This book is certain both to challenge and to enrich our preaching. J. Barrie Shepherd is both a poet and a preacher and so it is not surprising that his writing is more intuitive than analytic and more metaphorical than argumentative.
The liturgical renewal movement produced significant changes to the worship patterns of Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant congregations during the last fifty years. For Presbyterians, increase in communion frequency, recovery of a fuller liturgical year, and the use of the Revised Common Lectionary all serve as major milestones on the road to a richer worship life. In the midst of fairly rapid changes in worship practice, a fuller theology and practice of baptism has remained elusive.
Ten years ago I moved from a different part of the country to northern New Jersey, within easy commuting distance of New York City. Needless to say, the context of ministry changed dramatically for me. New Jersey is one of the most diverse and densely populated states in the country. Formerly, an interfaith marriage meant a Roman Catholic and a Protestant. Now, there are many Christian-Jewish and Christian-Muslim marriages in the congregation. The local clergy association includes Christians, Jews, Buddhists, and others.
"The Golden Compass" has generated a lot of "buzz" because of its supposedly anti-Christian content (propelled by reports that the author of the book on which the movie is based advertises himself as an atheist). But "The Golden Compass" is merely a fairy tale. Like all fairy tales, in places it is extremely creative, in other places practically plagiaristic, and its apparent purpose is simply to entertain.
We begin with a bit of overdubbing by way of introduction. There are several parallel universes, connected by some sort of cosmic dust. In each parallel universe, humans have different relationships to their souls, or spirits.
For the past few months moviegoers have had their imaginations piqued by armored polar bears, flying witches, blockbuster stars (Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliot, and Eva Green) and incredible digital animation, all packed into a three minute teaser trailer. The promise? A classic action-fantasy quest story, with compelling, imaginative characters engaged in a good vs. evil adventure of mythic proportions. The wait is over.
"The Golden Compass" is the film version of book one in a fantasy adventure trilogy (His Dark Materials) by Oxford's Philip Pullman, an award-winning British author of children's literature. New Line Cinema is following their familiar strategy: a December blockbuster release of British fantasy literature adapted for the big screen (who can forget the incredible three-year dominance of "The Lord of the Rings" movies?). Indeed, New Line's early promotional materials for "The Golden Compass" specifically mention the beloved Tolkien series to whet our appetites: "In 2001," the text scrolls, "New Line Cinema opened the door to Middle Earth." As the familiar "one ring" tumbles, slow motion, down the screen, it morphs into a golden compass. The text continues the promise: New Line will take you "on another epic journey."
Anybody remotely related to Christianity, and its churches, would have to be automatically interested in a film named 'Atonement.' That is, after all, the essence of the Christian message: that Christ came to offer atonement for our sins. However, atonement, among us mere mortals, at least, comes with many emotional layers, if it visits at all.
It will be very difficult to see this movie with "fresh eyes," that is, not already aware of all the media buzz surrounding it, including, alas, this review. The novel upon which it is based, by Khaled Hosseini, is simply magical. The movie is faithful to the book. So this remains a singular experience. And you'll want to see it and hear it as if for the first time, if you possibly can.
Part of what is so enchanting about this story is that it transports the Western viewer to another time and place. Most of us know little or nothing about Kabul, Afghanistan. We are perhaps vaguely aware of it having been a "trouble spot" with the Russians, right before their ignominious collapse. Be that as it may, there is a "before" and an "after" in this story.
Great Themes of the Bible, Vol. 1, by W. Eugene March. WJKP, 2007. ISBN 0-664-22918-2. Pb., 143 pp. $14.95.
I began each semester in seminary focused on organization.
"The Ten Commandments": Talk about unanswered prayer: the Hebrews cried to the Lord for 430 years before God decided to send deliverance. This animated version of the life of Moses is quite serious and literal about the capricious Pharaoh, the slaughter of the innocents, the baby in the basket in the bull rushes, and Moses being brought up as a youngster in the Pharaoh's house, raised as a stepbrother to the "real" Prince.
Honor: A History, by James Bowman. New York: Encounter Books, 2007. ISBN 1594031983. Pb., 265 pp. $18.95.
Every good playground has its own hierarchy. James Bowman does not dismiss this as mere childishness. He sees human history modeled in the playground hierarchy and writ large. "Dominant nations and their leaders are expected to give demonstrations of their dominance so as to avoid the necessity of having to establish it by fighting. When such demonstrations are ambiguous or unconvincing, fighting and all that implies of heartbreak and misery ensues."
Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade -- And How We Can Fight It, by David Batstone. HarperSanFrancisco, 2007. ISBN 0061206717. Pb., 320 pp. $14.95.*
Reading David Batstone's Not For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade -- and How We Can Fight It reminds me of the speech that William Wilberforce delivered to Parliament on May 12, 1789. Wilberforce had introduced the first bill abolishing the British slave trade and after a lengthy and impassioned speech before Parliament, he concluded by saying: "The circumstances of this [Slave] Trade are now laid open to us. We can no longer plead ignorance, we cannot evade it, it is now an object placed before us, we cannot pass it [by]. We may spurn it, we may kick it out of the way, but we cannot turn aside so as to avoid seeing it."
Holy Play: The Joyful Adventure of Unleashing Your Divine Purpose by Kirk Byron Jones. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007. ISBN 0787984523. Pb., 188 pp., $21.95.
She had been dead for perhaps two decades when I became their pastor, but the people of the church in rural Southside Virginia where she had taught Sunday school for some forty years still quoted Mrs. Cowie: "A Christian is not supposed to have fun!" Kirk Byron Jones dares to disagree. In Holy Play: the Joyful Adventure of Unleashing Your Divine Purpose Jones asserts not only that life is to be enjoyed but that having fun is living faithfully and that our passions and joys are means through which we discover divine purpose for our lives. To use Jones's words, "This book will teach you how to stop waiting for God to tell you what to do and start confidently doing what God has been inspiring you to do all along" (xiv).
The Necessity of Reforming the Church, in Calvin: Theological Treatises, edited by J. K. S. Reid. WJKP, 2000 (Reprint, The Westminster Press, 1954), pp. 183-216. ISBN 9780664223670. Pb., 356 pp. $39.95.
There is a haunting, enigmatic characteristic to Calvin's writing. You rarely catch this at first. It all seems to be so didactic and straightforward. But as you spend more time with him, you begin to sense that there is more than meets the eye. And as this occurs, you cannot help but wonder why you assumed at first that you understood what he said.
Tight lipped when it came to self-disclosure, expository of the text in a pre-critical way, deeply layered from the earlier theologians he had absorbed, and, above all, persistent in his analysis of the human will, Calvin's own style seemed to wall off further penetration. Over the course of the years, however, I came to find that the structure of his texts, the choice of his themes, and the syntax of his writing began to yield more. Like many human fathers, our father in the Reformed faith was more complex than I had thought.
Augustine, Teaching Christianity, intro., trans., notes by Edmund Hill, O.P. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century. New City Press, 1996. ISBN 1-5648-049-X. Pb., 259 pp. $22.95
Teaching Christianity (De doctrina christiana) was written in two parts. The major portion was written (396) shortly after Augustine became bishop of Hippo Regius and shortly before he wrote the Confessions (397-401); the latter portion was composed about three decades later (427). To some degree the Confessions and Teaching Christianity interpret each other. The former describes the restless wandering of the human heart until it rests in God. The latter offers rules for finding in Scripture God's message to the wanderer. Augustine would have us see that Scripture guides and encourages the yearning rather than satisfying it. Faithful interpretation and communication of this divine address will engage the "unquiet" of the audience and urge it on.
In Pursuit of the Almighty's Dollar: A History of Money and American Protestantism, by James Hudnut-Beumler. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0807830798. Hb., 288 pp. $29.95.
Early in the American Protestant experience a decisive shift took place. The forms of Christianity that had been conceived of and supported as public goods in the European context came to be regarded as private goods in this new setting. James Hudnut-Beumler's account of that historical turn and the ensuing story is an important volume for any concerned about issues of money in the life of American churches.
Does your church library seem musty? Do you need to update your children's section? Here are a few fresh new titles children (and their parents and grandparents who bring them) will welcome into your church library.
In a war-whipped, politically polarized, and consumer-confounded world, Walter Brueggemann in his new book shares his conviction that the Church "must recover and re-embrace its own mission" and live in tension with a world that suggests the answers are found in technology, empire politics, militarism, and acquiring more "stuff". He invites the Church to consider that it is listening to a script that is shouting the gospel of fear and anxiety instead of the word of God. There is an alternative script found in God's word, a script that speaks to the discontent and disconnect of those of us who are in the contemporary Church of Jesus Christ.
Brueggemann cites Old Testament prophets who called for restoration and newness, prophets who called for an alternative way of life in covenant with God, and of course, he points to Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life, the One who feeds the hungry, touches lepers, and welcomes children.
Anybody who's ever had a 'coming of age' summer will identify with this one. There's an inherent sadness here, though, that assaults the viewer from the very first scene, as the Australian orphan boys are lined up, from oldest to youngest, looking so hopeful, and the prospective adoptive parents proceed slowly down the line, until they arrive at....a cute young one. The rest of the boys, like losers in a beauty contest, are forced to feign gladness for the one who was chosen over the rest of them. He is whisked off to his happily ever after, and they are left...with the nuns in the desolate Outback.
What makes it a compelling mystery is that almost no way you add it up makes total sense, either if you assume she's a prodigy or the whole thing is a scam. What's been interesting to me is that in the screenings, and the Q and A after wards, the audience has been divided about it, which makes for an interesting Q and A...I was attracted to this story because of the lack of standards in Modern Art. Some 4-year-old is a prodigy? According to who (m)? But just because there are no objective standards doesn't mean you can't develop your own opinion. So you have to engage in these paintings either way, which gives people an opportunity.
An educator colleague of mine once related her frustration at her congregation's resistance to welcoming children into worship. One Sunday, as the children were leaving after the children's sermon, an usher remarked, only slightly under his breath, "NOW we can worship!" It's enough to make one weep. This compelling book represents Joyce Mercer's search, as she puts it, for a child-affirming theology and for a church that truly welcomes, cares for, and advocates for children.
In our consumerist economy nearly every aspect of life has been commodified. A faith community can find it difficult to resist the "market construction of childhood," one that emphasizes forming children to be responsible consumers of what society has to offer. Mercer suggests that even religious discourse gets caught up in the language of the market. Think of the prevalence of the phrase "target demographics" in our discussion about church transformation and outreach. Our understanding of the needs of childhood, the purpose of the church, the role of a community of faith are all threatened by a market-driven culture that often includes, Mercer argues, an insensitivity to the poor, to those who cannot effectively be consumers.
A brief note to preachers: Read this book. And an accompanying note to elders and other church leaders: Give this book to your preacher(s), and encourage them to read it.
Mike Graves has written a dynamic book about preaching, but not the sort you might expect. This is not an introductory text for beginning students, nor an offering in the latest in homiletical theory.
Instead, it's a text that suggests that lively, faithful preaching is born out of a dynamic encounter between the biblical text and a "fully alive preacher." To renew preaching in the life of the church, Graves proposes that we need to renew the life of the preacher. What he poses is a resource for those pastors whose lives have been full to overflowing for some time with meetings to attend, phone calls to make, bulletins to produce, hospitals to visit, letters to write, unhappy parishioners to counsel -- and who suffer from what some have called the "relentless return of the Sabbath."
This one will break your heart. Over and over. Cesar Ramos is Jorge, a thug-in-training in Juarez, Mexico. He's learned just enough English to be able to approach American tourists. He's looking for the men who are by themselves, so he can show them pictures of naked young girls, and promises that one of them is available just around the corner. If his 'mark' falls for it, he follows Jorge into a back alley, where he is threatened, robbed, ridiculed, and, if necessary for cooperation, beaten. The victims won't dare tell the police, because then they'd have to admit why they were in that back alley. And besides, chances are, they couldn't identify anybody, anyway, and don't even speak the language. Stupid gringos.
Who would have guessed that a children's book that's fundamentally about death would have one of the largest publishing runs of any book in history -- garnering 3.7 million pre-orders (that's pre-orders, before the actual sales began) from Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com? I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Those sorts of sales would be amazing enough in a single volume, but this is number seven -- of seven -- Harry Potter books. Each one of the previous volumes has been a blockbuster best-seller, as well.
by D. Mark Davis. Holy Conversations. The Pilgrim Press, 2007. ISBN 0829817395. Pb., 111 pp. $12.
Mark Davis in his book, Talking about Evangelism, addresses a vital issue in a creative way. As Presbyterians, we have never been very good at evangelism, especially in recent years. Mark uses personal experience and theological insight to offer concrete suggestions that speak well to our day.
Mark and I have followed similar paths in our faith journeys. Both of us came out of very fundamentalistic traditions that carried with them a clear cut way to do evangelism. He used it in talking to his favorite high school teacher: Mark had taken Evangelism 101 at the Christian college he attended and wanted to be sure Sam, his teacher, was saved. Sam responded, "Take your prayers, and your holier-than-thou attitude and get the hell out of my office. And don't bother coming back until you leave that crap at home."
by Christopher J.H. Wright. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2006. ISBN 10-8308-2571-1. Hb., 581 pp. with outline, index, Bible index, and bibliography. $38.
All holy books are not alike. One reads various Buddhist Sacred texts in different ways: some are proverbial sayings, others are mythical stories of the former lives of the Buddha. Their coherence is elusive, their history enigmatic. Is the same true of the Bible, or is there a "Grand Narrative" that runs through the Bible?
This book is a fascinating combination of introduction on biblical hermeneutics, biblical theology, and, at the same time, it is a missiology textbook. I spoke to Chris Wright in New York in December 2006 and he told me that his new book was trying to correct what we agreed was the lacuna in Bosch's Transforming Mission -- the Old Testament is missing. So, I expected his book to be a small paperback on Christian mission and the Old Testament. This however is a product of a life of careful biblical scholarship done, as his life has been lived, in a global context. Christopher Wright, of Belfast, Northern Ireland, was principal of All Nations College in Ware, England, and before that he taught in Puna, India. His position now with the Langham Trust involves working with church theologians and other leaders around the world
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