Dorothy Day for Armchair Theologians

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Dorothy Day holding up a prison dress. Photo courtesy of Jim Forest through a Creative Commons license.

The Armchair Theologians series from Westminster John Knox is, as one expects by the title, designed to be an accessible and entertaining approach to the biographies of some of the most significant theologians. The authors for these volumes are always fans of the biographical subject. Therefore, there tends to be a bias toward the views of the subject, with a very minimal critique offered.

Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty’s recent contribution to the series on the socialist Catholic, Dorothy Day fits into the series well. On the whole, Hinson-Hasty celebrates the life and work of Day, only stopping to critique Day in those places where she was not sufficiently feminist. Therefore, Day’s negative view of abortion, willingness to get married, and traditional views on sexual orientation are noted as blemishes on her record and excused based on chronologically inferior cultural influence.

Setting aside the somewhat hagiographic aspects of this work, and the series in general, which are native to this approach, this volume in particular is a very helpful means of getting introduced to the lives of significant theologians. In fact, the whole series by Westminster John Knox is enjoyable because the authors like the subject. This makes the prose more lively in many cases.

At just about 200 pages, Hinson-Hasty provides an overview of Day’s life and work that covers the major epochs in her life, the main thrust of her work, and helps to place Day in her cultural context. Additionally, the author shows how Day’s ideas have been appropriated and applied to contemporary social justice movements. This makes the book a useful introduction into the topic.

Before reading Hinson-Hasty’s book, Dorothy Day was relatively unknown to me. In fact, this is one of the reasons I requested this book for review. I have read excerpts of her writing in my time as a seminary student, but had learned very little about her. 

Dorothy's last meeting with Mother Teresa. This occurred in Dorothy's room at Maryhouse in Manhattan. Eileen Egan is on the left. The photo was taken in 1979, the year before Dorothy's death, by Bill Barrett. (Marquette University Archives) Photo Cr…

Dorothy's last meeting with Mother Teresa. This occurred in Dorothy's room at Maryhouse in Manhattan. Eileen Egan is on the left. The photo was taken in 1979, the year before Dorothy's death, by Bill Barrett. (Marquette University Archives) Photo Credit to Jim Forest through a Creative Commons license.


Dorothy Day was not a professional theologian or ethicist. In fact, she had no academic credentials to speak of. She was, however, a writer and a social activist who was key in the labor movement in a particular era of American history. Day’s life demonstrates that all the degrees in the world do not make one influential, and that influence can be gained by continual, faithful witness.

Day was nothing if not a legitimate practitioner of her views. She was a socialist, and so she lived in community. She was a strong advocate of a “peace ethic” and so she went to a great distance not to have hierarchical relationships, or even rules, in the open communities in which she lived.

Dorothy Day was influential for some of the liberation theologians. Her writing in the Catholic Worker, as pro-socialist newspaper, helped to shape the thinking of many of the Latin American liberation theologians such as Gustavo Gutierrez. Much like Gutierrez would later do, Day lived in poverty in the slums rather than doing her philanthropic theologizing from a distant suburban neighborhood.

It is for her integrity that Day deserves the most praise. She authentically lived in community with people from any and every social background. She sought to do her work for the poor from among the poor. This helped keep her faithful to her message, and lends credibility to her writing. Hinson-Hasty helped me gain a new appreciation for Dorothy Day through her presentation of Day’s life in this biography.

In the end, while I do not agree with the author’s theological positions, this is a helpful book. In fact, all of the Armchair Theologians are worthwhile reads when you are trying to get a quick overview of the life of a significant Christian thinker.

I commend this book and the entire series to readers because, in a world awash with information, such brief biographies provide engaging and informative introductions. While not suitable for academic research, they are beneficial for personal edification.

Dorothy Day for Armchair Theologians
$14.56
By Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty
Buy on Amazon


Note: A gratis copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher with no expectation of a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Social Media Use and the Christian

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One of the main limitations of electronic communication is the lack of tone. This means that e-mails between people who are generally unfamiliar with each other have a strong potential to be misread and misinterpreted.

