Galatians Study

This book (available for free online from that link) is a Bible study by Tim Keller working through Paul's letter to the Galatian church. I've been working through it with my dad over the last few months, and would highly recommend it as a small-group study resource. The Galatian epistle is a potent little depth-charge of a book anyway, but Keller's insightful commentary and selection of passages from other theologians (especially John Stott and Martin Luther) who have written about the letter make this study extremely edifying and fruitful for thinking through Christian discipleship in powerfully provocative and helpful ways.

Luther's Large Catechism

This book (available online for free from that link) is the fuller version* of Luther's catechism (i.e. the basic text for introducing the tenets of a faith), and as such is probably one of the most influential key texts in the history of Protestant thought and practice. Lutheran** readers will likely be intimately familiar with it already but anyone with an interest in Christian history would find a lot to gain by reading it, and Christians of other denominations will discover in it a rich orthodox statement of how we are called, nay, privileged, to live by faith in the clear simple light of truth. I have no substantive theological or ethical bones to pick here - it is, from my perspective, a faithful and trustworthy testament and valuable for introductory teaching. It is consistently scripturally-grounded and remarkably well-written; Luther was not one to mince words and lays out these reflections on the Christian life and basic theological support for them in direct, accessible language.

   Luther kicks the document off with a walk through the Ten Commandments, and here we come to our first quibble - he messes with them a bit for reasons that elude me. He has condensed the first and second commandments into one, so that we end up with it being a total statement of non-idolatrous monotheism, but with no discussion of the "who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" portion of these lines in the actual Bible (check it out); he has then kept the list counting to ten by separating the tenth commandment into two. Quite what he was doing in this I cannot say... I mean, so much for sola scriptura, right? But his actual reflections on the Ten are thoroughly helpful. A few minor quibbles - in the section on respecting one's mother and father he extends this commandment to political authority, which rankles me as an anarchist. Further on that point in the section on "thou shalt not kill" he seems to make the point that state authority is exempt from this particular moral absolute, which rankled my anarchism-senses even more. He does in this same section say that enabling death by privilege and neglect is just as condemnable as outright murder though, which is a take Peter Unger would heartily approve. In the section on adultery, we have this fascinating and disturbing quote when he is talking about the problematic outcome of Catholic insistence on clerical celibacy: "For no one has so little love and inclination to chastity as just those who because of great sanctity avoid marriage, and either indulge in open and shameless prostitution, or secretly do even worse, so that one dare not speak of it, as has, alas! been learned too fully." [italics mine.] We all know too well the Catholic Church's historical struggles with abusive paedophilia - part of me wonders whether this was already rearing its head five centuries ago to the point that it was unspoken but common knowledge. The section on theft is wonderfully expansive - a full Marxist analysis of this bit would yield some truly spectacular insights, I feel. The section on lying is morally robust but could be made a great deal stronger with the inclusion of some generally-considered epistemology and psychology. And the section[s] on envy take an unexpectedly objective, active view of this particular sin, which I was raised to think was more the mere subjective passive condition of indulging jealousy, but that Luther seems to say is when one makes actual decisive effort to acquire the property of another.

   The sections walking through the Creed I have very little to say about - this is just hardcore solid uplifting theology communicated with a depth and a deftness I have seldom found elsewhere. His linguistic nuances when talking about "churchness" in the bit about the Holy Spirit are helpful, though I found his maintenance of institutional borders in those same paragraphs less so.

   His opening reflections on the Lord's Prayer are just beautiful in style and empowering in substance. The discussion on the request for "our daily bread" furthermore is intriguingly and helpfully ecological and sociological in its scope.

   The final section, dealing with the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, are also highly moving in their depictions of the spiritual realities contained within these ritual practices, and as a Quaker I found these parts rather convicting (Quakers in general do not formally practice either of these sacraments, as we take a more holistic symbolic view of their intent), in ways that bear further consideration on my part.

   Overall this is an incredibly powerful statement of some of the basic tenets of a good Christian life, written by one of the most reputable sources thereupon. Definitely worth a read if that sounds like the kind of thing you'd benefit from. And who wouldn't? God's goodness shines through clearly on every page of this thing; it leaves one hungry for grace.

* Compare with the Small Catechism that I read yesterday. I gave minimal reflections on that as it made more sense to do that here when reading the principal longer document.

** I consider Lutheranism to be the burning bridge between the Catholic and Protestant communions - and this comes across in Luther's own doctrine, attitude and style.

Glossolalia - Manmade or God-given?

This book, which unfortunately I am unable to provide any link for as it remains an unpublished and thus publicly unavailable work, is the undergraduate dissertation of Andrew Stovell - my father. It's a dispassionate and rigorous study of the phenomenon of glossolalia, more commonly known as "speaking in tongues", from both a biblically-considered and linguistic pair of angles. I've just read the whole thing in one sitting as I stumbled upon a chapter in another book about this and my mum mentioned "oh, dad wrote his thesis on that!" so I gave it an appropriate detour.

   It's a really interesting read. The first part lays out a groundwork for what glossolalia is, how it is portrayed and discussed in the Bible to start with, then briefly looking at how it has manifested throughout history, leading up to contemporary practices in charismatic churches. The second part is a literature review of other linguists' studies into the phenomenon, which deftly summarises the scant but deep insights of other academic perspectives, most of which this thesis's author largely supports in his argumentation. The third and final part comprises an in-depth phonetical and phonological analysis of ten recorded (and meticulously transcribed using the International Phonetic Alphabet in the lengthy appendix) examples of actual purported glossolalia, with some reflections as to the nature of these and what that implies as to whether they can be understood as language at all.

