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But That I Can't Believe!
1967. 127 pages. Paperback book with pictorial cover. Pages and binding are presentable with no major defects. Minor issues present such as mild cracking, inscriptions, inserts, light foxing, tanning and thumb marking. Overall a good condition item. Paper cover has mild edge wear with light rubbing and creasing. Some light marking and tanning.
127 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 26, 2024
ROBINSON'S THIRD BOOK AFTER "HONEST TO GOD"
John A.T. Robinson (1919-1983) was an author and former Anglican Bishop, as well as Dean of Trinity College until his death from cancer. He first achieved fame as the author of the book 'Honest to God,' which was written in 1963 while he was still serving as a bishop in the Anglican church in Woolrich, England.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1967 book, "Certainly when I am asked, 'Do you believe in the Virgin Birth or the Resurrection...' I am aware that the answer 'Yes' will be taken... to mean that I accept that sort of picture more or less literally. The answer 'No' will be taken to mean that I'm not a Christian... the answer I want to give is that I believe profoundly in what these doctrines are concerned to say but that the traditional ways of stating them so often put the crunch at quite the wrong place." (Pg. 12)
About the Virgin Birth, he suggests, "This was not the issue for Jesus's followers or for the early Christians. They were not convinced he was the Son of God because they knew he hadn't a human father... They were convinced by what they saw in him. He showed them a new kind of living, a new kind of loving, quite out of this world... In him they glimpsed something of the final mystery of life itself. God for them shone through him." (Pg. 24) Of the Resurrection, he argues, "as they could only describe it, HE came to them. The life they had known and shared was not buried with him but alive in them..." (Pg. 38)
He states, "So let's not start from a heavenly Being whose very existence many would doubt. Let's start from what actually is most real to people in everyday life... We all need, more than anything else, to love and be loved... And this is what true love does. It accepts people, without any strings, simply for what they are... That is precisely what we see Jesus doing in the Gospels, making and remaking men's lives, bringing meaning back to them." (Pg. 61)
An interesting extension of his HTG period, this book was also written prior to his later turn in a more conservative direction (e.g., 'Redating the New Testament,' 'Can We Trust the New Testament?')
John A.T. Robinson (1919-1983) was an author and former Anglican Bishop, as well as Dean of Trinity College until his death from cancer. He first achieved fame as the author of the book 'Honest to God,' which was written in 1963 while he was still serving as a bishop in the Anglican church in Woolrich, England.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1967 book, "Certainly when I am asked, 'Do you believe in the Virgin Birth or the Resurrection...' I am aware that the answer 'Yes' will be taken... to mean that I accept that sort of picture more or less literally. The answer 'No' will be taken to mean that I'm not a Christian... the answer I want to give is that I believe profoundly in what these doctrines are concerned to say but that the traditional ways of stating them so often put the crunch at quite the wrong place." (Pg. 12)
About the Virgin Birth, he suggests, "This was not the issue for Jesus's followers or for the early Christians. They were not convinced he was the Son of God because they knew he hadn't a human father... They were convinced by what they saw in him. He showed them a new kind of living, a new kind of loving, quite out of this world... In him they glimpsed something of the final mystery of life itself. God for them shone through him." (Pg. 24) Of the Resurrection, he argues, "as they could only describe it, HE came to them. The life they had known and shared was not buried with him but alive in them..." (Pg. 38)
He states, "So let's not start from a heavenly Being whose very existence many would doubt. Let's start from what actually is most real to people in everyday life... We all need, more than anything else, to love and be loved... And this is what true love does. It accepts people, without any strings, simply for what they are... That is precisely what we see Jesus doing in the Gospels, making and remaking men's lives, bringing meaning back to them." (Pg. 61)
An interesting extension of his HTG period, this book was also written prior to his later turn in a more conservative direction (e.g., 'Redating the New Testament,' 'Can We Trust the New Testament?')
August 19, 2017
He gives the meaning behind the story of Christ through Christ. Its not a historical fact but a myth that tells the truth of our reality of our lives through the story of Christ. Best book I have read about Christianity that doesn't corrupt the religion and allows the readers to find the will of God for themselves. Thank You John A.T. Robinson!
January 22, 2018
This somewhat older text of a previous generation's emerging theology was loaned to me by a caring friend. I suspect she hopes to communicate to me (as she often does) that the tent of Christianity is still wide enough to include me. I accept this gesture as such, and appreciate it.
Robinson's book is one that may be lost to time for a lot of people. But in his day, he was shaking up mainstream Christians in similar ways to how Rob Bell does today. This book is one of those that is encouraging to someone like me, a former believer, just to know that it exists. It is nice to see this thread of reasonable and compassionate thought in the church that reaches much further back than our "emerging evangelicals". It reaches back much farther than this book, in fact.
There isn't a great deal of content here that wouldn't be familiar to anyone exposed to any amount of enter native or progressive theology. I would be inclined to recommend Rob Bell to a modern reader before I would Robinson, simply because the issues addressed would be more immediately accessible. The advantage with this book is in the impact. Even if we do t all remember his name, Robinson had an influence in the sixties and seventies, especially on Anglicanism in Europe. So, I appreciate this introduction to his thought, and will keep my eye open for his name in the future.
☠
Mass Market Paperback
Fontana Books 1967/1974
Three Stars
January 21-22, 2018
☠
Robinson's book is one that may be lost to time for a lot of people. But in his day, he was shaking up mainstream Christians in similar ways to how Rob Bell does today. This book is one of those that is encouraging to someone like me, a former believer, just to know that it exists. It is nice to see this thread of reasonable and compassionate thought in the church that reaches much further back than our "emerging evangelicals". It reaches back much farther than this book, in fact.
There isn't a great deal of content here that wouldn't be familiar to anyone exposed to any amount of enter native or progressive theology. I would be inclined to recommend Rob Bell to a modern reader before I would Robinson, simply because the issues addressed would be more immediately accessible. The advantage with this book is in the impact. Even if we do t all remember his name, Robinson had an influence in the sixties and seventies, especially on Anglicanism in Europe. So, I appreciate this introduction to his thought, and will keep my eye open for his name in the future.
☠
Mass Market Paperback
Fontana Books 1967/1974
Three Stars
January 21-22, 2018
☠
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews