Book Reviews

Takeaway: Understanding your own Christian background can help you better understand other Christians.

I have barely posted this year. I have been both too busy and a bit burned out. I really enjoy reading theology and Christian living books, but there is a sense in which there really does seem to be ‘nothing new under the sun.’ And so I have been reading several Catholic books. They tell the Christian story at a slight slant (to use Eugene Peterson’s phrase) that allows me to see my faith in a different perspective. That slant cuts through the cliché (although for Catholics I am sure there is plenty of cliché here.)

James Martin is a popular Catholic writer. He writes for America, a Jesuit magazine, and was one of the most frequent guests on the Colbert Report. This is the third book of Martin’s that I have read, but the one that I first noticed.

The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life is an attempt to both explain Ignatian (or Jesuit) understanding of Christianity.  I have read similar books about Benedictine spirituality from Dennis Ockholm and Joan Chittister and about Franciscan spirituality from Richard Rohr. I find that reading about other Christian spiritual practices and theological systems helps me understand my own Christian background and theology more because every system has blind spots that are only revealed when looked at from a different perspective.

St. Ignatius of Loyola founded the Jesuits (or Society of Jesus) and his life and writing is the basis for Ignatian spiritual understanding. Ignatius lived from 1491 to 1556. So the Jesuits were founded almost exactly 1000 years later than the Benedictines. To my outsider’s eyes that seems to come out most clearly in the Ignatian use of pragmatism and the different role of reason. Benedictines are not against reason, but Jesuits embrace it to a different degree (which is why so many Catholic schools and universities are Jesuit). So throughout the book Martin talks about embracing what works pragmatically. What works in one place and time will not work in another place and time.

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Takeaway: A perfect book for reading blahs.

I am a fan (as many are) of the Harry Potter series. I have all of the books in hardcover, two copies of the last four in hardcover because both my wife and I wanted to start on them as soon as they came out. I have since purchase all of the books on ebook editions and I am working on audiobook editions now that they are available on Audible.

I am not sure what you can say that is new about a series of books that has sold millions and been made into one of the most successful movie franchises in history.

But I have been a bit stressed and not quickly reading through anything. So I picked up Prisoner of Azkaban as the best of the three shorter Harry Potter books and listened to it in less than 3 days. It is a good book to just enjoy. Jim Dale is a good narrator and he does not make Prisoner of Azkaban nearly as childish as he makes the first two books.

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Summary: The relationship between Christianity and the founding of the United States is a complicated matter.

As I was finishing up In the Beginning Was the Word: The Bible in American Public Life 1492-1783, I picked up God of Liberty. Thomas Kidd’s history is well known and spoken of well by Mark Noll and many others. God of Liberty was the historical overview that I needed after the very particular history of the use of scripture.

The role of Christian faith in the founding of the United States is fraught matter. All sides have reasons for why it matters (often more about current events than historical accuracy.) And because there are a large number of founding fathers, pretty much anyone can find support for their position by proof texting a few pamphlets or speeches or sermons.

God of Liberty does a good job at showing the complication of any particular position. Christian faith was important to many in the colonies, both as a reason for coming to the colonies and as a reason for breaking away from Britain. But separation of Church and state, at least in it early incarnations, was also important in how the country was organized during and immediately after the revolution.

England had a state church, so many of the more radical revolutionaries were against state churches as a concept. But many of the colonies already had a state church with their own constituencies and theological reasonings.

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Summary: As with everything, it’s complicated.

Noll is one of my favorite historians. He is well respected but probably not well known outside of those that pay attention to 17th to 19th century American religious history. I had him both as an undergrad at Wheaton and when he was a visiting professor in grad school at the University of Chicago. He has been at Notre Dame for the last 10 years.

Noll has written widely, everything from multiple books on Christianity in the Global South to a history of Race and religion in US politics to modern analysis of Evangelical thought to his more traditional early American religious history. A theme that has continued through several of his recent books is that how Christians, particularly Protestants, use scripture.

In the Beginning Was the Word is Noll’s attempt to make sense of the high level of biblical rhetoric from the colonies. The colonies were a different world from the modern US in a number of ways that many current users of those early religious quotes do not adequately take into account.

First, and probably most important, the bible was universally understood and referenced in a way that is very difficult to understand today. Those that were literate and had any books almost always had a bible. But many did not have any other book or if they did have other books it was only a handful of books or pamphlets. So the bible was culturally well known and it was expected that people would understand references to scripture in the way that many people today reference current events or culture, but with a higher expectation of understanding.

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Summary: A joint story between a 14th century German town that has first contact with aliens and modern academics that discover the first contact.

I have recently become a subscriber to the online magazine Christ and Pop Culture. In addition to the very good articles, subscribers have access to a private Facebook group. At this point, as much as I like the magazine and want to support good content with my subscription, the Facebook group is more important to my continued subscription.

One of the topics a few weeks ago was the ever popular, “what are your favorite books you read this year”. Seth Hahne, the primary illustrator at Christ and Pop Culture (and author and illustrator of Monkness the Homunculus) recommended Eifelheim. I was looking for something different and picked it up.

Eifelheim is an odd book. It is a very detailed and well researched book about 14th century Germany. It is also a first contact story (aliens crash-land on Earth). And it takes very seriously the Christian faith of the 14th century Germans. This is not a Christian book, but it is one that uses the fictional setting to think seriously about what it means to be human, what love of neighbor looks like, the problem of evil, and a variety of other theological and moral issues.

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Summary: Globalization requires attention to religion.

Miroslov Volf has been in the news lately because of Dr Hawkins at Wheaton College referenced his book Allah when she donned a hijab and pledged solidarity with Muslims in the wake of proposals to ban Muslims from entering the United States.

I have appreciated Volf, especially with his work around grace and reconciliation. His book Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace (review) is excellent. While it is still on my to-read list, his 1996 book Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation is considered a modern theology classic by many (and named as one of the 100 most important books of the 20th century by Christian Century.)

Volf was originally a Trinitarian specialist, but his biography has impacted much of his work over the past twenty years. Volf grew up in the former communist Yugoslavia. Communism, then the fall of communism, and then the breaking apart of the country amid war and ethnic tensions moved his focus to reconciliation, politics, and interfaith religious issues.

Volf has a strange religious background. He grew up in officially godless communism, but his parents were Pentecostals. A mix of Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, and Muslims dominated his country of origin. He earned two PhDs under the German Lutheran theologian Jurgen Moltmann. He came to the US and taught at the evangelical Fuller Seminary before moving to Yale, and now identifies as Anglican. But Flourishing largely comes from several years of jointly teaching a class on globalization and faith with Tony Blair (who converted to Roman Catholicism after leaving office as the Prime Minister of the UK).

Flourishing is both fascinating and feels like I have read the book before. Madeleine Albright’s The Mighty and the Almighty makes a case for why international affairs need to pay more attention to religion, as do several of Jimmy Carter’s books and John Danforth’s Faith and Politics. While not focused on international politics, Stephen Prothero stresses the importance of understanding religions to understanding the world around us in Religious Literacy and God is not One.

Volf, while not directly drawing on the Economics of Good and Evil (review), does a good job of teasing out the limits of our current economic and political system around morality and justice.  The concepts around the need for pluralism in a globalized world felt very well trodden by everyone from Thomas Friedman’s World is Flat to James Davison Hunter’s To Change the World (review) and many others.

Despite previously covered ground, I think Flourishing is a book worth reading. Miroslav Volf calls on religious groups to step up and act right in a pluralistic world because the world needs the input of religious voices. Right now, democracy and capitalism have won the day, but neither can inherently move us to a more moral world without the influence of religious voices. Democracy is limited to the morality of the voters and elected officials. Immoral officials and/or ignorant, cynical, or prejudiced voters will trample the rights of the minority. As Volf rightly notes, the problem in the Middle East is not just violent dictatorships but constitutional democracies that are making choices that are not pluralistic.

Volf is particularly talking to other Christians in this book. He is trying to make the case that we should embrace political pluralism. But he distinguishes political pluralism from religious pluralism. This is one of the areas where I think Flourishing is unique. He has a grid of religious pluralism and exclusivism, political pluralism, and political exclusivism. Volf thinks the healthiest place is where political pluralism and religious exclusivism intersect. The political pluralist embraces the rights of everyone and is outward looking to the rest of the world, but also is strengthened by moral stamina that comes from religious exclusivism.

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Tricked (Book 4 of The Iron Druid Chronicles) is a chance for the reader to catch his breath. Book 3 ended with an epic battle up in Asgard against the Norse gods, with Atticus barely escaping with his life. Now that he’s proven he is capable of killing a god, and bringing the battle to multiple planes of reality, he’s at the top of the magical most wanted list. And so, he fakes his death (twice, actually) in order to keep the gods off his trail. But before Atticus can settle down in obscurity to train his new apprentice, he must take care of a bunch of loose ends. One of those is to return a favor owed to a trickster Navajo god, and naturally he gets far more than he bargained for.

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Summary: A readable (and devotional) look at the Holy Spirit.

I picked it up Fresh Air: The Holy Spirit for an Inspired Life when it was originally on sale after reading an interview on Scot McKnight’s Jesus Creed Blog and then a long review by Brian LePort at Nearemmaus.

Levison is a professor at Seattle Pacific University. He has written academically about the Holy Spirit, but this is more devotionally focused than academically focused (at least that is how I read it.)

Each chapter starts with three or four scripture passages that Levison asks that you read before you start the chapter, and maybe keep open beside you as you read the chapter.

Most chapters are explorations of the Holy Spirit in Biblical context.  For instance, one chapter looks at the interaction between Job and Elihu. Levison talks about how we speak of the advice we give to others. Elihu uses words and concepts that are biblical and theologically correct, but uses them in a tone and methods that violate the actual principle of the words he was saying. Levison says, “I worry that many of us, like Elihu, mistake spectacular experiences for the spirit and, as a result, damage others because we think we’re wiser than we actually are. We dispense advice or deliver speeches that are neither inspired nor beneficial. Elihu thinks he’s inspired, but, as Jeremy might say, he’s really just plain mean.”

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I’ve never read Jen Hatmaker before and still don’t really know who she is compared to her legion of fans. I’ve long been familiar with her name and knew she was a blogger and author; I’ve recently learned she is also a speaker and television personality.  For the Love: Fight for Grace in a World of Impossible Standards held a spot on my Amazon Wish list and I received a copy as a Christmas present through work.

As my first experience reading Hatmaker, I thoroughly enjoyed the book which is a collection of essays.  She is humorous, insightful, and witty. For the Love opens strong with a chapter I found most meaningful, “œWorst Beam Ever”; this chapter challenges the notion of realistically achieving work-life balance.  Personally, after reading this chapter, I feel as though someone has personally lifted me off the hook and allowing me to breathe easier.

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