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What's So Funny about God?: A Theological Look at Humor
If you don't believe God has a sense of humor, just look in the mirror. Humor is a truly human phenomenon--crossing history, culture, and every stage of life. Jokes often touch on the biggest topics of our existence. And although it may seem simple on the surface, humor depends on the use of our highest faculties: language, intelligence, sympathy, sociability. To the philosopher Steve Wilkens, these facts about humor are evidence that God just has to be in there somewhere. Yet many Christians, scholars and laypeople alike, haven't taken humor seriously. In What's So Funny About God? Wilkens launches an exploration of the connections between humor and many of the central topics of Christian theology. He argues that viewing Scripture and theology through the lens of humor brings fresh insight to our understanding of the gospel, helps us avoid the pitfalls of both naturalism and gnosticism, and facilitates a humble, honest, and appealing approach to faith. Wilkens turns this lens on the paradoxes of human nature, the Christian calendar, church life, and new readings of well-known biblical texts, including the book of Esther, the nativity narratives, and Jesus' own teachings. Taking into account the problems of suffering and the need for timely lament, he portrays the Christian story as one that ultimately ends in cosmic comedy. Full of wit and thoughtful jokes throughout, it's enough fun that you may not realize you're reading theology.
200 pages, Paperback
First published November 19, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 25, 2019
I love puns, Dad-Jokes, witticisms and jests, both getting and giving them. It’s a family trait. My dad was famous for such things, all told with a twinkle in his eye. And if he received his desired effect, groans and laughter, his day was made! So, my interest was piqued when I saw that Steve Wilkens, author and professor of philosophy and ethics at Azusa Pacific University, penned “What's So Funny About God? A Theological Look at Humor”. This 200-Page softback is coming out just in time for the New Year, and I was not disappointed. It is peppered, on almost every page, with witty jokes and quips, but they are all married to healthy theological subjects unpacked in a relaxed and friendly manner. I think the author achieved his desired aim of helping his readers to “meditate on what we might see in Scripture and in our faith when we look at them humorously” (5).
One of Wilkins’s working premises is that “humor helps us understand God’s ways because these ways are full of unexpected punch lines” (25). And so, he recounts biblical stories to tease out the comical and curious that swim around in those episodes. Whether it’s Jonah, laughing Sarah, the Christmas accounts, the comedic drama of Esther, or the road to Emmaus, there are numerous examples of funny and laughable quirks and twists that help us to learn to laugh, and usually laugh at ourselves. But also teach us to laugh with joy and praise at who God is, what he has done, is doing, and will do for his people.
I deeply appreciated the author’s point at how good humor is anti-Gnostic, especially when our bodies join in on the joke. As Wilkins observes when he contrasts biblical faith to Gnosticism, and its twisted sister, naturalism, “both recognize the incongruent worlds we occupy; the difference is that they (Gnosticism and naturalism) just flat don’t like it.” But when we can see ourselves as God’s humorous creation, then “laughter becomes a way of hugging human life…It allows us to recognize that God does not desire save us from our humanity, but to save us in our humanity” (47).
The volume is packed with good, healthy, solid theology that is broad enough to include Wesleyans and Calvinists. As Wilkins puts it, he’s a Nazarene, “but I’m really lousy at it” (135). Yet he’s not lousy at how he presents who God is, and what he has done, is doing, and will do for his people. “As in humor, theology requires that we see something in our world that others do not, will not, or cannot see” (102). My only concern is that sometimes the jesting and joviality take over here and there, and the jokes become – in my estimation – irreverent. This troubled me in places and reduced some of the value of this normally delightful script.
Still, “What’s So Funny About God” is a delightful and thoughtful study on the place of humor in the Christian Faith, especially since “the capacity for comedy and laughter is not just coded into the human gnome. It is essential to Christianity’s DNA” (99). Pastors and church leaders will benefit immensely from this volume, specifically drawing on the author’s way of presenting and communicating certain biblical truth and theological concepts. Also, dads in need of more ammo for their Dad-Joke arsenal will find it a must-read! And so, with a chuckle, and an occasional blush, I recommend the book.
My thanks to IVP for publishing this volume and willingly sending me a copy at my request. Their stipulations on me were nil. Therefore, with pleasure I have freely crafted my analysis, and present it just as freely.
One of Wilkins’s working premises is that “humor helps us understand God’s ways because these ways are full of unexpected punch lines” (25). And so, he recounts biblical stories to tease out the comical and curious that swim around in those episodes. Whether it’s Jonah, laughing Sarah, the Christmas accounts, the comedic drama of Esther, or the road to Emmaus, there are numerous examples of funny and laughable quirks and twists that help us to learn to laugh, and usually laugh at ourselves. But also teach us to laugh with joy and praise at who God is, what he has done, is doing, and will do for his people.
I deeply appreciated the author’s point at how good humor is anti-Gnostic, especially when our bodies join in on the joke. As Wilkins observes when he contrasts biblical faith to Gnosticism, and its twisted sister, naturalism, “both recognize the incongruent worlds we occupy; the difference is that they (Gnosticism and naturalism) just flat don’t like it.” But when we can see ourselves as God’s humorous creation, then “laughter becomes a way of hugging human life…It allows us to recognize that God does not desire save us from our humanity, but to save us in our humanity” (47).
