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| 067974472X
| 9780679744726
| 067974472X
| 4.54
| 94,402
| Jan 31, 1963
| Feb 01, 1993
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really liked it
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SUMMARY: James Baldwin's piercing and honest words are still, sadly, relevant 80 years after they were penned. He had a gift for writing plainly and p
SUMMARY: James Baldwin's piercing and honest words are still, sadly, relevant 80 years after they were penned. He had a gift for writing plainly and passionately about complex topics while always having words of admonishment for the American church's complicity in racism. If you have not read Baldwin before then this short book is a perfect introduction into his extraordinary prose. KEY QUOTE: "To accept one's past--one's history--is not the same thing as drowning in it; it is learning how to use it. An invented past can never be used; it cracks and crumbles under the pressures of life like clay in a season of drought." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 10, 2023
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Jun 13, 2023
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Jun 17, 2023
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Paperback
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| 1734196408
| 9781734196405
| 1734196408
| 3.81
| 32
| unknown
| Jan 09, 2020
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did not like it
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SUMMARY: When looking for books on the consistent ethic of life there are plenty that focus on topics such as abortion and capital punishment while ot
SUMMARY: When looking for books on the consistent ethic of life there are plenty that focus on topics such as abortion and capital punishment while other books focus on the doctrine of the Imago Dei. Rarely does a book give equal wait to each subject. In Image Bearers Herbie Newell attempts to combine the two subjects, but fails to deliver a succinct, clear vision of a consistent ethic of life grounded in the Imago Dei. Newell skips back and forth between subjects making the order of the book seem scattered. His use of Christianese obfuscates some of his points. Newell gives too much attention to abortion and broken families when capital punishment, war, and gun violence are scarcely mentioned. With that said, Newell does make some good points such as focusing on the doctrine of the Imago Dei as the driving force behind a whole ethic of life and including racism as a talking point. Like other reviewers have said, it is commendable that Newell took on the subject and his heart seems to be in the right place, but there are better books on the subject. Our recommendation for learning about a consistent ethic of life is Resisting Throwaway Culture by Charles Camosy and for the image of God, The Imago Dei by Lucy Peppiatt. KEY QUOTE: "You see, being pro-life is not just about eliminating abortion. Being pro-life means putting our families into action to live out our passion for guarding the Imago Dei." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Jun 06, 2023
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Jun 17, 2023
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Jun 06, 2023
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| 160819521X
| 9781608195213
| 160819521X
| 4.29
| 22,455
| Sep 17, 2013
| Sep 17, 2013
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liked it
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SUMMARY: A story about grief. About the weight of history and the ongoing effects of racism. A system that was set up to devalue Black lives. Mississi
SUMMARY: A story about grief. About the weight of history and the ongoing effects of racism. A system that was set up to devalue Black lives. Mississippi native Jesmyn Ward's Men We Reaped is a lament about losing five friends, including her brother, in five years while growing up Black and poor in the American South. Ward's pages drip with anguish, loss, confusion, and mourning. She longs to get out of the South but also longs for Mississippi weather, landscape, and her family when she is away. Her vulnerable writing about drugs and alcohol opens her up to criticism, but she is not inviting the reader the place themselves in her shoes. She is simply painting a picture of, for better or worse, what growing up Black and poor was like. KEY QUOTE: "My entire community suffered from a lack of trust: we didn’t trust society to provide the basics of a good education, safety, access to good jobs, fairness in the justice system. And even as we distrusted the society around us, the culture that cornered us and told us were perpetually less, we distrusted each other. We did not trust our fathers to raise us, to provide for us. Because we trusted nothing, we endeavored to protect ourselves, boys becoming misogynistic and violent, girls turning duplicitous, all of us hopeless." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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May 24, 2023
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Jun 04, 2023
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May 24, 2023
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Hardcover
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| 0830845135
| 9780830845132
| 0830845135
| 4.22
| 211
| Sep 04, 2017
| Sep 12, 2017
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really liked it
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SUMMARY: What can we learn from the saints in history? Were they people that were on a higher spiritual plane? Did they know something we do not? In V
SUMMARY: What can we learn from the saints in history? Were they people that were on a higher spiritual plane? Did they know something we do not? In Vintage Sinner and Saints Karen Wright Marsh profiles 25 brothers and sisters of the faith in short digestible chapters telling a humanizing antidote or two about a saint while seamlessly exploring ways the saint pushes her to examine her own life and walk with God. "I don't read about the saints in order to imitate them. I read about the saints because they show me something about myself," Marsh writes. There will be saints that are familiar, some that are not, and some that inspire. Each reader will identify with different saint(s). "Which saint is God offering you, to help illumine and burnish your particular gifts, and to help illumine and heal your particular damages?" Marsh asks. Marsh does a superb job of showing us that the saints were people just like you and me. They dealt with depression, fear, lack of direction, self-doubt, anxiety, and a host of other issues. They did not have it all figured out. What did set them apart was their patient endurance -- the ability to keep trying and walking in the faith, even when confused and frustrated. If you like the writing style of Tish Harrison Warren, then you will savor Marsh's practical and down-to-earth writing. While not a traditional devotional book, the way it is penned and split into 25 chapters (you do not have to read it chronologically) lends itself to group study or a devotional setting. KEY QUOTE: "The saints provoke me, disturb me, confuse me--and they sure don't allow me to sit off to the side, safe as a spectator or a cheerleader. They summon me to choose and to act." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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May 24, 2023
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Jun 03, 2023
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May 24, 2023
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Hardcover
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| 1587435624
| 9781587435621
| 1587435624
| 4.40
| 157
| unknown
| Oct 11, 2022
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liked it
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SUMMARY: The late pastor James Atwood believed guns to be the biggest problem facing the American church. Author Jemar Tisby argues that racism and wh
SUMMARY: The late pastor James Atwood believed guns to be the biggest problem facing the American church. Author Jemar Tisby argues that racism and white supremacy are. In Untrustworthy, Bonnie Kristian asserts the largest problem facing American churches is epistemic (epistemic -- of or relating to knowledge or knowing). According to Kristian -- the poisons of cancel culture, conspiracy theories, and skepticism of experts in conjunction with social media algorithms incentivized to make money at all costs are the largest problems facing the American church. Kristian posits that if we can't agree on whom to trust or what is true then everything else is a moot point. "We don't know what is true, what is knowable, what is trustworthy. Our information environment is chaotic and overwhelming, rife with conspiracy theories, 'fake news,' and habit-forming digital manipulation," Kristian writes. "It is breaking our brains, polluting our politics, and corrupting Christian community. It may be the most pressing and unprecedented challenge of discipleship in the American church." Untrustworthy explores the various factors contributing to the widespread problem of distrust in contemporary society. Kristian, a journalist and political commentator, offers a compelling analysis of the erosion of trust in various institutions, including government, media, and corporations. She delves into the root causes of the problem, such as the impact of social media algorithms, the rise of fake news, and the impact of partisan politics on public trust. Kristian says we only need to look at the current state of public discourse in America for the effects of this epistemic crisis that manifests itself "in the gullibility and quarrelsomeness that has us spreading fabrications and fallacies on social media, the proliferation of so-called satire intended to fool, rather than enlighten and bemuse, and the popularity of political and religious memes that consist of apocryphal quotations, cheap manipulations, and bad math." Kristian identifies and critiques six realms: media, both traditional and social, mob (cancel culture), schemes (conspiracy theories), skepticism (distrust of experts), emotion, and experience (identity), where the epistemic crisis is festering. In each chapter, she skillfully and clearly explains the reasons why each subject is contributing to the epistemic crisis and why we should care. For instance, in chapter three she says that cancel culture exacerbates the epistemic crisis because "there is no due process" and "there is permanent rejection with no path to change one's mind." The boundary is constantly changing and once that boundary is crossed there is no path to reconciliation. In chapter four, she identifies why conspiracy theories are appealing to many people (they provide community, people like to help, like to be right, and like patterns) and why conspiracy theories are happening in churches (bad theology, political allegiance, and authority). "Conspiracism is always epistemic poison. This accusatory, credulous mindset, more than any individual theory, is what contributes to our epistemic crisis," Kristian writes. "It treats confirmation bias as confirmation, rumor as research, and innuendo as proof. It isolates its victims and builds their community on a foundation of sand. It falsely labels ideas and behaviors unconnected to reality as a heroic search for truth. And all those downsides, ironically, are part of conspiracism's appeal. They're part of why people believe." Laced throughout each chapter is a call to truth and accuracy. Christians are called to seek the truth and to reject falsehoods and deception. This means being discerning in our consumption of media and being willing to challenge narratives that are not grounded in truth. Part of living out this truth is being ruthlessly judicious in the media we share and the words we use on social media. Kristian argues that trust begins with personal responsibility and integrity. As Christians, we are called to live lives of integrity, being truthful in our words and actions. By living out our faith in this way, we can model the kind of honesty and integrity that builds trust in our communities and in the broader society. In the final three chapters, Kristian provides a treasure trove of easy-to-follow advice on ways to combat this epidemic. She devotes roughly a third of the book to ways to actively work against the crisis. Kristian believes that it is not enough to identify and eliminate the bad habits, but we need to replace the practices with better, life-giving ones. Chapter eight is devoted to six epistemic virtues (humility, studiousness, intellectual honesty, wisdom, love and obedience) where she details what each trait is and is not. Chapter nine touches on habits such as arranging spaces for virtue (non-TV centric), avoiding passive consumption of media, and carving out time for weekly, daily, monthly and yearly sabbaths from media. We particularly liked the tips for engaging with social media in a healthy way - especially the advice to logon for a specific purpose and time and to avoid random scrolling. In the final chapter Kristian extols Christians to be a breath of fresh air. This means being in relationships with people, having humility, listening, and being patient. Untrustworthy provides a deeper understanding of the causes and consequences of distrust and offers practical suggestions for rebuilding trust in our communities and in society as a whole. Its clear and well-organized writing style, thoughtful analysis, and well-researched arguments make it a must-read for anyone seeking to better understand this important topic. KEY QUOTE: "How we handle knowledge and how we assess truth claims are crucial for the development and outworking of our faith as Christians. It's fundamental to everything in the political arena and so much of our private lives as well. The simplest conversations can feel impossible when we can't agree about what is true--or whether and how truth can even be found. And if we can't talk to one another, how do we worship together? How do we govern together? How do we live together?" MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Mar 29, 2023
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Apr 17, 2023
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Mar 29, 2023
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0310363845
| 9780310363842
| 0310363845
| 4.46
| 106
| unknown
| Feb 07, 2023
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it was ok
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SUMMARY: Christians have been called hypocrites because many are staunchly pro-life for unborn babies, but dubiously pro-life for people outside of th
SUMMARY: Christians have been called hypocrites because many are staunchly pro-life for unborn babies, but dubiously pro-life for people outside of the womb. In Rethinking Life Shane Claiborne leans on the lessons and examples from the early church as he details a framework to build a consistent life ethic. Simply put, a consistent life ethic means our advocacy for the unborn should not be divorced from our advocacy for all forms of life. "To have a consistent ethic of life is to be comprehensive in our advocacy for life and to refuse to think of issues in isolation from each other. It is a fundamental conviction that every person is sacred and made in the image of God," Claiborne writes. "It requires pursuing whatever allows people to flourish and fighting everything that crushes life. That means that all these difficult issues -- the military, guns, racism, the death penalty, poverty, and abortion -- are connected, and we need a moral framework that integrates them. That's what it means to be pro-life for the whole life." In the first third of the book, Clairborne establishes the revolutionary vision of the early church in regard to its view on life as he articulates a biblical framework for building a consistent life ethic. The early church unequivocally always valued all life, speaking against infanticide, denouncing the gladiatorial games, and even questioning if a Christian could serve in the military. "Followers of Jesus were a contrast culture, a holy counterculture, who stood on the side of life...Anyone could love their friends, but Christians also loved their enemies. In a culture of death, they were the champions of life. In a culture of hatred, they were people of love. In a culture of fear, they were fearless. And that's why people paid attention to them. Christianity was not just a way of thinking, it was a way of living. It was not just taught, it was caught. In the New Testament, Christians were referred to it as 'the Way.' Christianity was a lifestyle, a totally new and different way of living in the world." The middle third of the book pivots to the legacy of racism while briefly touching on abortion. Learning about our past and recognizing our past is immensely important, yet a third of the book is devoted to the topic. It was repetitive and if you have heard Clairborne speak or have read some of his other books the anecdotes and stories are familiar. Instead of repeating himself -- we would have preferred him to reference his own book such as Beating Guns for guns and Executing Grace for the death penalty, and referencing other's books such as Unsettling Truths , which he references frequently, or The Color of Compromise for the legacy of racism or Postcards from Babylon about the church being corrupted by power. We do appreciate him highlighting the complexity of human nature and that we are not prone to treat others in the image of God. We also appreciated his focus on the history of humans not valuing other human lives. With that said, it seemed Claiborne needed to get some things off of his chest. For instance, he touched on the major social issues that happened during COVID which seemed out of place within the overall arc of the book. Rethinking Life concludes on a high note where Claiborne lists seven ways (Communicate directly, one-on-one, affirm the best in others, be quick to confess, mute negativity, surround yourself with life-giving people, protect your joy and do a content audit) Christians can be a force for life in the world while encouraging face-to-face communication with a large helping of humility and love. While there is valuable information in Rethinking Life, particually at the beginning and the end we do not recommend the book for learning about a consistent ethic of life. For that we suggest Resisting Throwaway Culture by Charles Camosy. KEY QUOTE: "Love and fear are enemies. Much like opposing magnets, they cannot occupy the same space. Fear casts out love, and love casts out fear. The invitation is to imagine what America could look like if love shaped our policies--on immigration, guns, abortion, the death penalty, poverty, healthcare, racial justice, and every other issue. And I would suggest that Christians have the leading role to play in making that vision a reality." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 27, 2023
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Mar 24, 2023
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Feb 24, 2023
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| B09XT1DG44
| 4.14
| 7
| Apr 11, 2022
| Apr 11, 2022
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liked it
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SUMMARY: The doctrine of the Image of God is like prayer, communion, or any other practice that has become perfunctory. We kind of know what it is and
SUMMARY: The doctrine of the Image of God is like prayer, communion, or any other practice that has become perfunctory. We kind of know what it is and what it means, but the necessity and revolutionary nature of the practice or belief has dulled with time and repetition. In The Imago Dei: Humanity Made in the Image of God author, Lucy Peppiatt seeks to break the casual understanding of this indispensable doctrine by defining the three main perspectives, getting into the weeds by analyzing church fathers' and theologians' thoughts on the nuances of the doctrine, and finishing with a superb summary. "The doctrine of the imago Dei, that human beings are created in the 'image and likeness of God,' is central to Christian life and practice and touches, perhaps even helps to form, every other doctrine of the Christian faith in one way or another," Peppiatt writes. Despite the centrality of the doctrine to the Christian faith, there is no consensus on what the doctrine means. Three main perspectives, substantionalist, functionalist, and relational, dominate the conversation with the former two being the most popular interpretations. A substantionalist view says that being made in the image of God means that humans have a human attribute that is mirrored in an attribute of God. A functionalist perspective means that a command from God, such as to subdue and rule the earth, is a mark of being made in the image of God. The third perspective, relational, says being made in the image of God means a human's ability to have a relationship with God is the distinction. Regardless of what view makes the most sense to you, all of them affect how we interact with others and the world. "The idea that human beings bear the image of God can be extrapolated in a number of ways but is often used in a general sense to denote equality, unity, dignity and the sanctity of human life." Peppiatt dives into the nitty gritty of the doctrine in the middle of the book, touching on the differences between what being made in the image of Christ and being made in the image of the Trinity means. She compares and contrasts kingship, priesthood, and stewardship models. She ultimately asks a plethora of questions, that many times, do have not clear-cut answers. Is there a difference between image and likeness? If so, what are the implications? Does the substantionalist view reference the ability of humans to reason? Have moral judgment? Or the ability to repent? Was the image of God destroyed at the fall or was it maintained after the fall? Does the relational view reference the "fittingness and capacity of a human being to be in a relationship with God, or in the nature of the relationship itself, or in both?" The sheer amount of information presented was overwhelming, but that, perhaps, was the point. "It has become clear by now just how diverse the perspectives on the imago Dei really are, with many different emphases and nuances in relation to how we might understand what it means for human beings to be made in the image of God," Peppiatt says. "We cannot resolve all the questions surrounding the imago Dei, and there will always be some element of the unknowable in relation to this topic." No matter what view you ascribe to, what does this mean for the average person? First, it means we must be in a relationship with God and other people. "Jesus taught that to be made in His own image is to love God and love our neighbor. There is no understanding of being made in the image of Christ that does not entail relationship." Second, everyone is deserving of dignity and respect because God created them. There are no qualifications, tests, or requirements. It is a "great leveling" doctrine. And finally, God is for us no matter what. "The story of human beings made in the image of God is that even when we are not godlike in any way, and perhaps especially then, God is still for us." Ultimately this is a doctrine full of mystery requiring a healthy dose of humility. "We know that it is a doctrine we must approach humbly: humbly because it confronts us with the truth that we cannot understand everything about this claim; neither have we understood how to live it out...I have been struck deeply by the mystery of it all," Peppiatt concludes. KEY QUOTE: "To have been created intentionally, imagined in the mind of God, and then brought into being communicates something profound about a person’s intrinsic worth. It speaks—you are loved; you are wanted; you are valued. Further to this, to have been created as some kind of reflection or embodiment of the divine serves only to strengthen the idea that human beings are of infinite worth and beauty." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 06, 2023
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Feb 15, 2023
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Feb 06, 2023
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| 0143036483
| 9780143036487
| 0143036483
| 3.93
| 721
| Dec 01, 2001
| Dec 27, 2005
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liked it
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SUMMARY: The duplicity of human nature is a conundrum. We are capable of extraordinary acts of greatness and kindness, while at the same time, we are
SUMMARY: The duplicity of human nature is a conundrum. We are capable of extraordinary acts of greatness and kindness, while at the same time, we are capable of profound evil and harm. This is true of all humans; even those whose lives lead to monumental positive societal change such as Martin Luther King Jr. Marshall Fraday's Martin Luther King Jr.: A Life paints Martin as a fellow human being trying to find his place in the world. Is he doing the right thing? Is he the right leader for the movement? Is it time to give up? Does he change tactics? King deals with depression, failure, lust, success, and elation. Pride and humility, doubt and fear war within him as he hashes out his vision for the civil rights movement. "A benignly nebulous amnesia has settled over how in fact tenuous, fitful, and uncertain was his progress through those years from Montgomery to Memphis, and the final, truly revolutionary implications of his message," Frady writes. Over the years we have neutered the complicated human nature of King. Frady calls this the "pop beatification" of Martin that is commemorated with "parades, memorial concerts, schools and streets and parks named for him, his birthday a national holiday, his image on postage stamps." "To hallow a figure is almost always to hollow him. And the truth is, King was always a far more excruciatingly complex soul than the subsequent flattenings effected by his mass sanctification," Frady pens. One of the strengths of this book is its attention to detail. Frady has done extensive research, and his writing is rich with historical context and fascinating anecdotes. He does an excellent job of exploring King's life from his early days as a Baptist minister in the South, to his rise as a civil rights leader, and ultimately, to his untimely death. The author provides a nuanced and balanced view of King, acknowledging both his strengths and weaknesses, and avoiding the trap of hagiography that so often plagues biographical works. One of the recurring themes is King's struggle with guilt. Guilt from imploring people to march and then getting beaten, imprisoned, and/or killed. Guilt from preaching from the pulpit with moral clarity, but having many extramarital relationships. The book is a stark reminder that even those that rise to greatness in history are still prone to the trite temptations of life. From a Christian standpoint, it brings to mind Romans 7:15 where Paul says, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." The author draws on a wealth of primary and secondary sources, including King's own writings and speeches, to paint a vivid picture of his life and legacy. Many of the events such as the bus boycott in Montgomery and the walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma will be familiar. Frady is skilled at keeping the story moving although, much like King's speeches, there is sometimes an affinity for esoteric words that sometimes, although inspiring, can bog the reading down. Overall, Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Life is an insightful and short introduction to the life and legacy of one of the most influential figures in modern American history and is recommended as an entry-level book into King's life. KEY QUOTE: "What the full-bodied reality of King should finally tell us, beyond all the awe and celebration of him, is how mysteriously mixed, in what torturously complicated forms, our moral heroes--our prophets--actually come to us." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 23, 2023
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Jan 31, 2023
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Jan 16, 2023
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Paperback
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| 0312532725
| 9780312532727
| 0312532725
| 3.84
| 662
| Mar 01, 2011
| Mar 01, 2011
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liked it
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SUMMARY: The majority of humans would agree that murder is wrong and yet human history is littered with genocide, whole populations being kidnapped an
SUMMARY: The majority of humans would agree that murder is wrong and yet human history is littered with genocide, whole populations being kidnapped and enslaved, and wars replete with ghastly atrocities. How is it that we can say the murder of another human is terrible, but in an instant dehumanize a fellow human and perform, or at least allow, dehumanizing acts? In Less Than Human professor of Philosophy at the University of New England David Livingstone Smith pulls from history, biology, philosophy, and anthropology to perform an in-depth analysis of defining dehumanization and why we seem predisposed to dehumanizing others. Dehumanization “is the belief that some beings only appear human, but beneath the surface, where it really counts, they aren't human at all… It isn't a way of talking. It’s a way of thinking--a way of thinking that, sadly, comes all too easily to us” Livingstone Smith chronicles the building blocks of dehumanization throughout history beginning with Aristotle to David Hume to Immanuel Kant. He touches on the great chain of being (that everything is on a hierarchical scale with God and humans at the top and plants near the bottom) and our propensity for sorting humans into buckets. This hierarchical view and the ability of humans to sort others into groups is the bedrock from which dehumanization is built. Without the ability to sort people into groups and label them better or worse, there would be no dehumanization. These human predispositions are exploited by those in power by stoking fear of the “other,” labeling them as “counterfeit human beings.” Livingstone Smith says dehumanization is not exclusively an internal issue, but also a product of our environment. Therefore, the words we use matter. Vermin, parasites, maggots, rats, worms, dogs, wolves, dirty, unclean, filthy, disease carriers, rapists, murderers, degenerates, thugs. All these words have been used, and continue to be used, to dehumanize others. Immigrants at the southern border are not people, they are “rapists” or “carriers of disease.” Black people marching in the streets are not protesters, they are “thugs” or “degenerates.” When we use the above phrases, it allows us to see the “other” as non-human, more as an animal or virus that needs to be neutralized or exterminated. Perfectly illustrating this concurrence of events is lynching in America. Many church-going people would go to church, have knowledge about the 10 commandments, agreeing with the sixth commandment to not kill, but attend a lynching after church complete with pictures and snacks in a festive atmosphere. Many white Southerners simply did not see Black people as human, but as vermin to be exterminated. (For a comprehensive history of lynching, we recommend At the Hands of Persons Unknown by Philip Dray) “When a group of people is dehumanized, they become mere creatures to be managed, exploited, or disposed of, as the occasion demands,” Livingstone Smith writes. Livingstone Smith says this theme of dehumanizing others by labeling them as animals or bugs shows that people do not believe the "other" has a human "essence." This essence is innate in humans - it is an undefinable trait that makes a human a human. A belief that we are different, more valuable, than animals and plants. For millennia, humans have been trying to answer the question - what makes a human a human? Is it tied to a higher order of thought? Our industriousness? Our culture? Our developed emotions? Is it our skin color or another physical characteristic? But, anytime someone tries to answer what makes a human a human, a group of people is always left out. They are seen as the “other” and have the potential to be dehumanized. This leads to the largest critique of the book. While Livingstone Smith does a superb job of tracing the roots of, defining, and showing why humans are prone to dehumanization he does not provide a path forward (although he did write a follow-up, which we have yet to read, titled, On Inhumanity, with ideas on how to resist dehumanization). This is where the Christian faith, despite being bastardized to justify atrocities throughout the centuries, can provide a path forward. The foundational doctrine of, "the image of God" says that all humans are made in the image of God – full stop. There is no specific characteristic or list. It is not up to us to determine who is worthy or who is not – it is an impossible task for us. As Lucy Peppiatt says in The Imago Dei: Humanity Made in the Image of God it is a great leveling doctrine. The mysteriousness of this doctrine has one purpose and can only point to one thing alone: being made in the image of God. Overall, Less Than Human is a well-researched and thought-provoking book that provides important insights into the dangers of dehumanization. It is worth considering if you are interested in understanding how dehumanization operates in society, but we recommend reading Peppiatt’s The Imago Dei: Humanity Made in the Image of God to round out your reading on this subject. KEY QUOTE: "We are all potential dehumanizers, just as we are all potential objects of dehumanization. The problem of dehumanization is everyone's problem." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 12, 2023