It is no mystery that losing the facial expressions, body language that you get with a face to face conversation. Even the cue of a tone of voice is missing from electronic communication. These make communicating electronically a perpetual danger.

Consider the simple student-professor interaction. A student asks a question via e-mail, which is clearly outlined in the syllabus. The professor has a few choices. The first is to carefully answer the question, eating up valuable time and (perhaps) enabling the inattentiveness that is at the root of the student’s problem. 

A second choice is to simply write back, “It’s in the syllabus.” This is exactly the truth, but the e-mail lacks the gracious tone of voice that communicates to the student that, while they are important as a person made in the image of God, they need to demonstrate the life skills of doing due diligence before pestering someone. Instead, this has the strong potential to be received by the student as a harsh message, which is, most of the time, not warranted or intended.

The Dangers of Facebook Debates

E-mail, at least, offers opportunities for expanding and contextualizing responses.  So do platforms like Facebook. Still, Facebook has its own dangers.

The prime concern with Facebook debates is that you are essentially holding a conversation across the room. This works when you are telling someone you think their puppy is cute or congratulations on getting married. However, when you are explaining a nuanced political point there will be, inevitably, someone who isn’t aware of the context that is listening and misinterpreting the conversation.

In this manner, pieces of a discussion that are assumed but not spoken may lead someone with a different worldview to draw significant conclusions. If terms are not defined, it may lead someone to believe something about the discussion or its participants that just isn’t true. It may be, too, that the relationship between the readers allows a tone to be assumed, instead of expressed. However, since the debate is being read by those outside the circle, it may misrepresent the nature of the argument. Consider the following:

Person 1: “Aaron Rogers is the best quarterback ever.”
Person 2: “You’re an idiot, Joe Montana is better by a mile, just like I’ve always said.”

This conversation may be nothing but chatter between friends, but to the third person who is unaware of the joviality, this may seem harsh. 

Now imagine if the conversation is about an important topic, like an upcoming Supreme Court decision or a theological topic. The public nature of such debates makes them dangerous for maintaining gracious Christian tone.

The Risk of Twitter Exchanges

A greater danger for Christians in the electronic world lies in the abbreviated exchanges that take place on Twitter.

The lack of expressiveness and context in many forums, like e-mail and Facebook, can be overcome by being verbose. Sometimes people overcome it by using emoticons, but I am opposed to those on principle. :-)

On Twitter, however, you get 140 characters. You couldn’t even order a meal in 140 characters. How can you expect to make a convincing argument in that space?  More significantly, how can you hope to communicate your point with grace in that short a span?

Here, again, the conversation taking place in a public space without even the protections of various nuanced privacy settings. As the trolling that takes place when a conference uses a hashtag to collect tweets demonstrates, there are a lot of people with too much time on their hands that are more than glad to be nasty to someone else just for fun.

Additionally, once something is posted on Twitter, there are numerous bots that catalog tweets, sometimes just for the purpose of internet shaming. Suddenly a relatively innocuous tweet you made about a marriage conference can be posted on a website, labeled (with your avatar) as hate speech, because you spoke positively about someone’s presentation. Even if you delete the tweet, those sentiments may be available for an internet eternity.

What this latter example illustrates is that Twitter allows the reader to provide his or her own context. This should make use consider what the appropriate use of Twitter really is.

It should also make us think carefully about how we treat other people’s tweets. If we expect a modicum of grace for our tweets, we should grant the same to others, even those with whom we strongly disagree.

There is certainly more to be discussed about the use of social media as Christians. I’m interested in reading your comments below and continuing this very important conversation.

Note: This post (and perhaps some to follow) have been spurred on by an ongoing conversation with my friend, Sam Morris (@samorris8) who is the social media guru for Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

A Catalog of My Recent Book Reviews

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Three Vital Relationships for Every Seminarian

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It’s the beginning of another seminary semester. Several hundred new students have enrolled in classes that have started this week and the education of another batch of pastors, missionaries, teachers, and other faithful servants of Christ has begun.

This is always an exciting time on campus. The energy level that the students bring to campus can be sensed as we sing together in chapel, see people in the library, and interact on the walkways.

At the same time, when new members are introduced into a community, there are always periods of adjustment as the new faces (and sometimes the returning ones) try to figure out how to relate to people around them. What does it look like to be a seminary student?

I think there are (at least) three categories that need to be discussed along these lines for beginning students. There are three basic, and new, relationships that an incoming seminary student needs to develop.

What about my relationship with God?

Even though students that come to seminary do so for the purpose of gaining skills and knowledge that are helpful for serving God, one of the first things that gets neglected in the hustle of seminary life is often the vertical relationship with God.

Seminary takes years to complete. It often requires students with families to work full-time and take classes on the side. Or, it requires them to take classes full-time with a part-time job. In addition to that, there are ministry opportunities, the needs of family, and general life situations that pile up.

It is easy for a seminary student to neglect his or her first love--the Triune God.
Therefore, the first advice every seminary student needs to hear every semester is to be a good disciple first and foremost. Everything else must fit into place around that.

Churches need pastors who are personally holy more than professionally competent. Education in languages, biblical studies, theology, and history fill in some of the professional competence. Seminary cannot, however, make a student holier.

Students need to make growing in their relationship with Christ the first priority. Don’t let devotional Bible reading, Scripture memory, and Christian fellowship slip because you have a paper due.

What about my relationship with students?

Seminary can be a time of growth, personally, spiritually, and intellectually.

For many new seminarians, this is the first time they have had real contact with someone who doesn’t share some of the same doctrinal convictions as others. Here at Southeastern we are mostly Baptist, but there are numerous places where there is diversity amongst the faculty and students with regard to interpretation of biblical passages.

Beyond core support for central tenets of orthodoxy and certain aspects of Baptist identity, Southeastern has latitude for faculty and students to nuance a variety of doctrines. Hence, in our classrooms and meetings, there will be five point Calvinists sitting next to three pointers, with a few classical Arminians thrown into the mix. There will be dispensationalist pre-millenials sitting next to amillenial believers engaging in learning God's word.

This is a healthy mix as long as students from any theological persuasion keep a few things in mind.

1.    Outside of basic beliefs central to orthodoxy, there should be room for gracious discussion on topics. Just because “you’ve always heard” does not mean it was ever correct. Students come to seminary to learn something, not just to be reinforced in their existing beliefs in every case. This means that conversations need to be gracious and seasoned with salt.

2.    Other students are people, too. Even the foaming at the mouth egalitarian deserves respect as a person made in the image of God. You will have more success convincing them of your position if you listen and then dialogue rather than blasting their character for believing differently than you. Additionally, it is possible they (like you) haven’t figured everything out and some of the course reading will help to shape their understanding as the program goes on.

3.    Other students paid to hear the professor, not you. While your opinion may be significant to you and your immediate circle of friends, you are a student. This means that class time is not the opportunity for you to lecture your fellow students (or the professor) on the book you happened to have read or the sermon series your pastor preached once upon a time. Respect other people’s time and financial investment during class. Grind your axe in the hallway after class.
 

What about my relationship with professors?

This is one of the more important aspects of your time at seminary and it can impact how successful you are.

The professors at Southeastern, and most others, are godly men and women who have invested years of their lives in getting terminal degrees and ministering to the body of Christ. They didn’t get into teaching for the money. They want to help equip students to serve the church and fulfill the Great Commission.

Part of equipping you is teaching you how to deal respectfully with people, whether in person or in electronic communication.

Your professors are not your best friends. Even though your English profs at your liberal arts school may have allowed you to call them by their first name in class, this should not be an assumed privilege for seminary professors. Once you graduate and move to a church, there will be people you need to treat with professional respect and formality.

Calling someone by their appropriate title (Dr., Mrs., Mr., etc.) does not mean that they are a more valuable person than you. It does, however, demonstrate respect for their position. It also helps establish a healthy learning environment which, while cooperative, recognizes the expertise of the individual leading the class.

Additionally, although many of your professors actually exist outside of the classroom and may have an informal relationship with you at church or on social media, this does not collapse the professionalism required in the classroom. There is room for banter, but allow your professors to be professional in the classroom.

Although social media lends itself to banter and fun in the electronic world, Direct Messages and Facebook comments are not the place to ask about your assignments (which are detailed in the syllabus) or why you got a ‘D’ on the paper you wrote so poorly.

Professionalism in the classroom makes everyone’s life a little better.

Are there things I’ve missed? Write your suggestions below.

 

An Ethical Primer on Wealth and Poverty

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Along the spectrum of understandings of Wealth and Poverty among Christians, there are two common errors. The first is asceticism, which presents the idea that the poor are more holy than the rich. The second has recently been labeled the Prosperity Gospel, which equates material wealth with spiritual blessing. 

Asceticism

It is easy to figure out how people fall into the trap of asceticism. Some key passages from Scripture point toward wealth as a trap that can lead to sin; Jesus and his disciples lived a very minimal lifestyle, with no concern for possessions to speak of; Jesus himself taught that following him implied self-denial (Luke 9:23). The result of this has been the error of asceticism, which is the teaching that self-denial is the key to holiness and that owning possessions is sinful.

There are some problems with this position. First, there are a number of materially wealthy individuals in Scripture who are presented as heroes of the faith. Examples include Abraham, David, and Job (at times). The key is that their possessions were not the ultimate purpose of their lives. Second, there are passages that show that God provides material wealth to some people as a blessing. 

Prosperity Gospel

The opposite extreme from asceticism is known in our day as the prosperity gospel. The prosperity gospel teaches that being holy necessarily results in material blessings in the form of health and wealth. There are a number of contemporary teachers who offer us our best life now, but there are biblical examples of this found in people like Job’s friends (who assumed his sickness and impoverishment were a direct result of sin in his life) and the Pharisees (John 9). 

There are many, many problems with this position. First, Job was “faultless” and yet God allowed Satan to test him by taking away his wealth. Second, Paul was poor and he told Timothy to be content with basic necessities for life (1 Tim. 6:6–10). Third, Jesus was poor (cf. Matt 8:20).

Biblical Witness to Wealth and Poverty

Scripture has more to say about the subject of wealth and poverty than about any other specific topic. By most counts there are over 2000 verses in Scripture that talk about wealth and poverty. This means that we will certainly only cover a small minority of the verses in Scripture about wealth and poverty.

First, we should understand that God is sovereign over the quantity of our material possessions:

“You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. (Deut 8:18)”
“The LORD makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low and he exalts. (1 Samuel 2:7)”
“The rich and the poor meet together;
the LORD is the maker of them all. (Proverbs 22:2)”

Next, we should understand that the love of wealth, either gaining or maintaining it, is a sin problem:

“‘And you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’ (Deut. 5:21)”
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (1 Tim 6:10)”

Wealth isn’t an ultimate good in itself, and we should pursue holiness as our primary goal: 

“Better is a little with the fear of the LORD
than great treasure and trouble with it (Proverbs 15:16)”
“Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.” (James 1:9–11)”

However, poverty is not a good thing. We should work diligently and enjoy the benefits of our labor:

“How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man. (Proverbs 6:9–11)”
“A rich man’s wealth is his strong city;
the poverty of the poor is their ruin. (Proverbs 10:15)”

Ultimately, whether rich or poor, we should trust in God’s sufficient provision:

“And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Luke 12:22–34)”

Even in the heavens and new earth, different people will have degrees of responsibility and blessing:

“When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made fi ve minas.’ And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ (Luke 19:15–19)”

There is a great deal more that could be said about the topic of wealth and poverty, but here are a few principles we can find in the passages we just read:


1.    The degree to which we are wealthy or poor is dependent on God’s sovereign plan.
2.    God will always provide us what we need to do his will. (Sometimes his will is for us to glorify him through suffering.)
3.    There is nothing wrong with possessing material wealth as long as we view it as a tool for serving God.
4.    However, material wealth should never be pursued as an end in itself nor for selfish gain.

Sabbath as Resistance - A Review

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We live in world that never stops moving. There are more options than ever for activities to spend our time. We have access to seemingly unlimited activities, many of which are harmless or even in some way good. Our jobs seem to claim more and more of our lives each week. The special effort for a big project begins to be the every week demand because we, and our employer, has realized if we can make the sacrifice sometimes we can make it all the time. The endless stream of entertainments and opportunities has led many cultural critics to describe Westerners as exhausted, bored, and overworked.

With that motif in the background, Walter Brueggemann’s recent book, Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now, has an interesting appeal. As an Old Testament scholar, an interpretation of the 4th Commandment would seem to be exactly in his realm of expertise. 

The book is a brief 90 pages or so, which makes reading it a sort of Sabbath in itself. This volume actually began its existence as a Bible study series that is available as a download from www.thoughtfulchristian.com for a higher price than this book. However, the original format of the volume explains the construction of the book and some of its characteristics.

Sabbath as Resistance has a brief preface followed by six studies on different aspects of the Sabbath. Brueggemann considers the Sabbath in relation to the first Commandment, and the Sabbath as resistance to a series of modern vices, namely anxiety, coercion, exclusivism, and multitasking. The book concludes with a discussion of Sabbath and the Tenth Commandment. Each of these topics is important and potentially helpful to Christians in a frantic world.

Brueggemann, interacting positively with Michael Fishbane’s work, argues the Sabbath “concerns the maintenance of a distinct faith identity in the midst of a culture that is inhospitable to all distinct identities in its impatient reduction of all human life to the requirements of the market.” He goes on to say that the celebration of Sabbath is “resistance because it is a visible insistence that our lives are not defined by the production and consumption of commodity goods.”

For Brueggemann, Sabbath is much less doxological and much more economic. He certainly has a point here. When the original practice of Sabbath is considered, it largely differentiated Israel from the surrounding nations on an economic basis. It is easy to find support in Scripture for the argument that resting from economic activity on the Sabbath reflects a trust in God which has a doxological element.

Unfortunately, this book never really makes such an argument. Sabbath as Resistance is much more a diatribe against market economics than it is a theological argument for worshipful rest. The rhetorical rejection of a market economy is an undercurrent that runs just beneath the surface of the entire volume, occasionally bubbling to the top. Through all this, Brueggemann does not appear to consider the possibility that consumerism is an abuse of market economics. 

I tend to agree with Brueggemann that Christians need to practice a form of Sabbath. The 10 Commandments are a part of the moral law, and as such, still in play since they reflect God’s very nature. The fact that God himself practiced Sabbath after creating the world demonstrates that resting and enjoying the fruit of one’s labor is a part of the proper cycle of the created order. The reality that a failure to constrain our desires often leads us to overwork and under-worship is another argument for restoring a healthy practice of the Sabbath that resonates with Brueggemann’s book.

However, Brueggemann’s simplistic view of a market economy––that it “mandates that one must sink or swim by one’s own effort, and it is never enough simply to tread water”––reflects a confusion of an unhealthy attitude that has cropped up in our current consumerist economy rather than a cry for a rejection of the system out of hand. The problem may not be the system as much as it is the sinful people living and working within the system. Therefore, I agree with much of Brueggeman’s application, but not with his motivation.

A weakness in this volume is that it never deals with some important questions: 1) How is Sabbath to be practiced? 2) How did the Sabbath transfer to the Lord’s Day in the NT fellowships? 3) What do we do with Jesus’ teaching on the Sabbath? Brueggemann appears to be so interested in presenting opposition to a free market economy that he misses obvious biblical data and practical questions that would make this a more helpful volume.

