Who is Fr. D. W. Yarbrough, S.J. from Children of God: A Novel and what is their importance? Children_of_God_(novel) English & Literature "Fr. D. W. Yarbrough

A member of the first Jesuit mission to Rakhat, D.W. is a Texan and retired Marine squadron commander. During the long training period he becomes friends with a young Jew, Sofia Mendes, whose beauty contrasts sharply with his homeliness. D.W. admires Judaism on its own merits and is able to disperse Sofia's prejudice against things Catholic. Using military analogies, he explains the normal human need for intermediaries with a power as transcendent as God—whereas the children of Abraham confront him face-to-face. Pride in tradition and belief in action over words guarantee that there are no such things as ex-Jews, Catholics, Texans, or Marines. D.W. decrees that the Jesuits are going to Rakhat not to preach but to listen to God's other children. D.W. pictures the God of the Torah as cranky and uncanny and some days believes in him wholeheartedly, but is also tolerant of those who see him strictly as a poetic idea. He warns Sofia to be forgiving and generous.