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May 06, 2023
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Jan 12, 2023
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1565486870
| 9781565486874
| 1565486870
| 3.83
| 59
| unknown
| May 15, 2019
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really liked it
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SUMMARY: What would the world look like if Christians, and non-Christians, lived a life focused on a culture of hospitality and encounter? What if we
SUMMARY: What would the world look like if Christians, and non-Christians, lived a life focused on a culture of hospitality and encounter? What if we rejected the pervasive consumerist culture that sees humans, especially the poor and the vulnerable, as commodities to be used? Professor of Medical Humanities at the Creighton University School of Medicine Charles Camosy, building upon the Consistent Life Ethic (CLE) advocated for by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis, provides a compelling framework and well-reasoned arguments for approaching sex, abortion, climate, non-humans, and violence among other polarizing subjects in Resisting Throwaway Culture. The book devotes seven chapters to specific topics (sex practices, reproductive biotechnology, abortion, a duty to aid the poor and stranger, ecology and non-humans, euthanasia, and state-sponsored violence) where he follows a pattern of looking at the current situation of a vulnerable population subjected to violence then pivots to how to use the CLE to critique how the vulnerable are being treated before addressing several objections to the critique. For the sake of this review, we will focus on the CLE and its key tenets. "The ethic is founded...upon the defense of the human person. She has sacredness as an individual, but her flourishing cannot be understood except in relation to others," Camosy writes. "The CLE reminds us of our duty to protect the lives of persons at all stages of development (from fertilization until natural death), as well as to give them aid and support." From a Christian point of view, this is tied to the image of God. This is the belief that all people are created in the image of God and we are called to reflect Him in our interaction with His human and non-human creations. This vitally important distinction stands at odds with American culture that champions subjective truths or moral relativism. "In the absence of objective truths or sound principles other than the satisfaction of our own desires and immediate needs, what limits can be placed on human trafficking, organized crime, the drug trade, commerce in blood diamonds, and the fur of endangered species?" Camosy asks. Camposy's basic hypothesis is that violence is being brought upon vulnerable populations that are seen as disposable. A consumeristic mindset, fueled by freedom of choice and autonomy, results in a throwaway culture. America, writ large, treats people as a commodity that is to be used and then discarded. The seed of this insidious ideology begins in the words we use. When we use words such as "illegals," "a clump of cells," or "thugs", we are dehumanizing a fellow human being. We are not seeing the inherent dignity of a fellow image bearer. "The CLE must call attention to language that reduces the dignity of marginalized populations to mere catchphrases," Camosy pens. "Otherwise we can objectify the vulnerable and allow ourselves to discard them at will—often at the service of consumerist culture, and often in the face of terrible violence." This mentality justifies Florida governor Ron DeSantis and Texas governor Greg Abbott busing immigrants to Washington D.C., New York, and Chicago for political purposes. This leads to proponents of abortion advocating for the procedure at any stage of pregnancy. This leads to the United States having 20% of the world's incarcerated despite having 4% of the world's population. Camosy argues that this consumerist mindset "has detached us so totally from encounter and connection" that "we aren’t inclined to think about how we are contributing to a culture in which people are used and thrown away." Simply put, "consumerism...enables throwaway culture." "This culture fosters a mentality in which everything has a price, everything can be bought, everything is negotiable. This way of thinking has room only for a select few, while it discards all those who are unproductive. It reduces everything—including people—into mere things whose worth consists only in being bought, sold, or used, and which are then discarded when their market value has been exhausted." For Americans, this calls into question the very water we swim in. "When we err on the side of autonomy and freedom of choice, we ignore the claims (and even the existence) of the vulnerable," Camosy says. This manifests itself in 24% of the population struggling to put food on the table despite living in the richest country in the world. It is why gun deaths continue to rise and we do nothing to curb the epidemic. To break this destructive cycle we need to create a culture of encounter and hospitality. We must get out of our houses and plug into our communities with authentic face-to-face interactions. We must to go the "peripheries of our familiar communities" and be the hands and feet of Jesus. It means getting uncomfortable. And sometimes it means having a conversation, just to have a conversation. "Genuine encounter requires a posture of hospitality—and such encounters will be understood as good and fitting even if there seems to be no utilitarian reason for engaging." Camposy does not gloss over that the fact that the CLE is a difficult, nuanced philosophy that is filled with tension. We live in a broken world, and yet we are called to work with God to bring heaven to earth. It goes against everything our society values. It should be filled with grace, mercy, love, and compassion -- and it should be done in community - especially with people that you disagree. "A culture of encounter, characterized by mercy for those we are tempted to judge, means being in intellectual solidarity with those who hold different opinions than we do," Camosy pens. "It means listening first, presuming good will, and tolerating views that we find uncomfortable." "Do it in dialogue with others, especially those who think differently. Steelman, don’t straw man, their point of view. Resist with all your might the urge to define yourself by opposition to the other. Lead with what you are for, not with what you are against, in the hopes of finding unifying common ground." "Our relationship can be shaped by the violent, destructive consumerism a throwaway culture generates, or it can be shaped by a culture of encounter and mercy." One final note, you may not fully agree with all the points of the consistent life ethic as Camosy lists it, especially for birth control, but the philosophy, at the very least, is intellectually challenging and should not be dismissed just because you might not agree with him. KEY QUOTE: "The CLE can provide an antidote to the throwaway culture’s treatment of the poor and the stranger. Its vision demands more than not killing. It demands more than voting a certain way. It means each of us taking seriously the stories and realities of these Christ-bearers. It means cultivating a genuine encounter and allowing that encounter to transform us." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
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| 0801036305
| 9780801036309
| 0801036305
| 4.34
| 50
| Jul 01, 2012
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The Early Church on Killing is a comprehensive collection of writing from early church fathers on killing, abortion, and war that is suited for those
The Early Church on Killing is a comprehensive collection of writing from early church fathers on killing, abortion, and war that is suited for those doing an academic paper or have a keen interest in reading the original writings of the early church fathers. With the proper expectations this book is extremely useful, but it is not for the average reader. Although there are gems of wisdome to be unearthed reading the original text can be tedious. While this book serves as a reference for many books on the consistent life ethic (CLE), we do not recommend it as a starting point for learning about the CLE or about the ancient church's views on killing. To learn about the CLE, we recommend Rehumanize by Aimee Murphy and for the early church's view on killing we recommend Consistently Pro-Life by Rob Arner. ...more |
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| 9781606086124
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SUMMARY: If you asked a random person who identified as a Christian what a Christian ethic of life is or what the basic tenants of a consistent ethic
SUMMARY: If you asked a random person who identified as a Christian what a Christian ethic of life is or what the basic tenants of a consistent ethic of life are they would likely focus on abortion for the first question and not be able to answer the second question. Author Rob Arner, in Consistently Pro-Life: The Ethics of Bloodshed in Ancient Christianity, hypothesizes that, in general, modern Christians' approach towards the ethic of life has been "sloppy, ad hoc, and piecemeal at best" and that the ancient church has a blueprint for how to approach the ethic of life in modern times. “This is a book about killing. Specifically, when and under what circumstances is it morally justifiable to take human life? Even more specifically, what moral demands might the gospel of Jesus Christ make upon those whom Christ has called to take up the cross and follow him, with respect to the taking of human life?” For too long when Christians are faced with an ethical decision instead of asking, “Which course of action is most consistent with my identity as a disciple of Jesus Christ?" or "What does God require of me?" We have asked, "'What is the most effective way to achieve the ends I desire?' Or, put less cynically, 'How can we most efficiently transform the world for God?' In other words, many modern Christians have tended to prioritize effectiveness over faithfulness." This inconsistent philosophy hurts the church’s witness, is unfaithful to the scriptures, and leads to hypocrisy. One of Arner's goals in writing Consistently Pro-Life is to show the interconnectedness between abortion, the death penalty, euthanasia, and other issues associated with life. To demonstrate how piecemeal our ethic of life is, the author walks through three scenarios and the justifications people give for the killing of an unborn child in the womb, abortion doctors, and the murderers of abortion doctors. Arner states that each person in each group would oppose killing the majority of the time, but their pro-life stance is “conditional and contingent.” “For advocates of abortion, killing the child in the womb is justifiable provided that it is done for the betterment of the life of the mother. For proponents of ‘defensive action’ killing an abortion doctor is permissible as long as the goal is to defend the innocent life in the womb. And for those who stress the violence of the state, killing is permissible provided it is done by one endowed with ‘legitimate authority’ for the purpose of defending life.” Arner argues that the debate is not about whether killing is right or wrong “but under which conditions it is morally permissible to kill? Each group accuses the others of hypocrisy and inconsistency while warding off similar charges by the others. What would it take to achieve some moral consistency?” Using the writings of the ancient church fathers such as Tertullian and Lactantius in addition to observations from Roman officials, Arner details the remarkably consistent way early Christians approached life. The early church believed that all humans were made in the image of God and therefore had infinite worth and value. They demonstrated this by adopting babies left in garbage dumps and caring for the poor, the disabled, the enslaved, and the sick. This was a subversive stance. “Christians who followed the way of Jesus just did not kill. Rather than confining the term ‘pro-life’ into the narrow issue of abortion as we do today, the church consistently rejected killing—whether in the womb, in the arena, on the battlefield, or anywhere else.” Instead of bifurcating issues like modern Christians do, the ancient Christians valued all life at all stages even going so far as to set limitations on what a Christian could and could not do in the military. In fact, there are no surviving orthodox Christian writings from the pre-Constantine era that approves of Christians participating in killing. Their extraordinarily consistent view on life set them apart from the rest of the culture resulting in many converts and, also, persecution. This consistent view of life is what Arner says we should strive for again. “The early church consistently opposed the killing of human persons, and…the discipline and moral clarity of the ancient Christians (on issues of violence, at least) can show us a new way forward in a time of polarizing culture wars.” Thus, as Christians, we are called to operate in an entirely different way than the rest of the world. We should be anti-abortion, anti-death penalty, anti-euthanasia, and anti-war. Arner believes a consistent ethic of life will not only lead to peace and healing but also serve as a beacon of hope and a witness that the kingdom of God is manifesting itself on earth. “The renunciation of violence by faithful followers of Jesus thus serves a crucial apologetic purpose in establishing the truthfulness of Christian claims,” Arner writes. “If the church of Jesus Christ is living without war and violence, then the prophecy is fulfilled. Without this embodied peace in the Christian community, such apologetic claims are destroyed and Christian claims about Jesus’ messiahship lose their credibility.” KEY QUOTE: "The consistent ethic of life of the gospel of Jesus is, I contend, neither ‘liberal’ nor ‘conservative,’ for it cuts across all human ideological distinctions, challenging all to uphold the dignity and value of each human person from conception to death." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
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| 0385547218
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| 4.19
| 32,008
| Sep 07, 2021
| Sep 07, 2021
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really liked it
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SUMMARY: Fear of being deported. Fear of not having enough to eat. Fear of losing her parents. In an engaging 300 pages author Qian Julie Wang provide
SUMMARY: Fear of being deported. Fear of not having enough to eat. Fear of losing her parents. In an engaging 300 pages author Qian Julie Wang provides a glimpse into what growing up in New York City as a poor undocumented Asian immigrant was like in the nineties. Honest, engaging, and a little bit depressing. KEY QUOTE: "I am tired. I am so very tired of running and hiding, but I have done it for so long, I don’t know how to stop. I don’t know how to do anything else. It is all I am: defining myself against illegality while stitching it into my veins." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
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| 1635573432
| 9781635573435
| 1635573432
| 4.28
| 1,503
| Mar 03, 2020
| Mar 03, 2020
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it was ok
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SUMMARY: A dense read with myriad names and organizations The Power Worshippers is deep dive into the world of far-right Christian nationalists and ho
