My first book of 2008 is a profound series of reflections on the cross guided by the seven last sayings of Christ. The commentary on these sayings is brilliant, but even more, the path Neuhaus takes allows for many insightful diversions. He speaks powerfully on the hope for universal salvation. He also includes challenging comments concerning our therapeutic society which reduces everything to the psychological. There is so much good and various material in this book that I highly recommend it. I include this one quote for those Protestants suspicious of Neuhaus's Catholicism: "The last point is pertinent to those Christians who make so much of being saved, or justified, by faith alone. What should one say in response? I can only give my testimony. When I come before the judgment throne, I will plead the promise of God in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. I will not plead any work that I have done, although I will thank God that he has enabled me to do some good. I will plead no merits other than the merits of Christ, knowing that the merits of Mary and the saints are all from him; and for their company, their example, and their prayers throughout my earthly life I will give everlasting thanks. I will not plead that I had faith, for sometimes I was unsure my faith, and in any event that would be to turn faith into a meritorious work of my own. I will not plead that I held the correct understanding of "justification by faith alone," although I will thank God that he led me to know ever more fully the great truth that much misunderstood formulation was intended to protect. Whatever little growth in holiness I have experienced, whatever strength I have received from the company of the saints, whatever understanding I have attained of God and his ways--these and all other gifts received I will bring the throne. But in seeking entry to that heavenly kingdom, I will, with Dysmas [the thief on the cross], look to Christ and Christ alone" (70)
In 1945, Muhammad Ali al-Samman, unearthed a red earthenware jar in Upper Egypt, and hoping to find gold, smashed it, and discovered thirteen papyrus books, bound in leather. The Nag Hammadi texts consists of some fifty-two texts from the early centuries of the Christian era, including the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Truth, the Gospel to the Egyptians, the Secret Book of James, the Apocalypse of Paul, the Apocalypse of Peter. These gnostic writings were rejected by the early church because they fundamentally undermined the unique event of the incarnation of God in Christ and its significance for humanity. Gnosticism held that matter was impure and only spirit pure, that the self and the divine are identical, and thus self-knowledge is knowledge of God, and that humanity's problem is illusion and the need is for enlightenment rather than the problem being sin and the consequent need for repentance. Pagels argues that orthodox Christianity proposes stranger ideas than gnosticism - strange ideas about God's goodness, the virgin birth, and resurrection. She suggests that orthodoxy only survived because of its social and political implications. She also suggests that gnosticism preceded orthodoxy, and thus should be considered as a viable alternative to orthodoxy. In other words, orthodoxy only exists because it aligned itself with dogmatism, patriarchalism, and political powers. For her, the orthodox doctrine of bodily resurrection exists because "it legitimized a hierarchy of persons through whose authority all others must approach God" (27). Obviously, it could not exist because Jesus actually rose from the dead! Gnosticism denies the full humanity of Jesus, and thus any real suffering - any real passion. Pagels argues that orthodoxy emphasized the passion of Christ in order to comfort and encourage people during physical persecution. Here as with resurrection, the truth is not in the event, but in social and/or political structures that privilege a certain interpretation. But must everything be reduced to the social and political? Is it a real stretch of the imagination to believe that the Christ events may be situated in reality and that the church preserved the truth by approaching everything with the central affirmation of the incarnation as the touchstone for truth? Interestly, Pagels demonstrates how the full humanity of Jesus actually provides greater confort and encouragement to real human suffering than the gnostic message: "Here again, as we have seen, orthodox tradition implicitly affirms bodily experience as the central fact of human life. What one does physically--one eats and drinks, engages in sexual life or avoids it, saves one's life or gives it up--all are vital elements in one's religious development. But those gnostics who regarded the essential part of every person as the 'inner spirit' dismissed such physical experience, pleasurable or painful, as a distraction from spiritual reality--indeed, as an illusion. No wonder, then, that far more people identified with the orthodox portrait than with the 'bodiless spirit' of gnostic tradition. Not only the martyrs, but all Christians who have suffered for 2,000 years, who have feared and faced death, have found their experience validated in the story of the human Jesus" (101). In Pagel's opinion, orthodoxy survives, not because it is true, but because of its social, political, and organizational compromises. She believes that the Christian tradition has been impoverished because "the process of establishing orthodoxy ruled out every other option" (149). However, the only other alternative is to have no orthodoxy whatsoever. Orthodoxy and gnosticism are so completely at odds that both cannot be true.
Classic Christian creedal statements such as "We believe in God the Father, maker of heaven and earth" "sound strange" and "barely intelligible" to Princeton's Professor of Religion, Elaine Pagels (5). During a difficult time in her life, this historian of religion visited a church after decades of absence, and experienced the power of ritual: "I had grown up nominally Protestant, and thought of ritual as empty form, but now I saw how it could join people of diverse cultures and viewpoints into a single community, and focus and renew their energies" (14). A bad experience of narrow religion in her youth turned her off to religion, but learning Greek and reading the New Testament in its original language renewed her interest. However, her frustration with Christian doctrine compelled her to look for "real Christianity" (31). She believes she has found this in the Gnostic tradition. Thus, the villains of her interpretation of history are Irenaeus, Athanasius, the organized church and its creeds. She prizes the "secret writings" that, in her opinion, the Christian church "suppressed." An alternative perspective is that the church did not suppress as much as reject these writings insofar as they undermined the uniqueness and reality of the incarnation of God in Christ. Unlike classic Christianity which finds salvation outside of oneself in the grace and redemption of God in Christ, Gnosticism's salvation is oriented in the self. Pagels admits this is the reason for her embrace of Gnosticism: "The strength of this saying [from the gnostic Gospel of Thomas] is that it does not tell us what to believe but challenges us to discover what lies hidden within ourselves; and, with a shock of recognition, I realized that this perspective seemed to me self-evidently true" (32). Pagels has no interest in doctrinal religion or revelation of an event. She does not want to have to believe anything, but is content to believe whatever supports her own "self-evident" biases. This is the reason gnosticism holds such great appeal, even to this day. It demands nothing and is focused on self-discovery. There is no "incarnate" God, or physical church (with all its obvious weaknesses) to deal with. To Pagels, the only reason the Gospel of John is in the Christian canon and the gnostic Gospel of Thomas is not is because John's Gospel provides a foundation for a unified church and Thomas' does not. Pagels rejects the Christian mystics like Saint Teresa and Saint John of the Cross who retain an incarnational theology but emphasize personal experience. She does not like that they "are careful to speak of relationship with God but not of identification. They can say "I and Thou" but not "I am Thou." In other words, union with God is not enough - we must be God! The uniqueness of Jesus is lost and the monotheism of Judaism is abandoned. Is it any wonder the early church rejected the gnostic gospels? Yet, Pagels maligns all Christians who reject the gnostic gospels: "To this day, many traditionally minded Christians continue to believe that whatever trespasses canonical guidelines must be 'lies and wickedness' that come either from the evil of the human heart or from the devil" (113). Not necessarily. The gnostic gospels reject monotheism and incarnation. Though the language could get heated, it is simply for this reason that they were rejected. And it must be noted that the gnostics were also heated in their language against orthodox Christianity. In the Gospel of Philip, Philip denounces "the apostles and the apostolic ones" as ignorant and "in error" (132). Pagels villifies Irenaeus for calling people to remember their baptismal vows, the apostolic witness, and incarnational faith. Yet, some foundation for unity was necessary.
This is LeLoup's translation of this gnostic gospel. This contains the infamous saying, "The companion [koinonos] of the Son is Miriam of Magdala. The Teacher loved her more than all the disciples; he often kissed her on the mouth" (83). Although twice the union of God with humanity is expressed in "bridal chamber" terms, there is nothing at all depicting Mary and Jesus in any such bridal chamber or union. There is an interesting passage uniting the four elements with four religious aspects: "What is harvested in the world is composed of four elements: water, earth, wind, and light. What God harvests is also composed of four elements: faith [pistis], hope [elpis], love [agape], and contemplation [gnosis]. Our earth is faith, for she gives us roots. Water is our hope, for it slakes our thirst. Wind [pneuma] is the love [agape] through which we grow; and light is the contemplation [gnosis] through which we ripen.
This is simply a translation of four gnostic writings: The Secret Book of James, The Gospel of Thomas, The Book of Thomas, and The Secret Book of John. The last has some profound thoughts on negative theology (see Chapter 2), but it is perhaps the most gnostic, teaching that Yahweh is a misguided, wicked, mindless creator and thus, our need is to escape through secret knowledge into a spiritual (disembodied) existence.
This is a nice overview of Gnosticism and early Christianity. Though repetitive in parts, it makes for a helpful reference tool.
This is a collection of quotes from Irenaeus' work against gnosticism. In this he speaks of the centrality of the incarnation and recapitulation in Christ. An important book, and perhaps the first real theological treatise of the early church.
Comte-Sponville is not out to convert people to atheism. In his own words, he is a "nondogmatic atheist--that is, I do not claim to know that God does not exist, but I believe he does not exist" (69). He realizes that human conflict arises from theists and atheists alike. He finds some believers admirable and "most worthy of respect. Their faith in no way offends me" (11). Comte-Sponville rejects faith but not fidelity. He believes society can do without religion but not without communion or fidelity. Ethics continues whether or not one has religion. He believes strongly in preserving the past, including religious traditions and teachings: "only by being culturally conservative can we be politically progressive" (27). Though rejecting Jesus, he embraces "the spirit of Christ" - justice and charity, the wisdom of love, the virtue of doing good and living in joy (32). He believes a commitment to truth is necessary in order to possess knowledge. Though he believes all truth and values are relative, "[i]t is not true that anything goes." He calls us to "fidelity to humanity and to our own duty to be human. ... Our primary duty, the one which which all the others follow, is that of living and behaving humanly (49). Though he admits that the Christian faith offers a great hope and atheism is prone to nihilism ("There is no way for a lucid atheist to avoid despair" 51), he rejects Christian hope as impossibly idealistic, and rejects nihilism as an extreme and dangerous response. He calls for a "tragic wisdom," a "wisdom of despair" similar to the first Epicurians, Stoics or Buddhism. Consequently, hope plays no role in his philosophy: "To wish for what does not depend on us (to hope) is to condemn ourselves to powerlessness and resentment" (53). The comfort he offers: "People who hope for nothing... cannot be disappointed" (53). He invites us to yearn for a kingdom such as the one Christ preached, arguing that atheists share this same kingdom in their desire for love and knowledge and part ways in regard to hope and faith (59). He also invites us to imitate Jesus' life - not his faith or hope, but his love. He accepts a large part of the Gospels, but feels separated from belivers "by only three days," namely, Good Friday through Easter Sunday (63). In the end, Comte-Sponville embraces a secular sort of transcendence. Contemplating the immensity of the universe puts the ego in its place. This dying to oneself is "opening oneself up to life, to reality, to everything. What could be more boring, more restricted and more vain than my self?" (200). Comte-Sponville's lack of condescension and contempt characteristic of many popular atheist authors who speak with the certainty of fundamentalists and fanatics is refreshing. Though he may reject theism, he is not out to destroy all theists. If faith helps people live better lives, he is content: "Humanity is far too weak and life far too difficult for people to go around spitting on each other's faiths. I loathe fanaticisms of all kinds, including atheistic fanaticism" (100).
Willimon offers powerful messages on the seven last words. Marva Dawn, who introduces the book, summarizes well: "If we hear these seven words truly... We will not reduce the Trinity either to happy ditties or to merely dogmatic recitations. We will discover that the triune God loves us arduously, torturously, to the end beyond our wildest imaginings, and we will want to respond with humble reverence, passionate ardor, and steadfast commitment to honor the true God genuinely." Willimon provides just what we need to provoke the right response.
Another interesting and helpful book on the seven sayings from the cross. Great reflections on placing blame, on attempting to controll our own lives, and trusting God. Some of Judith's poems and prayers scattered throughout the book are especially inspiring.
The boy with the ray-gun on the cover sold me on this book. I thought it would be interesting to read about growing up in the 50s. Bryson's playful and humorous memoir takes place in post-war prosperity. He speaks of the importance of baseball as a national pastime, boasting in new products - toasters, tvs, etc., - the fear of the atom bomb, and the optimistic prospects of the future - underwater cities, personal jet packs, dome-roofed automobiles, automatic sidewalks, and more. After pages of delighting in the uniqueness of Des Moines, Iowa, he laments the inundation of franchises and the loss of mom-and-pop shops.
Captain Marvel must face three robots set out to destroy all humankind. This was a cute, fun, old-fashioned comic story that anyone of any age could appreciate.
"With great power there must also come great psychoanalysis" (27). This is a hilarious look at the possible dysfunctions of the F.O.O.J. - the Fantastic Order of Justice (patterned loosely after the Justice League of America). Sure, superheroes save others - but can they save themselves? Do they pay a price for their just and noble actions? Do their actions arise even from pure motives? What would happen if they were all subject to pyschoanalysis? Faust's writing style is absolutely a blast. For any comic book fan, the story is littered with inside jokes. Some of the best fun comes from the Batman-like "The Flying Squirrel" who mistrusts everyone and makes his displeasure known with his constant stream of cut-downs. Of Omnipotent Man (the Superman-clone), he says, "He's a fraud, Miss brain. Earth's greatest superhero, my colon. He's a panty-willed, 'aw-shucks, ma'am,' unmitigated ultraninny" (195). When someone touches his cape, the Flying Squirrel responds, "This is my cape, for God's sake! You don't touch a hero's cape! My life depends on this thing operating properly" (197). Though it ends rather abruptedly, it is well worth the ride. This was as fun as Soon I Will Be Invincible.