The volume is packed with good, healthy, solid theology that is broad enough to include Wesleyans and Calvinists. As Wilkins puts it, he’s a Nazarene, “but I’m really lousy at it” (135). Yet he’s not lousy at how he presents who God is, and what he has done, is doing, and will do for his people. “As in humor, theology requires that we see something in our world that others do not, will not, or cannot see” (102). My only concern is that sometimes the jesting and joviality take over here and there, and the jokes become – in my estimation – irreverent. This troubled me in places and reduced some of the value of this normally delightful script.
Still, “What’s So Funny About God” is a delightful and thoughtful study on the place of humor in the Christian Faith, especially since “the capacity for comedy and laughter is not just coded into the human gnome. It is essential to Christianity’s DNA” (99). Pastors and church leaders will benefit immensely from this volume, specifically drawing on the author’s way of presenting and communicating certain biblical truth and theological concepts. Also, dads in need of more ammo for their Dad-Joke arsenal will find it a must-read! And so, with a chuckle, and an occasional blush, I recommend the book.
My thanks to IVP for publishing this volume and willingly sending me a copy at my request. Their stipulations on me were nil. Therefore, with pleasure I have freely crafted my analysis, and present it just as freely.
January 19, 2020
Humor is in the eye of the beholder (or sometimes it might be the ear of the hearer). Thus, what makes one person laugh might not make the other person laugh. That's just the nature of things.
I was sent a review copy of Steve Wilkens' "theological look at humor," and since Steve is a fellow Fuller Ph.D. alum and I met him years ago when I served as an adjunct at Azusa Pacific, I decided to give it a try. I like the concept. Looking at theology through the lens of humor is a valuable exercise. As Steve notes at one point in the book, some theologians including Basil the Great didn't think there was much room for laughter in the Christian faith. I may not have the best timing as a teller of jokes, but I enjoy good humor -- Seinfeld, Big Bang Theory, Life of Brian to name a few. Too often we miss it because of the language and cultural barriers, but Jesus was known to use a bit of humor. So, the conversation is important.
I did find some of the jokes Steve shared a bit lame, and some seemed to make use of stereotypes about women and children that might be best left out. Theologically, Steve is a moderately conservative evangelical, so I wasn't always on the same wavelength. That said, I think the book can prove a useful conversation starter concerning the value of humor as a lens through which to examine theology. I did appreciate the references to Monte Python films. A few more of them would have been great!
I was sent a review copy of Steve Wilkens' "theological look at humor," and since Steve is a fellow Fuller Ph.D. alum and I met him years ago when I served as an adjunct at Azusa Pacific, I decided to give it a try. I like the concept. Looking at theology through the lens of humor is a valuable exercise. As Steve notes at one point in the book, some theologians including Basil the Great didn't think there was much room for laughter in the Christian faith. I may not have the best timing as a teller of jokes, but I enjoy good humor -- Seinfeld, Big Bang Theory, Life of Brian to name a few. Too often we miss it because of the language and cultural barriers, but Jesus was known to use a bit of humor. So, the conversation is important.
I did find some of the jokes Steve shared a bit lame, and some seemed to make use of stereotypes about women and children that might be best left out. Theologically, Steve is a moderately conservative evangelical, so I wasn't always on the same wavelength. That said, I think the book can prove a useful conversation starter concerning the value of humor as a lens through which to examine theology. I did appreciate the references to Monte Python films. A few more of them would have been great!
April 11, 2023
For the most part, Christians take themselves way too seriously. What's So Funny About God is an attempt to provide a theological rationale to combat this tendency. Wilkens, a philosopher by training, interjects humor throughout as he provides philosophical and theological riffs on faith and the Bible. It's an enjoyable read and an important perspective that sees humor as not only important, but embedded into the very Christian faith itself. If we open our eyes to it, we will find ourselves laughing throughout the Bible which will help us enjoy our life and our faith even more.
July 28, 2021
Not what I expected but I enjoyed it. A lot of groaners and chuckles along the way, but I felt it was solid. If taken too seriously some of his points could upset some Christians, but the idea we take ourselves too seriously was something Wilkens covered. I got it from the library, but I'm going to get it for my library.
April 30, 2021
Disorganized collection of philosophical ramblings about humor in the Bible, with frequent lame and silly jokes every couple paragraphs. Big disappointment for such an interesting concept.
March 24, 2024
I read this for a Sunday School discussion class. It was not especially funny but it did lead to good discussion.
January 2, 2020
I wanted to like this book. But I'm always skeptical of books about humor. But as Katherine and E. B. White (who are quoted in this book) once wrote, "Humor can be dissected, as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the purely scientific mind."
That's what happens here. The writing voice feels a little too clever by half -- to the point that I found it off putting. The various jokes interspersed often don't feel like they have a solid connection to the text. Some of the jokes rely on gender stereotypes, which some people will find offensive (I'm not saying I do). Others are edgy religious humor, which I enjoyed, but think some of my more conservative friends won't like.
I do like books about religion and humor -- but there are so few good ones. I was hoping that this would be one of the good ones. Alas, to me, it's not.
That's what happens here. The writing voice feels a little too clever by half -- to the point that I found it off putting. The various jokes interspersed often don't feel like they have a solid connection to the text. Some of the jokes rely on gender stereotypes, which some people will find offensive (I'm not saying I do). Others are edgy religious humor, which I enjoyed, but think some of my more conservative friends won't like.
I do like books about religion and humor -- but there are so few good ones. I was hoping that this would be one of the good ones. Alas, to me, it's not.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews