Collected Miscellany

Dug Down Deep – Unearthing What I Believe and Why It Matters by Joshua Harris is part of the WaterBrook Multnomah Blogging for Books program. I wanted to read it because I am inerested in theology and “orthodoxy” and I wanted to see what the author has been up to since his claim to fame writing about dating.

Dug Down Deep is basically an argument for the importance of theology and a primer on the basics of the Christian faith.  Harris argues that orthodox theology is important because only by “right thinking” can we find salvation and live out our faith. Wrong theology undermines faith and growth.

But it is a mix of argument and storytelling. He both outlines key theological points, and discusses why they are important, and tells the story of his spiritual growth from evangelical wonder kid to pastor.

All in all it is a engaging and honest call to take theology seriously and to integrate into our lives not as just knowledge but as a necessary part of living out our faith.

More thoughts below.

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I was practically bullied into reading 31 Hours. So many people on Twitter were gushing about it and the folks at Unbridled Books were obviously excited about it. When I was able to get an ARC at Net Galley I figured I should just give in to the peer pressure.

Like most things in my life these days, it took me a while to get it together but I finally managed to read it. And I am glad I did as it was an enjoyable and interesting read. But I had a host of reactions from a variety of angles that led to an ambivalent conclusion.

So I will try to organize my thoughts by themes or perspectives.

First the basics. As you might have guessed from the title, the story takes place over 31 hours. The central character is Jonas Meitzner a 21-year old who has dropped out of college and who – lonely, emotional and confused – connected with Islamic terrorists in New York City.  The story relates the hours as he prepares to complete a suicide mission in the heart of the city.

Interwoven in with the story of Jonas are the lives of his friends, family and potential victims: his divorced parents, his high school best friend turned recent lover (and her family), and a homeless panhandler who makes his living on the subway system Jonas plans to attack.

My semi-organized thoughts below …

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It is always a bit nerve racking when friends write books.  I mean, what if you don’t like it?  Or worse it is very poorly done?

Well, luckily I dodged that particular bullet with The End of Secularism by Hunter Baker.  I have never met the good Dr. Baker (not to confuse you with his wife who is an actual doctor) but have become friends with him over the years through our participation at Red State and other conservative venues.

So I was quite happy to find that Hunter’s book was enjoyable and very well done (I expect nothing less from Crossway).  It is in fact a book I am likely to recommend to friends and family.

Baker’s slim volume is an intelligent brief against the popular “modern” conception of secularism that seeks to keep the religious out of public life. Readable, and useful, for non-academics but interesting for those with a greater depth on the subject as well.

He uses straightforward arguments and language to lay out both the history and the debates surrounding the issue before making his own – in my opinion persuasive – case against what might be called hard line secularism.

Here is a section of the publisher’s blurb that sums it up nicely:

The result of Baker’s analysis is The End of Secularism. He reveals that secularism fails as an instrument designed to create superior social harmony and political rationality to that which is available with theistic alternatives. Baker also demonstrates that secularism is far from the best or only way to enjoy modernity’s fruits of religious liberty, free speech, and democracy. The End of Secularism declares the demise of secularism as a useful social construct and upholds the value of a public square that welcomes all comers, religious and otherwise, into the discussion. The message of The End of Secularism is that the marketplace of ideas depends on open and honest discussion  rather than on religious content or the lack thereof.

Two things that are laudatory about this book:

1. It is written in an easy and enjoyable style.  More academics should learn to write this clearly and succinctly.  It is neither “dumbed down” nor unnecessarily verbose.  Understandable for the average reader but deep enough for the academic.
2. It is a great length.  Too many books seem padded or are overly dense.  Baker introduces the subject well, provides the background, makes his argument and wraps it up. Again, more authors should strive for this sort of presentation.  Not everyone has the time or energy to dive into long complex tomes, but we don’t need fluff either. This length is perfect for me anyways.

If you are interested in the subject of secularism or the interaction of faith in the public square you will want to read this book.  It can serve as a useful introduction or an interesting argument/debate kickoff for those with more of a background in the subject.

I think Christians under-estimate the challenge the “problem of evil” argument presents to many non-believers and how it can sap the faith of believers as well.  For those not familiar, the basic argument is that if God is perfectly good and all-powerful then how can there be evil in the world.

It isn’t that Christians haven’t thought intelligently about the subject, because a great many have.  But there is a certain segment of Christianity that I fear have lost a sense of how this argument plays out in the larger culture.  I think the problem of evil is probably the single greatest philosophical challenge to informed faith.  In our age this presents a big problem; that is to say nothing of the emotional component which is equally challenging to those seeking faith and those growing in faith.

I bring this up not to present a compelling argument myself, but as a mea culpa and as a reading suggestion.  Yes, I have missed another deadline.  This time it is the blog tour for Randy Alcorn’s If God Is Good Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil.  I plan on finishing it and offering a review, but wanted to make you aware of it.

Here is the publishers blurb:

Every one of us will experience suffering. Many of us are experiencing it now. As we have seen in recent years, evil is real in our world, present and close to each one of us.