This book chronicles every attempt to bring Superman beyond the pages of his native format - the comic book. The book covers the whole gamut - from the early radio serials to Bryan Singer's Superman Returns. After reading this book, I find it amazing that anything of any substance was ever really produced - especially in regard to the movies. The radio serials are actually responsible for many of standard elements of the Superman myth - Clark Kent's job at The Daily Planet, the characters of Perry White, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olson, the introduction of Kryponite in order to make the nearly-indestructible Superman vulnerable, and Superman's ability to fly. The early movie serials produced for the theaters suffered from all that was involved in portraying a flying omnipotent man - in other words, the technology simply didn't allow for much creativity. This wasn't true for the early Fleischer cartoons. The longest and most compelling part of the book deals with the four Superman movies produced by Ilya and Alexander Salkind. They purchased the rights when no one thought a superhero would be worth much on the silver screen. Unfortunately, the Salkinds never really knew what to do with their rights. It is a wonder that Superman I and II are as good as they are. There seems to be no end to the infighting among producers, directors, and stars. Rossen also covers the television series, The Adventures of Superman with George Reeves, the many incarnations of Superfriends,, Lois & Clark, The Adventures of Superboy, Bruce Timm's outstanding Superman: The Animated Series and, my personal favorite, Smallville. Rossen calls Smallville "the most well-constructed, faithful, and competent take on the character to date" (264). He also writes of the so-called Superman curse - George Reeve's suicide (or possible murder) and Christopher Reeve's paralyzing fall. Finally, he goes into detail about the nightmare years of possible relaunches of the Superman movie franchise. Some of the ideas that producers, directors, and celebrities have had about Superman are positively absurd! Thank God that comic book fans - often ignored since the vast majority of the movie-going public knows superheroes through movies rather than their native format, comic books - are finally heard through fan-based websites. And, thank God Bryan Singer was finally chosen to make the new Superman movie. Of all the possible choices, he is the one who held the source material in the highest respect, which shows (perhaps a little overmuch) in the newest Superman movie. It's hard telling where the franchise will go from here. Before the first frame of Superman Returns was even shot, the studio had spent an estimated $65 million in development hell. As successful as Superman Returns was, it could not possibly recoup the losses. But, wherever it goes, one thing remains sure - Superman lives!
With playful enthusiasm, Garrison takes on the so-called New Atheists. Who are the New Atheists? The "New Atheists aren't resurrecting the old atheist argument that belief in God is wrong. Rather, they're advocating that belief in God is dangerous and destructive" (18). The New Atheists have divided the world into two camps: "enlightened atheists and faith-talking neanderthals" (49). Strangely enough, the New Atheists reject religious metanarratives as narrow and constrictive, but have no problem touting their scientific metanarratives as demanding universal recognition and acceptance. They regularly use religious extremists to make religion seem violent and foolish, but never interact with serious religious thinkers like Karl Barth, Jurgen Moltmann, and Walter Brueggemann (to name just a few). She writes, "Trust me, we can both find fringe fanatics to prove the other side is nutso. So let's stop with this stereotypical silliness" (55). The New Atheists claim to desire dialogue, but the publisher of Christopher Hitchens book, God is Not Great would not allow Becky to excerpt any material from his book. So much for reasoned debate! For the most part, the New Atheist argument consists of a good measure of trash-talking: "New Atheists have gotta do better than trash-talking their opponents" (34). What the New Atheists desire is the complete elimination of religion. Forget tolerance. The New Atheists have no room for this. In The End of Faith, Sam Harris writes, "The very ideal of religious tolerance - born of the notion that every human being should be free to believe whatever he wants about God - is one of the principal forces driving us toward the abyss" (15). You think that's crazy. Check out another Sam Harris quote, "If I could wave a magic wand and get rid of either rape or religion, I would not hesitate to get rid of religion" (65). 'Nuf said.
King's newest is a mammoth 600-page story. Edgar Freemantle loses his right arm in a construction accident. His life falls apart. Seeking escape he hides away at a rented house on Duma Key, an undeveloped splinter of the Florida coast. He begins painting pictures that possess powers beyond his control. This leads to a confrontation against ghosts of the past and an ancient evil power. I enjoyed the character development, but found the ancient evil a little less than terrifying - a small china doll stopped by fresh rather than salt water is hardly a foreboding enemy.
David's Roche shares the lessons on life, self-acceptance, and unconditional love he has learned from the severe facial deformity he has had from birth. In his early adult years, he purposefully shrank into the background. In his middle age, he finally found his voice. He realized that real humans are more important than ideals. He stopped pretending to be normal and accepted himself the way he was. He tells stories of how others have mistreated him: "I have been called Jughead and El Monstro. I have been told that I was too ugly to be a priest and that I was the ugliest thing that a man had ever seen" (43). Eventually, he came to discover that those who said such things were "ugly in their heart" and that beauty is more than skin deep. He shares some principles he has learned. For example: "you cannot understand what is going on while it is going on" (50). It is after the fact that we come up with the best responses - that we see things clearly. Also, he argues that "the basic motivating factor for all human beings is not self-preservation or sex or love. It is the desire to not be embarassed" (61). In regard to unconditional love: "Before we learn about love, we usually do not know what it is when we receive it. I did not know how much my father loved me until well after he died. Or how much I loved him. I did not know what Jon was giving me. Or Sister Frieda. Or my mother. We build channels and dikes and levees to keep love from flooding us, because it is so unbelievable that we could be so loved. But it is still unconditional love, it is still there--we have to open ourselves to make it real" (124). This is a short, sweet book.
With Dante as his template, Barlowe crafts a tale of a demon seeking redemption. Haunted by his remembrance of Above, the glory of God's face, and the beauty of heaven, a demon attempts to leave a place with little light but that cast by flames, a city built on suffering souls in the form of soul bricks, in order to "reach for the light." His motto: "When we unsheathe our weapons let us remember the angels we once were but fight like the demons we are" (218).
This is an outstanding resource on the seven last words of Christ. Deep, profound, and moving reflections!
Another short, sweet, and profound reflection on the seven sayings from the cross.
"No miracles. No mercy. Above all, no redemption." This is a fantastic story concerning Batman's blindness because of his own obsession. In the story, it is obvious that a person he is pursuing has turned a new leaf and found redemption. However, Batman refuses to view her as any more than a liar. He can't possibly imagine that she could change. His inability to see this almost leads to disaster for truly innocent others. A great story!
Gaiman reboots Jack Kirby's Eternals. The Eternals are Immortals who live among humans doing the work of the Celestials. This was a very well-told and engaging reboot to the series. Great art and good story.
This is the second book in Anne Rice's trilogy on the life of Christ. In her first book, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, she told the story of Jesus' childhood with an emphasis on Jesus' growing awareness of his unique identity. In this book, she recounts Jesus' story from the end of his carpentry years in Nazareth to the beginning of his public ministry. In the first half of the book, Jesus struggles with his desire to marry (and the public pressure to do so) and his refusal to join his neighbors in public revolt against Rome. One prominent elder in his community chastises him for his passivity. He says, "Samson's birth was foretold ... by an angel ... And we know his mighty deeds and repeat them generation after generation. Where are you mighty deeds? Where are your defeated enemies lying dead in heaps, or where are the ruins of the heathen temples that you've brought down with the strength of your arm?" (95). The story picks up steam when Jesus is baptized by John and led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. Satan's temptation of Jesus is particularly powerful. In the final temptation, the evil one declares, "Nothing is done here without me. Nothing. Not the simplest victory is accomplished unless I'm part of it" (195). In order to resist compromise to evil in any form, Jesus' path and victory must be unlike any other before him. The suffering servant resolutely sets his heart toward doing all things according to God's will. The book ends with a glimpse into the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. Like all good middle volumes in a trilogy, this book provides a good transition and has me hungry to see where the story will lead. Some may take issue with parts of Rice's story. She has placed the bar unspeakably high by trying to tell the story of Jesus from a first-person perspective. She is thus doomed to get some things wrong. But the parts she gets right - or at least the ones that seem authentic - are powerful and inspirational!
Welcome to the Youniverse. (122) For all its positive aspects, the internet has a dangerous and destructive side. Few people are brave enough to express criticism toward this new technology. Lee Siegel is one such brave individual. In Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob, he argues that "a rhetoric of freedom, democracy, choice, and access has covered up the greed and blind self-interest that lie behind what much of the Internet has developed into today" (3). Because of the convenience of the internet - a value that its advocates tout with great passion - our every "impulse is only seconds away from its gratification" (175). Quoting Al Cooper, "'The Internet provides immediate gratification that affects one's ability to inhibit previously managed drives and desires.' In other words, the Internet creates the ideal consumer" (175). For my extended analysis, click HERE.
This book works on so many levels. It is a love story, a science fiction tale, and a metaphor for life. And on every level, it succeeds. Henry is unstuck in time. He experiences his life dis-temporally. He cannot control where and when in time he will find himself. The love of his life, Clare, experiences her relationship with Henry in natural sequential course. However, his appearances in her life, beginning at age six, lead her to a life-long commitment to Henry. He doesn't actually meet her until he is 28 - until then, his life is a free-for-all. For her entire life, she is "waiting" on Henry. At one point, she writes, "I won't ever leave you, even though you're always leaving me." In many ways, this book is an extended reflection on life, love, mortality, and fate. Though none of us "jump" from one time period to another, in our memories we relive our past experiences and dream of future possibilities and both of these things shape our lives. This book also captures the general experience that men and women have - the woman waiting on her beloved who is not always "all there" and the man finding an anchor in his woman's love, but tending to drift all over the place in regard to passions and interests. It reminds us of our mortality in that our lives are framed by certain events which define who we are. It is these human boundaries which not only frustrate us, but also allow us to cherish and value our current experiences. Henry must come to love the moment, since the moment is all he really has. Finally, in regard to fate, this book typifies how our free acts are not as free as we think and how we are constantly influencing others. Would Clare love Henry so much if he had not appeared to her at age six and popped into her life repeatedly until the point they actually meet? [Spoiler alert: Read no further if you don't want an idea of the ending.] The last 120 pages had me in tears. Before he dies, Henry tells Clare he has seen her in the future. Thus, even after his death, Clare is still "waiting" on her beloved. Powerful book!
We live in a nation obsessed with celebrities. When the activities of Brad and Angelina, Britney Spears, and Paris Hilton receive more attention than serious news items; when in 2005, eight of the ten most popular search terms on the search engine Yahoo! were the names of celebrities, with Britney Spears at the top of the list; when "the ultimate competition for celebrityhood--American Idol--has more viewers than the nightly news on the three major networks combined" (xv); we can rest assured that we have swallowed the pill of our new addiction. We are, in the words of Jake Halpern, "fame junkies." For my extended summary and reflection, click HERE.
Tolle is a pantheistic monist who blames the ego for all that's wrong in this world. This does not come without repercussions, most notably, his system inhibits true human flourishing. The human person cannot flourish when humanity, personality, and all that this encompasses - thinking, acting, feeling, etc. - are brushed aside as irrelevant, and even worse, a deceptive pathological delusion! Although people generally desire a buffet-style spirituality that is made-to-order - and thus, one reason for this book's great popularity - there is also another reason, and the blame lies with the church. People would not so quickly buy into Tolle's system if their hunger for spirituality had been met in the Christian church. The church's treasure-house of spiritual riches - its profound and mystical union with God in Christ through the Spirit, its sacramental way of viewing creation as a means of revealing God's grace, its call to practice God's presence in all things, etc. - has hardly been mined for all its worth. For my extended analysis of this book, click here.
Christ's ascension is not a footnote to Jesus' death and resurrection. What happened after he rose from the dead? According to Christian tradition, after forty days, Jesus ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. What is the significance of this? Most importantly, the resurrection and ascension are not a reversal or undoing of the incarnation. It is as a human being that Jesus rises. Our humanity is resurrected. Our salvation depends upon our continuing union with Christ through the Holy Spirit. "We cannot be united to him in the Holy Spirit if he is no longer flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone" (6). Thus, one of the greatest blessings of the ascension is Christ's gift of the Holy Spirit who manifests the personal presence of Christ in, to, and through us. Dawson offers important insights on the significance of Christ's glorified humanity, and particularly, how it relates to Christ's present ministry of intercession. Great book!
Heaven is important but it's not the end of the world. Wright's fantastic book "addresses two questions that have often been dealt with entirely separately but that, I passionately believe, belong tightly together. First, what is the ultimate Christian hope? Second, what hope is there for change, rescue, transformation, new possibilities within the world in the present? And the main answer can be put like this. As long as we see Christian hope in terms of "going to heaven," of a salvation that is essentially away from this world, the two questions are bound to appear as unrelated" (5). Wright expands our understanding of salvation to be more incarnational, and in doing so, vastly increases its significance in the present: "the work of salvation, in its full sense, is (1) about whole human beings, not merely souls; (2) about the present, not simply the future; and (3) about what God does through us, not merely what God does in and for us" (200). Jesus' resurrection is the key. Redefining Jesus' resurrection to be merely "spiritual" or "symbolic" empties it of its significance: "if after his death he had gone into some kind of nonbodily existence, death would not be defeated. It would remain intact; it would merely be redescribed" (99). God's salvation results in "the redemption of our bodies" (Romans 8:23) wherein "God's people are promised a new type of bodily existence, the fulfillment and redemption of our present bodily life" (147). According to Jewish expectation, the new earth will be filled with the glory of God. Creation - including our humanity - is not discarded by God, but restored and renewed. This is a desperately needed book in our current gnostic climate. Many Christians have followed the spirit of the age and set the spiritual over against the material. In contrast, Christianity sees the spiritual in and through material. The truth that in Christ, the Word became flesh is God's "yes" to creation and humanity. We need to recover a robust incarnational spirituality. Wright's reflections on the significance of the resurrection in regard to heaven and earth, our present experience, our full humanity, and the relationship of space, time, and matter to the Divine are accessible and outstanding! In order to preserve and perpetuate a distinctly Christian spirituality, every believer should purchase and study this book. This book has my highest recommendation!
One of the best Batman's I've ever read. It focuses on the major turning points in Batman's career - particularly in regard to his relationship with Commissioner Gordon. From their first uneasy moments of partnership to Gordon's distrust of Azrael - Batman's secret and murderous replacement while Bruce Wayne recovers from a broken back. The stress of this relationship causes both men to nearly resign themselves to despair, that is, until they see the fruits of their labor in the form of a little girl. All five stories are great! Batman at his best!
A collection of Detective Comics from #827-834. Good stories overall. I especially liked the one about the mad bomber Vox and his attempt to destroy Wayne Tower and also Batman's teamup with Zatanna in order to combat the evil magician who is more than a magician.
Seeking to escape the two possible "extreme reactions" of either "faith or disbelief" in the resurrection, Vermes argues for a "spiritual resurrection" where Jesus lives on in the hearts and minds of his followers (x). Vermes does a nice job of summarizing the progression of Jewish thought on death, the afterlife, and resurrection. He contends that bodily resurrection was "alien to first-century Hellenistic Jews" (55). After critically rejecting most of the New Testament resurrection texts (and offering the old argument that since the Gospel accounts are not identical, they must be false), he (amazingly) writes, "No New Testament text attempts to describe the actual return to life of the dead Jesus" (139). He argues "that there existed no established tradition among Jews about a dying and risen Christ (128). His conclusion: Jesus did not bodily rise from the dead, but his followers were "moved and inspired by the mesmerizing presence of the teaching and example of the real Jesus alive in their mind" (152). In other words, the memory of Jesus inspires! But a memory of Jesus is not "the real Jesus" as he contends. And a "memorial" is not "resurrection" - no matter how much one strains the word to fit one's metaphysical presuppositions. I guess if "faith" is an extreme reaction, I'm an extremist (along with N. T. Wright who Vermes offers as an extreme right-wing example). I guess I've never found it hard to believe that God could actually do God-like things, like bring life from death! God as mascot or moral coach is not quite as appealing to me as God as the ineffable-yet-knowable, transcendent-yet-immanent, loving-yet-just, infinite source of meaning, purpose, and joy.
Rabbi Hirschfield has penned a courageous and compassionate book that calls people of all religions and faiths to dialogue and mutual understanding. Instead of advising that all religions reduce themselves to their common denominators, he urges religious advocates to maintain their own distinctives, but with great humility, and the awareness that we can always learn from others. He calls us to recognize that our deepest convictions may be partial, or even flawed. He also reminds us that our beliefs and actions have consequences, and we must all be willing to admit that we may be mistaken. He urges us to remain suspicious of "final solutions": "Both sides need to admit this--in all the divisive issues that make up our public life these days, whether we're talking about gay marriage, abortion, or gun control. I would love to hear gay rights activists say, in their push for gay marriage, 'We may be making a colossal mistake.' And I'd like to hear the same admission from the opponents of gay marriage. That admission on both sides is a prescription for the civility and thoughtfulness that is now so conspicuously absent from public life" (145). Nobody is wrong about everything. And we must have the courage to admit that no one - including ourselves - is right about everything. Hirschfield is admittedly an idealist, but he is not naive. He provides great personal examples of his own growth and maturity in regard to a humble, yet confident, faith.
Our everyday work makes a difference, not only now, but for eternity. "Work, and the things that we produce through our work, can be transformed and carried over by God into heaven" (2). Thus, all human work has eternal meaning and value. We long to invest in something we perceive to be lasting - and this is not limited to so-called "religious" or "spiritual" work. Miroslav Volf offers an important axiom: "The significance of secular work depends upon the value of creation, and the value of creation depends upon its final destiny" (31). Creation and humanity will be restored and redeemed through the work of Christ. Through his resurrection, "everything" is placed under his feet - "there is no distinction between the spiritual and what is natural - everything is included in that work of the Lord" (65). The image used to describe the "new heavens and new earth" is that of a city: "Here a city, at best an ambivalent product of human work (Gen. 4:17), represents the future of God's and our new created reality" (75). Clearly, we must see work as a gift of God and the spiritual fruit of our created purpose as co-laborers with God: "For work in itself is a genuine form of life imaging God. It is an ever-open invitation to all to co-operate with God in his purposes" (135).
Moltmann's pneumatology, because it is rooted in Christ, is powerfully incarnational. "People who ask for the Holy Spirit to come to us - into our hearts, into the community we live in, and to our earth - don't want to flee into heaven or to be snatched away into the next world" (11-12). Instead, we desire that God's Spirit transform us into people empowered to do God's work in this world, with the clear hope of resurrection glory forever provoking us to persevere. Moltmann offers a beautiful image of the Holy Spirit as God's shining face upon us (13). Moltmann rejects a theology of the Spirit that calls us to disembodied inwardness. Instead, he calls us to a deeply incarnational experience of the Spirit: "It is not just our hearts that are born again. So are senses. We see the world 'with different eyes'. The enlightened powers of our understanding wake to knowledge of God. The liberated will seeks for conformity with God's Will. The beating heart experiences God's love, and through that love is warmed into love for life" (55). "The whole of bodily and earthly life becomes a spiritual experience when the Spirit of life lays hold of us and we are 'born anew'" (58). Non-sensuous spirituality that is hostile toward the body, removed from the world, and set against structures and organations bears no resemblance to the Jewish and Christian vitality that arises from living out of God's creative Spirit. Great book!
Berlinski is a self-professed "secular Jew" who responds to "new atheism." The new spate of books by authors such as Dawkins, Hitchens, and Harris may differ widely in their style but are identical in message: "Because scientific theories are true, religious beliefs must be false" (xii). Thus, the call to secular jihad against religion. Though science has much to contribute, it has nothing of value to say on the great questions of meaning, life, death, love, or God. We do not know with certainty if anything religion says on these matters is true, but we can be certain that the scientific community does not know that these religious assertions are false. No scientific explanation will satisfy our every emotional need. We need both science and religion to address the different questions each discipline raises.
One of my favorite theologians, Douglas John Hall, reflects on his long and fruitful life as a Christian theologian in Bound and Free: A Theologian's Journey. He describes the unique challenge of apprehending and communicating the Christian message: "At best, I could only stand under it, hoping for glimpses and intimations of a Truth that I could neither possess nor skillfully articulate" (xi). Hall reflects on a theologian's courage and foolhardiness, the centrality of the cross, the end of christendom, the need for robust ecumenical dialogue that is hospitable to all but refuses to lose its "scandal of particularity" in Jesus. He argues for a "thinking faith" - a "faith faith seeks understanding." For my extended reflection on Hall's thoughts on each of the topics above, click HERE
Johanna argues that Torah "can be understood only from within the experience of covenant" (1). God gives the Torah to God's covenant people: "the covenant bond addresses the question of identity, while torah responds to the question of how the community should conduct its life" (19). Put simply: "the covenant without torah is meaningless and torah without covenant is hopeless" (19). "Torah is considered to be God's special and exclusive gift to the Jewish people and is thought of as the source of its life" (6). Far too often, Christians assume that Torah is nothing more than antiquated laws, leading to legalistic religion. Johanna corrects our thinking. Torah is primarily about "instruction." "In Scripture it is assumed that the people taken into covenant by God are in need of divine instruction, that left to their own devices they would not know how to live a life that is reconciled both to God and the neighbor" (11). She reminds us that "the word often translated 'obey' in Hebrew primarily means 'listen'" (11). God calls his people to "listen and learn" (Deuteronomy 31:11-13). Outside of offering fascinating insights on the torah, Johanna highlights Israel's relationship with "aliens," "foreigners," and "strangers." In their engagement with these groups of people, the fact that the people of Israel "were once 'strangers in the land of Egypt' is a strong part of their identity ... It is remarkable that the appeal to personal experience of past suffering from hostile behavior of host to stranger became a motivation not for revenge but for avoiding the same behavior" (30). What made Jesus unique was not so much new teaching - his teaching was rooted in the torah - but his life: "The uniqueness of Jesus resides in that Christians believe he not only taught these Torah convictions but embodied them to the utmost, and that in his person the devotion of God for the world became uniquely manifest. It is the person rather than the teaching that is distinctive" (267). Great resource!
In her critical yet gracious overview of evangelicalism in America, Wicker argues that evangelicals of the religious-right variety are not nearly the threat that the popular media makes them out to be. The number of evangelicals are not nearly as large as reported. Most of the books have been "cooked." For various reasons, Wicker argues that we should reduce all reported numbers by 1/4th. At best, "evangelicals number 15 milliion adults, a large enough group to make a difference but in percentage terms a tiny proportion of Americans, and they are not growing enough to make a difference. Nonreligious people, whose numbers are rising, outnumbered them two to one in 2001" (93). Her conclusion: "We have been duped. Evangelical power is based not on large numbers but on two other attributes. The first is hot air wafted about by a compliant media, politicians who gain by exaggerating such numbers, and religious leaders interested in increasing their own power. The second attribute is organization. Even 7 percent of the population, if it is well organized, focused, cohesive, and has uniform beliefs, can be enough to deliver a national election" (93-94). Throughout the book, Wicker never treats evangelicals and their beliefs and actions in a condescending way. She admits some of the strengths of evangelicalism - whether they are rooted in reality or not. She confesses that evangelicals easily threaten others because of their sense of certainty which attacks the new identities of people who are learning to live with uncertainty. To support her reevaluation of evangelical numbers, she tells the story of individuals who have left evangelicalism. It is easy to sympathize with many of the stories. However, I found one person's statement to be self-contradictory: "I don't want to belong to any group claiming their way to God is superior to some other group's way" (133). The problem with this statement: She herself is now a group of one who claims that her way is superior to other ways. It is impossible to escape this, unless we wish to relativize every religious claim to the point that all are equally true or equally false. Then we deny either bad religion or reject the possibility of truth. Both are equally dangerous. Perhaps if Wicker could find a confident faith that is neither overly certain or totally condescending to other views - a faith that brings confidence but not arrogance, a humble faith that is content with the sidelines and doesn't need cultural approval to be authenticated. Perhaps if we could all find this, we wouldn't be worried so much about numbers and who's in and who's out, but about loving and just relationships toward all, regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof.
One dominant theme overrides all these short essays: Mamet holds the crews in film-making in the highest regard. Everyone else... not so much! He also playfully shares insights on the movie-making business, from script-writing to shooting to editing and final product. He summarizes drama as "a succession of scenes." He takes away the mystique of storytelling by offering this simple formula: "Each scene must end so that the hero is thwarted in pursuit of his goal - so that he... is forced to go on to the next scene to get what he wants" (85). At its most basic, "dramatic structure consists of the creation and deferment of hope" (111).
Campbell pursues a faith that is "justifiable as a respectable choice" (xi). Theists, atheists, and agnostics cannot escape belief. Campbell argues that "all three groups are believers. Atheists see our world and believe there is no god; theists see our world and believe there is a god; agnostics see our world and believe the evidence on either side is not good enough to decide about a god. All are believers. If atheists could prove beyond doubt that there was no god, agnostics and theists would be up that fabled creek in a barbed wire canoe without a paddle. If theists had a cast-iron case for certainty, atheists and agnostics would be in similar trouble. No one, no human being, escapes the necessity of belief, of living in the uncertainty of faith rather than the hard-and-fast belief certainy of knowledge" (3). In other words, "When pondering the ultimate, all of us are reduced to belief; none of us can lay claim to factual knowledge in relation to the ultimate issues" (25). Contrary to naysayers, theists generally don't believe in God because of a fuzzy feeling inside or because of a sense of weakness or dependence. Generally their belief in God "is based on a perception of the reality of what is" (17). "Many an atheist might claim that God is just a smart word for an absence of good reason. Perhaps it is not; perhaps God is a smart word for a reality that cannot be named any other way" (17-18). Campbell is skeptical about agnosticism: "Can human insides remain equally balanced on an issue as important as whether or not there is a god and the goodness of that god?" (23). He quotes Yann Martel, "Doubt is useful for a while. ... But we must move on. To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation" (23). Campbell offers profound reflections on faith as conviction, not certainty. The long quote on the opening page summarizes the entire book and is worth the price of the book alone: "Faith is commitment to a conviction for the best reasons available aware that it may be wrong. Spirit is within us, drawing us on; spirit is around us, in mountains, oceans, and rivers, in music, art, and song, drawing us out. The whisper of spirit is heard by us, interpreted in different ways or plain drowned out. Given all we know of our universe, a creator God must be vastly big, "utterly other," transcendent. Given belief in Jesus Christ, God has been present among us and has laid down his life for his friends, "utterly us." Belief that the God of our universe should be lovingly committed to each one of us in the simple ordinariness of our lives is almost scandalous -- or unbelievably wonderful (1 Cor 1.18-25 has both). The "utterly other" of a creator God is held together with the "utterly us" of Christ crucified. The whisper of spirit invites such faith. The phoenix church sustains such faith. There is a wonderful absurdity to Christian faith, weighed against the even greater absurdity of anything less."
This is one of the all-time greatest Justice League epics! Thrilling, moving, coherent, with character development, tragedy, comedy, and full-tilt action. To listen to the big three - Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman - all vote on who will be in the new Justice League is a blast. The villain behind it all does something unimaginably horrible to Red Tornado. And then Red Tornado counters with one of the best cous de gras ever! I immediately followed this up with Justice League of America Vol. 2: The Lightning Saga. It wasn't quite as good - but, then again, how could it be! - but it was very enjoyable. Long live the Justice League!
