Review: Faith After Doubt

 

            Let’s consider Christianity specifically:  have you ever had doubts about the authority of the Bible, the truth of the history or doctrinal claims of the Bible? Have you ever not been able to reconcile what you believe in your heart is just and living with what the Bible seems to say?

            A friend generously gave me a copy of Brian McLaren’s book, Faith After Doubt:  Why Your Beliefs Stopped Working and What to Do About It.

            McLaren begins his book with all-too-familiar anecdotes:  people who question how God could allow evil and command genocide, how God could be against LBGTQ+ relationships, how could God send all people of all faiths to Hell who don’t believe what the Church teaches to be true, and how can we believe the origin story of the Bible when science shows something utterly different?  These and other issues that may arise doubt and confusion about what to truly believe are common.  I was shaken when I began seminary and was told that the history of the Old Testament was largely myth.

            McLaren rightly says it is good and right to admit when we don’t know an answer or how to get out of a textual and/or textual-scientific problem (75). Being glib or trying to force an answer only makes the problem worse.

            McClaren explains that there are four stages of belief (87ff, 163ff):

            The first, which he calls simplicity, accepts the correctness of the dualistic theology that is handed down from the teachers of the religion. That is, there is truth and there is untruth and nothing else – there are not shades of grey. There is good and there is evil. Period.

            Second, complexity, in which one comes to focus on the effectiveness of living out the teachings of the Church, rather that slavishly believing them. Here, one begins to acknowledge that all religions have truth in them, so one begins to use the tools one has to bring about world connection and universal love.

            Third, perplexity, in which one honestly and critically considers the beliefs one has been taught and looks at them with suspicion and doubt. This critique and challenge even reflects back on oneself.

            Finally, harmony, in which one denies dualistic theology, rather, one zooms out one’s perspective to see all peoples and idea in the context of faith expressing love.

            This progression is not a once only event. As one continues to grow and mature in faith expressing love, one will go through the stages again.

            The expressing of faith, then, moves from belief to activity to doubt and, finally, to love (167). This pattern of growth through doubt ends up helping human nature and society move towards non-violence and love (180).

            McLaren explains that once one is in stage three, one understands that religion cannot be divorced from social justice (183) and believing in absolutes and not doubting leads to deterioration of the self (191).

            By stage four, one understands that everyone has the Holy Spirit within them and the presence of grace (201).

            This, McLaren has found in his own spiritual journey that whether or not the stories of the Bible are historical is not what matters most. Rather, what matters most is understanding the meaning of the stories and putting that meaning into action (207).

            There are six appendices to the book: 1. A chart of the four stages, 2. What the move out of infancy looks like, 3. Various authors’ namings of the four stages, 4. Resources, 5. Three points of prayer for each of the four stages, and 6. Group guidelines.

            I appreciate that McLaren does not dismiss the struggles many people have in understand what the Bible says and how to understand it in the light of feelings and the sciences. I also appreciate his emphasis that we don’t know or understand everything, and we ought to be willing and able to admit when we don’t know, or to ask for time to think things through. No one has all the answers, and no one perfectly understands everything in the Bible. He is also right to emphasize that belief cannot be stagnant/inactive. Belief must lead to action. Orthodoxy leads (necessarily) to orthopraxy. If you say you do believe and don’t live it out, you are lying or self-deceived (see the book of James, for example).

            However, McLaren’s book suffers fatally from an overarching false dichotomy – that being that one either believes blindly and does not act on one’s beliefs, or one doubts one’s beliefs/considers them equal in truth to all other’s beliefs and does act in faith expressing love. That is simply not true.

            Even as he quotes from James, we read, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” (James 1:22-25, ESV).

            McLaren does not allow for the person who sincerely believes what the Church teaches (even if that person struggles to understand portions of the Bible – or even never understands portions of the Bible), but also follows the teachings of the Church and the Bible (when the teachings of the Church are those of the Bible), and acts on those beliefs with purposeful and merciful action towards all people (even while believing that a just and loving God cannot allow sin to go unpunished).

            McLaren also disagrees with Paul when McLaren says that the historicity of the Bible is not what matters most. Paul says that this is the Gospel:

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me” (I Corinthians 15:3-8, ESV).

Paul says historicity is of paramount importance.

I appreciate McLaren’s desire to help those who doubt/struggle with understanding the Bible and living it out, but he has written in his own first stage – and either/or that does not leave room for other understandings with action.

            (Also, the partisan political bashing is not helpful to getting his views across.)

            [This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com].

Review: The Age of Entitlement

 

Two things happen in 1963 which propelled the American entitlement culture according to Christopher Caldwell, in his book, The Age of Entitlement:  America Since the Sixties. Those being the assassination of JFK and the passage of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.

The crux of the matter is the diminishing of the right of freedom of association.

The ACLU explains, “The First Amendment guarantees our right to free expression and free association, which means that the government does not have the right to forbid us from saying what we like and writing what we like; we can form clubs and organizations, and take part in demonstrations and rallies.” (https://www.aclu.org/other/your-right-free-expression). The Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment implies and guarantees freedom of association.

The equality assured in the Civil Rights Act has gone from believing and codifying in law that all people are equal to a growing belief that there must be equity for all people. LBJ said it was not enough that everyone has equal opportunity, but that they must achieve equal outcome (31).

Caldwell visits the changing views on race, sex, war, debt, diversity, and examines who the true winners and losers are in a society that grants entitlements such that equity is achieved.

This means that the high school drop out working in the supermarket should make the same salary as the college professor – and so forth.

It also weakens the right of freedom of associate from – to use a modern example – anyone may make a cake for a gay wedding to anyone asked must make a cake for a gay wedding. Also, a la MLK, rather than judging a person by their character, people are judged by the color of their skin – and their place in the hierarchy of intersectional victimhood.

Caldwell writes, “The strongest case for letting people make choices without the interference of the state rests not on their competence as choosers but on their dignity as persons” (214).

Entitlement and the erosion of freedom of association leads to authoritarian – top down – government. “Freedom of association is the master freedom – it is the freedom without which political freedom cannot be effectively exercised” (218).

The book concludes with endnotes, a bibliography, and an index.

I found Caldwell’s argument and historical analysis persuasive. What he describes is where we are today. We have become a people less tolerant and more divisive, and, if nothing amends our trajectory, the future of this country is in jeopardy.

A sobering and important read.

[This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]

Review: The Count of Nine

 

The Count of Nine is one of the Cool & Lam novels written by Erle Stanley Gardner (of Perry Mason fame) which he wrote under the pen name of A. A. Fair.

The private investigative firm of Cool & Lam (Bertha and Donald, respectively) are hired by Dean Crockett the Second to guard his valuables during his upcoming soiree – given that one of his two priceless jade buddhas was stolen at his last soiree.  Unfortunately, even with Bertha like a bulldog checking the guests in, not only is the second jade buddha stolen, but the blow gun Crockett recently brough back from Africa.

Lam figures out who took them and recovers them fairly quickly, but in attempting to return them, he finds that Crockett has been murdered with a blow gun dart in a locked room.  The obvious answer is his wife did it.

A twisty and satisfying mystery.

[This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]

Review: What God Has to Say About Our Bodies

 

            When I was thirteen, the church we attended split.  In the minister’s last sermon before the split, he preached on the Shema – to love the Lord Thy God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength.  Strength meaning “the body.”  He preached, it’s time that the body come back into the Church. He was reflecting what is still a common error – that the material world – including our bodies – doesn’t matter – what matters is the spiritual.

            Part of Sam Allberry’s What God Has to Say About Our Bodies:  How the Gospel is Good News for Our Physical Selves is a corrective to this and the laying out of a biblical understanding of the body.

            Allberry divides his book into three sections:  created bodies, broken bodies, and redeemed bodies.

            Allberry begins by drawing our attention to the fact that in the Incarnation, the Son of God became a body; He did not merely inhabit one for a time (20).

            Our body is us, but we are not merely our body (46). The modern view is more that we are not our body, but this is not biblical.  God made us personally and purposefully.

            He goes on to explain that – normally – and originally, people are born as God created humans, male and female, and this being male, and female are both created in the Image of God and image God complementarily (65).  Men and women are different and not interchangeable.  We need and complement each other (76).

            In the second section, Allberry looks at how our bodies have been broken due to sin.

            In the Fall, he notes, there is a parallel brokenness in humans and in nature (90).  Pain, suffering, and varieties of body shame are the results of sin (97).

            Allberry turns to Corinthians to look at sexual sin and how it is the most detrimental sin to the body (108).

            And death is the final enemy (116).

            The ways in which we suffer should make us compassionate to others who suffer and have pain in any aspect of the body (the body also being shorthand for the totality of the self) (120). In this we can understand how, since Jesus was tempted according to every “species of trial,” He is about to sympathize with us – and be our example in sympathizing with others (123). This culminates in the suffering and death of Jesus (126).

