Book Review: God Laughs and Plays

Yesterday while hanging out at my dad's office, I read God Laughs and Plays: Churchless Sermons in Response to the Fundamentalist Right., by David James Duncan.  I was a little suspicious of the title at first, but I thought, "eh, what the heck?  God does laugh and play, so let's give it a shot." 
I was highly disappointed.  Duncan bills himself as a modern-day mystic setting out to rescue "true" Christianity from all those right-wing fundamentalists.  What he really is, is just another in a series of modern-day "spiritual but not religious" people who love "the real Jesus, not the Jesus Christians like to tell you is real." 

Honestly?  Ho-hum.  Do Christians - all of us - get Jesus "wrong" sometimes?  Sure.  We all like to remake him in our own image - passionate about the things we're passionate about, loving and hating the same things and people we love and hate. But there's a way to talk about this, and make this point, thoughtfully, and there's a way to do it not-so-thoughtfullly.  Unfortunately, Duncan comes across as not-very-thoughtful, despite his attempting to portray himself as oh-so-thoughtful.  The biggest problem with Duncan is that, like so many "enlightened true-Christian liberals" these days, he lays all of the problems of the world (from starving third-world children to environmental problems to premillenial rapture theology) at the feet of Bushcheneyhalliburtonrepublicanschristianfundamentalists.  And, really?  That's just getting old.  In the first place, George Bush and Dick Cheney are both members of the United Methodist Church, which, the last time I checked, was not "fundamentalist".  It is thoroughly mainline.  Second, virtually all of the things that President Bush did that people such as Duncan don't like were voted on and approved by people that he presumably does like.  You can scream "unilateral military action" as long and as loud as you like, but it doesn't change the fact that Congress approved Afghanistan, and 39 countries besides the U.S. sent troops to Iraq.  To say that bushcheneyhalliburtonrepublicanchristianfundamentalists are responsible for all the evil in the world is ignorant, foolish, unfair, unhelpful, and frankly, stupid.  It immediately shows you as someone who is more interested in your ideology than in any sort of serious analysis of a situation.

Third, I'm really just tired of being lectured by the oh-so-enlightened crowd about my Christianity.  Is my theology perfect?  Of course not.  Am I sinner?  Absolutely.  But so are you, Mr. Duncan.  Throughout the book, Duncan seems so proud of the fact that he doesn't attend church and has just sort of discovered his own blend of spirituality and faith by picking and choosing what he likes from every religion and philosophy out there.   Now look, even the Roman Catholic church acknowledges that there are elements of Truth to be found in other religions:

Likewise, other religions found everywhere try to counter the restlessness of the human heart, each in its own manner, by proposing "ways," comprising teachings, rules of life, and sacred rites. The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men.

 N.T. Wright notes in his commentary on Colossians 1:15-20 that

"To assert today that one Creator God has revealed himself fully and finally in Jesus Christ is to risk criticism on the grounds of arrogance or intolerance.  The ission of the church, however, doe not commit Christians to the propostiion that there is no truth to be found in other retions.  Colossians 1:16 implies that all philosophies or religions which have some 'fit' with the created world will thereby reflect in some ways the truth of God.

However, he continues, "It does not, however, imply that they are therefore, as they stand, doorways into the new creation.  That place, according to 1:18, is Christ's alone." 

Indeed. "I am the way, the truth, and the life," declares Jesus.  We don't like that verse in this day and age, because it limits our options.  Especially in the Western world, where you can literally spend hours in one aisle of Target trying to decide what kind of toothpaste to buy, being told that "I am the way," as opposed to all the other nice, harmless, pleasant sounding, helpful "ways" out there is not what we like.  And as Nostra Aetate and Wright remind us, it isn't that there aren't elements of Truth in other places.  It's that, in the end, all those other elements of Truth coalesce in Jesus, the Truth.

It's that ground that we must finally stand on. 

Book Review - Freedom for Ministry

Ok, so the alumni book checkout limit is 25 books.  Yesterday I checked out 24.  I'm looking forward to a summer like the summers of my youth - laying around reading endless books.  Of course, I'm no longer checking out "Choose Your Own Adventure" books or the occasional "Babysitters Club" that I don't yet own - no, this summer it's N.T. Wright's commentary on Colossians (yeah, I'm going to read it straight through because I'm a geek) and John C. Knapp's How the Church Fails Businesspeople.  Nevertheless, I've got lots of reading planned, and I'm super-excited about it.

Depending on how much the books move me, I may or may not put reviews of them up here - it's hardly like most of them are brand-new and need this kind of review from a no-name blogger, but because I like to write about the things that are important to me, if I love them, I'll probably write about them.  Besides, mostly I like writing, and it's helpful when I have a topic that isn't my own emotionally overwrought internal drama.  :)

So, first up: Freedom for Ministry, by Richard John Neuhaus. 

This book has been on my shelf, unread, for a couple years now.  I just really haven't had time to get to it, plus I've been engaged in much self-denial about what I'm actually called to - and this is definitely a book directed at the clergy. (Although I think it could be a good read for laity, especially lay leadership, to help them understand the common mission that belongs to the priesthood of all believers, vocationally ordered though that priesthood might be.)  It's fairly old - the first edition is from 1979, and I have the revised 1992 edition.  It first came out the year that Fr. Neuhaus left Lutheranism to go "home to Rome", and the 2nd edition claims to be "revised, not rewritten." 

All that said, this book is awesome.  It is pretty much a summary of my entire final semester of seminary - so I'm not sure if that means my professors did an awesome job, or going to class was a waste of time since I could have just read this book...  Nevertheless...  The book is really just about how to be a great pastor - it lays the groundwork by defining the Church and finding a model for understanding it, then delineating the role and authority of the pastor, and giving specific advice on how to preach and "pursue holiness".  In the Introduction, Neuhaus notes that had he chosen to rewrite, rather than revise, he might have subtitled the work "A Guide for the Perplexed Who Are Called to Serve." It turns out that this is an extremely apt description of the book. 

Having only just graduated from seminary, so admittedly, I know hardly anything, it seems that this book will have something to convict and something to comfort just about any minister, at any point in his or her career.  Neuhaus is marvelously ecumenical - he rarely if ever succumbs to the exaggerated denominational apologetics one often finds in new converts.  Rather, without going so far as to state that the fractured nature of the Church today is a good thing, he acknowledges that this is what it is and it's unlikely to change anytime soon - therefore we all need to get to working with what we've got - which is varying polities and practices, traditions and prejudices. 

2011 Books

Ooh, I love surveys!

How many books read in 2011?
Gosh, I really don't know because I don't keep track like that. Probably 25-30. 

Fiction/Non-Fiction ratio?
Almost all non-fiction.  Well...probably about 5 fiction, and the rest non-fiction.

Male/Female authors?
Definitely more male.  At least four female, maybe a couple that I'm forgetting.  

Favorite book read?
Uncle Tom's Cabin

Least favorite?
Proverbs to Ashes

Oldest book read?
Athanasius' On the Incarnation, apparently written in 318 A.D.

Longest book title?
Wedding Feast of the Lamb: Eucharistic Theology from a Biblical, Historical, and Systematic Perspective

Shortest book title?
I think Uncle Tom's Cabin, Proverbs to Ashes, and On the Incarnation all tie at 3 words each.

How many re-reads?
2- On the Incarnation, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Most books read by one author this year?
Hmm....I rather doubt I have any multiples.  N.T. Wright, if anyone.

Any in translation?
Several, but I couldn't identify them all.  Mostly textbooks for class.  A Key to the Doctrine of the Eucharist was a translation, the excerpts from Jungel.  Obviously On the Incarnation.  

How many books were borrowed from the library?
Very few, if any.

Name a book you've read this year which was recommended by a blogger?
Orthodoxy, by G.K. Chesterton.

I ♥ Books

This is why I read other people's blogs, Tracey's in particular.  Because 1) she's funnier than I am, and 2) just when I'm thinking, I feel like blogging myself, but I don't quite know what to write about, she's got a survey.  And not just any survey, but a survey about books.  Suh-weet.

Here goes.

1. Favorite childhood book?

I'm with Tracey here, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  (I, however, never had an obsession with living in a museum.)  Also, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and The Phantom Tollbooth. 


2. What are you reading right now?

Um, I have several in progress: Jesus of Nazareth, by Pope Benedict XVI; The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a Kempis; Evil and the Justice of God, by N.T. Wright; Houses, by Roberta C. Bondi (at the behest of my mother); Theology is for Proclamation, by Gerhard Forde; Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton; and axiom, by Bill Hybels.

Don't judge me.


3. What books do you have on request at the library?

None.  Half the ones on my "in progress" list are from the library.


4. Bad book habit?

Well, probably starting so many different books all at once.  That and buying books that I "just have to have" and then, instead of reading those, go trolling at the library for a million others.


5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?

Like ten books, at least.  Jesus of Nazareth, The Imitation of Christ, Evil and the Justice of God, Facing East, The Case for Christmas, a GRE study guide, and several others.  Hello, my name is Elizabeth, and I have a problem.


6. Do you have an e-reader?

Heck no - it destroys the romance.


7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time or several at once?

See #2 above.


8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?

I don't think so?  Well, I started blogging back in the spring of 2010, and the uh...genre I read most often shifted somewhat around that time, but I don't think the two are particularly related.


9. Least favorite book you read this year?

Whatever book I had to read for Worship class that advocated developing a church ceremony for divorces.


10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?

George Weigel's Letters to a Young Catholic, this Jesus of Nazareth I've got going on right now.


11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?

Yeah, I don't know what this means, so I'm just going to go with Tracey's answer because it cracks me up.

“Comfort zone” meaning what? Do I sometimes read wearing tight pants? Do I sometimes read while riding naked on the bus? You use terms but you don’t define them.

12. What is your reading comfort zone?

So, yeah.  Theology.  (Not quite systematics, per se, but more like theology + culture, or Biblical commentary).  Cheap, trashy romance novels.  (Leave me alone, we all have our vices.)  Fun, easy-to-read fiction like the Stephanie Plum or Miss Julia series'. 


13. Can you read on the bus?

Well, no, being as I don't live in a town that has a bus, and even when I do, I don't generally take the bus.  But I can read in the car.  Usually.  Unless it's my parents' car.  I get carsick when I drive their car, let alone trying to read in it while riding.


14. Favorite place to read?

Usually in bed.  Sometimes the couch, or a big cushy chair at Starbucks.  But really, anywhere.  Standing at the kitchen counter, if that's where I get involved.


15. What is your policy on book lending?

Don't wreck it, and give it back.  I have a mind like a steel trap.  If you borrow a book and don't give it back, I'm seriously going to remember like 10 years later. 


16. Do you ever dog-ear books?

I try not to.  But it's difficult for me to go more than 5 minutes from home without a reading contingency plan.  Which means that books are frequently crammed into my purse or backpack, "just in case."  And then, things just happen.  It's sad, though.

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?

Mmm...not too often.  I'm more likely to highlight.  I borrowed a TON of books this summer from a friend, and I was loving them.  I had to literally sit and read them in a place where there were no pens or highlighters within reach, or really even within sight, to keep myself from marking them up.  I had the shakes all summer.

18. Not even with text books?

I used to not, I thought it was practically sacreligious.  Textbooks from my first two years of college are absolutely pristine.  Then I got over it. 

19. What is your favorite language to read in?

I once had to take a class on German literature where we had to actually read stuff in German.  And not little kid's books, like Goodnight, Moon or something.  No, like Karl Marx.  And plays, by people I don't remember.  There was one about a flute, I forget the name.  It was sheer torture.  Reading the New Testament in Greek is kind of fun, though.

20. What makes you love a book?

What can I say?  When you know, you know.


21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?

Um, reading it.  And then really liking it.  And then imagining that others might like it as well.  So, then I tell them.


22. Favorite genre?

We already covered this, I feel like.  Geeky theology stuff, and trashy romance novels.


23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)

I don't get this question.  If there are genres I rarely read, it's usually because I don't think I'll like them.  And who wants to waste all that time reading a book you can't stand?  It's like paying $10 to go see a movie you know you will probably hate. 


24. Favorite biography?

Biographies.  That's a genre I rarely read.


25. Have you ever read a self-help book?

I would imagine.


26. Favorite cookbook?

Whichever one has what I'm making for dinner.  Also, my Facebook newsfeed.  I'm friends with some rockin' SuperMoms who post crazy awesome recipes.


27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or nonfiction)?

Letters to a Young Catholic, by George Weigel.  Hands down.


28. Favorite reading snack?

M&M's, frozen peas, goldfish crackers.  Anything I can eat mindlessly.


29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.

Theology is for Proclamation is seriously letting me down at the moment.  Lots of people I admire are practically disciples of the author, and yeah, it's just not working for me.


30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?

I don't generally read critical reviews about a book.  Unless you mean what's on the back cover, or the fact that some professor assigned me to read it.  So, um, sometimes I agree. 


31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?

Um, well, if your book was terrible, how is it going to help anyone for me to pretend otherwise? 


32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?

Greek, Hebrew, and Latin.  Oh wait...


33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?

Karl Marx, in German.


34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?

What?  Who gets nervous about reading books?  I do not understand...


35. Favorite poet?

I don't read a whole lot of poetry, actually.


36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?

I've got ten checked out right now.  Sometimes, that's the low end of the scale.


37. How often have you returned books to the library unread?

Um...from time to time...


38. Favorite fictional character?

At the moment?  Stephanie Plum.  But that Huck Finn, he's a loveable little guy, too.  Atticus Finch.

39. Favorite fictional villain?

I don't know...I don't read a lot of books with characters typically described as "villainous."


40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?

Far too many.  Also, magazines, so I can get rid of them. 


41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.

I was one of those kids that had the side of the cereal box and the back of the shampoo bottle memorized from reading them so much.


42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.  It bores me to tears.  Does this make me a bad Christian?


43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?

Having dry hands.


44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?

Oh for crying out loud, what is with these questions?  If I loved the book, I tend not to intentionally watch the movie.  Oh, I just thought of one.  Disney's A Christmas Carol that just came out last Christmas.


45. Most disappointing film adaptation?

The Great Gatsby.


46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?

$100, probably.  If it's more than that, I don't want to to think about it.  Unless we're talking about textbooks, then it shoots up to like $500 or something ridiculous.


47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?

Sometimes?


48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?

If it sucked.


49. Do you like to keep your books organized?

I would like to.


50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?

Keep them.  It's kind of a problem, actually.  I have an insane number of books.


51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?

I don't think so.  I mean, maybe if I'm in class or something, but in general, there are very few books that literally call my name from the shelf, demanding that I read them.


52. Name a book that made you angry.

The one that said churches should have a ceremony to "celebrate" divorce, or whatever.  And then went on to imply that anyone who didn't approve was an old stick-in-the-mud conservative who can't get with the modern times.  Guess that's me.


53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?

The Hammer of God by Bo Giertz.


54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?

Joe Lieberman's In Praise of Public Life


55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?

First Things.