Lindsley speaks of the centrality of love to Jesus' message, not in general vague terms, but in concrete ways. He writes, "Love requires commitment, character, conscience, community and courage. ... Love is never sure apart from commitment. Love is never sane apart from conscience. Love is never safe apart from character. Love is never stimulated apart from community. Love is never seized apart from courage" (26). Throughout the book, he spars with atheism and New Age philosophies. Atheism, rooted in autonomy, does not require us to commit ourselves to anything. Atheists may do so, but not because their philosophy compels them. Likewise, nothing in New Age spirituality compels them to love. If everything is essentially one, then nothing need change. Why concern oneself with the environment, since the world is nondistinct and illusory? Furthermore, no objective self exists to love. There is no separate ego to love. In fact, the ego itself is an illusion. Christianity teaches that the world is real and good, though fallen, and that individuals are worthy of dignity, respect, and love. Christians may fall short of these truths, but their system calls them to a wholesome and firm love.
As the Western world loses its grip on the biblical narrative, other narratives arise in ascendence. Webber is particularly concerned about the growing Muslim population, especially in light of the fact that "of the forty-six Muslim majority nations in the world, only three are free" (14). Having lost our grip on a defining story, we are left only with the present self: "When the past is lost, as it now is in our Western world, there is nothing left to focus on except the self. We live in a culture of disbelief regarding our Christian heritage. However, when it comes to our personal well-being and future, we live in the culture of belief in the self" (17). Our situation is strikingly similar to the environment the early Christians found themselves in: "Christians in the Roman world found themselves in a cultural setting of moral decadence, philosophical relativism and religious pluralism. However, they narrated the world in a new way. They did not accommodate the faith to culture but set forth the faith in a countercultural way" (51). We should do the same! This is Webber's final book. Last year, he died of pancreatic cancer. Webber has been such a positive influence in my life and in the evangelical world. It is a shame that all the good in this book is partially obscured by its continued "face off between Islamic and Christian ideology" (102). I recommend his superior book, Ancient-Future Faith as a better introduction to Webber's thinking.
"House" and "home" are more prominent in the Bible than temple or church. When King David desired to build God a house, God replied, "Should you build me a house to dwell in?" Wendy reflects on the significance of this reply: "If God did not desire a personal house, where then did God wish to dwell?" (8). Wendy's conclusion is that God desires to inhabit all our lives, including our home life. Her stated desire is to integrate personal family life with shared Christian spiritual heritage. She invites us to affirm the sacramental quality of all life, and to see the face of God in all people, and the call of Christ to all people (16). Wright invites us to add "dwelling" to our collection of metaphors describing the Christian life: "Christians are familiar with the image of the spiritual life as a journey or pilgrimage or battle. ... What we lack as a Christian community is a language for the spiritual life that also speaks in terms of settled habitation. We need the freedom to imagine ourselves not only as 'journeying' but also as 'dwelling.' We need to see that we need not always enter new landscapes in order to grow in God and that we can also cultivate a settled space, making it richer and more inhabited with meaning. We do this in much the same way that we come to experience a home which over time holds within its walls a store of multilayered and telling memories communicating a wealth of insight" (16-17). There is a spiritual richness to "dwelling." Wright incorporates every aspect of a home to develop spiritual insights. For example, the doorway is a place of transitions - of receiving and letting go. The living room is a place of hospitality and shared life. Mirrors in bedrooms and bathrooms provide space for self-reflection. Windows allow us to look out upon the world and be open to it. The porch is the sacred place of contemplation upon which to consider the is-ness of things. Wendy provides a spiritual rich way to integrate Christian spirituality into the home and beyond. Highly recommended!
West is a fantastic guide to understanding contemporary Catholic thought. In the past, he has shed light on Pope John Paul's "theology of the body." In this book, he expounds on Pope Benedict's first encyclical, "God is Love." "Our world is saturated with sex but remains starved for love" (2). We have commodified eros by detaching it from agape. "Two thousand years ago, Christianity produced a "revolution of love" in the social order, not because it rejected eros in favor of agape, but because it purified and infused eros with agape" (5). The favored image of God's love used by saints and mystics is that of a bridegroom's love for his bride. West convincingly proves that the message of the Bible is about God's desire to love us, and have us love God in return. This truth is impressed in the "one flesh" union of husband and wife. "Our bodies... are not only biological; they are also theological (13). They communicate a great mystery about God's love. Marriage is a visible sign of the eternal divine mystery. In Christ, God's love takes human form. Christianity does not demonize but divinizes the human body. Therefore, "we do not need to shed our skin (as some world religions believe) to reach for the transcendent God. God took on our 'skin'--he became flesh--to meet us where we are" (23). This is a fantastic introduction to the idea of divine love expressed in and through human relationships. It offers great insights on marriage, dating, chastity, and fidelity. Highly recommended!
This book consists of a collection of essays that evaluate, analyze, and critique the 77 songs that appear most frequently on the Top 25 praise and worship song lists as reported by Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) between 1989 and 2005. Since these songs, by virtue of their popularity, have such a profound influence on our spiritual formation, it is well worth the time and effort to consider what these songs have to say about the great themes of the Christian faith. The current weaknesses in CWM include: the relative absence of Trinitarian language in regard to our understanding and experience of God, the loss of recounting God's story, a low regard for the church, an over-reliance on romantic ideals in our language of intimacy in worship, the lack of a social justice vision, and relatively few songs about human pain and suffering - these are all problematic in the large scope of Christian faith and practice. For my extended summary and reflections, click HERE.
Love is the key to understanding our relationship to God and one another. This book is a deep look at love through the lens of eros and agape. As Augustine taught, our loves must be rightly ordered. This order is not heirarchical or quantitative but qualitative. We love people differently. However, through love we identify with other people and desire their good. We cannot possibly love all people individually, but we can appreciate and value their individuality. God loves persons in particularly, not in general. No one is repeatable. "God's love is not an equalizing love. It does not treat us as though we were all equal in his sight and therefore able to replace each other in his affection. The whole point about persons is precisely that they are not equal. One is not as good as another. No human being is worth less than another in God's as another. No human being is worth less than another in God's but because each one is irreplaceable. In this way God's love for us is not impartial but partial in the sense in which partiality is a matter of looking to see what the special individuality of the other person really is and attending positively to it. God can have this kind of special love for each of his creatures" (211-212). This is our model: "The way in which God loves us is the perfect example on which we should try to pattern our love for each other. ... God's love of human beings can be understood as a supreme appreciation of the individuality of each person. Similarly, when we love our neighbours, we will imitate, in a necessarily incomplete fashion, God's appreciation of the individuality of each neighbour as a person (212). "What Christianity is really about is agape, that totally selfless love for which Christians had to find a name to distinguish it from all our human egoistic loves ... That is how God loves and so that is the sort of love we are to learn" (239). The book also offers profound insights on romantic love and self-love: "It is impossible to eliminate love of self... because God loves us, and we should cease to be like him if we ceased to love ourselves" (243). Though this is not an easy read, the reward is worth it.
Crump rejects Plato's god - the unmoved, unchanging, static god of the philosophers. This God is not allowed to feel or desire. To do so would spell disaster for the philosophical ideal of perfection: If God feels then God must be less than perfect, for to feel is to move up or down an emotional scale, which precludes a philosophical ideal of perfection: "In the Greek mind-set, passion was not merely emotion; it was emotion run-a-muck, counter productive emotional disturbance that obstructed the rational pursuit of beauty and truth" (32). Crump then treats four divine emotional expressions that often get short-changed: anger, disappointment, jealousy and weariness. God's anger is perfectly good. It is not mixed with distorted human emotions like fear, avarice, or envy. A God without anger could never be outraged by injustice. It is "the inevitable shadow cast by the protective pillar of love" (51). "[A]ny God who genuinely loved people would swell with protective indignation at anything that threatened their well-being, whether that threat originated from within themselves or something else" (52). In regard to grief and disappointment, God is "a God of relationship who desires both to love and to be loved freely. When that reciprocity fails to take place God is as broken hearted as the mother abandoned by her own children" (71-72). "The declaration of divine sorrow is the unveiling of God's disappointment over human rebellion, not that people have disobeyed some ethical standard or code of conduct, but that they have willfully rejected their Maker" (82). In regard to jealousy: Jealousy is considered to be a sign of emotional immaturity. Yet "the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God" (Exodus 34:14). Jealousy is "the protective reaction to some perceived threat to a valued relationship" (97). God is faithfully committed to our welfare, and desires that we respond in fidelity. Though we continually stray, "God never forgets to leave the porch light on and the front door unlocked" (113). Finally, God "grows tired, not from the physical exertion of creating a universe out of nothing, but from the emotional toll exacted by waiting for people who never--never!--keep their appointments" (119). This is a perfect weariness: "God also knows perfect weariness, the weariness of waiting, being stood up and rescheduling, waiting, being stood up and rescheduling, over and over and over again, until you finally face the fact that your date is never going to appear. Perfect weariness is not worn out from holding back anger but from being repeatedly ignored. Perfect weariness does not bark through gritted teeth but resigns itself to reality: the offer of love is never going to be reciprocated. God's pronouncement of final judgment will not be vindictive or spiteful. It will simply be time to acknowledge the facts" (125-126). The truth that God never changes refers to the fact that God is faithful to God's promises. It does not imply that God is static and unmoved. Moreover, it does not undermine the fact that God feels deeply, truly, and perfectly. This is a profound book and receives my highest recommendation!
Edward Hammett speaks of the "challenge to church growth and church health when it seems that satisfying the needs of one group creates barriers to reaching another group" (xii). Specifically, Hammett calls church leadership to devise "a well-thought-out and prayed-over plan to reach people under forty without losing or abusing those over sixty" (82). A good leader often finds herself "caught between at least two value systems, two worlds, two cultures, and two philosophies of church" - and that, simply from interacting with her own local congregation (9). This collision of past and future creates tension. For my extended summary click HERE and go to the bottom half of the article.
In this book Craig Van Gelder argues for listening to, learning from, and leaning on the Spirit of God who empowers the church for mission to the world. The church is both a creation of God's Spirit and an agent of God's Spirit. "The Spirit of God not only creates the church by calling it into existence, the Spirit of God also leads the church by sending it into the world to participate fully in God's mission in all of creation" (63). Using the categories of missiologist Leslie Newbigin, the author calls the church to participate in God's mission in the world by being a "sign, foretaste, and instrument" of God's reign. The church is "a sign that God's redemption is now present in the world, a foretaste of what that redemption is like, and an instrument to carry that message into every local context and to the ends of the earth" (19). For my extended summary and reflections, click HERE.
The stories of "Tevye the Dairyman" provided the basis for the musical, "Fiddler on the Roof." They are incredibly fun to read. Though they are different from the musical, one can see how this source material was imaginatively used. All our favorite characters - and more - are here. Tevye's relationship to God is incredibly realistic and full of dramatic tension. Tevye can't live with God, but also can't live without him. he constantly debates with God. Hillel Halkim writes in the introduction, "Even if God never answers, even if He never will, Tevy must go on debating with Him, for the minute he stops, his life has lost its meaning" (xxvii). Throughout the stories of his life, the scriptures - whether remembered accurately or distorted by Tevye - remain his constant companion, informing his life, giving meaning to his world. Tevye's greatest fault is his obsession to be rich. In one of the early stories, Tevye tells Sholem Aleichim, "If only you knew how badly, oh Lord, how really badly I wanted to be a rich Jew, if only for just a few days!" (34). Near the end of his life, after his wife has died and other daughters have married, his youngest daughter, Beilke, marries into a rich family, and yet is tragically unhappy. Tevye, sees this and exclaims, "Money is a lot of hooey anyway, just like the Bible says" (103). The rich family eventually goes broke and must escape to America, leaving Tevye to see that money is not all its cracked up to be. He proclaims how good a life his first and second daughter, Tsaytl and Hodl, have had, in spite of their poverty and trials. Finally, in the end, he reconciles with his third daughter, Chava. These are great stories, full of life, faith, dreams, hopes, and trials.
In contrast to the reigning myth, Star Trek was not the sole creation of Gene Roddenberry. In this book, Herb Solow, the Executive in Chart of Production of Star Trek and Bob Justman, Associate Producer of Star Trek, tell the story of Star Trek. Pitched by Gene Roddenberry as "Wagon Train to the stars" the series was produced by Lucille Ball's Desilu studios in an attempt to salvage the dying studio. After three years, Star Trek, the "first prime-time, adult science-fiction, color television series would be looked on as a gallant and expensive effort - that failed" (409). It would probably have been forgotten if not for its initial success in sydication on UHF stations during the 6:00 news hour, and then its continued syndication from 1972 and forward. Of course, we all know the rest of the story. It was interesting to read about Gene Roddenberry's endless womanizing. There is a reason that every woman on Star Trek is barely clothed and, generally speaking, serves as a sex-object in a boy's world. Before the series premiered, the network censors wanted to get rid of Spock, claiming that with his pointed ears he looked too demonic. Turns out that Spock was the most popular character on the series - surpassing even Captain Kirk. Throughout the life of the series, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy constantly argued over who the "real star" of Star Trek was. This was an interesting, entertaining, and insightful look at one of my all-time favorite TV series growing up. I'll never forget how excited I used to get while watching Star Trek!
