SAINTS AND SINNERS by Lawrence Wright...

SAINTS AND SINNERS by Lawrence Wright (Vintage: $12; 266 pp., illustrated). The author of these lively profiles of religious leaders describes himself as “not a believer . . . but a student of belief.” Wright delights in reporting that a prominent Methodist minister in Texas may have strangled his wife, and gleefully details the sexual peccadilloes that cost Jimmy Swaggert his multimillion dollar electronic pulpit. He rigorously checks inconsistent statements by atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hare and self-styled Satanist Anton LaVey. But when he encounters Will Campbell and the controversial Dominican Matthew Fox, whose brand of Christianity appeals to him, Wright’s commitment to skeptical inquiry crumbles into touchy-feely adoration.