Summary

Part II, "Confession," begins with Chapter Seven, “Ash.” In this introductory chapter, the author contrasts the scientific explanation for the origins of life (i.e. that everything is essentially composed of the ashes of stars that exploded eons ago) with the Biblical explanation. She summarizes that description by outlining how life originated with God, who created the first man and woman out of dust. She then references the destruction of war, and how it left so many places and people as ashes and dust. Finally, she references the ritual of Christians “once a year, on a Wednesday, [mixing] ashes with oil”, placing the mixture on their foreheads, confess their sins, and in doing so remind themselves that they we are also ashes and dust (45). She then counters this with promises made in the Bible that humanity would be redeemed by the presence, faith...