What great fun! This book harkens back to the serial adventures of Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon. In this book, the hero, Captain Victor Corsaire, is completely and utterly heroic, even to the point of absurdity at times. And the villain, Space Vulture, is pure and utterly villainous - completely proud, self-absorbed, and incredibly powerful. Indeed, Space Vulture actually believes that the space zombies he creates from his conquered captives actually want to be his slaves, prefering his control over their lives in contrast to their own pathetic decisions. The book is even more fascinating in that it is written by two friends since childhood who share their love of science fiction/fantasy space opera. One of the friends is the current Archbishop of Newark, New Jersey. I had a great time reading this, and I hope, like all good space operas, that this is not the final adventure of Captain Corsaire or the ultimate demise of Space Vulture.
What a profound and moving depiction of the Apostle John in the latter years of his life. We pick up with the aged apostle John exiled on the island of Patmos with a small band of disciples, including Papias and Matthias. Every other apostle is gone, having died as a martyr. Only John is left. And even though enemies have tried to murder him, he resists death. Its as if he will remain alive until the promised return of Jesus. But what happens when Jesus' return doesn't arrive and John's disciples begin abandoning the faith, or worse, setting themselves up as heretical leaders, teaching of another Christ beside the unique Word-made-flesh - even claiming to be Christs themselves? This novel is filled with scripture as John reflects on his time as a young man with Jesus. It gives us a sense of what it might have been like during this difficult time of transition in the life of the church. It also helps us understand how Gnostic heresies may have arisen and why. Finally, it helps us see what it might have been like to love Jesus so deeply throughout one's entire life. Indeed, this is the reason the author wrote the book. He imagined how John, the youngest of Jesus' followers, must have spent the vast majority of his life. He writes in the "Author's Note": "This was a very old man who had met Jesus of Nazareth when he himself was still a youth. What would it be like? What would it be like to have the most profound experience of your life when you were that young, to have witnessed what he had witnessed and then be left alone in the aftermath?" (276). This book gave me a greater love for John's writings, Jesus, and the courage and integrity of the ancient church. It has never been easy to maintain one's faith in Christ and testimony of Christ's unique glory. The beauty of John's witness inspires me to stand firm in the faith. John's final vision in Chapter 38 - the final chapter of the book - is so inspiring! John is given a glimpse of the full significance of his life and actions throughout history and into eternity. I hope to read this chapter again when my own faith ebbs low.
I enjoy reading Lewis Black. This is certainly not for the sensitive of heart, those offended by vulgarities and profanities - or for those easily offended in any way. I found while reading this book, that I could relate to many of the things Lewis says about religion. He is not an atheist, but he is also not against religion. He simply mines it for all the humor it contains. Along the way, he offers many insights that made me feel that Black's interest in religion goes beyond satire and comedy - but I could be wrong. Again, not for everybody, but I certainly enjoyed reading this!
Clapp sees Johnny Cash as an iconic American poet who embodies all the contradictions of America: lonesomeness and community, holiness and hedonism, tradition and progress, guilt and innocence, and violence and peace. These contradictions have shaped America. Oftentimes, the consequence of embracing the contradictions leads to major personal and social problems. For example, in regard to lonesomeness and community: "As never before in our history, we prize individualistic liberty above all other goods, but we refuse to recognize that favoring this good so extremely may inhibit or even eliminate the realization of other goods. We want to be self-sufficient, yet loved and loving. We each want to do everything on our own terms, and yet simultaneously belong to a community. We desire our self-interested freedom from others above all things, and at the same time we want never to be lonely" (20). Country music allows people to "freely and openly confess their pain and need": "Cash's songs, like those of other country singers, are replete with complaints, wheedling, abjection, and weeping, entire litanies of misery and weakness induced by the vagaries of love, work, natural and humanmade disasters, God's silence, and so forth" (24). Johnny Cash once told Bob Dylan that Hank Williams's "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" was the saddest song he had ever heard. The steel guitar - a staple instrument in country music - whines, moans, laughs, and cries. Many sad country songs are about lost love. It is the social disadvantage of the average person that places the weight on love and sex: "When there is little or no hope for education or artistic pursuit, when holding political office is inconceivable, when work is soul-numbing drudgery with little dream of advancement, more weight rests on love and sex for the attainment of a life worthwhile and satisfying" (28). Because of his life-long career, the aged Cash was able, through his cover of Trent Reznor's "Hurt," to admit and regret the damage he had done throughout his life (42). Clapp shares similar insights on other American contradictions, while calling us to a more responsible and sane democracy. We certainly have our contradictions, but we can unite the extremes, like Cash did.
"What specifically is Christian about Christian ethics?" (10) In order to answer this question, the author interacts with three classic theories of ethics: deontology, teleology, and virtue ethics. As she interacts with each theory, she highlights the theory's strengths while also demonstrating how each theory falls short of a robust Christian ethic. Put simply, while each theory offers helpful guidance and provokes critical reflection, each theory must be filtered through a Christian worldview in order to fully ascertain its respective usefulness and shortcomings. For my extended summary, click HERE.
Leonard Sweet believes that good relationships are the key to a healthy, happy life. The most important question on our spiritual journey is, "Who do you have with you?" Jesus appointed twelve apostles to be "with him" (Mark 3:14). In a play on words, Sweet defines indispensable relationships as "withnesses" - "before the apostles could be 'witnesses to him,' they first had simply to 'be with him,' to be 'Withnesses'" (20). Sweet argues that we need at least 11 Withnesses as an entourage in our spiritual journey. Each fulfills a different role - editing, encouraging, mentoring, etc. No one person can meet all our needs. And we each fill different roles in different relationships. Sweet uses biblical examples of each of the 11 relationships and then offers great open-ended questions at the end of each chapter for discussion. The Spirit of God is the 12th relationship that remains true when all others fail. This book is a great resource for small group discussion. Highly recommended!
A strange, delightful superhero tale that is nearly impossible to summarize. Mix time machines, space machines, evil geniuses, parallel dimensions, beautiful superheroines, violent villains and one man caught in the strangest predicament aptly named Nobody, and you have a glimpse of what to expect in this story.
We leave behind "behavioral residue" that speaks volumes about us. This is at the heart of Gosling's "snooping": "much can be learned about people from the spaces they inhabit" (75). Ever since a Greek physician, Claudius Galen, studied the wounds of dead gladiators and concluded that one could ascertain a persons personality type based on the physiological basis of the presence of four bodily fluids ("An excess of blood resulted in the sanguine personality, too much black bile rendered you melancholic, too much yellow bile made you choleric, and phlegmatic individuals were thought to have an excess of, well, phlegm" 35), people have been proposing personality theories. Although Galen's science has not held up, his attempt to categorize people has. Gosling uses "the Big Five" traits - openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism - as his distinguishing categories. (For a good introduction, check out Sanjay Srivastava's brief essay at http://darkwing. uoregon.edu/~sanjay/bigfive.html or http://www.drj.virtualave.net/IPIP/ipipneo120.htm for an online test.) Incorporating research from Dan McAdams he demonstrates how our knowledge of another person grows over time. "What is it, in concrete terms, that we know after a thousand days of knowing someone that we did not know on day one?" (57). McAdams teaches that we progress through three distinct levels of intimacy. At the most superficial level, we use broad descriptors or traits to describe a person (she is dominant, extraverted, dramatic, moddy, intelligent, etc.) This information gives a knowledge of another in "broad brush strokes." Going deeper, we come to know an individual's "personal concerns." What are their hopes, regrets, fears, etc.? "Personal concerns provide the contextual details that are missing from traits" (59). They include roles, goals, skills, and values. This kind of intimacy is gained by sharing details through personal interaction. Gosling relates questions from Arthur Aron's "Sharing Game" to allow individuals to grow in intimacy. The third level is identity, which McAdams describes as "'an inner story of the self that integrates the reconstructed past, perceived present, and anticipated future to provide a life with unity, purpose, and meaning.' Thus, identity brings coherence to the different elements of our lives; it is the thread that ties the experiences of our oast, present, and future into one narrative" (66).
William Willimon describes his book as "an extended sermon on how to use salvation in a manner that is peculiarly Christian" (ix). According to Willimon, we not only need to rethink the question, "Who will be saved?" but also "What is salvation?" The reason: "we live in a conflicted supermarket of salvations that are based on very different ideas of what or who saves" (x). All without distinction are loved by God - a love that is wider, broader, deeper, and higher than we can possibly fathom. Our temptation will always be to sell it short, to whittle it down, to shrink it down to a size we can manage and control. On the contrary, we must humbly recognize that we cannot possibly comprehend the greatness and goodness of God's love. We dare not worry about being too compassionate or too hopeful. This is not possible in light of Jesus' teaching and saving actions. Jesus reveals to us the kind of God whose compassion and mercy break down - and break through - every human category and limitation. For my extended summary and reflections, click HERE.
God's peace does not come from knowing the "right answers" but by living the paradoxes of God's kingdom. "Jesus' paradoxes startle us by challenging our customary reasoning about life. They may initially seem nonsensical or logically inconsistent" (21). Taylor offers mature reflections on numerous kingdom paradoxes. I particularly like his quote on brokenness: "God uses broken things. Broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength." Jesus portrayed his own life as a piece of broken bread at his last supper with his disciples just before he was crucified. After breaking bread before them, Jesus said, "This is my body given for you" (Luke 22:19) (137).
A creed is a concise, formal, and authorized confession stating what a church believes and teaches. A creed attempts to summarize "the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). It expresses the conviction that "continuity with that faith is the essence of orthodoxy, and discontinuity with it the essence of heresy" (9). Creeds not only communicate doctrinal content and provide the basis for shared confession of faith, but also are liturgical, provoking and expressing praise, confession, adoration, and thanksgiving. Much that is unique to the Christian faith and practice would be lost without the presence of creeds. The church needs a corporate creed to bind its members together in confessing and practicing a shared faith. We cannot simply devise our own creed. We must confess together a shared faith in order to have a common witness to the life of salvation. For my extended summary of this great book, click HERE.
Lawyer David Grant has experienced lucid dreams his entire life. After spending the bulk of his years in the pursuit of women and wealth, he yearns for "the truth" about life. Through a strange meeting with a woman named Kat he is introduced into a hidden and ancient church of people who seek and train lucid dreamers to cross through the infinite universes and make contact with God in order to seek God's blessing. But the training Grant receives may lead him to insanity before it makes him a savior. This was an interesting and enjoyable novel. In its own right, the story was compelling. But it sure made me grateful for the fact that the Christian faith teaches that we have direct access to God through Christ and in the Spirit, and don't need to struggle through an endless series of metaphysical loopholes in order to get God's attention!
This is a fun collection of science fiction stories. My favorite was the title story that presented a world of immortals who spend their time in one of two ways - pursuing pleasure or pain. "The Compromise" was incredibly compelling. Overall, each story was like a watching a good Twilight Zone episode. Good leisure reading to pass an evening.
Written in 1977, this parody of superheroes set the pattern for upcoming stories about superheroes dealing with their own inadequacies, failures, and mortality. Mayer took superheroes beyond the adolescent male fantasy of ultimate power and the justification of brute force to solve problems, but into the realm of motivations, aspirations, and frustrations. The brooding, lonely, desperate superhero is now a common feature of superhero stories. But when Mayer wrote this, he was breaking new ground. This alone makes the book mandatory reading for a comics fan. But the book is genuinely good in its own right. It is laugh-out-loud funny at times, and is a good story as well.
We are all heroes of our own story. Therefore, it is difficult to tell who the real villains are. This is the story of five college students in Madison, Wisconsin, who instantly develop superpowers. Feeling responsible to use their powers for the common good, they run into accidents and moral difficulties. What does the existence of superheroes do to the rule of law? Superheroes generally do what they do outside the law. In one interview, a reporter challenges a hero: "What you're really saying is that because you're stronger than us, you don't have to live by the same rules" (209). In another great conversation, a superhero's father (who is a cop) defends the heroes to an arresting officer: "How are those kids different from the cops? They tried to help people and to stop crime. A couple of times people got hurt, but I'll bet their percentage was better than ours." The officer responds, "We're sanctioned, and we're accountable when we f**k up. Those kids have been running around in masks thinking their powers give them the right to do whatever they like. Just because they're stronger or faster doesn't mean the laws don't apply" (362). The existence of superheroes seems to create as many problems as it solves. "The world will not suffer to be put down in black and white" (189). The existence of superheroes, by necessity, seems to demand supervillains: "What is a superhero without a supervillain?" "A fool in tights" (193). "But in the end I guess we have to get by without heroes. Even the best of them is as human as the rest of us, and the only thing you can count on with humans is that they'll let you down eventually" (376).
This is an epic tale of courage in the midst of corruption. Devil's Cape, founded by a pirate, is a city filled with corruption. Through a desperate attempt by their father, two twins possess superpowers, and use them in diverse ways - one for good, the other for evil. The scope of this tale is on par with The Godfather. Like the recent movie, The Dark Knight, this book takes its superheroes seriously. Great read!
Among other things, Strausbaugh rants "about our pampered, lazy, end-of-empire and not-think, our craven consumerist conformism, our confusion about masculinity and sex, our culture of constant anxiety and manufactured panic, and the inherent stoopitness of groups all contributing to our Sissification" (105). He calls both liberals and conservatives to "buck up" and reject the sissification of society. He berates those who use "conversation-stopping Sissy tactics" of calling conversations "offensive" (liberals) or "politically correct" (conservatives) so that "neither has to think about what the other is saying. Neither is put in the embarrassing position of actually having to answer the other, to counter, to engage in actual debate" (20). For my extended summary of this book, click HERE.
This is a hit-or-miss collection of superhero stories. The highlights include: "Girl Reporter" - a story about how a superhero's first girlfriend is the one who really shows him how to be heroic, instead of just another smug, dopey guy with superpowers. "Manna Man" is a hero who diverts televangelist's pleas for money to organizations and people who really need the money. "The Rememberer" is a tragic story of a woman who literally remembers every single experience and cannot escape their influence on her life. "The Somewhat Super" is the story of a support group for people who possess powers that serve no practical purpose. Though there are some high points, this book is for the die-hard superhero fan only.
