A Comedian's Guide to Theology

Several weeks ago I was introduced to Thor Ramsey at a comedy show I attended with a group from the church. He had his book for sale in the lobby, but I waited and purchased it from Amazon. If you are looking for a light-hearted introduction to theology, Ramsey has written a good book for you. If, however, you are interested in a hard-hitting deep theology, you shouldn't buy a book with the title, A Comedian's Guide To Theology.

In light of what it is, I will give a brief review. Suffice it to say that it was enjoyable, if not very intellectually stimulating, but I did find some quotes worth repeating. His last chapter dealing with death was actually very good, in fact, probably worth the ten bucks I paid for the book.

I was especially intrigued (maybe even convicted) by Ramsey's insight here:

Medieval people feared a quick and sudden death because it would not give them time to be iministered to by the church. Armies even debated whether an ambush was immoral because it didn't give their opponents time to prepare for death. Medieval people wanted a lingering death because this would give them time to reconcile with their enemies...
They didn't fear death.
They feared God.

There is evidence of a man who has a proper understanding of God and of death. If the entire book had the strength of the last chapter, it would get a whole-hearted reccommendation, but because the other chapters show significant weakness, I encourage you to bear in mind the title. If you want a laugh with some theology interspersed, this is a great book for you.

Judas and The Gospel of Jesus

On the cover of the book, the question has been printed, "Have we missed the truth about Christianity?" Wright gives a resounding "NO" as his answer to this question. Though only a couple of years old, this book seems to be dated because of the passing of the media attention given to the Gospel of Judas and the Da Vinci Code surrounding the release of this book by N.T. Wright.

Even if you are not interested in the Gospel of Judas, this book is a great read as it gives a brief overview and history of gnosticism and it's roots in Christianity and Judaism (or, as Wright points out, its opposition to the traditional views of both Judaism and Christianity).

Wright does seem, at times, to be a bit overzealous in his critique of the American Church in Judas and the Gospel of Jesus, but his analasis of the ancient text that received a great deal of media attention is dead-on. Further, as he traces the heresy and poor academic research in The Gospel of Judas, Wright interestingly points out that the gnosticism of the second and third centuries seems to show its face in some forms of modern Christianity.

Gnosticism saw the God of Israel as an inferior deity who created a wicked world, thus all material things were considered evil. Jesus, then existed to show the way out of this evil world and into a purely spiritual existence. Wright points out that much that parades as normal Christian faith today gives near total emphasis to escaping this world to live in the next world. Jesus, however, came to bring the Kingdom of God to earth. He came, not to escape this world, but to transform it, to restore it to its original order.

I enjoyed this book and would reccommend it.

The Shack

The Shack, by William P. Young, is gaining popularity rapidly. I was first introduced it through a sermon I listened to on my iPod last week, and then was asked about it by a member of our church. Having been confronted with this controversial book twice in one week, I felt it neccessary to address the issue myself. This is not a book that I would reccommend. The views of God portrayed are heretical and dangerous. The only redeeming quality is its attempt to deal with pain, suffering, and evil in our world. Warning: this is a very short review, time does not permit me to address this at length (nor do I consider the book worth that much time and effort).

The book cover says that The Shack is "Where tragedy confronts eternity." Indeed, the author does address tragedy and its implications in our world and in eternity as well.

However, the author also refers to God as, A large beaming African American Woman. The Holy Spirit is a small, distinctively Asian woman, and Jesus is, a middle eastern man dressed like a laborer.

We can all agree that his assessment of Jesus is dead on, but the fictional view of God is nothing short of heresy. First, the Ten Commandments specifically point us away from any graven image of God...a person of any sort is a graven image. Secondly, though God has no gender because he is Spirit, God has determined for himself that he would be referred to in the masculine sense. Jesus did not pray, Our Mother... Jesus prayed, Our Father who art in heaven.

I think, however, that this error as well as most of the others in the book can be summed up in the author's words. Reporting a conversation between God the Father (the large African American woman confusingly called Papa and referred to throughout the book with interchangeable pronouns him and her) and Mack, the main character, Papa says this to Mack, That's okay, we'll do things on your terms and time. This concept is foreign to Scripture. God operates on God's terms because he is God. It is we, the creatures, who are called to submit to his terms.

When we make the decision that it is God and not we who submit, then our hermeneutic allows for God to be female because the Bible and God himself is made in our image and not we in his as the Bible plainly shows. I do not reccommend this book, but if you choose to read it, I would love to hear your comments. Apparently some people love it, I was personally disappointed to see the people who reccommend the book on the cover...As orthodox Christians we should always be careful where we give our stamp of approval.

Confessions of a Reformission Rev.

I'm a bit behind the learning curve, but I have just recently developed an interest in the preaching and writing of Mark Driscoll. He is the pastor of the HUGE Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington. As a pastor and missionary he embodies everything he writes and preaches about by impacting the culture of one of the least-churched cities in the United States.

In Confessions of a Reformission Rev., which I believe is his second, Driscoll recounts many of the stories of planting and growing a missional church. The principles and lessons that he has learned and shares are applicable not only to a mega-church to postmoderns, but to any church interested in reaching their community for Christ. Mars Hill's commitment to reaching the lost should stir the hearts of every Christian.

On page 32, Dricoll writes, "Without a clear definition of what a missional church community is and does, tragically, community will become the mission of the church." Ultimately, this begs the question of every Christian...Will I be more concerned with the sense of community within my own church or with the mission of my church to reach the community around me? Christ has commanded us to love one another, bue he has also given us a clear directive to go...

I heartily reccommend Driscoll's book as a fire-starter for reformission in your own life and ministry, but it is also a great introduction into the ins and outs of the Emergen Church Movement from which Driscoll has worked to distance himself.