In the end, I appreciate some of what Brueggemann is doing here, but he has an axe to grind and does not support some of his conclusions well enough in this context. This is worth reading as one perspective on the contemporary practice of Sabbath in Christianity, but it has too many flaws to be helpful as a Bible study resource.

Note: A gratis copy of this book was provided by the publisher with no expectation of a positive review. The opinions above are entirely my own.

Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God

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If you are Christian that struggles with prayer, then Tim Keller’s recent book, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God, is for you. Of course, this means that I am recommending this book to every Christian on the planet because we all struggle with prayer at some point in our lives.

I like Keller’s stuff. I have read most of his books and have listened to many of his sermons. This is, perhaps, his best book so far. That is really saying something.

Despite my appreciation of Keller’s work, I wasn’t sure what I was going to get when I picked up this book. Most books with the word “prayer” in the title end up being glorified self-help books that present a moralistic vision that guilts the reader about not praying enough or not praying correctly. Other books provide simplistic formulas for prayer that may be helpful in the short term, but which fall short of helping the reader construct a theology of and methodology for personal prayer.

Prayer is a masterpiece on this very important spiritual discipline. In a world filled with a myriad of views on the nature of prayer, the methods of prayer, and the efficacy of prayer, Keller’s book stands above the rest.

This book critiques the most common popular errors about prayer. Keller disabuses his readers of the notion that an omnipotent, omniscient, sovereign God would not expect his people to pray. Keller writes:

“If we believed that God was in charge and our actions meant nothing, it would lead to discouraged passivity. If on the other hand we really believed that our actions changed God’s plan––it would lead to paralyzing fear. If both are true, however, we have the greatest incentive for diligent effort, and yet we can always sense God’s everlasting arms under us. In the end, we can’t frustrate God’s good plans for us (cf. Jer 29:11).”

With arguments like these, Keller eradicates the notion that theology–-understanding what God is like––is unimportant to prayer. This book convicts the reader of the importance of prayer, but reminds the reader of the reality and availability of grace.

Keller seeks to present a vision of prayer that is theological, experiential, and methodological in one book. He does this well.

The theological frame for this volume is built from Scripture. Keller emphasizes that the Psalms are largely a collection of prayers. They provide examples of how God’s people have prayed in the past, which can be appropriated by God’s people today. Keller also explores what great theologians of the past have written about Prayer. Augustine and Luther both wrote letters to parishioners on the topic of prayer. In The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin has an excellent treatise on prayer. Keller summarizes and shares the pith of these pastor-theologians’ writing on prayer. The depth and breadth of the research are part of what makes this new volume a classic text.

The experiential aspect emphasizes the nature of prayer as a conversation with God. We speak to the God who hears and he communicates to us. Contrary to more theologically enigmatic perspectives on prayer, Keller rightly acknowledges that “if prayer is to be a true conversation with God, it must be regularly preceded by listening to God’s voice through meditation on the Scripture.” In other words, Keller’s vision of prayer is more holistic than others, because it includes substantial reflection on the Word of God as an essential part.

This book would be incomplete if it did not provide some helpful specifics that teach the reader to pray. He has chapters dedicated to theological and practical discussion on prayer as worship, as communion with God, and as a means of seeking help from God. Keller also provides some down to earth suggestions for making progress in this important spiritual discipline.

In a world where being Christian and popular at the same time often requires compromise, Tim Keller has managed to shatter the stereotype. Keller’s books sell well because they are well-written, thoughtful, and deal with culturally important topics. Keller’s books are worth owning because they winsomely communicate orthodox truths with depth and accuracy. This book is no exception on either count.

Note: A gratis copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher. There was, however, no expectation of a positive review. All opinions above are my own.

Some additional helpful links:

1. A 1990 sermon by Keller on Prayer from Redeemer Presbyterian.

2. A host of resources on prayer from Redeemer Presbyterian.

3. An index of Tim Keller resources from Steve McCoy's personal site. Multiple linked sermons, interviews, articles, etc.

A Christian Environmental Ethics - Part Four

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This is Part Four of a series arguing toward a Christian environmental ethics. In the previous posts in this series we have examined the three aspects of the biblical narrative that point toward a comprehensive approach to human stewardship of creation. Those three aspects are Creation, Fall, and Redemption.

God created everything good, but it wasn’t in its final state. The vision of God was always to have humans populate the earth, develop technologies and build cities in the garden. However, Adam sinned, and God cursed the earth to remind humans that there is something wrong. Ever since then, humans have been pushing back against the disorder of the curse and struggling to overcome the wilderness.  When Christ came, he worked at alleviating the effects of the curse around him. Ultimately, his death on the cross made possible the final restoration of all things, which will come at some point in the future. In the meanwhile, since we are still on earth, we should be working to reverse the effects of the curse like Jesus did. We should be preaching the gospel verbally and demonstrating the implications of the gospel practically. We should be helping the weak, serving one another, and working as good stewards to use creation wisely. We do these things because we will be called to give an account of our work when Christ returns.

Some practical applications:

1.   Consume less – Americans are guilty of a lot of waste. We buy too much stuff we don’t need and throw it out. Excess consumption is bad stewardship of the environment and it is bad stewardship of financial resources that could be directed toward gospel activities.

2.   Simplify – One of the reasons why we consume so much is that we are trying to save time or do too much. Simplifying life can have benefits on a number of levels, including reducing the resources we use.

3.   Pick up trash – Simple activities that improve the aesthetics around us, like putting trash where it should be and keeping it from where it shouldn’t be, are good ways to be good stewards of the earth. When we work to directly improve the environment around us, we are showing some of the implications of the gospel, where the signs of the curse are wiped away.

Generally, we need to think close and move out. If we make small decisions about things we can directly control with the intent to be a good stewards of resources, we can do more than worrying about macro problems we can’t conquer. The larger problems will be reduced when the smaller problems are tackled.

To apply the three part paradigm to this: We should seek to conduct ourselves as good stewards, using the available resources wisely and cultivating the earth well. We should seek to do so in the character of Christ, which in this case means by pursuing actions that counteract the effects of the curse. We should have the goal of glorifying God by demonstrating the nature of the gospel through our actions.

Some things we don’t have to do:

1.   Stop having kids – God commanded us to be fruitful and multiply. It may be the only command that we’ve faithfully obeyed. Contrary to popular myth, the problem isn’t a lack of space or resources but the allocation and availability of them. People are producers, not just consumers. So we should be encouraged by having more of them.

2.   Stop all technological progress and development – Biodiversity is a good thing and we ought to take it into account when we are looking at developments and technology. However, we don’t need to stop all technological progress and development because we don’t know the answer to every question that could ever possibly be asked. We are called to be good stewards, not infallible prophets.

3.   Pretend everything is a disaster – There is certainly room for us to be better stewards of our resources, but that doesn’t require abandoning the things that have made the improvements in medicine, electronics, and education possible. Hopefulness is something that distinguishes non-Christian environmentalism from other forms. We should be hopeful that things can improve and live for God's glory instead of fear of an apocalyptic demise.

The bottom line is that an environmental ethic that loses sight of the whole picture of stewardship of creation and obedience to God is a bad ethic. As Christians, we ought to consider how our actions impact the environment, especially through our use of resources. However, we should not pursue the “ecological good” without considering the other goods that may be impacted.

Ordinary: How to Turn the World Upside Down

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Don’t read this book unless you are prepared to have your practice of faith challenged. When he titled this book Ordinary, Merida wasn’t describing what your ordinary life is, he was describing what your ordinary life ought to be.

