Has The New York Times' David Brooks Converted to Christianity?

"I'm a believer," David Brooks said on National Public Radio Monday, and The New York Times columnist and author was not referring to his beloved New York Mets this season. Brooks was responding to a question about how his new book, "The Road to Character," has changed his religious life.

"I read a lot of theology — whether it's C.S. Lewis or Joseph Soloveitchik, a rabbi — and it's produced a lot of religious upsurge in my heart," he said, elaborating only slightly.

Brooks' muted but heartfelt reply reflects a change in the celebrated writer's tone and the subjects he chooses to write and speak about. In the course of his long writing career the 53-year-old Brooks has rarely broached the topic of his spiritual life. But in the last 12 months, he has been quite forthcoming.

"There's something just awesome about seeing somebody stand up and imitate and live the non-negotiable truth of Jesus Christ," Brooks told The Gathering, an annual meeting of evangelical Christian philanthropists, last October. He hardly hid his religiosity under a bushel there, telling the crowd, "I want you to know that I am for you and I love you," he said, noting that he attends a Bible study class.

In the introduction to his new book, Brooks disclosed a personal reason for writing it: "I wrote it to save my soul." Inspired by the authentic Christian joy of what he calls "incandescent souls," Brooks decided to find out what makes them tick. Writing "The Road to Character" was his method.

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