{"id":29018,"date":"2023-10-05T10:20:48","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T14:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=29018"},"modified":"2023-10-05T12:20:08","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T16:20:08","slug":"tv-host-julie-chen-moonves-shares-how-faith-and-forgiveness-changed-her-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2023\/10\/tv-host-julie-chen-moonves-shares-how-faith-and-forgiveness-changed-her-life.html","title":{"rendered":"TV Host Julie Chen Moonves Shares How Faith and Forgiveness Changed Her Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kathy Hutchins \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Longtime \u201cBig Brother\u201d host Julie Chen Moonves is known for her successful television career, but she recently made headlines for another reason: her Christian faith. She recently released \u201cBut First, God: An Audio Memoir of Spiritual Discovery<\/a>,\u201d a project rooted in her faith discovery.<\/p>\n

She told CBN Digital, \u201cWhen I finally found Jesus in 2018, I had never owned a Bible. And I was gifted one from a friend who was one of my favorite cameramen working in TV news.\u201d That cameraman, who eventually became a pastor, helped Moonves on her faith journey as she dove into the Bible and discovered the truth for the first time.<\/p>\n

Moonves recalled, \u201cI found it very daunting and intimidating, and very big, and I thought, \u2018Oh, I\u2019m going to listen to an audio version of the Bible. And the only one I could find was a King James Version that sounded like I was listening to Shakespeare.\u201d Moonves, who had previously written a children\u2019s book called \u201cSimon & Schuster,\u201d offered to read the New International Version of the Bible for free. She thought the project would help her navigate the Bible while providing an easier-to-understand version.<\/p>\n

Instead, to her surprise, the publisher offered her a chance to talk about her faith journey through an audio memoir, and that\u2019s how \u201cBut First, God\u201d was born. It\u2019s a lens into Moonves\u2019 journey of discovery after the successful host essentially spent 48 years ignoring God. Growing up, Moonves\u2019 mother converted to Catholicism, but the family didn\u2019t attend church, and she was free to choose her faith for herself. Ultimately, she opted not to place too much emphasis on belief.<\/p>\n