This is a study of the new monastic movement and how many Christians around the world are using values and practices from the monastic way of life in creative ways in their churches and communities. I found it incredibly inspiring and fascinating. I met the author on a retreat on Lindisfarne, where he lives, and had a great chat with him about this stuff.
The book outlines the current expressions of new monasticism around the world, then looks at what we can learn from the history of the monastic movement over the last 2000 years. Then there is a great chapter discussing how much of the monastic way of life is really just Christianity lived as it should be.
Then the book really comes into its own with the chapter 'Monastic Churches and Villages of God'. This is about how churches are adopting monastic values, but also contains this idea of 'Villages of God' - places where there is daily prayer led by a community of Christians committed to that area. This is the heart of the village, but around it are places to eat healthy food, places for pilgrims to stay, Eco-spaces like community allotments, education, job creation and much more. He then suggests what this might look like in different areas, such as Central London, around a Cathedral, in places of beauty, and other places.
I would love to see what this might look like in an inner-city estate in Salford! Really good stuff and definitely recommend you get a copy.
Monday 25 April 2011
Love Wins by Rob Bell
Ok so I thought seeing as I'd read this, I should put something about it, even though probably enough has been said to last several lifetimes. For some better reviews than this one, look on Scot McKnight's blog (a six-part review) and an article by Greg Downes in Christianity magazine.
Rob Bell is one of my favourite authors. I have read all his books, and occasially listen to his Mars Hill podcasts. Another reason I was looking forward to this book is because over the last few years, I have been teaching on the subject of heaven and hell at lots of conferences and churches, so was keen to hear what he had to say and how it could add to the many, probably too many books and articles I have read so far!
So what did I think? Well, as he says at the start, he is not saying anything that hasn't already been said at some point over the last 2000 years. Most of the book is typical Rob Bell - provocative questions, great stories, beautiful depictions of Christian hope, and challenging application. But what surprised me was the tone of parts of the book. The first chapter in particular seems unusually aggressive, almost as if some people have really wound him up and he's out to stir things up and offend a few people (this is probably not the case, but that's how it feels to me). I always have appreciated the questions he asks, but found the way he asks them in chapter 1 quite unhelpful, and perhaps not very gracious,
There is also the use of quite extreme caricatures of views Rob Bell disagrees with. Even on the back of the book, he talks about the idea that if you respond the wrong way to the gospel, that 'God will torture you forever in hell'. I don't know anyone who believes this, even those who believe in an eternal hell. He also talks about the traditional view of God being love on the one hand, but then also being cruel on the other. No Christian would believe that God is cruel, whatever their beliefs about the afterlife. It seems that he sets up a number of 'straw men' which are then very easy to knock down, particularly in the first chapter. I think one thing this whole discussion has shown is that Christians are generally not very good at disagreeing with each other!
In chapter 2 the book really gets into its stride, with some great Tom Wright-esque theology put in persuasive terms. The big thing here is to encourage us to focus on bringing heaven to earth, rather than obsessing about getting souls into heaven. Then chapters 3 and 4 are more controversial, but less polemical than earlier in the book. It appears that what he is suggesting is this: God wants everyone to spend eternity with him, but because of free choice, it is possible that this will not happen. However, he argues that death is not the last chance for people to choose to be saved - that there may be an infinite number of chances for people to repent - as Revelation says, the gates of the Holy City are never shut.
And the rest of the book continues along these lines.
So is he a universalist? Yes, a type of universalist. In a book of this nature, it's hard to cover all the bases of such a huge issue, so don't expect a comprehensive biblical and philosophical discussion. A much more detailed, coherent, and in my opinion more gracious argument for universal salvation is made in The Evangelical Universalist by Gregory McDonald.
Would I recommend this book? I would recommend it for a big picture view of what the kingdom of God is all about. I would not recommend it as a balanced discussion of the issues around heaven and hell. For a book that deals fairly objectively with the main issues, see The Nature of Hell by the Evangelical Alliance.
My main feelings about this book are that it contains lots of great stuff, but it's I'm not sure how helpful it will be. I think for some it may help them to find a space within the Christian faith where it is ok to ask big questions and not feel guilty about it. For others, it could be unhelpful in the way he deconstructs many long-held beliefs without acknowledging other opinions or interpretations of the key verses. For anyone who is going to read the book, I would also recommend the EA book as a balance so they can get a carefully reasoned account of all the major opinions on hell, rather than one persuasive argument alongside a caricatured version of the other opinions. So yes read it, but please read more widely on this issue.
Rob Bell is still one of my favourite authors. Even though he's raving heretic bound for the lake of fire. (joke)
Rob Bell is one of my favourite authors. I have read all his books, and occasially listen to his Mars Hill podcasts. Another reason I was looking forward to this book is because over the last few years, I have been teaching on the subject of heaven and hell at lots of conferences and churches, so was keen to hear what he had to say and how it could add to the many, probably too many books and articles I have read so far!