SUMMARY: A dense read with myriad names and organizations The Power Worshippers is deep dive into the world of far-right Christian nationalists and how they are influencing American life and politics through charter schools, churches, and organizations spread throughout the world. Katherine Stewart meticulously details who is funding and leading the movement, what organizations are involved, and what the people and organizations are trying to accomplish. Between the plethora of names and organizations it was easy to get lost in the weeds. Like others have said, a chart would have been helpful to keep track of the moving parts. Stewart mixes in some commentary about the movement, but largely reserves her opinions for the epilogue. The book reads as a history--an accounting--of the modern Christian nationalist movement for historical record then a story that is being told. The book is not for the average reader, but for those who have a passion for learning about Christian nationalism. For a general overview of Christian nationalism we recommend The Flag and the Cross by Philip Gorski and Samuel Perry followed by Taking America Back for God by Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry. KEY QUOTE: "Are we a nation in which one brand of religion enjoys a place of privilege? Are we a nation of laws—except in cases where the law offends the feelings of those who subscribe to our preferred religion? Will we recognize the equal dignity of all of our citizens? Or are we the kind of society that heaps contempt upon those groups that our national religion happens to despise?" MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
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| 0197618685
| 9780197618684
| 0197618685
| 4.22
| 809
| 2022
| Apr 01, 2022
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really liked it
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SUMMARY: Christian nationalism is not a new phenomenon. Nor is it a fringe element of the Republican party. In The Flag and the Cross professors Phili
SUMMARY: Christian nationalism is not a new phenomenon. Nor is it a fringe element of the Republican party. In The Flag and the Cross professors Philip Gorski and Samuel Perry detail the history of Christian nationalism dating back to the 1600s, define its core beliefs, how it has adapted over the centuries, and suggest ways Americans can stop this substantial threat to American democracy. "White Christian nationalism is one of the oldest and most powerful currents in American politics," the duo write. They date the movement back to the 1690's before America was a country. "It is a mythological version of history (that) goes something like this: America was founded as a Christian nation by (white) men who were 'traditional' Christians, who based the nation’s founding documents on 'Christian principles.' The United States is blessed by God, which is why it has been so successful; and the nation has a special role to play in God’s plan for humanity. But these blessings are threatened by cultural degradation from 'un-American' influences both inside and outside our borders." There are two key points here: white and un-American. These two words detail who is part of the club (Whites born in the United States) and who is not (non-Whites born or not born in the United States). These distinctions create an "other" differentiation. This "other" distinction allows Christian nationalists to define who is part of the ingroup and who is not. If Christian nationalists don't like telling the shamful incidents from American history, they label it CRT. If Christian nationalists don't like Jesus being depicted as brown-skinned, they label it as woke>. The authors key in on the "white" part of Christian nationalism, by far the largest, but not only, ethnic group making up the cohort. Some advocates of Christian nationalism try to explain away or ignore the undercurrent of racism laced throughout the movement, but Gorski and Perry call it out. This helps explain some of the inconsistencies with Christian nationalists thoughts on use of force. "Conservative whites fear and abhor violence in some contexts (for example, from Blacks, immigrants, or Muslims). But they applaud it in other contexts (for instance, by police, soldiers, and other 'good guys with guns')," Gorski and Perry pen. "The key that explains the inconsistency, we argue, is white Christian nationalism and its racialized combination of libertarian freedom (for whites) and authoritarian control (over non-whites)." What Christian nationalism is ultimately about is white people losing, and trying to retain, power. This helps clarify why the majoirty of white evangelical Christians supported Donald Trump more in 2020 then 2016. A taste of power in 2016 led to many white evangelical Christians supporting Trump--no matter what he said or did. In our current context, this is why many self professed Christians are jumping ship to Ron DeSantis as he might have a better shot at winning the 2024 election. What is truly heartbreaking is that many Christians have been duped into this movement. Within the context Christian nationalism the word "Christian" has nothing to do with Jesus, but is a way to signal belonging to a particular group with a particular ideology. Christian is more associated with capitalism and individuality than with grace and love. "The word 'Christian' remains the right’s most effective signal to white conservatives that 'our values,' 'our heritage,' 'our way of life,' and 'our influence' are under attack, and 'we' must respond," Gorski and Perry say. "Clearly, religious terms like 'Christian' and 'evangelical' are becoming markers of social identity and political views rather than just religious conviction." So, how can we work against this toxic way of thinking? First, we must tell the true story of our nation's history - the good and the bad. We should celebrate the good things our country has done and lament the bad things. This also extends to the church denominations we are part of, the organizations we support, and the people we admire. As Christians who believe in the falleness of man it should not be a stretch to hold the good and bad of humanity in tension with each other. Second, Christians and secular progressives who share a commitment to liberal democracy must form an alliance. To be clear, the authors are less than enthusiastic that this will happen, but as Christians who are called to live in a pluraistic society and to bring heaven down to earth we must lead in this area by opening dialgue with people who we do not agree with on all topics, cobeligerants as Justin Giboney likes to say, with grace and mercy. "Whether there will be another American century, and whether that century will be democratic, remains to be seen. Much will depend upon the decisions that individual Americans make in the next few years, and also on the alliances that they forge. Whether they are successful is up to the rest of us." The Flag and the Cross is essential reading for understanding Christian nationalism and is our recommended starting point to learning about the subject. KEY QUOTE: "Reckoning with white Christian nationalism means more than 'looking into one’s heart;' it also means reckoning with your tribe’s history. It means confronting, not just your own sins, but also 'the sins of the fathers.'" MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
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| 1514000261
| 9781514000267
| 1514000261
| 4.08
| 230
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| Jul 05, 2022
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liked it
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SUMMARY: Many books taking on the subject of Christian nationalism identify, and rightly so, the idolatry, racism, and tribalism of the movement, but
SUMMARY: Many books taking on the subject of Christian nationalism identify, and rightly so, the idolatry, racism, and tribalism of the movement, but few theologically, academically, historically, and charitably dismantle the movement as well as Paul D. Miller, does in The Religion of American Greatness. But, dismantling Christian nationalism was not his sole goal in writing the book--he hopes his book assists Christians with being better witnesses. "I hope this is useful for readers who already agree with its basic message by clarifying exactly what Christian nationalism is, why Christian nationalism is bad, and what its damaging implications are," Miller writes. "thus equipping you to be better Christian witnesses in the public square and better teachers in your own churches, families, and schools." The book starts out slow as Miller, rightfully, defines his terms such as republicanism, history, heritage, evangelical, White Anglo Protestantism, and, of course, Christian nationalism before digging into the reasons for the resurgence of nationalism in the 21st century. "The resurgence of nationalism in the twenty-first century is a response to decades of weakening national identities driven by globalization and tribalization…Globalization led to deindustrialization; the loss of manufacturing jobs, and the homogenizing and depressing sameness of 'McWorld,' as Benjamin Barber termed the global monoculture that was everywhere and nowhere." What makes Christian nationalism unique "is that it defines America as a Christian nation and it wants the government to promote a specific Anglo-Protestant cultural template as the official culture of the country." This doesn't necessarily, although it often does, manifest itself in the political agenda of Christian nationalists, but in the attitude that they hold: "an unstated presumption that Christians are entitled to primacy of place in the public square because they are heirs of the true or essential heritage of American culture, that Christians have a presumptive right to define the meaning of the American experiment because they see themselves as America’s architects, first citizens, and guardians." Miller methodically, and charitably, takes on three main points that Christian nationalists make for the movement - "that humanity is divisible into cultural units, that cultural units should be the foundation of political order, and that Anglo-Protestantism is essential for democracy." He does not mock nor demean the points, but robustly refutes them by showing the inconsistencies in their arguments. For example, Miller says that the argument that humanity is divisible into cultural units is false since "the groups we are part of—our peoples, cultures, or heritage—are fluid and malleable; we create and refashion them with our participation; cultures overlap; the boundaries between them are fuzzy and indistinct." In the following chapter, he argues against Christian nationalism where he says the ideals of the movement are historically unAmerican and create division rather than unity "At no point has America’s culture been defined by its concern to 'preserve' anything, but rather to constantly reinvent everything," Miller writes. "Because nationalism is arbitrary and relies on coercion and exclusion to fabricate a national identity, it fosters division, not cohesion; fragmentation, not unity. Nationalism undermines its own goals." Miller, perhaps, makes the strongest argument against Christian nationalism from a theological point of view. He takes common Biblical passages such as 2 Chronicles 7:14 and Psalm 33:12 that are used to justify nationalism and clearly points out that the verses are talking about Israel and the church--not the United States. "America is not Israel: the church is. Americans are not God’s chosen people; those who trust in Jesus from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation are. The divine mission of God’s chosen people is not to spread political liberty, national sovereignty, or capitalism; it is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ," Miller writes. "America is not a 'Christian nation,' except in the descriptive sense that most Americans have always been professing Christians and Christianity has shaped much of our culture and history. The church is the one and only true Christian nation." One of the major problems with Christian nationalism, and why it seduces so many Christians is that it is an ideology that functions similarly to a religion. "It is a set of symbols that establishes powerful moods that last for centuries. It describes a general order for life, an orienting framework with a standard of right and wrong, a sense of purpose and direction. And it roots the general order in an 'aura of factuality,' a story about the nation’s ancient roots and primal existence which seems feasible because the nation preexists us and outlives us." Miller spends a large part of the book on the Christian Right and how many of their ideals and beliefs overlap with Christian nationalist beliefs and ideals. We appreciate Miller's candidness as he doesn't mince words when parsing out the differences between the Christian Right and Christianity. "The Christian Right is identity politics for tribal evangelicals, a response to the decline of Anglo-Protestant power, more than a movement or ordered liberty and equal justice for all," Miller says. "Christianity is a set of beliefs about ultimate things—most importantly, about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ." Miller concludes the book with advice to both Christians and pastors on how Christians can distinctly speak out against Christian nationalism. It starts with learning our nation's history--the good and the bad. "To beat nationalism, we need to tell a better story…The national story can and must include both triumphs and failures because that is the best way to include everyone—victor and victim alike—and to inspire people with a sense of responsibility." Historian Robert McKenzie , in We the Fallen People agrees. "I'm convinced that faithful remembering is critical to faithful living," McKenzie says. "I'm distressed by the 'historylessness' that generally characterizes American Christians. Among its other costs, our historical amnesia contributes directly to our dysfunctional engagement with contemporary politics, a pattern distinguished chiefly by its worldly pragmatism and shallowness." "I fear we are giving the culture reason to view followers of Christ as simply one more interest group, one more strategically savvy voting bloc willing to trade political support for political influence." One of our favorite parts of the book is the end of the final chapter where he exhorts pastors to talk about Christian nationalism and what it means to engage in the political sphere with a uniquely Christian view. "Quietism is itself a public, political stance: your congregations absorb the lesson that Christianity has no particular implications except to endorse the pro-life movement," Miller pens. "and thus, there is no particular problem with the de facto Christian nationalism that dominates much of White evangelical political life." The church, when done correctly, can serve as a model for the rest of the world where people who do not agree are united in their love for Jesus. A community that pursues the common good for all people. A community that treats all humans with dignity and respect. "People need to be taught how to live as part of a body, how to understand and live out our roles as a member of a church, citizen of a nation, and resident of a community," Miller says. " In our self-centered, narcissistic, individuaistic, expressionist age, we are incompetent in the arts of living together. We may be naturally social and political animals, but we still have to acquire the cultivated virtues of citizens. Churches must help form us into better political animals." While we do not recommend this book as a starting point on Christian nationalism, for that we suggest The Flag and the Cross , we appreciated how thoroughly Miller takes on the subject. For those looking for a deep dive, you cannot do any better. KEY QUOTE: "The danger of nationalism is not that it encourages us to cultivate loyalty to and affection for our country—which is inescapable—but that it endows the state with almost limitless jurisdiction to reshape culture, imagines the nation as a quasi-religious body, and exacerbates sectarian and ethnic cleavages at home. Christians who uncritically buy into nationalism are giving support to an incoherent secular idea with a troubled historical record and making themselves credulous supporters of a dangerous and thoughtless theology." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
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| 0310267315
| 9780310267317
| 0310267315
| 4.21
| 3,032
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really liked it
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SUMMARY: Power of the sword versus power of the cross. Control of behavior versus transforming lives from the inside out. A tribal kingdom versus a un