I grew up on Vonnegut. I always loved his humor. Slaughterhouse Five is one of my favorite books. Having recently read a couple of collections of short stories, I now appreciate Kurt Vonnegut's brilliance anew. This collection of short stories is consistent. Just about every story is clever and satisfying. "Harrison Bergeron" is a great story about the ludicrous attempt to try to force everyone to be "equal" - not in regard to human rights or opportunity, but in regard to talent and skill. In "Welcome to the Monkey House," a solution is devised to stop overpopulation through the invention of a pill that takes the pleasure out of sex. This is deemed ethical: "The pills were ethical because they didn't interfere with a person's ability to reproduce, which would have been unnatural and immoral. All the pills did was take every bit of pleasure out of sex. Thus did science and morals go hand in hand" (28). The moralists were afraid that "society would collapse if people used sex for nothing but pleasure" (35). In "The Euphio Question" a euphoriaphone is discovered that transmits a signal that keeps people completely and blissfully happy. The problem: society falls apart as people indulge in happiness. To further prove Vonnegut's brilliance, I finally have a rhyme for "orange," that is, "door hinge." This is a great collection of short stories!
For a Superman fan like me, reading the novelization of "Superman Returns" by Marv Wolfman has made me love the movie far more than I would otherwise. In some ways, I felt that the movie was a bit too reverent in its treatment of Superman. It tried to hard to be an homage to the first two movies, rather than a fresh exploration of Superman. It certainly did not communicate some of the essential themes that I picked up from the book. (Either that, or I simply am too dull, and missed them in the movie.) In both the book and movie, Superman experiences the loneliness of being the last son of Krypton. The loneliness is heightened by his unique abilities. Superman must come to accept earth as his "home." This is a main theme in the book. When Superman hears that Krypton still exists, he leaves earth for five years to find "home." What he finds is a dead and lifeless planet. He eventually comes to realize that earth is his true "home." This is underscored by the fact that the new Krypton that Lex Luthor creates in his ingenius plan is ultimately heaved into space by Superman. In this climactic act, Superman once and for all removes the weight of Krypton from his shoulders. Other new insights from the book: Lex Luthor actually hatches the scheme to deceive Superman into leaving earth in search of Krypton. Also, Lois' five-year old son, Jason, is not explicitly revealed to be Superman's son. Unlike the movie, he never shows any signs of superstrength. We are left to guess whether or not he is actually Superman's son (although the fact that he is five and Superman left five year ago would seem to imply this). The fact that Jason is Superman's son is played up more significantly in the movie, perhaps in order to give Superman a sense that he is not "alone" (rather than the emphasis being on the fact that earth is now his "home"). Almost all of the additional insights provided by this novel can be gleaned from the graphic novel, Superman Returns: The Prequels by Bryan Singer, Michael Dougherty, and Dan Harris.
Eros is immensely powerful. Though often ignored or undermined in Christian practice and ethics, eros love is at the heart of the Bible. Countryman notes that "the Bible begins with sex, which is the one feature of human existence that both creation narratives specifically mention. (Genesis 1 speaks of it in terms of procreation, Genesis 2 in terms of companionship. But they agree that it is intrinsic to our divinely created humanity.) You might also notice that the Bible ends sexually, with the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev 21)" (23). The passionate love poetry of "The Song of Songs" was one of the first biblical books to receive a full commentary by Origen. Though often interpreted primarily as an allegory of divine love, "there is nothing in the text itself that limits us to allegory" (25). "This does not therefore make the allegorical reading wrong. But it reminds us that even our allegorical reading is dependent for its power on the ordinary human experience of eros. If we cannot let Song of Songs speak of literal human love, it will lose its power to speak to us of the love of God. Here the Song's real importance to the Holy Scriptures and to Christian faith begins to become apparent. From first to last, the Bible portrays God as passionate" (25). The divine love is often expressed solely in agapic terms (agape is the love that seeks nothing in return, that wishes only to benefit the one loved). But God's love is not exclusively expressed in agape. God wants something from us - our love in return. Furthermore, Christian love should not be reduced to agape. "Even if such a love is conceivable in God, it is not in human beings. We are finite, not infinite. We have to be fed if we are to feed others. We rightly long for our love to be returned because that is how human beings transcend our individual isolation and come into communion with one another. This does not mean that we never give simply and without thought of return. Nor does it mean that we grasp at the love of others; indeed, such grasping destroys the very possibility of genuine love. But it does mean that we are not made to live forever in the state of pure, unrequited giving" (52-53).
Though the metaphor of "upgrading" is short-lived, the human experience of "upgrading" is not. We humans have been in the business of upgrading ourselves for millennia. Any time we use technology to transcend our human limitations, we are, in a sense, upgrading. According to Clegg, five things drive us to upgrade: (1) the desire to live longer and (2) to become more attractive to the opposite sex, (3) the attempt to better defend ourselves, (4) the desire to make the most of our brains and (5) the need to repair damaged bodies. Everything from armor to alchemy to memory-enhancing brain implants are covered in this book. Ray Kurzweil's vision of a future Singularity where we will transcend our humanity is extremely fascinating, even though highly unlikely. Kurzweil dreams of a time when the incorporation of nanotechnology and AI into the body will keep us functioning longer. Though we should probably refuse to have a jack implanted into our brain, we should not be overly suspicious of human "upgrading" because we have been doing this throughout human history. However, we should be suspicious in regard to some of the radical claims that are made. Many models of the future based on exponential growth patterns are not always reliable. The future is an open book, and never quite turns out as we expect.
The five practices of a fruitful congregation are: (1) Radical Hospitality; (2) Passionate Worship; (3) Intentional Faith Development; (4) Risk-Taking Mission and Service, and (5) Extravagant Generosity. These five practices naturally flow into one another: "These words capture the core process by which God uses congregations to make disciples--congregations offer the gracious invitation, welcome, and hospitality of Christ so that people experience a sense of belonging; God shapes souls and changes minds through worship, creating a desire to grow closer to Christ; God's Spirit nurtures people and matures faith through learning in community; with increased spiritual maturity, people discern God's call to help others through mission and service; and God inspires people to give generously of themselves so that others can receive the grace they have known" (7). The adjectives in the five practices - radical, passionate, intentional, risk-taking, and extravagant - "intensify them toward the unexpected and the exemplary" (9). We are not just talking about "friendly" hospitality, "helpful" service and mission, or "prudent" generosity. These bland and safe adjectives do a poor job of describing the ministry of Jesus. If these five practices are at the heart of a fruitful congregation - and they certainly seem to be - then the task of the church is to repeat, deepen, extend, teach, and improve these practices.
Dennis O'Neil knows his Batman and it comes through in his novelization of Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins. O'Neil provides a wealth of background material not included in the movie. He gives us insight into Ra's al Ghul's mind by presenting entries from his journal. We discover that Ra's has lived for centuries through the use of his "Lazarus Pit" and that he cannot sire a son. He looks to Bruce Wayne as a possible heir to his cause. We also discover that Ra's al Ghul's cause is not completely motivated by malevolent desires. He actually wants the best (in his opinion) for this world and finds the world in need of purging and purifying. O'Neil does a fantastic job of exploring the origin of almost every aspect we now associate with Batman - from batarangs to the batmobile. O'Neil knows this character well and this is evident in how this novel sheds light on the movie. Now, to see the movie again!
The language of desire and sexuality is the perferred metaphor for God's relationship with us and Christ's relationship with his church. As individuals we are a "deep emptiness" on our own. "We find ourselves incomplete. This incompleteness is the source of our search for wholeness or fulfillment. Armed with an infinite desire, we find ourselves in a world of finite objects" (42). We find ourselves facing "the tragic impossibility of destroying desire" (42), for to annihilate desire is to annihilate ourselves. "Love is a way of living desire. It becomes one with desire" (48). Though eros can be maddening, hurtful, and imprisoning if it causes us to remain in self-centered preoccupation with our own pleasure and desires, it can also be the deepest expression of intimacy with God: "This one thing necessary can be described as a going down to the deepest level of yourself, stripping yourself naked, complete abandonment to God, self-surrender - all of which are metaphors, ways of describing the gift of self and the ecstasy of communion between lovers" (137).
Mystics live with an outward gaze. "They live with their eyes fixed on God and their neighbor; they become Uving examples of what it means to love God with one's whole heart and mind and soul and to love one's neighbor as oneself" (1). The best mystics come to realize that "it is not self-imposed suffering that matters, but as with Christ himself, it is surrender to God's will out of love of God, whatever that will asks of us. That surrender brings its own pain and suffering because of our human condition and because of human sin" (3). It is for this reason that we read the mystics, for in their writings "we find... an articulation of intimacy with God" (4). The ascetism of the mystic attempts "to shatter the illusion that we are simply our bodies. Asceticism strives to break the body's hold on us so that the spiritual can break through" (81). The mystic realizes that "Love is full of joy, but love is also full of sorrow, the sorrow of separation and loss" (69).
This is a great introduction to current scholarship on the Pentateuch. It also provides very succinct, insightful, and practical overviews of each book. Great book - I'll be referring to it often in my series on the Pentateuch!
As always, Ratzinger offers fresh and compelling insights on creation, faith, humanity, and history.
In this book, authors Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker argue that Western Christians have abandoned a belief in Paradise's present existence in this world for a religion that focuses on the cross which, in their opinion, represents an affirmation of torture, the abuse of power and the condoning of violence. But must we reject the truth of Jesus' atoning work on the cross in order to fully embrace the significance of the incarnation and resurrection? Can't all these truths be held in redemptive tension without falling into misguided and abusive theories of atonement? Even more, doesn't the cross evidence that Jesus did more than simply establish paradise, but that he also did something about the very real problem of human sin? Though the cross, like all sacred truths, is prone to abuse, this is not guaranteed. Crucifixion does not assume the abuse of power or condoning of violence. Rightly understood, it exposes the abuses of power and condoning of violence that leads to such injustice. In other words, it makes plain human sin - personal, institutional, political, systemic, corporate, etc. For my extended evaluation of this book click HERE.
A physicist and a theologian discuss the relationship of science and religion. Their discussion is deep and insightful.
The media dramatically plays up the warfare between science and religion because controversy sells. But there are "more subtle and discriminating positions between the extremes of scientific materialism and biblical literalism" (10). Barbour speaks of four stances between science and religion: conflict, independence, dialogue, and integration. Since science and religion make claims about the same world, he advocates the stance of dialogue and integration in order to develop a more unified worldview. A difficult but fascinating book.
This classic fairy tale has it all. It is whimsical, fun, poetic at times, and downright fun to read. I imagine it would really be fun to read out loud.
MIT research assistant Matt Fuller accidentally discovers a time machine. However, it only goes forward, and each jump ahead is 12 times longer than the last. Matt eventually figures out how to travel forward in time, but each jump is exponentially larger, sending him into strange new worlds. Once forward, he desires to find a way back. This was a fun book.
I love reading Chuck. My love for Chuck began with Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto. It grew with Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota - a celebration of 80's heavy metal, cover bands, and tribute bands. I ate up Killing Yourself to Live - a book that recounts Chuck's "cross-country death trip" in 2003 to visit the locations of famous rock-star deaths. And then I completely enjoyed Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas. This book covers topics as diverse as Billy Joel, Britney Spears, a classic rock cruise with Journey, Styx, and REO Speedwagon, Goths in Disneyland Day, more tribute bands, and living seven days on an exclusive diet of McDonald's chicken nuggets. Now, I have read Chuck's latest book, Downtown Owl: A Novel in less than four hours. What an absolutely enjoyable read. I won't go into the details of the plot, but Chuck touches upon issues of identity - how we are all more alike than we recognize. He uncovers the secrets we keep and how - even after a lifetime - sometimes we don't even know ourselves. He identifies how we tend to miscommunicate and completely miss each other in discussions. He laments how we are often wrong about what we think we can do, or who we really are. And he grieves over how our failures often define us more than our accomplishments: "We are remembered for the totality of our accomplishments, but we are defined by the singularity of our greatest failure. It does not matter what you have been right about, and it does not matter how often that rightness is validated by others. We are what we cannot do" (261). Chuck also identifies that the way the public remembers the past - and creates heroes and villains - is rarely how things really are. This was a great book by one of my favorite authors!
After surviving an accident that should have taken his life and subsequently performing a few miracles, twelve year old Jodie Christianson must grapple with the fact that he may be the returned Jesus Christ. I can't say much more other than the twist ending to this graphic novel packs a wallop! It is refreshing to read a religious story that does not bash the Christian faith, but offers something fresh, interesting, and provocative.
Time travel stories hold tremendous potential to shed light on the meaning of human life - and this book hits a home run in this regard. Jeff Winston dies at age 43 only to rewaken in his eighteen-year-old body. He maintains all the memories of his life. He takes advantage of his knowledge of the future and through gambling and investments becomes a very wealthy man. However, happiness eludes him. He dies again at age 43, and the same thing occurs. This time around he decides to uncover the meaning of life, studying philosophy and seeking deep meaningful relationships. He dies again. He is frustrated that all his efforts ultimately are erased - coming to nothing. The third time around he lives a hedonistic lifestyle until he meets another "replayer." Each time around the cycle is shorter, because he awakens later in life. Though it initially seemed like he had forever - with an infinity of second chances - he realizes that he has squandered too much of the precious time granted him in bitterness, guilt, and futile quests. Will he uncover life's meaning before his time is ultimately up? In many ways, this book is about our own lives. Will we make the most of the opportunities we are given? Do we realize that even if we could do it all over again this would be no guarantee things would be better - only different? What do we do with happiness that is so frustratingly brief - a few "transient moments of love and contentment like vanishing specks of foam in a sea of lonely, needless separation"? Great book!