   Ultimately my dad concludes that the biblical accounts of "speaking in tongues" are quite clearly talking about "xenoglossia" (speaking a different real language) rather than "glossolalia" (speaking incomprehensible *possibly angelic* languages) and all scholarly analysis of modern such speakers drives to the point where we cannot confirm these instances to be of any real human language; indeed he goes further to point out that examples of glossolalia are very often characterised by frequent repetition of simple phonemes with no clear syntactical or grammatical logics at play, and thus even if we are to understand these utterances as divinely-inspired language of some form, it is odd to note that those divine languages must be overwhelmingly composed of the sounds babbling toddlers are wont to make. Which is to say, the actual spiritual gift of speaking in tongues is biblically historical and useful, whereas given the evidence we probably have to admit that the modern phenomenon of it is conversely essentially gobbledegook.

   If your curiosity is so piqued by this post that you actually want to read this, and if you do have a linguistic interest in the veracity of speaking in tongues I would recommend this as a resource certainly, but as I mentioned it's not published anywhere so if you find yourself desperate drop me a comment and I'll ask my dad whether we can scan it into a more easily distributable .pdf or something.

the Prophetic Imagination

This book is one that I have read before since the start of this blog, hence the link above leading back to my prior post. I've been re-reading this in chunks with my dad, and frankly have to say I found this an incredibly edifying procedure, as not only was I re-treated to Brueggemann's incisive theological points but also the rich and often surprising conversations with my dad after each chapter or so. I said before in my original post that this book is challenging but well worth a dive, and off the back of this more recent experience I will add that I particularly recommend this book as something to go through as part of a small-group study, as it has plenty of practical provocative material from both Old and New testaments that should get a cluster of Christians thinking prophetically, and that can hardly be a bad thing.

Metanoia

This book by Alan Hirsch and Rob Kelly is, as its subtitle proclaims, a study of "how God radically transforms people, churches and organizations from the inside-out". The book is divided into two sections: why and how.

   The "why" section first deals with the potential problems that any church faces, and the grim apocalypse of failure in the face of such. We then dive into "metanoia" (a Greek word meaning roughly "to go into the Big Mind") as a practice of continually returning oneself to Godward sight and re-tuning our learned habits and ideas to better fit God's moulds. The next chapter looks deeper into the sinful, finite nature of human beings to explicate why this is such a necessary process. Then, a christological consideration of how only by decidedly and intuitively continuing to maintain our union with Christ is the kind of transformation metanoia brings possible. Finally a reflection on the human heart, and how only when in all its parts - mind, soul, and will - it is consciously and deliberatively united with Christ will we see the fruit we desire.

   The "how" section builds off of this seamlessly; after an introductory section emphasising the essentiality of being willing to unlearn and relearn things, we see how communities can be transformed by metanoia on three levels: at core a new paradigm (a fundamental kernel to "blow the collective mind"); built off which are new platforms (structural developments that help reshape and keep "the collective soul"); and lastly embodied in new practices (any practical habitual means of "engaging the collective will"). This section is littered with examples but insistent on its message that no single strategy can work conclusively in any context - our models of church must be Christ-centred and Christ-grounded, but beyond that everything we do that we think of as church must be open for question and evolution.

   I found this book eye-opening and liberating in many ways. Hirsch writes from experience as someone deeply involved in very innovative and effective church-planting/growing organisations - and that experience very much comes through in this text. Anyone involved in Christian leadership would benefit greatly from this profound little book.

Union with Christ

This book is a collection of essays by the Puritan thinker Thomas Boston, on a theme which the title probably makes clear enough. I've been reading this through with my dad and have found the experience soundly edifying and an effective mode of discipleship, intellectually and spiritually. Boston's prose, though old, is not archaic, and thus relatively easy to read and interpret. The points he makes are very gospel-grounded; I don't think anything in this book would be at all controversial to most orthodox Christians, and I do think that much of what is in here would be of great help to those same in the deepening of their conviction as regards their union with Christ, as is the gist of the New Testament.

the Reason for God

This book by Tim Keller is a reasonably accessibly-written but thoroughly intellectually-robust apologetic for the Christian faith. I recently read Francis Spufford's marvellous effort at proposing an entirely irrational apologetic, so I thought I'd balance it out with something that appeals more to the head than the gut - and this did not disappoint. I have read this book before, the summer before I started this blog, so retained a sense of its general gist, but it was truly a pleasure to revisit the concrete arguments.

   Keller splits the book into two sections of seven chapters each.* After a brief introduction exploring the helpfulness and limits of doubt in our contemporary skeptical culture, the first half digs into some of the biggest obstacles in the way of people coming into meaningful contact with the Christian faith, and for each shows how all of these hurdles are actually based on unprovable "faith" assumptions in themselves. These issues are:

1. the problem of Christianity's exclusivity when there are so many other competing religions
2. the problem of suffering, which exists despite God being supposedly purely good & all-powerful
3. the restrictive limitations following Christianity places upon a human life
4. the historical injustices & present hypocrisies of the Church
5. the thorny issue of Hell - surely a good God wouldn't be so extreme as to condemn people to an eternity of suffering?
6. the challenge supposedly posed by science, which many consider to have disproved religion for good
7. the logical and ethical snafus entailed in taking the Bible literally
   
   Having dealt with some of the strongest and commonest arguments against Christianity, we then have a short intermission chapter which considers the subjective nature of rationality itself. Then we head into the second set of seven chapters, which pose some of the strongest reasons for Christian belief.
   