SUMMARY: Power of the sword versus power of the cross. Control of behavior versus transforming lives from the inside out. A tribal kingdom versus a universal kingdom. A tit-for-tat kingdom versus a returning-evil-with-good kingdom. One set of characteristics describes a kingdom of the world while another details the distinct way of the kingdom of God. In The Myth of a Christian Nation, author and pastor Greg Boyd provides a strong scriptural foundation to repudiate that any nation on earth can be a Christian nation, since every kingdom of the world is intrinsically opposed to the kingdom of God. "The myth of America as a Christian nation, with the church as its guardian, has been, and continues to be, damaging to the church and to the advancement of God's kingdom," Boyd writes. "Among other things, this nationalistic myth blinds us to the way in which our most basic and most cherished cultural assumptions are diametrically opposed to the kingdom way of life taught by Jesus and his disciples. "Instead of living out the radically countercultural mandate of the kingdom of God, this myth has inclined us to Christianize many pagan aspects of our culture. Instead of providing the culture with a radically alternative way of life, we largely present it with a religious version of what already is. The myth clouds our vision of God's distinctly beautiful kingdom and thereby undermines our motivation to live as set-apart (holy) disciples of this kingdom." The kingdoms of the world rule with a "power over" mentality characterized by making people conform to a government's laws with the threat of violence. The kingdom of God employs a "power under" mentality that is defined by changing people's hearts by loving, serving, and sacrificing. "The kingdom of the world is centrally concerned with what people do; the kingdom of God is centrally concerned with how people are and what they can become," Boyd says. "The kingdom of the world is characterized by judgment; the kingdom of God is characterized by outrageous, even scandalous, grace." Many Christians in America have amalgamated the kingdom of America with the kingdom of God. Instead of embracing a kingdom of self-sacrifice and compassion, we have been seduced by the idolatry of power and violence. We have allowed the kingdom of the world to, "define us, set our agenda, and define the terms of our engagement with it." Simply put, in our idolatry we have lost our prophetic voice. "I believe a significant segment of American evangelicalism is guilty of nationalistic and political idolatry," Boyd writes. "Rather than focusing our understanding of God's kingdom on the person of Jesus -- who, incidentally, never allowed himself to get pulled into the political disputes of the day -- I believe many of us American evangelicals have allowed our understanding of the kingdom of God to be polluted with political ideals, agendas, and issues." Christians have allowed bitterness and hatred into our hearts. We demonize and mock our enemies while some of us respond with violence. Boyd says this posture has harmed the church in three fundamental ways. First, it harms global missions as Christianity is associated with the kingdom of America - a kingdom that many in the international community see as exploitive, greedy, and violent. Second, it harms local missions by promoting the idea that Christianity is America's civil religion - i.e. "true" Christianity. And third, it commits the church to a "power over" dynamic instead of a "power under" dynamic. This is in direct opposition to what Jesus taught. "Jesus says we are to love without consideration of others' moral status. We are to love as the sun shines and as the rain falls--in other words, indiscriminately. We are to 'be merciful, just as [our] Father is merciful' (Luke 6:36). God's love is impartial and universal, unrestricted by typical kingdom-of-the-world familial, tribal, ethnic, and nationalistic loyalties, and so must ours be (Deut. 10:17-19, 2 Chron. 19:7, Mark 12:14, Acts 10:34, Rom. 2:10-11, Eph. 6:9; 1 Tim 2:4; 1 Peter 1:17; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 John 4:8)." Sound impractical or impossible? Boyd says that is just an indication that we have bought into the kingdom of the world hook, line, and sinker. "By kingdom-of-the-world standards, this is impractical and irrational, for in kingdom-of-the-world thinking only 'power over' is practical and rational," Boyd writes. "But this radical, non-common-sensical, 'power under' love is the kingdom of God, for this loving way of living reflects the nature of God and looks like Jesus." No nation, not even Israel, is a Christian nation. The kingdom of God is "a completely distinct, alternative way of doing life." "We should speak with self-sacrificial actions more than with words. We should speak not as moral superiors but as self-confessing moral inferiors. We should call attention to issues by entering into solidarity with those who suffer injustice. We should seek to free people from sin by serving them, not by trying to lord it over them. And we should trust that God will use our Calvary-like service to others to advance his kingdom in the world." Boyd aptly recognizes this posture can feel like we are doing little, but these "small" acts of love can be life-changing. When we have a kingdom of God mindset, we ask different questions. We have different goals, and these acts of service act as a tangible witness that the kingdom of God is revolutionary. "As we manifest kingdom life by replicating Jesus to the world, it may often look like we are doing little--and even sometimes look like we are losing ground. But we know, against all common sense, that nothing could be further from the truth. However trivial they may seem, we know that Christlike acts are doing more to bring the world to the glorious end God has for it than any 'power over' act ever could." KEY QUOTE: "Rather than buying into and then fighting over the limited, divisive options of the kingdom of the world, we need to be the one tribe on the planet who thinks 'outside the box.' We need to be a peculiar people who live in the otherwise unasked question--what can we do to bleed as means of manifesting life? While others posture and holler, we are to be a holy people who, knowing we are the worst of sinners, simply live in the question--how can we bleed for others?" MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
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Sep 21, 2022
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Oct 15, 2022
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Sep 21, 2022
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Paperback
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| 0802879349
| 9780802879349
| 0802879349
| 4.23
| 455
| unknown
| Aug 10, 2021
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it was amazing
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SUMMARY: How did the Republican party and white evangelicals become synonymous? Has abortion always been the focus of the Republican party and white e
SUMMARY: How did the Republican party and white evangelicals become synonymous? Has abortion always been the focus of the Republican party and white evangelicals? In a tight, accessible 100 pages, author Randall Balmer traces the roots of the Religious Right and its wedding to the Republican party from the 1830s through the 1970s before linking the movement to its current iteration in the 21st century. In the early 19th century most American Christians ascribed to postmillennialism, the belief that Jesus will return after the 1000-year peace predicted in the book of Revelation. The 1000-year peace period is also known as the millennium. Christians saw it as their duty to bring heaven down to earth in preparation for Jesus' second coming. The abolition of slavery, women's rights, education, and prison reform are just some of the issues Christians advocated for. After four years of Civil War from 1861-1865 and well over half a million dead, many Christians began to rethink their postmillennialism viewpoint. Around the same time Anglican priest John Nelson Darby began advocating for a premillennialism (Jesus will return before the millennium) reading of the Bible. This interpretation allowed Christians to forgo addressing any social ills. As a result, many white evangelicals retracted from public life and started to create their own subculture. "Having already embraced premillennialism, the doctrine that Jesus would return to earth at the moment to rain judgement on the unrighteous, evangelicals set about to construct the evangelical subculture, an interlocking network of congregations, denominations, Bible camps, Bible institutes, colleges, seminaries, missionary societies, and publishing houses." For decades this subculture was left alone. During this time frame, many private schools and colleges were created in response to desegregation. Perhaps the most notable example is Bob Jones University, an institution that didn't admit Black people until 1971 following the Green v. Connally ruling that took away the tax-exempt status from private schools that engaged in racially discriminatory practices. The Green v. Connally ruling, a ruling that addressed tax-exempt status for racially segregated institutions (racism), spurred white evangelicals to political action and to form the Religious Right. For years, politically conservative activist Paul Weyrich had been trying to motivate white evangelicals to get involved politically. He tried issues such as homosexuality, abortion, and prayer in schools, but none of them stuck. "It wasn't the abortion issue, that wasn't sufficient," Weyrich said. "It was the recognition that isolation simply would no longer work in this society." So, why does this history matter? "As an evangelical I come from a particular tradition and history and there are good and bad things about that," author of The Liturgy of Politics Kaitlyn Schiess says. "I want to be aware of how my tradition has shaped my biases when it comes to reading Scripture and politics." Balmer states it more bluntly, "Unacknowledged and unaddressed racism has a tendency to fester." That festering includes Jim Crow laws, redlining, and the almost unequivocal support of Donald Trump by evangelicals in 2016 and 2020. 81% of white evangelicals supported Trump in 2016, 75% in 2020 despite a long history of racist and sexist comments. What issue links the current state of the Republican party and evangelicals with the Republican party and evangelicals over 50 years ago? Racism. Blamer aptly concludes that if racism didn't appeal to evangelicals in 2016 or 2020, at the very least, it didn't repel them. And that is something white American evangelicals need to come to terms with. KEY QUOTE: "Sadly, the Religious Right was never about the advancement of biblical values. The modern, politically conservative evangelical activism we see today is a movement rooted in the perpetuation of racial segregation, and its affiliation with the hard-right fringes of the conservative movement beginning in the late 1970s produced a mutant form of evangelicalism inconsistent with the best traditions of evangelicalism itself." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
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Sep 14, 2022
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Sep 20, 2022
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Sep 14, 2022
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Hardcover
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| 0830846239
| 9780830846238
| 0830846239
| 4.32
| 17,078
| Nov 01, 2016
| Nov 01, 2016
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it was amazing
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SUMMARY: Many American Christians have bifurcated their lives into the secular and the sacred. We have divorced divine meaning from our mundane tasks
SUMMARY: Many American Christians have bifurcated their lives into the secular and the sacred. We have divorced divine meaning from our mundane tasks and everyday jobs. We have adopted the rhythms, beliefs, and postures of the world. As a result, there is little difference between how Christians and non-Christians live their lives. Americans of all ages are leaving the church while depression, hopelessness, and suicide continue to climb. Author and priest Tish Harrison Warren says it doesn't have to be this way. "God, in delight and wisdom, has made, named, and blessed this average day," Harrison Warren writes. "What I in my weakness see as another monotonous day in a string of days, God has given as a singular gift." Harrison Warren continues, "What if all these boring parts matter to God? What if days passed in ways that feel small and insignificant to us are weighty with meaning and part of the abundant life that God has for us?" Not convinced? Harrison Warren aptly points out that much of Jesus' life wasn't recorded in the Bible. He worked as a carpenter doing mundane tasks living in obscurity. Throw in the fact that God chose to send his son in human form means God has put immense value on our human bodies. "Because of the incarnation and those long, unrecorded years of Jesus' life, our small, normal lives matter. If Christ spent time in obscurity, then there is infinite worth found in obscurity. If Christ spent most of this life in quotidian ways, then all of life is brought under this lordship. There is no task too small or too routine to reflect God's glory and worth." Does that include folding the laundry? Yep. Making dinner night after night? Absolutely. Taking out the trash? You bet. How about answering e-mails? You know it! We have infinite worth and everything we do has divine meaning. "God is forming us into new people. And the place of that formation is in the small moments of today," Harrison Warren writes. These "small moments," routines, and practices make up our daily liturgy. It reveals what we are being shaped by. Whether we choose to grab our smart phone and scroll through Twitter or choose to make the bed in the morning says, "something that both reveal(s) and shape(s) what (we) love and worship." I know the smartphone gets picked on a lot, but Harrison Warren's reasoning for starting the day by making the bed instead of on the smartphone is compelling, "Starting the day by making the bed in silence instead of on a smartphone starts the day as a co-laborer with God instead of a consumer." To be clear, Harrison Warren never guilt trips the reader -- we are all guilty of doom scrolling in the morning or at night. The point she is making is that everything we do is sacred and therefore the practices we do from praying before meals to how we respond in an argument with our spouse are all meaningful opportunities to worship our Creator. KEY QUOTE: "Because of the incarnation and those long, unrecorded years of Jesus' life, our small, normal lives matter. If Christ spent time in obscurity, then there is infinite worth found in obscurity. If Christ spent most of this life in quotidian ways, then all of life is brought under this lordship. There is no task too small or too routine to reflect God's glory and worth." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
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Sep 2022
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Sep 15, 2022
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Sep 01, 2022
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Paperback
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| 0802424279
| 9780802424273
| 0802424279
| 4.49
| 202
| unknown
| Jul 19, 2022
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really liked it
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SUMMARY: Is the church a building? Is it a group of people? As Christians, are we required to be part of the church? Has the American church, writ lar
SUMMARY: Is the church a building? Is it a group of people? As Christians, are we required to be part of the church? Has the American church, writ large, lost the essential Christian values of faith, hope, and love? In Skye Jethani's third installment from his superb What If Jesus Was Serious? devotional series Jethani teases out the nuances of the church, what it should be, and what it should not be in 51 devotionals. In true Jethani fashion, he first calls into question the very essence of how many American churches have set up their ministries. He says a majority of American churches have chased the values of and have pattered the structure of the church after corporations. This leads to congregants viewing the church with a consumeristic mindset and churches viewing congregants as tools to be used. Once again, instead of the church being uniquely Christian we have adopted the ways of the world. "We simply don't slow down to examine our cultural values and habits and ask whether they are reinforcing the divisions of our society or healing them," Jethani writes. "We are the proverbial fish unaware of the water in which we swim." Does that mean we give up on the American church like so many are doing? Absolutely not! Jethani says we must start to view the church as a family. A felicitous antidote for a lonely population. "A church that embraces the value of being a spiritual family, more than anything else, is equipped to meet this generation's relational and spiritual thirst," Jethani says. "We called to be an incarnate community in a world of digital avatars, a household of healing amid a culture of division and anger, and a surrogate family where a generation of spiritual orphans can find the love of Christian mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, which ultimately points to the love of God himself." If you are new to Jethani's devotionals, each day includes a doodle and scriptural reading. He says he writes devotionals for people who hate devotionals so if you are looking for something insightful and challenging to include with your time with God we cannot recommend his devotional books enough. Dig in and be fed! KEY QUOTE: "A church that embraces the value of being a spiritual family, more than anything else, is equipped to meet this generation's relational and spiritual thirst." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