Currie calls us to seek faithfulness to Christ over usefulness. The gospel is not a tool to organize empire or provide therapy for self-realization. Like Mary in the presence of active Martha, we need to recover joy in our life together with Jesus before we seek usefulness. This joy "is the true promise of the gospel and the true life of the church" (2). It is easy to substitute "business" for "faithfulness." Worship matters. And who we worship has profound significance in our lives. Worship confronts us with the question, "Whose world is it, after all?" In contrast with those who seek to separate faith from important issues, this question - "Whose world is it?" - underlies nearly every public issue we face. And worship does not "solve" the problems, but names them. "Worship is not oriented toward 'problem-solving' but rather toward faithful living in the midst of 'problems' that are not so much 'solved' as they are named" (13). Therefore, "the most obvious political question - Who governs? - becomes at its heart, the most unobvious theological question - Whom do we worship?" (13). This is a great, profound, provocative book! For a more, indepth summary, click HERE.
In this mystery thriller, Meltzer unites two of my favorite things - the stories of the Bible and Superman. The story revolves around numerous forces - both good and bad - seeking to find the weapon that Cain used to murder Abel. The weapon - or the Book of Lies or Book of Truth associated with it - may grant eternal life. All of this is connected to Jerry Siegel's creation of Superman after his father's mysterious death. Sure, it sounds convoluted, but it was a quick fun read.
This book is an extended reflection on the joy of ministry. Currie reflects upon a time a fellow pastor asked him, "Isn't ministry wonderful?" This caused Currie to reevaluate his view of ministry and no longer think of it in terms of his weariness but "in terms of the gift and the task of pointing to Jesus Christ" (x). Ministry is hard and sometimes discouraging, but it is also filled with many occasions of joy. Remembering the joy elevates ministry from a mere duty to a supreme delight. Currie argues that "[w]e have grown busy but not joyful" (5). Joy does not refer to fun and relaxation. Instead, it is the Christian answer to life. For more great thoughts and quotes from this book click HERE.
In need of gas money, Duke and Earl pull into Gil's All Night Diner for a bite to eat. They meet Loretta, the owner, who offers them one hundred dollars to take care of her zombie problem. A growing number of zombies are attacking her diner. This is right up Duke and Earl's alley because Duke is a werewolf and Earl is a vampire. But there is more going on than mere zombie attacks. This may sound crazy, but it is crazy fun! I had a great time reading this guilty pleasure!
In his book, Andy Crouch calls Christians "toward new, and also very old, directions for understanding our calling in culture" (10). Culture is "what we make of the world" (23). "Culture is, first of all, the name for our relentless, restless human effort to take the world as it's given to us and make something else" (23). Culture is good, a gift of God. The goodness of culture is emphasized at both ends of the biblical story - its origin is found in the Genesis account and its destiny revealed in the book of Revelation. In both cases, culture plays a more prominent role than many people think. In Genesis 2, God places our first parents in the Garden. It is here that culture begins, for "a garden, of course, is not just nature: it is nature plus culture" (107). The garden is God's gift. Our first parents must now "make something of the world." It is crucial to realize that "culture begins, just as human beings begin, in the realm of created blessing. The beginning of culture and the beginning of humanity are one and the same because culture is what we were made to do" (36). For a much larger summary and reflection on this book, click HERE.
Heath argues that evangelism would benefit from an encounter with the mystics, who took seriously the call to inwardly live in the presence of God and outwardly manifest holy love to neighbor. She calls us to incorporate the ancient pattern of purgation, illumination, and union in our corporate spirituality. I found the insights of the first half of the book very helpful. The second half -which I found less helpful - attempts to put these truths in practice through a narrative.
Every 500 years or so, the church holds a rummage sale as it experiences renovation. The Fall of Rome, the Great Schism, the Great Reformation, and now, the Great Emergence mark the 500-year periods so far. Surprisingly, older expressions of Christian faith are not destroyed by these semi-millennial eruptions, but actually adapted and updated, and Christianity has grown and spread as a result. Tickle overviews the religious, political, and societal contexts that erupted in each 500-year shift. She then explains a quadrant chart that provides an overview of the major Christian traditions and what is emerging. I'm glad that I heard Phyllis lecture on this material before I read the book, because I don't think I would have understood the book apart from this. You can check out my notes from her lecture by clicking here: Notes from the National Pastor's Convention 2007 and scrolling down to the header: 21st Century Church - Phyllis Tickle.
Does Jane Charlotte really work for a secret organization devoted to fighting evil, or is she simply suffering paranoid delusions? In this book, we hear Jane's testimony from a psychiatric institution. I enjoyed this romp.
One of the best Superman stories of all time. It asks the question, what would happen if Superman landed in Russia rather than the US. How would this impact Superman's sense of justice? What would this do to Lex Luther? This was a thoroughly satisfying tale. Great for Superman fans and non-Superman fans alike!
We are what we eat. The question is, Are we hungry for God? Humankind exists as a priest who has the responsibility to receive the world from God and offer it to God. The world does not exist as an end in itself, but as a sacrament of God's presence. When we recognize this, we live according to God's intention: "When we see the world as an end in itself, everything becomes itself a value and consequently loses all value, because only in God is found the meaning (value) of everything, and the world is meaningful only when it is the 'sacrament' of God's presence" (17). The original sin is not disobedience, but ceasing to be hungry for God - relating to the world as mere material, rather than a sacrament of the divine presence. The world does not contain within itself its own meaning. Secularism is a lie about the world - to live in the world as if there is no God. "[B]ut honesty to the Gospel, to the whole Christian tradition, to the experience of every saint and every word of Christian liturgy demands exactly the opposite: to live in the world seeing everything in it as a revelation of God, a sign of His presence, the joy of His coming, the call to communion with Him, the hope for fulfillment in Him" (112). This is a profound look at the significance of the Christian tradition and liturgy. I am not surprised that it takes an Orthodox Christian to shed light on profound truths. I have encountered this again and again. This book is so deep, I will certainly read it again!
Voracious readers know how one book leads to another. In a footnote in Phyllis Tickle's The Great Emergence, she recommends this book as the best succinct statement of progressive Christianity out there. That's all I needed. I took her recommendation and purchased and devoured this book. And I'm glad I did. You can read the Phoenix Affirmations online. This book is an extended reflection on each affirmation. The Affirmations will hold particular interest for those fed up with fundamentalist expressions of Christianity and yearning for a broader and deeper expression of the Christian faith.
In this book, Wicks offers a way of spiritual formation that incorporates the wisdom of the desert fathers and mothers. "What sets the [the desert fathers and mothers] apart from so much of patristic literature is that they speak from and to experience rather than text or theory; they are practical rather than intellectual" (125). In the landscape of the desert they received an uncluttered view of themselves, and could set out to destroy illusion and deception. Wicks invites us to enter the narrow gates of passion, knowledge, and humility in order to grow in wisdom and purity of heart. We need humility in order to be honest with ourselves and transparent to others: "A true spirit of humility helps us to see our gifts and growing edges with a sense of equanimity. True humility helps us let go of our sense of entitlement, rejoice, and be grateful for all material and personal gifts we have been given in life--especially the gift of who we are... when we are truly honest about our gifts we also can simultaneously see our 'sins' or defensive areas. Our lives become transparent" (76). Wicks encourages us to seek out spiritual mentors not only for insight, but because we tend to be too hard on ourselves. A truly holy person will make us feel holy as well. This is a short, sweet, and helpful book.
Barker's novel is well-written with strong characters. He possesses the talent of communicating a "creep" factor in his writing. His descriptions are often graphic and visceral and add to the horror.
Robert M. Price possesses two theological degrees, has taught world religions to college students, ministered as a parish priest to a progressive congregation, and writes and edits fantasy fiction. He is therefore uniquely qualified to assess and critique current spiritual fads and pop mysticisms. Many of today's pop mysticisms affirm some aspect of a system commonly called "New Thought." New Thought has its origins "in nineteenth-century America with Phineas Parkhurst Quimby and Mary Baker Eddy, inspired in some measure by Ralph Waldo Emerson" (21). New Thought should not be confused with New Age beliefs and practices: "[O]ne may embrace New Thought belief without accepting the larger worldview of the New Age (including pyramids, reincarnation, sunken continents, crystals, channeling, flying saucers, etc.), so may one learn much from New Thought without imbibing the philosophical assumptions its advocates have used to support it" (21). Though he hints at it along the way, by the end of the book it is clear that Price is an advocate of New Thought. The previous paragraph summarizes his convictions. He embraces New Thought but rejects its metaphysical wrappings. The last thing he wants is to be labeled as New Ager. To Price, the insights of New Thought have to do with psychological insights and not metaphysical systems. Price wants nothing to do with a metaphysic that would introduce a genuine spiritual element to the equation. This would undermine his commitment to modern rationalism. Seeking to save the husk of the truth while removing the metaphysical shell, Price begins to assess and critique pop mysticisms. For my extended summary of this helpful book, click HERE.
This is my second Martinez novel this month. I enjoyed this just as much as Gil's All Fright Diner. Nessy tends the castle of the wizard Margle the Horrendous. When Margle dies, she is left to tend to the castle and its host of cursed victims of Margle's magic. She approaches her new problems with the same determination and quiet confidence with which she executed her tasks under Margle. But when she can no longer rely on trusted routines, she must grow in confidence of herself and her abilities. Under her care, she brings a compassion to Margle's merciless household. Martinez's imagination and wit are extremely entertaining, as evidenced in the fun dialogue. Unlike Gil's All Fright Diner, this book has no foul language or sex, and thus this book would be great for teens who enjoy imaginative flights of fancy with a dose of humor and a few lessons on compassion, mercy, and community thrown in.
Frank Cotton cannot squeeze enough pleasure out of life. He lives for pleasure. Pleasure is his god, and his god doesn't deliver. So he longs forbidden occult pleasures that will "redefine the parameters of sensation" and "release him from the dull round of desire, seduction and disappointment that had dogged him from late adolescence" (5). By manipulating the puzzle of Lamarchand's box he creates a gate for the Cenobites to enter his world. But the pleasure they revel in is torturous pain. Scars and punctures cover their bodies. In them "he saw nothing of joy, or even humanity, in their maimed faces: only desperation, and an appetites that made his bowels ache to be voided" (7). This is the book that was the basis for the movie Hellraiser. It is a chilling look at the destructiveness of unchecked lust. Some people find it funny that I love horror so much, but this book is a perfect example of why I do. Horror is really nothing more than simplified morality tales. In this case, Frank Cotton's selfishness is his own undoing. In one passage, we discover how shriveled his soul actually is: "he had encountered nothing in his life - no person, no state of mind or body - he wanted sufficiently to suffer even passing discomfort for" (59). The hedonist meets a fitting and hellish demise.
Barker is graphic and visceral in his writing style. If this were the extent of his abilities, I would not be interested. But Barker tells great stories, as well. This is a collection of Barker's earlier stories. He comments in the Introduction on how these stories contain little redemption. But sometimes, this is what horror does best. It makes us face the consequences of transgression.
Another alien craft crash lands in Metropolis with a small Krytonian boy. Superman takes special interest in the boy and names him Christopher. Unfortunately, the boy turns out to be General Zod's son sent from the Phantom Zone. But will the son be like the father, or like Superman? I enjoyed this graphic novel.
In this book, the novelist Anne Rice, the author of Interview with the Vampire, tells the story about her path to God. As an adult she abandoned her faith and declared herself an atheist. Researching history for her novels began to lay the ground for her return to faith: "The more I read of history--any history--the more my atheism became shaky. History, as well as Creation, was talking to me about God. The great personalities of history were talking to me about God" (148). Another breakthrough occurred when she realized that she didn't need to have all the answers to come to God - she simply needed to trust that God had the answers. For my extended summary, click HERE.
In the Foreward, Mike Higton writes that "this book provides a solid training in how to think theologically" (x). I completely concur. Even though a relationship with God is greater than our propositions, it is not devoid of propositions. Theology is the attempt to reflect upon God, our relationship to God, and how we view life in light of this relationship. As such, theology is like a plank - "There are no handrails to grasp" - but we must walk on it nonetheless. Fabricus' aim is not "to be systematic or comprehensive, but mischievously suggestive" (xv). He certainly succeeds. He offers ten propositions on various themes from Trinity to Theodicy, Pacifism to Same-Sex Relationships, Heresy to Hell. Here's a great example of Fabricus' playfulness: "Heresy is, as Rowan Williams puts it, the "near-misses"--which actually help guide the church towards the target... Heretics like a "wrap," and heresies are fastidiously neat and tidy, the product of minds stuck inside the box of common sense. "Consistency," said Oscar Wilde, "is the last refuge of the unimaginative." Unsurprisingly, then, heresy is aesthetically unattractive, even ugly... Heretics are one-eyed, they lack the "vision thing": failing to see the bigger picture, they take the part for the whole. That is why heresy is inevitably rather boring. Heretics have no sense of adventure; they go only so far, they won't go "all the way." You could say they are theological prudes, often wearing philosophical chastity belts, who resist being ravished by revelation... Heresy is uncomfortable with the oddness of God" (181, 182). This is a great book to inspire deep thoughts. As an added bonus, Fabricus begins each chapter with a poem, that more often than not, is just as enlightening as the propositions to follow.
Corduan provides a helpful contrast between Christianity and major world religions. Though Corduan's sensibilities are more conservative than mine, I still found his analysis helpful. It is naive and dishonoring to world religions to claim that they are all essentially the same - all, as John Hick suggests, equally imperfect. Nor are they completely different. They overlap in areas, while retaining unique qualities. Corduan compares Christian concepts of revelation, scripture, morality, creation, redemption, and eschatology with that of other world religions. The uniqueness of Christianity is emphasized.
This book presents an overview of Pope Benedict's theology that revolves around the theme of joy. Benedict believes that the "pastoral ministry, in all its dimensions, is, ultimately, 'a service to joy, to God's joy which longs to break into the world' (2). The first word of the Gospel is an invitation to Joy. The angel says to Mary, "Rejoice!" (Luke 1:28). The angels proclaim "good news of great joy for all people" (Luke 2:10). What is joy? "Authentic joy is not something flippant, transient, or superficial, nor is it a mere feeling of euphoria that can be generated at will or by engaging in the various forms of pleasure or entertainment that today's world has to offer. Rather, it is an abiding God-given reality, a 'fruit of the Holy Spirit' (see Gal 5:22), characterized by profound serenity and inner peace, which flows from allowing oneself to be embraced by God's love and is capable of withstanding all the trials and tribulations of life" (3). The gospel "reveals the path to the lasting joy that satisfies the deepest needs of the human heart" (3). Joy cannot be found without wrestling with the big questions of life: "Meaning and joy are closely connected: there can be true joy only if man knows that his life has meaning, and such knowledge, in turn, gives rise to inner harmony, joy and peace" (37). Joy comes from knowing we are deeply and personally loved and that our lives matter. Only faith's embrace of the gospel's revelation of God's eternal love brings true and lasting joy. For this reason, agnosticism cannot satisfy: "Agnosticism, though initially appealing because of its lack of dogmatic commitment and its recognition of the limits of human scientific knowing, is no solution to the God-question. The thirst for the infinite is an essential dimension of human nature. We cannot simply put aside the fundamental questions (Where do I come from? Where am I going? What is the measure of my being?) as though they did not impinge on everyday life. The question of God is, in fact, eminently practical, because it affects all spheres of life. While one could accept agnosticism as a theoretical position, in practice we must decide between one of two possibilities: to live as though God exists or to live as though he does not. Hence, the question of God is not a neutral one, for the way we live our lives depends on our answer to it" (63). The gospel reveals that humankind is not absurd: "Man, then, may no longer be considered absurd, he is not deprived of consolation, and so we can rejoice. God loves us so much that his love became and remains flesh" (130). Thus, "The message of joy, which is at the heart of Christianity, is a message about meaning and about love: man's life has meaning because he is loved by the one love that can never fail" (206). This is a profound book that demonstrates the depths of Benedict's theology and - even more importantly - the joy of the gospel.
Stuntmen spend their lives planning accidents. This demands careful planning, preparation, and a little bit of luck. Stuntment must walk the line between gutsy and idiot (think Jackass: The Movie). Movie producers don't want loose cannons, but they do want tough technicians. And the wilder the stunts (called "gags" on the set), the more the pay and the greater the reputation. One stuntment speaks of breaking into the business: "The wilder it [the gag] was, the more points you got from the guys hiring you. So the next time a real nasty thing came up, they'd give you a chance. They were also testing you: are you going to be a whiner or are you going to touch up and do the job? And if you hit the ground wrong and get smacked really good, are you going to get up and do it again?" (139). He then speaks of friends who have continued to work with broken legs, separated shoulders, and fractured backs. Stuntmen seek to engineer safe gags by reducing risks - but "reducing risk does not necessarily mean eliminating pain" (191). The book concludes at the Taurus World Stunt Awards, where the author notices that just about every walks with a limp. I'll never look at another "gag" the same way again. By the way: As I was reading I couldn't help but notice the overlap with faithful Christian ministry, especially in regard to constantly getting up when one is down, and how all good leaders walk with a limp.
"When I am grateful, I acknowledge that I have received a gift, I recognize the value of that gift, and I appreciate the intentions of the donor" (3). Emmons provides an insightful reflection on the nature of gratitude, obstacles to gratitude, and practices to nurture gratitude. My Thanksgiving sermon this year - In Everything, Give Thanks - is greatly indebted to thoughts inspired by this book.
Having experienced disappointment with King's last two novels, I am pleased to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this new collection of short stories. I particularly like the tale of wandering ghosts coming to grips with their demise, the story of a nightmare that comes true, King's tribute to Arthur Machen's classic horror story, The Great God Pan. The highlight of the book - and the most grotesque story - is the tale of escaping a porta-potty titled A Very Tight Place. It doesn't take too much imagination to consider where this story may lead. In his notes, King admits that he even grossed out himself while writing it. These highlights are not exceptions. There is no filler here. Each story is good.
Ronald Rolheiser has put together a fine book on the church's engagement with secularity that is carefully nuanced in order to deal with the complexity of secularity. What is secularity? "Secularity is a term coined (c. 1850) to denote a system which sought to order and interpret life on principles taken solely from this world, without recourse to belief in God and a future world. Given this background, the term today more generally designates the tendency to ignore, if not to deny, the principles of supernatural religion" (39). In spite of its philosophical stance, secularity is not automatically the enemy of the church or faith. Oftentimes, its response to faith and religion is not hostile, but mixed, ambiguous, or indifferent. Possible attitudes of secular cultures to religion run the gamut from hostility ("The sooner the churches are eliminated, the better!") to intellectual condescension ("These poor folks still actually believe in another world!"), to indifference ("God, faith, and the church are a non-factor!"), to a positive, vital relationship that looks to God, faith, and church to be key players in the search for wholeness, peace, and security in a post-September 11, postmodern, and post-secure world ("Today we need God, faith, and the churches more than ever!") (40-41). Because of the complexities of secularity, the church's response to the challenge of secularity must be nuanced. Secularity is not our enemy, but the child of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but like an immature adolescent, it often fails to appreciate what it has drawn from its parents. Critics of secularity must not forget its relative strengths. We dwell in a secular world, but we believe in a sacramental world - a world alive in God, created by God for God. We believe that the meaning of the world is not found within the world but beyond the world in God. The gospel is about God invading our world in Christ. The gospel will always clash with secularity. Reason is not the ultimate authority. Matter is not all that matters. And yet in spite of its extremes, secularity has much to commend it. We then, would do well, to affirm its positives, while critiquing its negatives. We do this by negotiating the difficult stance of being "in the world but not of the world." For my extended summary click HERE.
Simplistically speaking, there are two Christianities in America: (1) Moderate to Progressive Christians who actively participate in the dominant culture, and (2) Conservative Evangelical or Fundamentalist Christians who primarily consume "Christian" culture. In the latter case, Christian does not refer to "theological content but instead points to what is absent: profanity, homosexuals, liberals, uncertainty - basically anything that would challenge a particular worldview" (82). It is a culture "which is clean, smug, overly groomed, socially conservative, and above all wrapped in super-duper positive thinking" (83). The programming of Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is a good example of the latter type of Christianity. In order to better understand this world, Nadia, a young Lutheran pastor, sat through 24 straight hours of TBN Broadcasting. At the beginning of her experiment, her comments are harsh and critical. Over time, however, she begins to put the microscope on herself and her tradition. But first, a few of her observations: She realizes that TV preachers cannot be interrupted by flesh-and-blood parishioners, and therefore, they have the luxury of avoiding the complicated lives of real people. This explains their simplistic theology. She notes that prosperity theology is an accommodation to American consumerism - salvation, identity, comfort, and security through stuff. Many of the shows are like infomercials, except they come with God's endorsement. A lot of emphasis is placed on "sowing" (that is, financial giving). Tithing is viewed as an investment rather than a sacrifice. She argues that tithing should not be about getting back more on our investment, but on giving ourselves away for the sake of others. However, for all her condemnation of fund-raising, she recognizes that all preachers - including her and her husband - live off the generous giving of others. Likewise, liberals (like herself) rarely consider how PBS and NPR pledge drives are hardly different from religious fund-raising. Finally, she notes how the label "Christian" is relatively meaningless in the Christian Industial Complex. Sadly, little is said of Jesus in relationship to his incarnation, life, teachings, passion, cross, and resurrection and how these things inform our view of God. Instead, the name of Jesus is bandied about as a talisman. In spite of all these criticisms, she does find some good mixed in with all the bad. She is forced to ask questions like: Could God be at work in both Christian communities? Is God's redemptive work only limited to those who get their theology right? When we pray for God to work through us sinners, do we also include our theological others? In the end, she learns the lesson of Jonah, that is, that God doesn't hate whom we hate. Hate will consume us if we do nothing about it. She wonders, "Is TBN my Nineveh? I don't want God to bless this ridiculous 'ministry' which stands for so much that I can't stand" (160). And yet, God may bless it nonetheless. This is an interesting and insightful look at TBN, made more enjoyable because Nadia is not only willing to criticize TBN, but also herself.
Cioran is one disturbed individual, and he wishes to spread his madness. Cioran is a true nihilist. He believes in nothing. To Cioran, all philosophies are equally insignificant, nothing more than mankind's desperate attempts to create meaning in a meaningless world. The only purpose of philosophy is that is "masks our inner torments" (27). Only nothingness endures, and it will swallow us all forever (67). And the irrationality at the core of the universe is infinite, and thus, inescapable. Cioran is trapped in a world without meaning, without hope. Nothing can be commended, nothing condemned.If nothing is wrong, then nothing is right. If no belief is better than any other, then no belief really matters in the first place. If the search for truth is simply a way to "mask our inner torments" then everything is a lie, and nothing really matters. The only ultimate reality is death. Nothingness is eternal. Death is infinite. Death is ultimate. Death is reality. Life, on the other hand, is madness. The few vain years we spend upon this earth are nothing more than a desperate attempt to veil the madness through meaningless philosophies. For my extended reflections on Cioran and his similarities to the Joker (yes, Batman's archenemy), click HERE.
It was eerie to read this book, because Mark Barrowcliffe is my doppleganger. We are the same age, and experienced many of the same things growing up. And I cannot say this about most people, primarily because most people did not share my adolescent obsession with role-playing games. From sixth grade until my Junior year of High School (when I discovered drugs and basement bands), I was obsessed with wargames and role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, Runequest, Tunnels & Trolls, Traveller, Bushido, Ogre, and more. Every weekend I and three other friends would visit each other's houses (or, better, spend the night) and play games until dawn's early light. It was at my friend's that I discovered the conceptual art-rock of Rush 2112. (To this day, progressive rock is my preferred genre.) We played the album over and over while we played Runequest. With this group, I skipped school and bicycled from the West to the East side of Indianapolis to visit a gamer's shop. I purchased games online. I designed dungeons. I could go on, but you get my point. Barrowcliffe's observations on his own life and gaming experience resonate with me. He astutely recognizes that "D&D involved a wholesale rejection of cool and a celebration of things that were, to the average schoolboy, utterly naff" (75). Girlfriends, fashion, sports - none of this mattered. (And perhaps one of the reasons my friends and I were so devoted to gamers was that we couldn't play sports or find a girlfriend. Or perhaps its the other way around: because we were so devoted to gaming, we didn't have time for sports or girlfriends. It all depends on where you put the emphasis.) Barrowcliffe offers this observation regarding why role-playing games were so popular with young boys: "They provided a trellis work for the imagination to climb upon and thrive. Unsupported, your dreams can wither; backed up by rules, pictures, model figures and the input of others, there's no end to the amount of brain space they can consume" (139). Unless you are familiar with gaming, it is nearly impossible to communicate the amount and depth of the rules. Whole volumes of books were devoted to rules! Barrowcliffe points out how the uniqueness of the story-telling style and participation in D&D is virtually unprecedented in human history and accords with our basic human need to listen to and tell stories: "It's a story you can listen to at the same time as telling it. You can be surprised by the plot's twists and turns, but you can surprise too. It's more interactive than any other sort of narrative I can think of... This is why D&D is so addictive when it's played right. It's like the best story you've ever read combined with the charge a good storyteller feels as he plays his audience" (139-140). I don't regret my devotion to D&D, but now I understand how my love for it shaped my life and my tastes. From the beginning, I was into an alternative way of viewing things and had no problem rejecting the status quo and longing for more.
Balthasar is deep. I realize he is opposing the dominant philosophy that revels in speculative objectivity rather than subjective appropriation and participation, that is, that discovers truth through personal love. And I think I agree with him. But I can hardly understand him. It's certainly my fault, and not his. Here's one quote that made more sense than most: "faith is ordered primarily to the inconceivability of God's love... This is the sole object... of faith, as the Christian creed expresses it. Love alone is credible; nothing else can be believed, and nothing else ought to be believed. This is the achievement, the "work" of faith: to recognize this absolute prius, which nothing else can surpass; to believe that there is such a thing as love, absolute love, and that there is nothing higher or greater than it; to believe against all the evidence of experience, against every 'rational' concept of God, which thinks of him in terms of impassibility or, at best, totally pure goodness, but not in terms of this inconceivable and senseless act of love" (101-102).
The scriptures clearly refer to the wrath of God (e.g. Nahum 1:6; Jeremiah 10:10; Psalm 90:7-10; Romans 1:26-28). Is God furious at the world? Is God's stance toward the world hostile, filled with bitter enmity? Are we sinners in the hands of an angry God? The Orthodox answer to all three questions is "No." God does not have a hostile attitude toward the world. We may be hostile toward God, but God is not hostile to us. Instead, God loves us. Furthermore, the cross of Christ has nothing to do with "satisfying" God's wrath, but rather, is a clear expression of God's love. "The Cross does not presuppose the hostility but the love of God. 'For God so loved the world...'" (vii). Despite the passages that speak of God's wrath, "the anger of God is not portrayed in the Bible as a fundamental attribute of God, but rather as something transient" (4). For my extended summary of Coniaris' arguments, click HERE.
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