   
8. the orderliness (and indeed existence) of the universe & meaningfulness
9. the innate sense of moral standards that seems essentially universal to humankind
10. the existential hole that sin leaves in the human heart, which we try to fill with idols but can only be satisfied by God
11. the radically distinctive nature of the Christian gospel as compared to other religions
12. the rationally revolting but emotionally intuitive core of Christianity - the incarnate God crucified for our sake
13. the resurrection of Jesus & the explosive emergence of the early Church being the simplest & best historical explanations for each other
14. God's Trinitarian nature providing a cogent & appealing explanation for the natures of creation & humankind

   Having dismantled some of the strongest arguments against and illumined some of the clearest arguments for Christianity, the concluding chapter is a gentle but confident prod for the reader of what to do if they feel themselves approaching a faith that they can truly call their own. After the philosophical and theological weight of the chief portion of the book this provides a comforting pastoral cool-down, though for non-Christian readers this may well be the most challenging part of the whole text.

   Overall I think this is a great book for making the case for Christianity in as best reasoned a way as possible. Keller never lands on absolute proof, but his earlier chapters show that nor do critiques of faith; and his points throughout cohere to short-circuit "absolute rationality" into a more pragmatic reasonability to which I think Christian belief is well-suited. A highly recommended book for Christians who want to supplement their own skillset in arguing for the Kingdom, and moreso a must-read for those whose curiosity about Christian faith is drowned out by overwhelming presumption that the case against it is too strong.

* Summarising the arguments Keller makes in each of these chapters is beyond the scope of this post, so you'll just have to take my word for it that his treatment of all matters discussed is intellectually humble but compellingly-put. And hey, I am a completely fallible blogger so if you don't want to take my word for it, you'll have to read the book and decide for yourself.

Just Living

This book by Ruth Valerio is a brilliant resource for furnishing a Christianity-shaped thought train about social, economic and environmental justice. Its ideas are presented with ample but not suffocating explanation, and plenty of pragmatic but not exhaustive pointers for further consideration or praxis.

   The first third of the book explores the fields of the issues at hand; the nature and complexities of both globalisation and consumerism, and then the specific economic-cultural context the modern Church finds itself in when relating to these - hegemonic as they are.

   The middle third is the meaty theory section, where we really dig into theological and philosophical groundings for the origin and trajectory of applicable ethics: Valerio first looks at how simply neglecting the Church's relationship to socioeconomic justice leads to a Christianity that is merely therapeutic and basically capitulates to consumer capitalism; next we consider how the Church should relate to money and property, with a look at the ascetic monastic traditions (with St Benedict and St Francis especially focused on); then finally how Aristotle conceived and Thomas Aquinas developed notions of the interrelation of justice and temperance as virtues, and how these uphold human flourishing when rightly understood and practiced.

   The final third of the book is given over to practical exhortation - prompting the reader to think of what they can do to put these ideas into practice, and making the case for doing so. This includes: reorienting our perspectives to be more cognizant of socioeconomic and environmental injustice; aligning our attitudes toward money and material goods to Biblical ethics, and following on from that seeking to consume as ethically as we plausibly can; engaging fruitfully with our local communities; stepping into activism to provoke change in unsustainable & unjust structures; and lastly making prayerful & fruitful use of the time that is given to us.

   I have to say, as someone who has already put a great deal of thought into the nature & necessity of Christian work for ethical, justice-oriented living, I didn't personally learn a lot from this book. However I did find it edifying & encouraging, and it helped strengthen & deepen my understanding of the shared space my faith & my social/political inclinations occupy. Valerio's credentials as a theologian are just as valid as her credentials as an activist and from reading this book you will be left with an indelible sense of engaging with the wisdom & insight of someone who really does their best to walk the walk they talk. It is also highly readable, and though dealing with some relatively complex topics (especially in chapter six) it skilfully explains everything with minimal jargon, of both the theological & the socio-political kinds. I'd highly recommend this as a book to give to Christians who take following Jesus seriously but don't seem all that fussed about justice; it might serve to tip them over the fence.

the Trinity and the Kingdom of God

This book by Jürgen Moltmann is one I've read pretty recently, hence that link leading to my last post about it. The reason I'm doing another post is that I've been reading through it with my dad, to help prompt us to challenge each other into thinking deeply about theology. I can only say it's been a pleasurable and edifying experience, and on a second read a lot of his arguments hit home far more clearly.

Renewal as a Way of Life

This book by Richard Lovelace is a guidebook for Christian spiritual growth. It is a condensed version of Lovelace's prior book Dynamics of Spiritual Life, but also entails an extra seven years-worth of reflections and learning around individual and corporate renewal, so it goes beyond the original in many regards.

   The book is split into three main chunks. Firstly, in exploring the normal Christian life, we consider how our lives are to be centred on God and His Kingdom; here we are given the "preconditions for renewal", those being an awareness of God's holiness, expressed in His love and His justice, and a complementary awareness of the depth of sin both in oneself and in the world. Orienting one's heart and mind in these ways is the root of sustainable and renewable spiritual life.

   Secondly, we look at the unholy trifecta of phenomena which constitute the "dynamics of spiritual death": those being the flesh, the world, and the devil. This middle section of the book is chock-full of practical insights into discerning when & where these are at play, and then navigating around or through them as we continue living under & for God.

   The third and final section explores the dynamics of spiritual life. The first chapter in this part dives into the Messianic victory of Christ and its explosively potent implications for followers of Jesus; the next two chapters dig deeper into how living out these implications manifests in firstly individual and secondly corporate (church) renewal. In these chapters we are introduced to the primary and secondary elements of renewal. Primarily, through faith in Christ as individuals we can be assured that we are accepted by God (justification), free from bondage to sin (sanctification), not alone thanks to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and granted authority over the spiritual powers of evil. Secondarily as we live in the light of these assurances we can follow Jesus into the world, presenting his gospel in proclamation & social demonstration (mission); we can depend on the power of the risen Christ in solitary & corporate prayer; we can enjoy community in the united body of Christ on micro- & macro- levels; and we can ever-more-progressively have the mind of Christ toward both revealed truth & our own cultural contexts by integrating theological learning & practice.

   I got a lot out of this book. It's accessibly written & consistently focused, leaning on the orthodox essentials without getting bogged down in theological corners; it's thoroughly Biblical throughout (with a Scripture quote or two on almost every page) & never tries to do more than it claims to be aiming to. Each chapter is closed off with a half-dozen or so discussion questions, as Lovelace does mention in the introduction that this would be an ideal book to work through with a small group of fellow disciples, and I imagine that doing so would be an incredibly fruitful experience, but so is just reading it to yourself. This is a book that does not make light of how difficult the Christian path can be at times, but it steadfastly instils confidence that if we have our eyes, hearts & minds attuned to God-in-Christ we will continue down the path of renewal until we are called home.

the Coming of God

This book is the fifth and final of Jürgen Moltmann's contributions to systematic theology, and as the title may suggest to the astute reader this one deals in-depth* with eschatology. As with the posts about the previous four I will give a rough overview of the book's contents before giving a bit of commentary, and as this is the last book in this series as is my wont I will then dive into some broader thoughts and reflections on the five book series as a whole. The contents of this book are split into five broad chunks:

1. Eschatology today - the transpositions of eschatology into time and eternity respectively; then the notion of God's comingness; then a tour through some key thinkers in Judaism who have contributed to a rebirth of messianic thinking.
2. Personal eschatology (i.e. eternal life) - conceptions of death as the end of life; contrasting ideas across the immortality of the soul or the resurrection of the body; a consideration of whether death is a natural ending or the consequence of sin; the prickly question of exactly "where" the dead are; and finally the psychospiritual experience of grief and mourning.
3. Historical eschatology (i.e. God's Kingdom) - political and apocalyptic versions of "the end" of history; the messianic picture; three wildly differing conceptions of millenarianism followed by a sharply nuanced consideration of whether millenarianism is even necessary; a look at exterminism (the idea that through military, ecological, or economic factors humankind may simply commit itself to an apocalyptic physical end - that is, death); a further consideration of whether apocalypticism is a necessary component of eschatology at all; and lastly an optimistic but grounded view of God's promises about the restoration of creation, in which he meticulously walks us through the theological and biblical cases for and against the idea of universal salvation (and I'll be honest - this was a big red flag initially given the particular flavour of Protestant orthodoxy I grew up in, where Hell is a necessary given, but I'm far more agnostic about the whole tangle since reading this chapter).
4. Cosmic eschatology (i.e. the New Creation) - firstly using Sabbath and Shekinah as springboard concepts into the future of creation; then the question of whether when the end comes creation will be annihilated, transformed, or deified; the ends of time and space in the eternal presence of God; and finally the scriptural metaphor of the heavenly Jerusalem as God's conclusive cosmic temple.
5. Divine eschatology (i.e. God's glory) - how all eschatological issues ultimately lead to the total and perfect self-realisation and self-glorification of God, in which a redeemed humankind is included as participant to the eternal experience, as God and His creation experience a total and perfect endless fulness, a feast of pure unending joy.

   So that's what's in here. Much of it was initially surprising to me, especially the universalism, but as I read and considered I realised more and more that the gravitational centre and methodological nature of Moltmann's theological system is so finely tuned to the core concepts of who we know God to be and logically extrapolating (with an almost outrageously generously ecumenical list of inspirational sources for these arguments) how, God being as God is and the world being as we understand it, the biblical worldview tends to lean further one way than another, and it all points not to fear and exclusivity but to redemptive renewal and inclusion and hope and joy.

   I trust it is abundantly clear that I am coming at this not as a professional academic with anywhere near enough experience or learning to start poking series critiques into Moltmann's system; I have approached these books as an enthusiastic amateur thirsting for a solid and coherent basic framework to hang my comprehension of Christian theology upon, and old Jürgen simply happened to be the first theologian who had composed such a framework that I happened to decide to pick up and work through. But I am deeply glad for that fact. These books have been an intellectual challenge, to be sure, but the more of them I read the more all the rest of what had come before made sense, and the richer my grasp of many of the fundamental tenets of Christian faith became. Obviously there are the big three caveats, which I have mentioned in posts about previous books in this series - firstly, that these books have been translated from German, so sentence structure is often quite difficult to follow; secondly, that Moltmann, being an academic theologian primarily writing to contribute to ongoing discourse within academic theology, while far from being recklessly obfuscatory or obtuse, is not writing for an entry-level audience, and so much of what he's talking about is quite difficult to get one's head around on first reading (or even second or fourth); and thirdly that Moltmann, being an academic in general, has a nasty habit of dumping in a random phrase in Greek or Latin (or even French or German sometimes) without offering a translation for it, even in the footnotes.** These pre-warnings aside, I think most moderately-educated-in-theological-terminology folks would find this series of books largely agreeable in style and especially in substance; Moltmann throughout this systematic theology has drawn widely and humbly on everything from Eastern Orthodox mysticism to strictly Reformed doctrinal positions and Catholic catechisms to Latin American liberation theology, and managed to work all of it into a cogently and compellingly structured model of what we must be talking about when we talk about the Trinity, or creation, or Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, or the apocalypse, or many other enormous and intimidating themes in the thought that has grown up around Christian faith - a model that while intellectually satisfying still leaves one with a sense of immense mystery and wonder at God's ways and being; a model that is not dry and stultifying but openly celebratory of the goodness of God and the life-giving truths that He has left us to work out and live in.

   As I said, this is the first systematic theology I've read, and I hope I won't be mentally lazy enough in the rest of my reading journey that it's my last - but it's been a thoroughly engaging and liberating one, and I would heartily recommend this whole series to any Christian who like I was finds themself in search of a holistic roadmap to thinking about their faith. Heck, I'd even recommend it to non-Christians who simply find Christian theology to be full of inconsistencies and contradictions, as they may well realise through Moltmann's rigour and breadth that there is far more internal logic at play than an external observer would easily guess.

* I say in-depth because all five of Moltmann's books in this series dig pretty deeply through eschatology, but only in this concluding volume is it front and centre in consideration.

** Which is frankly absurd, I mean, it's not like the footnotes couldn't spare the time. There's a lot of them (and honestly many of them add an excellent clarificatory point to the main text) in all five volumes.

the Spirit of Life

This book is the fourth of Jürgen Moltmann's series of contributions to systematic theology, this one dealing with the Holy Spirit's nature, character, and activity. The book is subtitled "a universal affirmation" and it delivers on this promise, as I will expand on later. For now, let's go through a rough outline of its contents - after a brief introduction discussing contemporary approaches to pneumatology, the book is split into three main parts:

1. Experiences of the Spirit - starting with a consideration of how God, being immanently transcendent, is experienced through experiences of life itself; then how the Spirit has been experienced historically, as divine energy, through God's people, the Shekinah, and messianic expectation; and finally Trinitarian experiences reflected in Christ's own spirituality, the spirit of Christ, and the mutuality between these two members of the Trinity.
2. Life in the Spirit - here we deal with the spiritual vitality of life; the liberation aspect as the Spirit bestows freedom upon its subjects; the justification aspect as the Spirit brings justice to victims, perpetrators, and structures; the regeneration and rebirth themes; the holiness which the Spirit helps people grow into through sanctification; the specific charismatic powers that the Spirit bestows upon select individuals and the purposes of these; and lastly how all this fits into thinking about mystical experience.
3. The fellowship and person of the Spirit - we first look at experience of fellowship and how this is interpenetrated with experience of the Spirit, how this is expressed in Christianity, and how loving relationships embody a social experience of God's being; then move onto ways of describing the personality of the Spirit through a range of utterly inadequate but humanly helpful metaphors (grouped into personal, formative, movement, and mystical), the streaming divinity of the Spirit's personhood, and how this fits together with various conceptions of the Trinitarian schema [the final section of this last bit takes a bit of a left turn to consider whether the filioque is a superfluous addition to the Nicene Creed or not, which is a bit detached from the rest of the book but in such an ecumenical sequence of ideas it's good to have it in there].

   So clearly this book covers a lot of ground - and the same caveats as I've given in previous posts about Moltmann's books apply here. But that subtitle, "a universal affirmation", truly does describe the overall bent of this book: while it is densely academic in style, to grasp the thrust of the arguments being made is to genuinely be held close in the encouraging embrace of the Holy Spirit as that which loves and affirms life in itself - I've labelled the post for this one "spirituality" not because it offers anything new or innovative to the Christian experience of spiritual life but because it so deeply and roundly affirms the goodness and the dependability of the basic facts of the Christian life insofar as it is spiritually experienced. The world these days is all too often dark and confusing, and much of the time I find it hard even with my faith to look to the future as the site of many tangible promises for human flourishing; but this book has done more to restore my trust in God's ineffable brilliance and unpredictability and love for that which is recognisable yet new, fresh, surprising, than almost anything else I've ever read. If you're only going to read one book out of Moltmann's contributions to systematic theology, I'd make it this one, as it will give you an identity statement and modus operandi for arguably the most mysterious member of the Trinity, that will deepen your cognizance of God's work in the world and your life, and broaden the intake valves of your heart for abundant security of hope and joy.

the Way of Jesus Christ

This book is the third of Jürgen Moltmann's series of contributions to systematic theology, and this instalment deals with Christology, as the title probably suggests. He very deliberately opts to consider the subject matter through a messianic lens, which makes sense as Jesus was the Messiah, although this makes the points elucidated in this book altogether more rooted in Jewish tradition than most Protestant Christology tends to consciously be, which is interesting. What Moltmann has to say is broken down into seven broad chapters:

1. The messianic perspective - the genesis of its hopes, the development of the hoped-for figure therein, and a consideration of what we learn about this from Jewish-Christian dialogue.
2. Trends and transmutations in Christology - its identity and relevance as a field of thought, how its theme and scheme can be interpreted through cosmological and anthropological lenses, and what all this looks like in the modern context of a scientific civilisation.
3. Christ's mission - his birth and baptism in the Spirit, the gospel's relation to the poor, the sick, the demon-possessed and the outcast, the broader ethic of the messianic way of life as expressed and taught and lived in Jesus, and the person of Jesus as embodied in his relationships to God and the rest of humanity.
4. Christ's suffering - starting with the notion that his passion event provides an apocalyptic horizon to world history, then going on to consider the nature of his death, the presence (or rather absence) of God throughout, the overall purpose of his death, and how this is echoed in martyrdoms throughout history in remembrance.
5. Christ's resurrection - viewed through an eschatological lens, we look at the unique character of Christian faith in this event, then dissect the theological and historical problems of the resurrection as a historical phenomenon and the theological and natural problems of the resurrection as a [super]natural phenomenon, before finally thinking about the spiritual unification process foreshadowed by the resurrection as an event.
6. Christ in cosmic terms - first outlining historical and ecumenical views of such, then a look at Christ as the ground of creation, his relationship to evolution (is he its driving force, its victim, or its redeemer? Moltmann makes a case for all three), and his establishment of a basis for the community of creation.
7. Christ's parousia (that is, second coming) - the nature of its expectation, the character of the promised one who is coming "again", the event of the Last Day itself, the category of Heaven, the righteousness of the foretold judgement, and finally affirmed embodiment.

   Obviously there is a lot going on in this book (as there has been with all of Moltmann's books that I've read so far and I expect nothing less of the fourth and fifth) and it would be ludicrous for me to attempt to summarise what is said herein. I will say though that as with the books on the Trinity and creation Moltmann here delves into corners of theology that comprise the home turf of questions I have always had but never quite known how to pose; he has an uncanny knack for uncovering something so intellectually obscure that it seems almost esoteric but once discussed and placed into proper context provides new and fruitful ammunition for starting to grasp the divine mysteries underlying the Christian faith. The same caveats apply here for the first two books - that is, that being translated (very well, but still) from German means the text's structure is often a wee bit confusing, and Moltmann has that incorrigible academic habit of dumping you with a phrase in Greek or Latin that even the footnotes refuse to clarify in English for the heathen reader - but overall this is a largely readable book for how dense its ideas are, and I think any Christian reader willing to be patient and thoughtful with a meatily rewarding series of trains of thought will find a great deal in this book to flesh out their understandings of Christ's being, mission, and meaning.

the Concept of Anxiety

This book is "a simple psychologically oriented deliberation in view of the dogmatic problem of hereditary sin" (according to its official subtitle) by Søren Kierkegaard, the grandfather of existential philosophy. I can only say that the inclusion of "simple" in aforementioned subtitle is wholly undeserved; this was a very difficult book to read. You know those kinds of books where you know every word the author is using but have no idea how they seem to be fitting together to make the points they seem to think they are? For me, this was one of those. I would love to have some insights to make about this book but I have to admit I simply didn't understand most of it. The language is simple enough, enjoyable in places, but the trains of thought at the core of this text's argument are horribly tough knots to unravel. Maybe I will revisit this in a few years when I have more hard philosophy and theology under my belt and it might unveil something to me; but for now, unless my recitation of this book's subtitle grabbed your attention like nothing else ever has, I don't think I can recommend this book to anyone. Profound? Probably. Important? Almost certainly. Difficult? Most certainly.

the Book of Enoch

This book* - or probably more accurately collection of books - is typically referred to by scholars of ancient texts as 'the Book of Enoch', given the Judaic tradition that has followed them for centuries despite spurious archaeological evidence. Though most archaeological evidence referring to specific people is probably spurious going that far back.

   The claim is that this is a collection of texts recorded by Noah's (and therefore Abraham's, and therefore David's, and therefore Jesus's, etc) ancestor Enoch - during the period of post-exile-from-Eden but pre-Flood strangeness upon the Earth. And strange it is. I won't even try to give a close summary as there is a great deal happening in these chapters and if you're intrigued in the slightest I recommend going to the link above and reading the whole thing for free; but I will give a few flappy hints. Enoch is approached by renegade angels who have been teaching dark arts like astronomy and metalworking to humans; they ask him to help defend against the wrath of the Lord who wants to punish them for rebelling against him. Enoch sides with God. The rest of the (really quite longish) book is a series of spiralling visions where Enoch is shown both earthly and heavenly realms in a past and/or future sense; the metaphors are so dense it's hard to tell really what's going on. There is a section later in the book where several passages of metaphor do seem to prophecy events of the Hebrew Old Testament, using animals as stand-ins for the characters - but I don't know enough about Judaic tradition to confirm this.

   What I can say for certain is that the vast majority of Christians I know from my circles have never heard of this book, let alone would be able to interpret it properly. The text only survives because it was preserved in proto-semitic communities in Ethiopia well before 1000 BCE. So whatever else we might want to think, this is a very old text: and it warrants scholarly and prayerful interpretation. I'm still on the fence myself as to whether I consider it scripture - a big part of me keeps screaming "of course it can't be scripture, look how weird some of it is!" and then the other part of me keeps replying, "um, hello? Ezekiel? Revelation?"

   So.... yeh. This is an ancient text worth thinking about, for whatever it may turn out to be.

* There's a bunch of translations out there on the web and I want you to be on the same page as me reading-wise, so I've specifically linked the Andy McCracken translation above, stored in my own Google Drive as I know the sites that host these kinds of documents can often be somewhat temperamental.

God in Creation

This book is the second (after this one) in Jürgen Moltmann's systematic theology series; as you can tell from the title, this one deals with creation doctrines. Though Moltmann approaches the topic quite innovatively from an ecological perspective - placing God and creation in relation to each other within their own spiritual and natural ecologies. This book took me a long time to read - if I must admit, I started reading it way back in late 2017 when I was still working at Church Army, but found it too difficult; but since getting nudged back onto Moltmann in more recent years, and having found his first book of systematic theology relatively manageable, I decided to embark upon the rest of his series, and found it somewhat workable, though it was a real mental test compared to most of the other Christian literature I read.* In any case, I have now finished it, and found it profoundly enlightening on a number of half-baked questions I've always had about creation but had never articulated, as well as a number more of things I'd never even wondered but now having been made to think about them am astounded that most Christians seem to be able to slide along without deep doubts in their cognizance about such things. Moltmann is that kind of theologian; he thinks into the weird corners and flushes them out with ecumenical sources, biblical wisdom, and fat old logic.

   It would be completely disingenuous of me to say I can summarise what Moltmann says in this book. I hope the introductory paragraph is enough to entice you as to the aim and style of his book in his overall systematic theology project, and following from here I will give a very brief list of the chapter subjects covered in this volume.

1. The idea of God being in creation as an introductory chapter
2. Specific considerations of the significance of this in the ecological crisis**
3. How God, and we, know creation
4. God as the creator
5. How time relates to the act of God's creation
6. How space relates to the act of God's creation
7. The duality/unity of heaven and earth
8. Evolution in creation
9. Human beings as God's image
10. Embodiment and the soul as the end of created works
11. The Sabbath as the feast of creation
12. An appendix comprising various symbols of creation

   Many of these might seem quite dry, or even irrelevant, to what you might consider core themes or issues in creation doctrine; but trust me, once Moltmann gets his teeth into one of these things, it becomes interesting as anything. And illuminating in ways you had probably never imagined. But anyway. So that's it for Moltmann on creation - merely volume two in his systematic theology series. Since finishing this one, I have acquired volumes three, four and five - Christology, pneumatology, and eschatology respectively - so I suppose I'll see you again soon for breakdowns of those.

* Maybe that says more about most Christian literature than it does me or Moltmann... you make your mind up.

** I have to say, it is fucking affirming to have such an adept theologian tackling creation issues through the lens of the "ecological crisis" way back in the 1980's, when that kind of language has only just barely entered the mainstream consciousness now in the 2020's.

Laudato Si'

This book - or rather, papal encyclical (you can read the whole thing from that link) - is the 2015 statement by Pope Francis about the responsibility of all humanity, and especially Catholic Christians, to care for God's creation, particularly in the face of the industrial horrors it is facing in this day and age. I am by no measure a Catholic, but I have quite a lot of respect for Pope Francis, and with the release of this that went up some degree - some degree more now that a few years later I've actually read the thing. Pope-man knows the issues. He knows what's up with the economic supply chains,  the product design cycles, the advertising consumer drive. He is not an ignorant old fart on a gold chair. This is a dude who spent most of his life in a run-down little church in Argentina cleaning graffiti off his parish walls and playing kickabout with local youths. He is not beholden to "the system" simply because he happens to be the head of the Catholic Church - ecclesiology can be politically weird like that, which I love. Francis is quite well cognizant in the key ways that humanity is fucking up our environment and the necessary actions that individuals, corporations, and governments must take to start minimising and then halting those impacts on our embedded ecology. If every Catholic in the world had read this and taken it to heart in a practical and immediate way, it would have been revolutionary. But obviously that hasn't happened. They just don't respect the Pope like they used to in the medieval era. Shame. But still - for this to have been written at all with the authority it was, as a Papal Encyclical - is immensely significant, and I hope it means that there are strong undercurrents of ecologically-revolutionary intent within the Catholic church, and hopefully ecumenically too, as I know there are too in every faith; it is only together as all humanity under One God one One World that we will see our way through the turbulence that is to come from the outputs of our historic wastefulnesses.

    If you're a Catholic who takes the word of the Pope seriously and you've not read this, then get the fuck off your arse and click on the link at the top, it's all online for free. It'll take you maybe an hour or two and it will reshape your brain. If you're a non-Catholic Christian who has less respect for the Pope but maybe doesn't take creation-care too seriously - I would also recommend reading the whole thing. It is not grounded in Catholicism but in Christian and biblical thinking with a pragmatic and compassionate bent for what is best for us and our future descendants in the world. And if you're no kind of Christian but you care about the environment - you might get a kick out of reading it, you probably won't learn any new scientific realities but you'll get a fun insight into what Mr Gold-throne White-hat thinks about the necessity of your activist struggles.

the Trinity and the Kingdom of God

This book is the first of Jürgen Moltmann's contributions to systematic theology. Through it he poses and develops a coherent Trinitarian doctrine of who God is and how we can think of Him* in relation to his "kingdom" - with the specific holistic methodological aim of starting to heal the schisms in the Church (across Protestant and Catholic thinking, as well as older disagreements between Catholicism and Orthodoxy, and even pointing at ways in which all Christian denominations have their roots in Judaic tradition and should acknowledge this).

   His arguments are complex and I will not attempt to summarise them here, but for a couple of overview-type considerations from his conclusions. This is proper academic dense theology and has a megaton of thought-provoking meat on its bones; while its translation from the German renders the syntax difficult to penetrate in places the prose is more accessible than it could be** given the subject-matter in all its mystical complexity and the high-mindedness with which the book's pursuit is laid out. Moltmann discusses the character and nature of God as Trinity, the inner life of the Trinitarian God and the distinct personalities of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the concept of perichoresis as the inter-relationship between these persons, the ways in which God can be said to suffer along with Creation as revealed in the passion of Christ, the distinctions between monarchical views of monotheism and the unique concepts of the Trinity, the supremacy and goodness of God in this sense, the essential mystery that underlies our knowledge of any of this, and the Kingdom of God as the historical/eschatological liberation of Creation into fulness in freedom. I'm not well-schooled enough in theology to be able to pick apart all his points, but they are clearly rooted in an incredible depth of biblical familiarity, philosophical dialectic and indebtedness to the diverse myriad Christian thinkers across history who have taken up their pens to attempt speculation and logical inquiry as to the realities that lay behind the issues discussed in this book.

   In short, this is by far the most challenging and thus rewarding book on the theology of the Trinity that I've read. God is wholly transcendent and ineffable, yes, but has also made Himself known through the testament of the Scriptures and the life of Jesus Christ - and thus we can know something essential of who He is; and in reading this book I feel closer than I ever have to a cohesively satisfying understanding of Trinitarian doctrine. Even given the difficulty of this book - you don't need a theology degree to understand it, but you will need an immense degree of receptivity and willingness to think complexly - I would heartily recommend this as a text to any Christian reader who wants a deeper intellectual grasp of the nature of our God, and would even tentatively recommend it to non-Christian readers who see the Trinitarian doctrine as logically incoherent as Moltmann's work in explication renders it just about fathomable. I plan on reading this again with my dad so we can discuss together what it says, means, and implies.

* Or "Them", as I have recently starting thinking of God - for the dual reasons that it A. acknowledges the plurality of personhood in the Trinity without recourse to "tritheism" by legitimising both the plural and singular uses of "they" and B. draws attention to the transcendence of gender by the Trinitarian God, which is something largely unacknowledged by the traditional usage of "He" for a being that was arguably only ever 1/3*** male during His incarnation.

** That said, Moltmann does have that same nasty habit that I detest in philosophical/theological writings where he will on occasion just dump a phrase at you in Latin or Greek without translating it. Even in the endnotes, which are mostly just references but still have a fair bit to contribute on certain secondary points within the text.

*** Moltmann would have had a go at me for referring to Christ the Son as only a third of the Godhead as His state of being is fully God - I'm not dallying with modalism, but you know what I meant.

Chameleon or Tribe?

This book by Richard Keyes is one of the most insightful books about church I've read in a while. He takes the fundamental that we are to be "in the world but not of the world" - and yet recognisable to the world; so where does that leave us as a community of Christians? Do we distinguish our own culture and cut ourselves off from all outside contact? Or do we adopt as many of the surrounding customs as we can to try to make ourselves more amenable to contact so that evangelism can occur?

   Well, both, and neither.

   Though this is a very short book its arguments are dense and wiry, and I don't think I could do half as good a job at summarising them as you could at understanding them by reading this book. It's a genuine life-raft in a post-Christian culture where half the church seems to becoming secular clubs with praise sessions and the other half insular Puritanical communities hostile to outsiders. Keyes does a great job of integrating the biblical theology of what church is and is meant to be with the practicalities of Christian life, and also the apologetic factors of how we make these very elements appealing and coherent to those people outside the Church - those we are called to win for Christ.

   It's a relatively old book, this, so it might be hard to find - but if one pops up online for less than forty quid, or you stumble across a copy in a second-hand Christian bookstore - this is a must-buy! (and needless to say also then a must-read...)

the Infographic Bible

This book, compiled by Karen Sawrey - is, as it says on the tin, a series of exquisitely-executed infographics detailing various themes and components of the Bible and its contained stories. I've got this as a present for my brother-in-law for Christmas, and as regular readers will know I always like to test-read such things to make sure they're not rubbish... this definitely isn't.

   The infographics themselves are graphically sublime, well-ordered, legible, comprehensible and comprehensive both. The content going into the infographics is some of what you might expect and a lot of what you wouldn't have ever thought about. The net result is that you learn visually a lot more about the Bible story in a much denser package than you ever could with several months spent over a study-version of the ESV and its Hebrew translation.

   I'm pretty sure my bro-in-law doesn't even know I run this blog so I'm safe; anyhow I'm quite confident he'll like this.