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Aug 02, 2022
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Nov 28, 2022
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Aug 02, 2022
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Paperback
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| 1433578271
| 9781433578274
| 1433578271
| 4.16
| 203
| Dec 2021
| Jan 25, 2022
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really liked it
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SUMMARY: Within many Christian and non-Christian circles, there is an underlying assumption that technology will outpace humans; that we will unleash
SUMMARY: Within many Christian and non-Christian circles, there is an underlying assumption that technology will outpace humans; that we will unleash an evil or divine secret we were never meant to uncover. Author Tony Reinke says hogwash. "Every inventor, every invention, every use of every invention, and every outcome from every invention--they fall under the Creator's disposal," Reinke writes. If there is one theme that stands out in God, Technology, and the Christian Life it is that God is in control. The analogy Reinke makes is that God has given us a 55-gallon drum teeming with Lego bricks. To the human mind, the possibilities seem endless, but the God who created the world and proclaimed it very good on the sixth day has put limits in place while burying "divine secrets" throughout his creation. The same God that allowed nuclear energy to be discovered is the same God who came to earth as a carpenter. This is the beginning of Reinke laying the foundation for a Christian theology on technology. "No technology is ambivalent; each one comes with certain biases and tendencies," Reinke pens. "The true challenge of ethics is not in determining which technologies should be made possible but in determining how those new possibilities are wielded. Thus, Scripture puts the emphasis not on the technology, but on how those innovations are used." The book weaves quotes from nine historic voices (John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon, Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, Jacques Ellul, Wendell Berry, Kevin Kelly, Elon Musk, and Yuval Noah Harari) on the foundation of nine scriptural texts (Gen. 4:1-26, 6:11-22, 11:1-9; 1 Samuel 17:1-58; Job 28:1-28; Psalm 20:1-9; Isiah 28: 23-29, 54:16-17 and Revelation 18:1-24) as he debunks twelve common myths about technology (see below). 12 common myths about technology 1. Human innovation is an inorganic imposition forced onto the created order 2. Humans set the technological limits and possibilities over creation 3. Human innovation is autonomous, unlimited, and unchecked 4. God is unrelated to the improvements of human innovation 5. Non-Christian inventors cannot fulfill the will of God 6. God will send the most beneficial innovations through Christians 7. Humans can unleash techo-powers beyond the control of God 8. Innovations are good as long as they are pragmatically useful 9. God governs only virtuous technologies 10. God didn't have the iPhone in mind when He created the world 11. Our discovery of atomic power was a mistake that God never intended 12. Christian flourishing hinges on my adoption or rejection of the technium The first half of the book focuses on where our technology comes from. Reinke, a self-professed tech optimist, says science, which is not to be feared, is the process of identifying the patterns in creation while technology, which is also not be feared, is the process of exploiting the patterns in creation. Only that which God allows to be discovered will be discovered. "The technologies in our hands spring from the patterns of the earth. The Creator controls the raw materials put into the ground for us to discover and use. He controls the natural laws for the technologies we create. He gives us scientists who explore the patterns and innovators who exploit the patterns into new tech for us to use. The process works because it follows the voice of the Creator." In the second half, Reinke turns a critical lens toward what he terms the "Gospel of Technology." A gospel that, "like the gospel of Jesus Christ, operates by its own worldview, and has its own understanding of creation, fall redemption, faith, ethics, eschatology--its own telos and endgame." According to the Gospel of Technology, "man came from nothing, and he is accountable to no one...there is no fall of man, only impediments to the rise of man. The struggle is against control of myself, my image, my body, my gender, my living space, my sex expression, my life span, my productivity, my potential." "The Gospel of Technology promises to simplify our lives and give us more free time, stronger relationships, added security, and better societies. Too often, what are we left with? More complex lives, less free time, increased loneliness, added insecurities, and amplified social inequality." The Gospel of Technology is in direct conflict with the Gospel of Jesus. Reinke sums up the distinction between the two poignantly, "Do we have eternal hope through the grave or by avoiding the grave?" So, how should Christians approach technology? With thankfulness and worship. "We show our gratitude to the Giver by refusing to become addicts to his gifts. Instead, we pray for the wisdom to use his gifts in a spirit of Godward gratitude and restraint as the precious things he has blessed us with." There is a lot to think about and digest in this book. It is challenging, insightful, and full of wisdom. There are just five chapters in an almost 300-page book so getting through some of the chapters can be tedious. With that said, this is simply the best book for providing a framework on how a Christian can approach technology from a Biblical perspective. Highly recommended. KEY QUOTE: "Christ's supremacy over all things means that Christians flourishing does not hinge on my adoption or rejection of certain technologies. It hinges on my heart's focus on the Savior...Whether we buy a seat on a spaceship rendezvous to the moon or stay within the confines of an Amish-like commune, we will find no hope apart from our union to Christ...He frees us from slavery to the technological desires of self-creation and self-determining individualism...Our gadgets and techno-possibilities no longer define us; Christ does. He defines our calling. If we follow his word, we will be protected from being used by our tools." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
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Jul 05, 2022
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Sep 2022
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Jul 05, 2022
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Paperback
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| 0802876439
| 9780802876430
| 0802876439
| 4.18
| 40
| unknown
| May 12, 2020
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really liked it
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SUMMARY: Few Christian books can integrate and appeal to Scripture without sounding preachy, pretentious, or perfunctory. Even more so when an author
SUMMARY: Few Christian books can integrate and appeal to Scripture without sounding preachy, pretentious, or perfunctory. Even more so when an author takes on a polarizing subject such as guns. And yet this is what Michael W. Austin's God and Guns in America excels at. Biblically rooted as well logically sound Austin's approachable writing style is like sitting with a friend telling you how and why they arrived at a conclusion - in this case his view on guns/gun violence through a Christian lens. "American Christians, especially evangelicals, need to look at the teachings of Jesus and ask themselves and others some very pointed questions about the relationship among faith, weapons, and violence," Austin writes. "We need a robust theological discussion focused on violence, guns, and what can be done in the United States to deal with these issues." Austin's goal is two fold - to develop Christian character and to encourage legislative reform. He suggests "that Christians in the United States of America need to carefully rethink the use of weapons, guns included" (the development of Christian character) and that "the United States needs to implement more effective gun laws and strategies for limiting gun violence" (legislative reform). Part of developing Christian character is coming to terms with the fact that many American Christians have not internalized the good news of the gospel. This is a lack of hope for a better future manifests itself as a decision to accept and normalize violence. Specifically this can mean faith in guns over God and/or a rejection of any type of gun reform. Other writers such as Shane Claiborne and James Atwood define this as a lack of moral imagination. "The gospel is the good news that God is making himself and his kingdom available to us now...Those who entrust themselves to God are not accepting a future kingdom to be enjoyed later but are choosing to enter into that kingdom now," Austin pens. "When they love God with all that they are, and their neighbors as themselves, and abide in Christ, it will be 'natural' to seek justice and the common good." This is where Austin pinpoints an opportunity to break out of the usual paradigms of pacifism and justified violence that dominate the theological discussion around gun violence. Instead, he presents a third way, peace building. "Both pacifists and supports of justified violence find ample support in Scripture. The Bible supports both positions. As such, its collective voice supports neither," Austin says. "There is another way peace building." Peace building "rejects (the) pacifist belief that violence is always wrong and absolutely prohibited. Due to the inherent value and dignity of all human life, peace building allows for violence only as a last resort and includes a very strong preference for nonviolence. Peace building is distinct from defense of or participate in just way in that it takes seriously the use of violence as a last resort." Austin devotes the final two chapters to legislative reform which includes polices to advocate for in local government and in a local church. "The best arguments for more restrictive gun laws recognize that no law is foolproof. These arguments emphasize, however, that such laws can reduce the likelihood that some criminals will have access to guns, in turn reducing the overall level of gun violence. This is the heart of the issue--given that we cannot eliminate all gun violence, what can be done to reduce it? What can be done to make it more difficult for criminals to gain access to firearms?" Due to Austin's kind and welcoming writing God and Guns in America is one of the most approachable books we have read geared towards Christians on the topic of guns and gun violence. God and Guns in America in conjunction with Whom Shall I Fear? by Rosalind Hughes are required reading for churches and individuals who are interested in developing a unique, Christ-centered theological framework for approaching guns and gun violence. KEY QUOTE: "An uncritical embrace of American gun culture is inconsistent with beliefs about the sanctity of life. We must be careful that we are not eager to kill, nor to take killing another human being--any other human being--too lightly. All human beings, no matter how good or bad, have equal inherent value because they are made in the image of God." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Jun 05, 2022
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Jul 27, 2022
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Jun 05, 2022
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Paperback
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| 1540900827
| 9781540900821
| 1540900827
| 4.59
| 4,005
| Mar 02, 2021
| Mar 02, 2021
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it was amazing
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SUMMARY: For many Christians how we approach sex boils down to one statement - it should happen within the confines of marriage between a man and a wo
SUMMARY: For many Christians how we approach sex boils down to one statement - it should happen within the confines of marriage between a man and a women. While that is a good starting point Christian culture writ large has done an abdominal job of talking and teaching about sex within a Christian framework. Best-selling Christian books such as Every Man's Battle (4 million copies sold) and Love & Respect (2.2 million copies sold) promote devastating ideas such as sex as a need just for the husband, obligation sex, and seeing women's bodies as dangerous. Authors Shelia Wray Gregoire, her daughter Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach, and Joanna Sawatsky have made it their life's work to correct that narrative. The Great Sex Rescue represents data from a survey of 20,000 women, hundreds of hours of academic research, interviews, and focus groups in addition to reading and grading the best-selling Christian books on sex and marriage. The trio's goal is to identify the destructive Christian narrative around sex and provide the correct, biblical way to approach sex. Right off the bat, the authors make clear the difference between intercourse and sex. This distinction is important as many of the top-selling Christian books on sex prioritize the husband's orgasm while giving little, if any, concern to the wife's pleasure. "God sees women. God does not say to women, 'Your experience doesn't matter compared to your husband's tremendous need.' God does not tell women, 'Let your husband ejaculate inside of you, no matter how you feel, because otherwise you are in disobedience.' No, God says, 'I designed sex to be a deep knowing of two people. And that, my child, means that both of you matter.'" Other destructive prevalent ideas in Christian culture that the trio tackle include women needing to accept men's sexual sin or accept responsibility for it, the idea that sex should be an obligation and/or entitlement, and lust. Many Christian tend to conflate lust and attraction. This mistake makes men see women as just bodies. Simply put, we must call Christian men to a higher standard. "What if the real problem with lust is not that it taints the man but it objectifies and dehumanizes those whom Christ values and calls precious?...A more biblical question to ask is, 'Am I being respectful to this person as an image bearer of Christ?'" This point is life-giving to those that have grown up in Christin culture. Instead of fearing women or being consumed by lust, men can have a theological view of women. It is okay to notice and appreciate an attractive person (we recommend this liturgy from Every Moment Holy, Vol. 1 as a good starting place), but men should never objectify the individual. "Defeating lust is not about limiting a man's encounter with women; it's about empowering men to treat the women around them as whole people, daughters of Christ. The key to defeating lust is not to avoid looking at women; it's to actually see them." While The Great Sex Rescue is geared towards couples, the debunking of the popular myths surrounding sex in Christian culture coupled with the advice at the end of each chapter where they recommended rephrasing common phrases makes it a must-read for anyone that has grown up in Christian culture. KEY QUOTE: "For sex to feel intimate, it needs to be about saying, 'I want you,' not just 'I want sex.' It needs to be about saying, 'I see you. I choose you. I want to experience something with you, and only you. I want to know you better.' You is the key world. You are the focus. Sex is not just about me; it's about me knowing you and building us." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
Notes are private!