So what did I think? Well, as he says at the start, he is not saying anything that hasn't already been said at some point over the last 2000 years. Most of the book is typical Rob Bell - provocative questions, great stories, beautiful depictions of Christian hope, and challenging application. But what surprised me was the tone of parts of the book. The first chapter in particular seems unusually aggressive, almost as if some people have really wound him up and he's out to stir things up and offend a few people (this is probably not the case, but that's how it feels to me). I always have appreciated the questions he asks, but found the way he asks them in chapter 1 quite unhelpful, and perhaps not very gracious,
There is also the use of quite extreme caricatures of views Rob Bell disagrees with. Even on the back of the book, he talks about the idea that if you respond the wrong way to the gospel, that 'God will torture you forever in hell'. I don't know anyone who believes this, even those who believe in an eternal hell. He also talks about the traditional view of God being love on the one hand, but then also being cruel on the other. No Christian would believe that God is cruel, whatever their beliefs about the afterlife. It seems that he sets up a number of 'straw men' which are then very easy to knock down, particularly in the first chapter. I think one thing this whole discussion has shown is that Christians are generally not very good at disagreeing with each other!
In chapter 2 the book really gets into its stride, with some great Tom Wright-esque theology put in persuasive terms. The big thing here is to encourage us to focus on bringing heaven to earth, rather than obsessing about getting souls into heaven. Then chapters 3 and 4 are more controversial, but less polemical than earlier in the book. It appears that what he is suggesting is this: God wants everyone to spend eternity with him, but because of free choice, it is possible that this will not happen. However, he argues that death is not the last chance for people to choose to be saved - that there may be an infinite number of chances for people to repent - as Revelation says, the gates of the Holy City are never shut.
And the rest of the book continues along these lines.
So is he a universalist? Yes, a type of universalist. In a book of this nature, it's hard to cover all the bases of such a huge issue, so don't expect a comprehensive biblical and philosophical discussion. A much more detailed, coherent, and in my opinion more gracious argument for universal salvation is made in The Evangelical Universalist by Gregory McDonald.
Would I recommend this book? I would recommend it for a big picture view of what the kingdom of God is all about. I would not recommend it as a balanced discussion of the issues around heaven and hell. For a book that deals fairly objectively with the main issues, see The Nature of Hell by the Evangelical Alliance.
My main feelings about this book are that it contains lots of great stuff, but it's I'm not sure how helpful it will be. I think for some it may help them to find a space within the Christian faith where it is ok to ask big questions and not feel guilty about it. For others, it could be unhelpful in the way he deconstructs many long-held beliefs without acknowledging other opinions or interpretations of the key verses. For anyone who is going to read the book, I would also recommend the EA book as a balance so they can get a carefully reasoned account of all the major opinions on hell, rather than one persuasive argument alongside a caricatured version of the other opinions. So yes read it, but please read more widely on this issue.
Rob Bell is still one of my favourite authors. Even though he's raving heretic bound for the lake of fire. (joke)
Delirious by Martin Smith and Meet Mrs Smith by Anna Smith
Esther and I bought these two books as some 'His and Hers' reading for our holiday last week. They're both very easy to read and entertaining. I was really interested to read Martin Smith's book, as Delirious were a huge influence on me with their songs and the way they led worship, I really felt I was a part of the 'people movement' that he talks about in the book. Phrases like 'history makers' and 'revival generation' took me back to the mid 90s, all the excitement and expectation and creativity of that time is described here.
It made me long for that time again in some ways. As Martin says 'I think we have lost some of the power of those days... we've lost the ability to push aside the songs and replace them with twenty-five minutes of crying out, opening our hearts and heads with the raw worship of God who's within us'. This is so true in my experience, and I would love to know how we can experience that again!
I loved reading about the stories behind the songs, and his description of the transition from worship band to rock band with singles in the charts, and how many of their following (including me) didn't quite understand it at the time.
Anna Smith's book is very amusing and passionate, and it's great to read the story from the point of view of those who were often left at home while the band travelled the world, and see the highs and lows of their experience.
The books took me about 3 hours each to read - ideal holiday reading - entertaining, challenging and interesting.
It made me long for that time again in some ways. As Martin says 'I think we have lost some of the power of those days... we've lost the ability to push aside the songs and replace them with twenty-five minutes of crying out, opening our hearts and heads with the raw worship of God who's within us'. This is so true in my experience, and I would love to know how we can experience that again!
I loved reading about the stories behind the songs, and his description of the transition from worship band to rock band with singles in the charts, and how many of their following (including me) didn't quite understand it at the time.
Anna Smith's book is very amusing and passionate, and it's great to read the story from the point of view of those who were often left at home while the band travelled the world, and see the highs and lows of their experience.
The books took me about 3 hours each to read - ideal holiday reading - entertaining, challenging and interesting.
The Wisdom of Stability by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
'This is a book about staying put and paying attention'. I found this book deeply challenging, and actually quite encouraging as I having thinking along these lines for a while. In the Christian culture, we hear many talks encouraging us to 'Go' - but not many that challenge us to stay. Of course, Jesus himself commanded the church to go into all the world, but this is not a book trying to disagree with Jesus. It is a powerful call to live out the ancient monastic vow of stability in our ultra-mobile world.
In a culture and generation when the big question is often 'what am I going to do next?' and this usually translates as 'where am I going to go next?', a commitment to stick around is deeply counter-cultural. But as the author says, 'we are best able to discern the call of God when we are rooted in the life-giving wisdom of stability'.
He tells the story of a friend who told him 'I've given up my spiritual journey'. By this, he meant that often we are always looking for the next stage on our 'journey': the next spiritual high, the next godly promotion, but it can all become so individualistic and self-centred. But what he had learned is that 'God can change us if we'll settle down in one place. So I've given up my spiritual journey. I'm just going to stay with God here and see how I can grow'.
I have read many books in my time, but don't ever remember reading anything like that! I love the counter-cultural, almost subversive nature of it all. It would be great to see a seminar at a Christian conference called 'why you should give up your spiritual journey'! And I can see the value of this stuff, especially for estates like ours in Salford.
Read this and be challenged - you don't have to agree, and it maybe that you'll move from where you live a few times in your life, but this is just a great call to a different type of thinking.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wisdom-Stability-Rooting-Mobile-Culture/dp/1557256233/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303757784&sr=1-1
In a culture and generation when the big question is often 'what am I going to do next?' and this usually translates as 'where am I going to go next?', a commitment to stick around is deeply counter-cultural. But as the author says, 'we are best able to discern the call of God when we are rooted in the life-giving wisdom of stability'.
He tells the story of a friend who told him 'I've given up my spiritual journey'. By this, he meant that often we are always looking for the next stage on our 'journey': the next spiritual high, the next godly promotion, but it can all become so individualistic and self-centred. But what he had learned is that 'God can change us if we'll settle down in one place. So I've given up my spiritual journey. I'm just going to stay with God here and see how I can grow'.
I have read many books in my time, but don't ever remember reading anything like that! I love the counter-cultural, almost subversive nature of it all. It would be great to see a seminar at a Christian conference called 'why you should give up your spiritual journey'! And I can see the value of this stuff, especially for estates like ours in Salford.
Read this and be challenged - you don't have to agree, and it maybe that you'll move from where you live a few times in your life, but this is just a great call to a different type of thinking.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wisdom-Stability-Rooting-Mobile-Culture/dp/1557256233/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303757784&sr=1-1
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas
This is the best biography I have read in a long time. Actually I listened to it on audiobook, which was an interesting experience, not something I normally do.
If you are interested in Second World War history, the story of the way the German Christians responded to the Nazi regime is fascinating. Bonhoeffer himself was a remarkable character, a superb theologian with an activism that would eventually lead to his own execution by the Nazis, only two weeks before Hitler commited suicide. He was one of the founders of the German 'confessing' church, which broke away from the established church when they compromised with the Nazis.
One of the great things about the book is the way Metaxas uses lots of Bonhoeffer's best quotes and weaves them into the story. It seems that he was almost a pacifist, but could see no other option than to become part of the conspiracy to assassinate Hitler. I think this is great reading for those considering the ethics of war and the Christian response to war and unjust regimes.
On a couple of occasions the story drags a little, but in general it is an enthralling read. I was left shocked that such evil could have happened in living memory, and that many in the German church did little to oppose it, and also was inspired by Bonhoeffer's faith in God, and his utter commitment to his beliefs, even to the point of his own death in his late 30s.
Highly recommended!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/BONHOEFFER-METAXAS-ERIC/dp/1595553185/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1303755516&sr=8-2
If you are interested in Second World War history, the story of the way the German Christians responded to the Nazi regime is fascinating. Bonhoeffer himself was a remarkable character, a superb theologian with an activism that would eventually lead to his own execution by the Nazis, only two weeks before Hitler commited suicide. He was one of the founders of the German 'confessing' church, which broke away from the established church when they compromised with the Nazis.
One of the great things about the book is the way Metaxas uses lots of Bonhoeffer's best quotes and weaves them into the story. It seems that he was almost a pacifist, but could see no other option than to become part of the conspiracy to assassinate Hitler. I think this is great reading for those considering the ethics of war and the Christian response to war and unjust regimes.
On a couple of occasions the story drags a little, but in general it is an enthralling read. I was left shocked that such evil could have happened in living memory, and that many in the German church did little to oppose it, and also was inspired by Bonhoeffer's faith in God, and his utter commitment to his beliefs, even to the point of his own death in his late 30s.
Highly recommended!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/BONHOEFFER-METAXAS-ERIC/dp/1595553185/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1303755516&sr=8-2
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)