            In the final section, Allberry explains that our bodies will be restore because they belong to Jesus (138).  “Not being our own means our body does not exist solely for our pleasure and agenda.  We are to glorify God with it, not ourselves.  And this is good news.  Only a body can glorify God” (150, italics in the original).

            Allberry explains that we are to offer up ourselves – our bodies as living sacrifices to God because He loved us first (166).

            Finally, we look forward to the resurrection of the body – assured by Jesus’ bodily resurrection – because “the life to come is going to be more real than our lives here” (177).

            The book contains endnotes, a general index, and a Scripture index.

            This book is thorough on the one hand, and very comprehensible on the other.  Pretty much anyone will understand and follow Allberry’s writing.  It is a book that sets out what the Bible teaches about the body – very good as God created it – and very God when God restores it.

            This is a book that ought to be read by ministers, seminary students, and members of the congregation to help dispel wrong ideas about the body and to embrace what the Bible truly says.  Which is Good News.

            [This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]

Review: The Institute

 

            The Institute by Stephen King begins with Tim losing his job.  Tim is a police officer and accidentally injures a bystander.  So, after being fired, Tim takes off to find out what will come next.

            Elsewhere, Luke Ellis is being kidnapped and his parents murdered.  There will be no ransom note.  Luke is telekinetic.  Kids with telepathy and telekinetic ability are needed by the Institute.

            Part Carrie, part Dead Zone, and part IT, The Institute confronts the reader with questions – not only of special abilities – but with the uses and protections of kids – and their ability to even overcome grown-ups and their problems.  The3 nuance here is that the grown-ups could be right.

            The novel moved smoothly and was very enjoyable – except for a passage near the end of the novel where King has a character express a political view – obviously his – which tilts the ret of the novel.  I wish he had left out or modified that section – you’ll see it.

            I read King for good story telling and to rouse my fears.  He does that most of the time.

            Enjoy the Institute.

            [This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]

Review: A History of Evangelism in North America

            A History of Evangelism in North America, edited by Thomas P. Johnson, is my latest read.

            The chapter/essayists look at the evangelism style and practices of Jonathan Edwards, David Brainerd, John Wesley, George Whitefield, Shubal Stearns, Francis Asbury, Cane Ridge, Bible Societies, the revival of 1800, Wilbur Chapman, John Mason Pack, Henrietta Mears, Dawson Trotman, Shadrach Meshach Lockridge, Billy Graham, Bill Bright, D. James Kennedy, Chuck Smith, Donald McGavran and C. Peter Wagner, John Piper, the Southern Baptists, and twenty-first century developments.  Evangelism in North America from 1700 to the present.

            The authors do a good job of presenting the varieties of evangelism, including primary sources, but with little critique.  The point of this volume is to present the ways in which evangelism is done, not to argue for or against certain forms of evangelism.  That is not to say that the authors neglect to bring up controversies regarding the figures – they do – but the is little saying that this or that form is right or wrong, biblical, or unbiblical. 

            The authors accomplish what they have set out to do.  It is a very readable and enlightening presentation of these people and events – with the underlying assumption that evangelism is a work of all Christians.

            In the final chapter, the editor gives a challenge: “…Christians and churches [should] choose to engage in a missionary encounter with culture, refusing to isolate or accommodate and zealously striving to bring the biblical story to bear on the governing ideologies of the day” (342).

            This is a well-written call for all Christians to evangelize.

            [This review appears on my blog, Kregel.com, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]

Review: Theological Retrieval for Evangelicals

 

            I bought Theological Retrieval for Evangelicals: Why We Need Our Past to Have a Future by Gavin Ortlund because the title looked to be something I would find interesting.

            Ortlund argues that the Protestant Church did not begin with Luther, much less in the past twenty years.  To understand the Church and what we believe and why we believe it, we must look to the Patristic and Medieval Theologians – not reading them through the Reformers or anyone else, but in their original documents – we ought to read what they wrote and learn from it (30).

            We do this understanding that the Church has never been wholly corrupt.  That is – whatever tradition we are in – we ought not throw out all other traditions because we disagree or understanding something to be wrong in their theology.  There is value in all the Christian Church – and we neglect mining it to our detriment (37).

            Peter J. Leithart writes, “A Reformational Catholic knows some of his ancestors were deeply flawed but won’t delete them from the family tree” (59).

            Ortlund explains some of the benefits and perils of retrieval:

            The benefits include bulking up contemporary theology where it is weak, teaching us how to make formal distinctions, and learning to reframe “modern debates by providing a premodern perspective (69-72).

            Some perils include distorting others’ views – not doing our homework, artificially pressing others’ views to support our own, “repristination” – presenting ancient views as the last word on an issue, and “minimalism” – reducing the variety of theological opinions into a single thought as though there was never any disagreement or nuance (73-75).

            In the second half of the book, Ortlund invites the reader to consider some examples.

            In chapter four, he introduces the Creator/Creation distinction as expounded in Boethius, Calvin, and Torrance.

            In chapter five, he looks at “divine simplicity in Patristic and Medieval perspective.”

            In chapter six, he looks at the doctrine of the Atonement in Irenaeus, Anselm, and Athanasius.

            In chapter seven, he looks at “Gregory the Great on pastoral balance.”

            The book includes a general index and a Scripture index.

            I agree with Ortlund:  the thought of the Church is the thought of the Church, and we are diminished by neglecting the thought of those who have gone before us – all of them.

            It saddens me to know that most of the ministers I know never read a book that was written more than twenty to thirty years ago.  C. S. Lewis called this “chronological snobbery.”

            Ortlund’s book also excited me to go back to the ancient authors – people I have looked at before, but not recently – to pick them up, read where I have not read, and grow in my understanding of the faith and the Church.  I wrote down several works from his footnotes that I am going to read.

            This is an excellent call to the Evangelical Church – and the Church at large – to engage in theological retrieval.

            [This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]

Review: The Authoritarian Moment

 

            The Authoritarian Moment: How the Left Weaponized America’s Institutions Against Dissent by Ben Shapiro argues that authoritarianism is taking over the United States.

            Authoritarianism is a form of government that centralizes power and uses that power to press its will down on the people.  The dirty little secret of authoritarianism, Shapiro writes, is that they are the minority, not the majority, which is why they are so loud and require compulsion – they are insecure (22).

            The first step is to renormalize America – that is to change the country by a small, vocal minority pushing its agenda until the silent majority gives in.  One of these agendas is Critical Race Theory which states that every institution in America is rooted in white supremacy – racism – through and through – and, thus, must be rejected and replaced (55).

            It is argued that different identity groups cannot understand other identity groups, and the most victimized groups have moral authority and need to overthrow “the dominant systems of power” (62).

            Shapiro argues that a new ruling class is being formed through pure credentialism – college is mainly the sorting mechanism for this (74-75).  Colleges have been renormalized to promote the idea that expressive individualism to the end of the self-perceived good life (87).  Foundational and historic norms are rejected for what feels right.

            Science has also been renormalized such that trial and error is no longer science, rather science is whatever the authoritarian government says is their preferred solution (99).  This is ultracrepidarianism – weighing in on matters outside one’s expertise (103).

            Renormalizing and authoritarianism is found in corporations where producing quality goods is secondary to virtue-signaling (130).  It is most important that corporations – for example – put the pride flag on their ads during the month of June.  Product is secondary.

            The entertainment industry has followed suit and “cancels” any actor who does not mirror the woke authoritarian mores (150).  The establishment media has likewise altered reporting to support a certain view, rather than reporting as objectively as possible (163).

            Shapiro provides ample evidence of his arguments in present-day situations that most will be aware of.

            Shapiro argues that “our rallying cry” must be “they can’t cancel us if we don’t let them” (215).

            We must renormalize education – returning to the historic documents, ideas, and beliefs that founded our country, rather that accept a “reimagining of history” (216).

            We must reject the notion that “silence is violence.” We must reject the notion that speech is violence.  We must be cordial, but not afraid to be offensive (218-219).

            If we do not overthrow authoritarianism through these methods, the answer may be “building alternative institutions,” which though possibly necessary, will completely divide the nation (225).  Two governments, two types of news promoters, to educational systems, and so forth.

            The place to begin, Shapiro argues, is to no longer be silent (227).  Rather than allow the authoritarians to cudgel us into silence, we must stand up and say “no” to their radical renormalizing of the nation.  We ought to firmly know the founding principles of our nation and our history and put them forward with confidence and not back down.  That is how we take back the nation from the authoritarians.

            I have noted key points, but the book, with its present-day examples fills them out and makes for a much smoother and convincing read.

            I believe Shapiro is right.  The authoritarians are in control of the major institutions of our nation – including the whole of the Federal Government.  To save the country for ourselves and those who come after us, we must stand up and fight.

            Read this book.

            [This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]

Review: The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self

 

            The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution is Carl R. Trueman’s latest book.  I was interested in this book having read Trueman before, but even more so hearing people from a variety of backgrounds commending it.

            Trueman says, “The origins of this book lie in my curiosity about how and why a particular statement has come to be regarded as coherent and meaningful: ‘I am a woman trapped in a man’s body’” (19).

            Trueman argues that this can only be understood in understanding how we have come to our current understanding of “human selfhood” (20).

            In the first part of the book, Trueman examines the concepts which he will look at historically in the second section of the book.  In the second section, beginning with the philosophy of Rousseau, Trueman plots the course of how our understand of self has changed.  In the third section, Trueman deals with “the sexualizing of psychology and the politicizing of sex.”  Finally, he looks at several contemporary issues and how they might be addressed (26-29).

            Trueman argues that removing any sense of foundation -- or objective reality -- has led to the enshrinement of feelings and the codifying of one’s actions as one’s being (cf. 102).  Such thought leaves reality – and the meaning of “self” like a boat without a rudder.

            To put a beginning to this change, Trueman looks to Rousseau (107). Rousseau argues that humans are born good and ethical but are corrupted by society.  In other words, what we feel is reality above and beyond any societal norm (123).  “Ethically speaking, taste becomes truth” (161).  Trueman traces the development of these beliefs through various writers up to the modern day.

            One outgrowth of this thinking is that sexuality is now considered identity (202). Sexuality has been moved out of the sphere of morality.  And anyone who argues against one feeling their way into sexual identity is put down by coercion of the government – in one way or another (253).  See the politicization of sexuality in our current political dialogue.

            Trueman looks at how this is seen in the triumph of the erotic, the therapeutic, the transgender movement, and the revolution of the self.

            The separation of gender from sex, Trueman argues, definitionally does away with them both – definition is subjective, and ultimately meaningless (373).

            Trueman says, “this book is neither a lament nor a polemic.  It is rather an attempt to explain how the revolution of the self came to take the form it has in the West and why that is so culturally significant” (382).

            Trueman concludes with thoughts for the Church:

            1. We need to seriously reflect on the connection between aesthetics and our beliefs and practices (402).

            2. We must be a true community (404).

            3. We need to have a high view of natural law and the physical body (405).

            The book has a lengthy index.

            This is an in-depth examination of the understanding of self today, how we got here, and what it means for us and our future – and the Church.  What I have written is only a glimpse into this work – one anyone interested in understanding the issues of the day in education, politics,

            [This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]

Review: Dominus

 

            Dominus is the latest historical novel in Steven Saylor’s “Roman Empire” series.

            As with the other novels in this series, the events of Roman history are seen through the eyes of the ancient Pinarius family – worshippers of Priapus who wear the fascinum.

            This novel begins with the reign of Marcus Aurelius and continues through the emperors to Constantine and his weird acceptance of the Christian religion. Saylor makes the history come alive through engaging dialog and through portraying the good and the bad of each emperor and their works.

            There is a map of Marcus Aurelius’ empire at the start of the novel.  At the end, there is an epilogue quoting an archeological magazine about a recent discovery mention in the novel.  This is followed by an author’s note which contains references and thoughts about the major works Saylor used in writing the novel – kind of an annotated bibliography.  For me, guidance to further reading on issues that interested me.  The novel ends with a timeline of the events covered.

            I look forward to each novel that Saylor writes.  If you like historical novels and are interested in the Roman Empire, his novels are a great place to go.

            [This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]

Review: Shills Can't Cash Chips

 

            Erle Stanley Gardner, author of the famous Perry Mason novels, also wrote several novels about the investigative firm of Cool & Lam under the name, A. A. Fair.  After years of being out of print, they have been republished.

Shills Can’t Cash Chips is one of the Cool & Lam novels.  Lam is a lady’s man, and Cool is his rough-talking, impatient female partner.

Cool & Lam are called on to investigate a simple car accident, but as they press the eyewitnesses – even Lam, who pretends to be one – their stories don’t hang together.  So, they go to dangerous lengths to prove that the car accident was meant to cover up something much bigger.

This is not Perry Mason and Della Street, but it is a highly enjoyable story that any Erle Stanley Gardner fan should enjoy.

            [This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]