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May 17, 2022
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Jul 10, 2022
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May 17, 2022
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 0830841857
| 9780830841851
| 0830841857
| 4.11
| 209
| unknown
| Jun 08, 2021
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really liked it
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SUMMARY: From newspaper fact checkers to evaluation methods such as S.I.F.T. to diversifying one's news feeds, there is a tremendous amount of time an
SUMMARY: From newspaper fact checkers to evaluation methods such as S.I.F.T. to diversifying one's news feeds, there is a tremendous amount of time and energy devoted to debunking lies and conspiracy theories. Despite the trend to provide more quality information to the public, according to a 2022 PPRI poll, 60% of white evangelical Protestants believe the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump while QAnon conspiracies ravage large swaths of churches in America. While fact checking methods and diversifying one's news feed can be helpful, it seems to do little in the way of moving people from yelling at each other to holding respectful conversation. How did the church get here? Is there a theological way of consuming the news? How can we think and act Christianly to the news? In Reading the Times, author Jeffrey Bilbro doesn't give Christians a list of websites to visit or not visit or topics that Christians should give priority to, but challenges Christians to reorient how we view and interact with the news, how we relate to time, and how to live in community to shape the news. "As consumers of the news, we need to re evaluate the light we rely on to understand our times and discern how to respond," Bilbro writes. The first three chapters are devoted to attention. The vast majority of media is geared towards "news-as-spectacle" where we are informed about events, such as a terrorist attack, that we can do little about. This trains us to be passive consumers of the news, susceptible to "advertising jingles, political slogans, and hashtags." Bilbro often references Henry David Thoreau who, back in the 1860's, wrote about "macadamized minds" where our intellect has been ground to bits with trivial information. Thoreau's visionary writing describes social media and internet news organizations that provide quick emotional hits but do little to change how we live with and love our neighbors. "When our experience of the world is filtered through the news media, the tragedies that play out on our screens can seem more pressing than the ones that happen closer to home," Bilbro writes. "In this condition, we risk being like the priest and the Levite, who passed by the wounded man on the side of the road, rather than the Samaritan who saw, had compassion for, and took action to help his neighbor (Lk 10:25-37)." The second part of the book is devoted to kairos time and chronos time. "Kairos refers to...time that is right for a certain act--the time to plant or harvest a crop, for instance. Kairos time is rhythmic, cyclical, seasonal. Chronos...is closer to our modern understanding of time period. This is time as quantifiable duration, as something that is linear and sequential." Chronos time dominates American culture. Our news cycle is based on chronos time. It is so embedded in our culture, it is difficult to conceive, much less adopt, an alternative view of time. Yet kairos time provides us the opportunity not to let the daily headlines drive our mood and how we interact with people. It pushes us toward humility and faith that God is in control--no matter who wins an election or wins a war. "Because Christian hope is rooted not in historical time, but, rather, in the eschaton, the drama of the Daily News is relativized and muted. We are freed from seeing the news as representing a series of existential crisises and can instead take up a posture of sancta indifferentia (holy apathy/indifference) from which we can respond in love, prayer, and hope." The final three chapters of the book focus on community where Bilbro postulates many Americans live in disembodied, market-driven communities that put the commodification of words and people above all else. Despite our best intentions, we self-select into groups that already agree with us. And even if we try to get outside our information bubble, websites are incentivized to keep us in our bubble and on their website, delivering us ads as we retweet or repost the sins of those we disagree with. "We respond to events primarily based on prejudices and hunches--feelings formed in large part by the communities we imagine ourselves belonging to. In this way, the news primes our affective responses, shaping the intuitive heuristics we rely on to judge the affairs of our day. It is these almost instinctual, gut feelings that lead us to respond to a story with protests, praise, prayer, or lament and to act on this response by volunteering, by rallying around a need in our community, by writing a legislator, or by attending a city council meeting." For Christians, this should simply not be so. Fortunately, Bilbro departs from the critique stage in the final chapter of each part where he provides suggestions on ways Christians can engage with the news from a distinctly Christian point of view. To refocus our attention, he suggests employing the practice of sancta indifferentia (holy apathy/indifference) where the goal of the news "is faithful action that's not concerned with the results." He suggests paying more attention to the news of our neighbors where, "the news of what our neighbors are going through invites us to enact our solidarity with them." (Some have termed this "hyper-local" news, read News as Spiritual Formation for more.) To reorient how we view time, he suggests following a liturgical calendar and viewing art. Art and following a liturgical calendar (we recommend the one in Common Prayer: Pocket Edition ) reminds us we are creatures of two times. That tension is part of what should make a Christian's approach to life and news distinct. In his final chapter, he suggests taking a walk in your neighborhood to get to know your neighbors . Here he quotes writer Gracy Olmstead. "Walking is a slow and porous experience...To walk is also to be vulnerable: It forces us into physical interaction with surrounding streets, homes, and people. This can delay us, annoy us, even put us in danger. But it connects us to community in a way that cars never can." Ultimately, Bilbro suggests walking in humility in an embodied community not marked by the latest headlines but by the history-changing event of the incarnation of God. KEY QUOTE: "What we really need is to be shaped by embodied communities that are rooted outside the public sphere and its unhealthy dynamics. Our engagement in the public sphere can only be redemptive to the extent that it is predicated on prior commitments--most fundamentally, commitments to loving God and our neighbors. If these are indeed our primary commitments, we may learn about and respond to current events from a posture characterized by loving attention to the needs of our places and by a profound sense of our participation in God's ongoing drama." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
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Mar 2022
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Mar 17, 2022
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Apr 19, 2022
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| 1610392116
| 9781610392112
| 1610392116
| 4.31
| 3,720
| Jul 09, 2013
| Jul 09, 2013
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SUMMARY: From Richard Nixon to Bill Clinton to Donald Trump every sitting president for the last 50 years, Republican or Democrat, has militarized Ame
SUMMARY: From Richard Nixon to Bill Clinton to Donald Trump every sitting president for the last 50 years, Republican or Democrat, has militarized America's police force. In The Rise of the Warrior Cop author Radley Balko asks, "How did we evolve from a country whose founding statesmen were adamant about the dangers of armed, standing government forces—a country that enshrined the Fourth Amendment in the Bill of Rights and revered and protected the age-old notion that the home is a place of privacy and sanctuary—to a country where it has become acceptable for armed government agents dressed in battle garb to storm private homes in the middle of the night, not to apprehend violent fugitives or thwart terrorist attacks but to enforce laws against nonviolent, consensual activities?" Balko begins in the 1800s with the Castle Doctrine, a doctrine adopted from England, that establishes "the home as a sanctum in which a citizen can expect to be let alone." Specifically, it says, "before entering (a home) without permission, government agents must knock, announce and identify themselves, state their purpose, and give the occupants the opportunity to let them in peacefully." This doctrine was sacrosanct in the United States until the late 1960s. The seeds of policy change began in response to the Watts riots of 1965 and the Charles Whitman shooting in 1966. The Watts riots started in response to 21-year-old African American Marquette Frye being arrested for a DUI where he got into a scuffle with police. Onlookers gathered and rumors started that the police kicked a pregnant woman. Six days of rioting followed. In the Whitman shooting the former Marine, after killing his mother and his wife the night before, climbed to the observation deck on the Main Building at the University of Texas with high-powered rifles where he randomly shot and killed 16 people. It took 96 minutes for the police to get to him. Fear of an out-of-control (Black) population, with an undercurrent of racism, coupled with the realization that the police were out-armed Los Angeles policeman Daryl Gates came up with the idea of the S.W.A.T. team. If there is any ambiguity to what the original intention of the S.W.A.T. was intended for the initial acronym says it all. S.W.A.T. originally stood for Special Weapons Attack Team, but was changed to Special Weapons And Tactics due to using attack in a police unit's name did not go over well with the general public. The SWAT team concept got a shot in the arm just five years after the Whitman shooting when President Richard Nixon declared a "war on drugs." This declaration started the militarization of the police that would be encouraged by presidents Ronald Regan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barak Obama and Donald Trump. Balko is clear, the militarization of the police is not a partisan issue nor was one person solely responsible - it is decades in the making. "No one made a decision to militarize the police in America," Balko says. "The change has come slowly, the result of a generation of politicians and public officials fanning and exploiting public fears by declaring war on abstractions like crime, drug use, and terrorism." In the late 70's, there were a couple hundred SWAT team raids, the vast majority being for bank robbers, violent crimes, and active shooters. By the 2000s there were 40-50,000 SWAT raids per year with 85% of the raids being for non-violent drug offenses to serve a warrant. Nixon's policies dehumanized and demonized drug offenders. Drug offenders were no longer human beings struggling with an addiction but a problem to be eliminated no matter the means and whatever the cost (no-knock raids). This mentality was the genesis of the "us versus them" mentality that pervades today's police force. These policies could not have swept the nation's police departments without help from the courts. As SWAT team raids skyrocketed from the hundreds in the 70s to thousands in the 80s alarming trends started to emerge. Wrong houses were being raided and innocent people were being killed. But in court case, after court case judges ignored the Fourth Amendment. A liberal interpretation of qualified immunity coupled with the destruction of the once venerated Castle Doctrine allowed SWAT teams to operate with impunity. "The inescapable conclusion: raiding and killing innocent people is an acceptable outcome of drug policing," Balko writes. Two policies, asset forfeiture in 1984 and the 1033 program in 1997 laid the groundwork for the modern militarized police department. Asset forfeiture allows law enforcement agencies to confiscate proceeds or property from crime or criminals to keep or sell. The 1033 program allows the Department of Defense to give law enforcement agencies military equipment. The programs represent billions of dollars with the 1033 program giving away $7 billion of equipment since its inception. "This is how the game is played. Drug arrests (bring) in federal money," Balko says. "Federal money and 1033 let police departments buy cool battle garb to start a SWAT team, which they justify to local residents by playing to fears of terrorism, school shootings, and hostage takings." "These policies have given us an increasingly armed, increasingly isolated, increasingly paranoid, increasingly aggressive police force in America, and a public shielded from knowing the consequences of it all." Ultimately, this is a story of a broken system. A system with bad policies championed and perpetuated no matter who is in office. "Bad cops are the product of bad policy. And policy is ultimately made by politicians. A bad system loaded with bad incentives will unfailingly produce bad cops," Balko writes. Balko finishes with a smattering of ideas to demilitarize the police. We should stop arming the police like the military. Soldering and policing are two different jobs. The 1033 program should end. The rhetoric we use, the war on terror, the war on drugs, the war on crime, etc., matters and should change. There should be more accountability and police and governments should be liable for misconduct. Training should change. Instead of an "us versus them" mentality time should be spent on "bias, de-escalation, and conflict resolution" training throughout a policeman's career. No knock warrants should be the exception to the rule. Changing the system is in the hands of American citizens. We must ask, "What do we want our police force to be? What tactics are acceptable?" From a Christian point of view, we must consider, "How do we approach policing from a distinctly Christian perspective?" As Christians, we can start with the Imago Dei doctrine. That all people are created in the image of God and are worthy of dignity and respect. KEY QUOTE: "Police today are armed, dressed, trained, and conditioned like soldiers. They’re given greater protections from civil and criminal liability than normal citizens. They’re permitted to violently break into homes, often at night, to enforce laws against nonviolent, consensual acts—and even then, often on rather flimsy evidence of wrongdoing...Today, laws, policies, and procedures select for personalities attracted to aggressive, antagonistic policing; isolate police from the communities they serve; and condition police officers to see the people they serve—the people with whom they interact every day—not as citizens with rights but as potential threats." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
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Sep 20, 2022
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Dec 2022
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Mar 08, 2022
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| 031033506X
| 9780310335061
| B007YXY9T4
| 4.35
| 2,278
| Nov 09, 2010
| Jan 01, 2012
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it was amazing
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SUMMARY: For those looking to dip their toe into a liturgical calendar and historical prayers, Common Prayer Pocket Edition: A Liturgy for Ordinary Ra
SUMMARY: For those looking to dip their toe into a liturgical calendar and historical prayers, Common Prayer Pocket Edition: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is a perfect introduction. The 11-page introduction succinctly explains why a book of common prayer is useful while quickly orienting the reader how to use the book. "Our prayer lives connect us to the rest of the body of Christ around the world; at any hour of any day," the authors write. "Many of the prayers in this book are being prayed in some corner of the earth." The book is split into five parts with daily prayers for morning, midday, evening, and bedtime consisting of part one. Part two contains monthly actions where a short story with a theme is told along with suggested readings and actions to take during the month. Part three's 24 prayers are topical with subjects ranging from Sabbath ("To Welcome Sabbath" is one of our favorites) to traveling. Parts four and five make up the largest chunk of the book with a table for daily Scripture reading in addition to short paragraphs dealing with special events or dates. The book is easy to use, simple to understand, and small enough to carry anywhere. Highly recommended. KEY QUOTE: "Liturgy offers us an invitation not just to observe but to participate--active prayer, active worship." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
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Mar 08, 2022
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Mar 29, 2022
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Mar 08, 2022
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Paperback
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| 0316440086
| 9780316440080
| 0316440086
| 4.19
| 841
| Aug 07, 2018
| Aug 07, 2018
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SUMMARY: For those wondering if the issue with policing is a couple of bad officers or if it is the system, 28-year law enforcement veteran Matthew Ho
