001.

"RETHINKING JAMESTOWN. America's first permanent colonists have long been considered lazy and incompetent. But new evidence suggests that it was a prolonged drought—not indolence—that almost did them in." Smithsonian, January, 2005.

"AMERICA’S EVANGELICALS. Part Three: Evangelicals and Culture." Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, episode 735.

"EXPLORING RELIGIOUS AMERICA. Cover Story." Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, episode 534.

Click here to e-mail Jeffery Sheler

Inquiries regarding permissions and future book projects should be directed to:

      Gail Ross
     Gail Ross Literary Agency
     T: 202.328.3282 ext. 1329
     gail@gailross.com
     www.gailross.com  

 

Media inquiries and interview requests should be directed to:
 

 

Ann Day
Publicist
Viking/Penguin
T: 212.366.2078
ann.day@us.penguingroup.com