Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement

by Steven Bouma-Prediger, Brian J. Walsh

This book goes far beyond covering the subject of homelessness as the social problem we all recognize in our cities. Mass emigrations, displaced families, and human alienation from the earth all mark our times. In critiquing contemporary North American culture, Steven Bouma-Prediger and Brian Walsh discuss various forms of homelessness -- socioeconomic, ecological, and psycho-spiritual -- and creatively show how biblical attentiveness and Christian faith can heal the profound dislocations in our society.

Ending each of their chapters with a moving biblical meditation, the authors also interact throughout with characters and themes from current literature and popular culture -- from Salman Rushdie to Barbara Kingsolver, from the Wizard of Oz to Bruce Cockburn.

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction, Christianity, Christian, Cultural, Christian Living, Social Justice

377 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2008

About the author

Steven Bouma-Prediger (PhD, University of Chicago) is Leonard and Marjorie Maas Professor of Reformed Theology at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. He regularly writes and speaks on environmental issues and is the author of For the Beauty of the Earth.

Reviews

[Nathan Shelton · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars

That was a marathon of a read! Some truly brilliant insights and musings on the primitive longing in all of us for home. My biggest complaint is some of the pretentious academic jargon used in parts of the book. It occasionally made the writing a little inaccessible and unnecessarily complicated.

All in all, really great book and conversation on idea of "homelessness" in a very holistic sense from the abstract to the pragmatic.

"Trust in this God who gives us homes and our very lives in trust. Trust in the God of trust -- because without trust there can be no home and no homecoming. There can't even be justice."

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent read. I loved how Bouma-Prediger and Walsh tied together Scripture, sociology, politics, and a range of other fields. They are both obviously extremely well-read and steeped in academia without being subservient to it (as their playful prose often indicates). It is rare to find Christian authors who quote Edward Said and Salman Rushdie in the same breath as Leviticus! Their description of home-making as a Christian calling was vivid, as was their exploration of the idea of "ecological homelessness" in our globalized world. What the book sometimes lacked was a practical synthesis of how to apply their ideas, though perhaps the point was to offer a theoretical framework and let others fill in the gaps in their local contexts.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful exegesis. I'm mostly taking away the concept of God as a "homemaker." This feels intimate and meaningful-- especially in connection to how the Bible starts and ends with a dwelling place for God. I really appreciated how the idea of "place" is treated in this book and how the authors flip the privilege of travel, wealth, and social mobility on its head but also defining it as "homelessness". The anecdotal stories however, seem to be hypothetical generalizations of lived experiences of living outside and on the street which detract from the potency of the message.

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prophetic on so many levels. Normally I can find something that I heartily disagree with in a work, but I struggle to find that here, furthermore much of my own thinking has been helpfully challenged and reformed. I am so grateful to have read this book in a class taught by one of the authors, an immensely powerful work combining good theology, good politics/sociology, and good artistry

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very good overall. I really liked the scriptural chapter interludes. My criticism lies in some of the verbiage, very academic and unnecessary in spots. At least I learned some new word definitions.

[Ericka Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very thoughtful look at Homelessness from the Christian Perspective.

[Connor Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't be fooled by the time it took me to fully finish. Loved this!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good though somewhat disorganized read. I’ve read several of Walsh’s exegetical works & appreciated the switch between storytelling & academia. Approachable as I prep for teaching a class about longing for home.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed, contemplative, convicting. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in building Christian community or ministering effectively to the world.

Walsh & Bouma-Prediger raise questions such as the causes of homelessness and the various kinds of homelessness that afflict our society, suggesting that not only the lack of a roof over one's head but also the refusal to dwell in one place and to care for the world count as a kind of spiritual homelessness. More valuable (and to me, challenging) still are their reflections on home: in particular, their insisting that home rests on a foundation of memory, geographical stability, and permeable boundaries, set low enough to make hospitality easy. To be honest, reading this book is like trying to drink up the Mississippi with a sippy-cup; there is so much rich, thought-provoking material here, that on a first read, on a first read I am by necessity only taking away a small portion, a few vague reflections. To take more away, I need to go back for a second drink.

I thoroughly appreciated the fact that the book is steeped in Scripture. While I skipped the "biblical interlude" passages between each chapter, I'm sure other readers would find them enriching; I personally do not care for imaginative retellings of biblical stories. Nevertheless, the other, ordinary portions of their book are rooted in Scripture as well. The book begins with a retelling of the Creation, Fall, and Redemption story, set in the context of homelessness & our home in God; and it ends with a reflection on God's gift of creation to us as key in our homemaking endeavours.

The book is also steeped in outside research and vivid examples and stories. The writers rely on encounters with homeless people, with the stories of the Inuits, with the writing of Wendell Berry and Salman Rushdie and other scholars to build up a clear and well-supported case for their ideas; the personal stories bring the otherwise academic points they make to life. (Incidentally, for those familiar with Wendell Berry, Beyond Homelessness is a nice example of the practical outworking of Berry's philosophy.)

A few final, rambly thoughts: Political conservatives may object to the authors' discussion of climate change as a kind of ecological homelessness; I am enough of a believer in global warming that I found it helpful. The one thing I was hoping to find in this book yet did not was an extended discussion of practical ways to create the kind of home - stable, hopeful, with low and permeable boundaries - that they celebrate; there is, in other words, no real advice on hospitality.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book. Can definitely be slow at times while it quotes a lot of other sources and gives a lot of facts, but the intermediary biblical narratives and the key points make it a valuable book. It shows how homelessness is viewed in our world, and how it really manifests itself in many different ways through various cultures. But to combat that, it reveals God's idea of home and homemaking; how this world was created as a home for us, how it will be remade into the perfect home again. Until then, this book provides suggestions on how we should live to reflect this being our home, and how we should strive to make our own personal homes in reflection of the Christian homemaking ideal shown by God and Christ. Like I said, it took me a while to finish this book, but it is a great resource for anyone striving to combat homelessness and it's woes, anyone striving to form a better home for themselves and their family in this society.

[Bryan Kibbe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a deeply engaging and thoughtful book. The metaphor of homelessness works extremely well in both explaining how Christian thought and practice can interact with modern and postmodern conditions as well as bringing to light deep and important themes in the Old and New Testaments. Moreover, the book avoids useless generalities, and instead offers a detailed and specific analysis that is underscored by an expansive bibliography that has provided me with a substantial reading list. I would highly recommend this book to a wide audience.

[Kirsten Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This title is a conversation starter on its own, and the book has the content to keep one going for some time. The concept of home and its converse (as the title conveys) is extensively researched (the bibliography alone is exciting) and presented with surprisingly numerous facets. The gospel is pervasive both in revealing brokenness and offering hope. Bouma-Prediger and Walsh have crafted a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the topic.