SUMMARY: For those wondering if the issue with policing is a couple of bad officers or if it is the system, 28-year law enforcement veteran Matthew Horace unequivocally paints a picture of a broken system in his memoir The Black and the Blue. Before critiquing the system, Horace unequivocally says he is a cop while also being unequivocally a black man. "As a career African-American law enforcement officer, I've literally lived on both sides of the barrel, my finger on the trigger, one second away from using deadly force in one case and, in the next, as a black man with a police officer's gun pointed at my face, a blink away from being killed." Horace says America's policing system is broken due to relaxed hiring practices, insufficient training, and public policies that are implemented by local, state, and federal agencies that dictate the role of policing in communities. "Cases of police misconduct, inappropriate police shootings, racial profiling, and police 'mistakes' point to much broader, systemic issues, rather than just a few bad apples," Horace writes. "Too often, they reflect a culture of disregard among police for the people they are paid to serve, an us-against-them mentality that affects us all." This broken police culture has deep roots in racism that ingrained an attitude in America's police force that often sees the people they police as "other." This history needs to be acknowledged before healing can begin. "Even as African-Americans became cops, we were segregated and discriminated against at every turn," Horace says. "Initially, black police officers only patrolled black neighborhoods. They weren’t allowed to arrest white residents. They also weren’t allowed to ride in police cars and, during roll call, white officers sat while they stood." Horace drives this point home with several personal stories. In one story he details being randomly attacked by a police dog in Philadelphia putting his collegiate career in jeopardy. In another he tells a story of a gun being placed to his head by a fellow police officer. In addition to acknowledging the racism that is engrained in many police departments we must also recognize the bias that all humans carry and how those biases can become deadly. "Implicit biases are attitudes and assumptions ingrained in our subconscious...We all have these biases. They don’t necessarily make us bad people. They just make us people," Horace pens. But, he is quick to point that that bias becomes dangerous when "they are held by someone with a badge and a gun, and the power to take a life." The meat of the book focuses on Horace's time in the New Orleans and Chicago police departments where he puts a human face on the challenges he faced as a police officer and a black police officer. He highlights a broken system that trains police to look at situations in terms of wins or losses instead solutions to solve a problem. As for the conflict between police and black people Horace firmly puts the onus on local, state, and federal officials who put polices in place that dictate how law enforcement are to police the public. He says the police are "merely the flashpoint" of the intersection between public policy, mentally ill people, and the public. Staying with that theme Horace points out how ill equipped police are in responding to the mentally ill who are 16 times more likely to be killed by law enforcement and account for half of the annual deaths at the hands of the police. Simply put, police are not trained to identify nor mitigate such mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. "Officers respond to emergencies with lethal force where urgent care may be more appropriate...The result? We are unnecessarily killing mentally ill people and using cops to do it." The solution? It requires that we reimagine how police function in society. "Do (the police) stand apart from societal norms or will they uphold their motto of 'To Protect and Serve'? Are they to be looked at as the men and women who sweep up the refuse left by our refusal or inability to tackle societal problems, or are they partners in our efforts to provide a vibrant and supportive community for all? The decision is ours." KEY QUOTE: "The wrongs inside police departments are not about a handful of bad police officers. Instead, they reflect bad policing procedures and policies that many of our departments have come to accept as gospel. To fix the problem requires a realignment of our thinking about the role police play and how closely they as a group and as individuals are knitted into the fabric of society. Do they stand apart from societal norms or will they uphold their motto of 'To Protect and Serve?' Are they to be looked at as the men and women who sweep up the refuse left by our refusal or inability to tackle societal problems, or are they partners in our efforts to provide a vibrant and supportive community for all? The decision is ours." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Mar 08, 2022
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Apr 02, 2022
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Feb 26, 2022
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0525557857
| 9780525557852
| 0525557857
| 4.08
| 1,519
| Feb 09, 2021
| Feb 09, 2021
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liked it
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SUMMARY: If you were a tenured professor at a major university would you sign up to be a police officer? How about if also had two kids and a comforta
SUMMARY: If you were a tenured professor at a major university would you sign up to be a police officer? How about if also had two kids and a comfortable life? Not many people would, but that is exactly what Georgetown law professor Rosa Brooks decided to do - become a Washington D.C. reserve police officer. In Tangled Up in Blue Brooks details her time training at a Washington D.C. police academy and policing the streets of Washington D.C.'s Seventh District where she quickly learns that the police academy starts with a heavy dose of fear. This foundation of fear facilitates the astronomical level of violence American police carry out against American citizens. "American police kill more people each month than police in most developed countries kill in several decades," Brooks writes. "For instance, during the first twenty-four days of 2015—the year I applied to the MPD Reserve Corps—police in the United States killed more people than police in England and Wales killed in the previous twenty-four years." Despite those facts, Brooks is quick to point out that the vast majority of police she worked with were good people who wanted to do good, but were at the mercy of a self-perpetuating system with few good alternatives. "For the most part, America’s criminal justice system isn’t deliberately cruel. It’s just indifferent to the ways in which it breaks human beings," Brooks says. "Few police officers want to contribute to mass incarceration or aid in the destruction of poor minority communities. But the absurdities and injustices are inherent in the system. Often, by the time the police get involved, the only available choices are bad ones." The value in Tangled Up in Blue (similar to Matthew Horace's book, The Black and the Blue ) book comes from her first-hand experience policing. She gives a human face to the unreasonable job we give police officers. "Police officers have an impossible job: we expect them to be warriors, disciplinarians, protectors, mediators, social workers, educators, medics, and mentors all at once, and we blame them for enforcing laws they didn’t make in a social context they have little power to alter." Brooks continues, "Police don’t operate in a vacuum. They are paid by taxpayer dollars; they respond to the directives and incentives created by national, state, and municipal laws, policies, and political pressures; and in a day-to-day sense, they respond to whatever calls happen to come in over the 911 lines, whether those calls involve complaints about armed robberies or about disorderly conduct." Other topics Brooks touches on include PTSD for both cops and the low-income communities some of them police, the militarization of police, racism being backed into the American judicial system, and the aggressive way we train police officers. Remarkably, abolitionists, scholars, and former police officers all agree on one thing - the system is broken and a large part of the failure of policing can be placed firmly on the shoulders of politicians. Which leads us, the American people, back to the fundamental questions, "What’s policing for? Do we know what 'good policing' looks like? Can we measure it? How should we foster it? How should modern police grapple with the painful legacy of past police abuses, and the ways in which the legacy of racial discrimination still distorts our criminal justice system?" KEY QUOTE: "Police officers have an impossible job: we expect them to be warriors, disciplinarians, protectors, mediators, social workers, educators, medics, and mentors all at once, and we blame them for enforcing laws they didn’t make in a social context they have little power to alter. The abuses and systemic problems that plague policing are very real, and readers will see them reflected in these pages, particularly in the flashes of cynicism and casual contempt I sometimes saw in officers with whom I worked. But the compassion, courage, and creativity I saw are real too." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Nov 15, 2022
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Dec 2022
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Feb 26, 2022
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0830852964
| 9780830852963
| 0830852964
| 4.42
| 156
| Sep 21, 2021
| Sep 21, 2021
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really liked it
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SUMMARY: What if the way most Americans understand democracy is fundamentally flawed? What if the vast majority of Christian views of human nature has
SUMMARY: What if the way most Americans understand democracy is fundamentally flawed? What if the vast majority of Christian views of human nature has blended with popular culture? What if this misunderstanding has resulted in idolatry and hubris? In We the Fallen People, author
Robert Tracy McKenzie
digs into the past for insight into our present political morass. McKenzie says that we must first rid ourselves of two deep-seated beliefs about democracy in America. "We must renounce democratic faith, our unthinking belief that democracy is intrinsically just. We must disavow democratic gospel, the 'good news' that we are individually good and collectively wise." To begin rejecting the ideas that people and democracy are inherently good we need to take an honest, critical look at history through a Biblical lens - something that McKenzie says Christians, and Americans in general, are poor at. McKenzie tells us we are a "present-minded" people disconnected from the past. "Our historical amnesia contributes directly to our dysfunctional engagement with contemporary politics," McKenzie pens. "A pattern distinguished chiefly by its worldly pragmatism and shallowness." In other words, Christians are not distinct in how we view, learn, or apply the lessons from history or engage in our current cultural moment. We are caught up in the partisanship and petty bickering just like everyone else. As a result, "We are giving the culture a reason to view followers of Christ as simply one more interest group, one more strategically savvy voting bloc willing to trade political support for political influence." Breaking this cycle starts with putting on our big girl or big boy pants, rejecting simplistic answers and banal platitudes, digging into history and the Bible, and starting to have grownup conversations. "We must think deeply before we can act effectively," McKenzie says. McKenzie leans heavily on Alexis de Tocqueville's observations from his seminal Democracy in America . The Frenchman traveled to America in 1831 on a 10-month observation tour of American democracy. Perhaps Tocqueville's most crucial observation was his definition of democracy. "The key is Tocqueville's insight that democracy is morally indeterminate instead of intrinsically just," McKenzie says. "If democracy is the implementation of the will of the majority, then whatever the majority wills is 'democratic.'" This was a paramount concern to the framers of the Constitution, who believed in a variety of traditional and non-traditional Christianity, but most certainly believed in original sin or, at the very least, that people will look after themselves rather than others if given the chance. "They designed a Constitution for fallen people," McKenzie says. "Its genius lay in how it held in tension two seemingly incompatible beliefs: first, that the majority must generally prevail; and second, that the majority is predisposed to seek personal advantage above the common good." Those two facts - that democracy is not intrinsically just nor are people inherently good - should be an easy pill to swallow for Christians. The Bible is clear that we are sinful beings (Rom. 5:12, Eph. 2:3), and yet we have an extremely difficult time accepting that fact. Just forty-three years after the ratification of the Constitution, Tocqueville was starting to see the seeds of what is now a sprawling, rotting tree: individualism, support for populist candidates, the mixing of politics and religion, sermons speaking of platitudes, the insatiable desire for wealth, a shallow faith, the centering of self, and the prosperity gospel. Sound familiar? During Tocqueville's time in America, Andrew Jackson was the president of the United States. He is seen as the first populist president of the U.S.A. He was the first to espouse the belief that the majority makes the right decision. He was combative. He was partisan to a fault. There are numerous correlations between Jacksonian America and today's America. Many of these beliefs are so engrained into our culture it is hard to recognize that it has not always been this way. "It's hard to think Christianly about values that we have taken for granted for so long that we're no longer even aware of them. This is where historical knowledge becomes invaluable. At its best, our engagement with the past can help us to see the present--and ourselves--with new eyes." Those new eyes require us to acknowledge America's missteps and failings. To not to act defensively. To humbly look at the good and the bad of history. Ultimately, it should transform our behavior and thinking. What does this specifically mean for Christians? In light of the Bible, McKenzie suggests four practices. First, we must run from every effort to meld Christianity with a particular political party, movement, or leader. Second, we must confess the allure and danger of power. Third, we must work proactively to mitigate the abuse of power. Fourth, rhetoric matters. "Our words reveal who we are, Jesus proclaimed in the Sermon on the Mount, for they flow 'out of the abundance of the heart.' But our words also teach by example." One aspect that we heartily appreciate about McKenzie's writing is not only is he teaching the reader about history, he is also teaching the reader how to learn, approach, and apply the lesson from history from an honest and faithful Christian perspective. Don't hesitate to pick up this book. KEY QUOTE: "A powerful majority pursuing its self-interest may oppress the minority. But Tocqueville also wants us to see that, because we're fallen, a powerful majority pursuing its self-interest can also gradually forfeit its own liberty. He envisions a servitude in which 'each individual allows himself to be clapped in chains.' He sees an 'innumerable host' of individuals, 'all alike and equal, endlessly hastening after petty and vulgar pleasures with which they fill their souls. Each of them…is virtually a stranger to the fate of all the others. For him, his children and personal friends comprise the entire human race.' Tocqueville labels this decay of the community 'individualism,' and he believes that it is a predictable if not inevitable feature of a democratic society." MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Feb 11, 2022
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May 05, 2022
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Feb 11, 2022
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| B0971XM1J8
| unknown
| 3.80
| 5
| unknown
| Jul 01, 2021
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liked it
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SUMMARY: As humans, most of the time we want complex issues to be solved easily. For instance, if individuals with guns are targeting churches, then m
SUMMARY: As humans, most of the time we want complex issues to be solved easily. For instance, if individuals with guns are targeting churches, then members of churches should carry guns to counteract the threat. While on the surface that may seem like the logical thing to do, and certainly a good portion of Americans would agree, as Christians we must consider what the Bible has to say. In Whom Shall I Fear? author and pastor
Rosalind C. Hughes
doesn't say whether a church should hire armed security or not, but invites the reader to take a step back and answer the question, "What is the church and what is its mission," before deciding how to deal with the violent culture we live in. "This book is not designed to tell a congregation how to keep their church and community safe from harm, crime, or evil intent," Hughes writes. "There are plenty of agencies, individuals, and programs expertly designed for that purpose. Rather, this is an opportunity to take a step back from the fear, especially fear." While useful to flesh out one's own thoughts on violence and how a Christian should react, Whom Shall I Fear? was penned to be read and grappled with in community, perhaps one chapter at a time. Each of the nine chapters are short, but meaty with complicated, weighty questions sprinkled throughout. The book would be a perfect starting place for a church board or denominational group to put together a statement on violence. Hughes does a good job of stripping away the contentious talking points that bog down so many conversations and appeals to the example of our self-sacrificing Savior. "The overarching question for churches responding to an era of violence in America is how to overwhelm evil with good and resist evil without making peace with its methods or glorifying innocent suffering. How do we repay abuse with a blessing and continue our work that was called into being by the redemption wrought by Christ's overwhelming, nonviolent, selfless, and life-giving love?" With that said, Hughes realizes that there is not a one-sized-fits-all solution. Different churches in different contexts require different solutions, but the core motivation of each church should be the same. "Jesus' death on the Cross demonstrated something about the nature of God: that God is inclined to self-giving vengeance, mercy over punishment, restraint over rage, and love over all." KEY QUOTE: "The overarching question for churches responding to an era of violence in America is how to overwhelm evil with good and resist evil without making peace with its methods or glorifying innocent suffering. How do we repay abuse with a blessing and continue our work that was called into being by the redemption wrought by Christ's overwhelming, nonviolent, selfless, and life-giving love?" MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church. ...more |
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liked it
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May 06, 2023
|
Jan 12, 2023
|
|||||
|
| 3.83
|
really liked it
|
Jan 23, 2023
|
Jan 08, 2023
|
|||||
|
| 4.34
|
it was ok
|
Sep 22, 2023
|
Jan 06, 2023
|
|||||
|
| 4.00
|
liked it
|
May 30, 2023
|
Jan 06, 2023
|
|||||
|
| 4.19
|
really liked it
|
Feb 08, 2023
|
Dec 25, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.28
|
it was ok
|
Dec 31, 2022
|
Dec 17, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.22
|
really liked it
|
Dec 20, 2022
|
Dec 05, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.08
|
liked it
|
Dec 07, 2022
|
Nov 15, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.21
|
really liked it
|
Oct 15, 2022
|
Sep 21, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.23
|
it was amazing
|
Sep 20, 2022
|
Sep 14, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.32
|
it was amazing
|
Sep 15, 2022
|
Sep 01, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.49
|
really liked it
|
Nov 28, 2022
|
Aug 02, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.16
|
really liked it
|
Sep 2022
|
Jul 05, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.18
|
really liked it
|
Jul 27, 2022
|
Jun 05, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.59
|
it was amazing
|
Jul 10, 2022
|
May 17, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.11
|
really liked it
|
Mar 17, 2022
|
Apr 19, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.31
|
really liked it
|
Dec 2022
|
Mar 08, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.35
|
it was amazing
|
Mar 29, 2022
|
Mar 08, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.19
|
liked it
|
Apr 02, 2022
|
Feb 26, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.08
|
liked it
|
Dec 2022
|
Feb 26, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.42
|
really liked it
|
May 05, 2022
|
Feb 11, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 3.80
|
liked it
|
Feb 16, 2022
|
Jan 29, 2022
|
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