In such difficult times, suffering and evil beg questions about God–Why would an all-good and all-powerful God create a world full of evil and suffering? And then, how can there be a God if suffering and evil exist?

These are ancient questions, but also modern ones as well. Atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and even former believers like Bart Ehrman answer the question simply: The existence of suffering and evil proves there is no God.

In this captivating new book, best-selling author Randy Alcorn challenges the logic of disbelief, and brings a fresh, realistic, and thoroughly biblical insight to the issues these important questions raise.

Alcorn offers insights from his conversations with men and women whose lives have been torn apart by suffering, and yet whose faith in God burns brighter than ever. He reveals the big picture of who God is and what God is doing in the world–now and forever. And he equips you to share your faith more clearly and genuinely in this world of pain and fear.

As he did in his best-selling book, Heaven, Randy Alcorn delves deep into a profound subject, and through compelling stories, provocative questions and answers, and keen biblical understanding, he brings assurance and hope to all.

 I have heard very good things about Randy Alcorn from friends and family so I am looking forward to finishing this one.  So far it looks like a very timely book on a important subject.

One of the many casualties of my unintentional semi-blog hiatus is  the WaterBrook Multnomah Blogging for Books tour selection for this week You Were Born For This by Bruce Wilkinson:

Anyone can do a good deed, but some good works can only happen by a direct intervention from God. Around the world these acts are called miracles—not that even religious people expect to see one any time soon. But what would happen if millions of ordinary people walked out each morning expecting God to deliver a miracle through them to a person in need? You Were Born for This starts with the dramatic premise that everyone at all times is in need of a miracle, and that God is ready to meet those needs supernaturally through ordinary people who are willing to learn how Heaven works.

In the straightforward, story-driven, highly motivating style for which he is known, Wilkinson describes how anyone can help others experience miracles in such universally significant arenas of life as finances, practical help, relationships, purpose, and spiritual growth.

You Were Born for This will change how readers see their world, and what they expect God can do through them to meet real needs. They will master seven simple tools of service, and come to say with confidence, “I want to deliver a supernatural gift from God to someone in need today—and now I know how!”

I really wanted to read this one as it seems a good fit for my crazy life about now.  But alas, it was not to be.

In case you are unfamiliar with Wilkinson, author info is after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Regular readers will know that I have long had an interest in fiction that touches on issues of faith and religion.  On the other hand, I don’t read a lot of historical fiction; for a variety of reasons that I won’t get into right now.

But despite the countervailing habits when I heard about John The Baptizer by Brooks Hansen I was immediately intrigued. Here is the publishers description:

Traditionally, John the Baptist is seen as little more than an opening act—”the voice crying in the wilderness”—in the great Christian drama. In presenting the epic of John’s life, novelist Brooks Hansen draws on an extraordinary array of inspirations, from the works of Caravaggio, Bach, and Oscar Wilde to the histories of Josephus, the canonical gospels, the Gnostic gospels, and the sacred texts of those followers of John who never accepted Jesus as Messiah: the Mandeans.

Gripping as literary historical fiction, and fascinating as a diligent exploration of ancient and modern sources, this book brings to eye-opening life the richly textured world—populated by the magnificently sordid, calculating, and reckless Herods, their families, and their courts—into which both John and Jesus were born. John the Baptizer is a captivating tapestry of power and dissent, ambition and self-sacrifice, worldly and otherworldly desire, faith, and doubt.

A straightforward historical portrayal of John might be interesting in and of itself, but the unique and creative mix Hansen offered put this one on the top of my reading list.

Most of the time the publishers blurb has an element of hyperbole to it – depending on the quality of the book in question this can be annoying or flat out deceptive – but in my opinion this one really does capture the book.

More on why below. Read the rest of this entry »

I have followed the writing of Lars Walker for some time (at Brandywine Books, The American Spectator, etc.).  And I was vaguely aware of this fiction writing but his books never bubbled up to the top of the reading pile for some reason.

So when Lars asked if I wanted a review copy of his latest work, West Oversea, it seemed like a good time to rectify this gap in my reading.  I have been in a bit of a funk of late – not quite knowing what I want to read – and this seemed a good time to shake things up with something different.

And Lars’s fiction is different: historical fiction focused on the Norseman or Vikings but with a supernatural or spiritual component.  Here is how his publisher descirbes his most recent book:

Lars Walker’s third novel about the Vikings begins in the year 1001. King Olaf Trygvesson is dead, but his sister’s husband, Erling Skjalgsson, carries on his dream of a Christian Norway that preserves its traditional freedoms. Rather than do a dishonorable deed, Erling relinquishes his power and lands. He and his household board ships and sail west to find a new life with Leif Eriksson in Greenland.

This voyage, though, will be longer and more dangerous than they ever imagined. It will take them to an unexplored country few Europeans had seen. Demonic forces will pursue them, but the greatest danger of all may be in a dark secret carried by Father Aillil, Erling’s Irish priest.

West Oversea turned out to be an entertaining read with action, intrigue, and philosophical, and spiritual, musings.  This is not an easy blend to pull off, but Walker does it by not overdoing the commentary and skillfully mixing it in with the story’s supernatural aspect.

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