It turns out that the biblical definition of ordinary is a lot different than how most of us normally life. According to Merida,

“Ordinary is not a call to be more radical. If anything, it is a call to the contrary. The kingdom of God isn’t coming with light shows, and shock and awe, but with lowly acts of service. I want to push back against sensationalism and ‘rock star Christianity,’ and help people understand that they can make a powerful impact by practicing ordinary Christianity.”

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Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More

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Who is Hannah More?

Unless you have read Karen Swallow Prior’s recent book Fierce Convictions, or you are a careful student of late 18th century British history, you probably don’t know.

I have studied some history from that era. Until I picked up this book, I did not know who Hannah More is nor why I should care. I’ve been missing out.

William Wilberforce is the political figure that is recognized as the leader of the British abolitionist movement. He is the subject of multiple biographies, including the popular book by Eric Metaxas and the recent biographical film, Amazing Grace.

Like any significant political or social figure, Wilberforce did not act alone. Wilberforce was heavily influenced by John Newton’s personal accounts of slavery and his emotional and theological plea to end the barbarity. Wilberforce also relied on a circle known as the Clapham Sect for encouragement and support.

The list of individuals involved in the Clapham Sect includes authors, businessmen, and Members of Parliament. It also includes Hannah More.

Think about this: One of the most historically influential social reformers had a woman in his inner circle in the late 18th century in England. This is so socially abnormal that it speaks to the value More must have brought to the group, as a writer, thinker, organizer, and financial supporter.

Prior’s book fills in a gap in evangelical history by providing a well-written and well-researched biography of a significant player in the reformation of British society. More was instrumental in ending slavery, popularizing the Sunday School movement, legitimizing the role of women as writers, and ending popular support for a variety of social vices.

More wrote a novel, many poems, several plays, and hundreds of pamphlets–the blog posts of the late 18th century. Her literary product was well received and popular, which raises the question why Jane Austen’s moralistic volumes have superseded More’s in the canon of Western Literature. Although I took a course in British literature for my undergraduate degree that emphasized that period of literature (and had us read more than one of Austen’s books), More made nary an appearance.

In fact, it is More’s emphasis on manners and propriety that have largely led her to be marginalized and included only as a footnote to the lives of Wilberforce and Newton. Also, as Prior notes, More made the tragic mistake of rebuking the biographer of Samuel Johnson for drunkenly accosting her. Though she was a close and longtime friend of the popular and influential British author, Samuel Johnson, her rebuke led the offended James Boswell to largely write Hannah More out of Johnson’s biography. The small appearances More makes in that biography present her negatively, which has likely contributed to her disappearance from the pages of histories.

Prior portrays More sympathetically, though not without flaws. While More was adamant to teach the poor to read, she resisted teaching them to write since that was viewed as above their station. More was kind and considerate, but sometimes too subject to the opinions of others. Public criticism and theological debate would cause her to be physically ill.

In the balance, though, Prior’s depiction of More is overwhelmingly positive. Much like Dorothy Sayers, More points toward ontological egalitarianism while recognizing functional complementarianism between the genders. By her example, Hannah More helped to begin the movement evangelicalism from an unhealthy patriarchalism to a more appropriate view of gender. Through all this More clung to her distinct feminine identity and was most injured by accusations of theologically improper gender roles. This biography presents an intellectually brilliant woman who managed to be a major social influencer in a largely patriarchal society without devolving into the shrill protests common among feminists in our day. This facet of More’s life alone makes this biography a worthwhile read.

If you enjoy biographies, this book is a must read. Prior does an excellent job in presenting the facts of Hannah More’s life in engaging prose. The front of the biography may seem to drag a bit for some, as Prior carefully explains why the reader should be interested in More’s life, sets the social stage, and explains why More has been previously neglected. However, the information Prior provides in the first few chapters is essential to the narrative. Once the reader plows through of the details of the back story, which are extremely important to academics like me, into the action in More’s life story, the book is a page-turner.

By the end of the book I was encouraged as a believer living in a time of social turmoil that is similar to More’s epoch. I was instructed by the methods used by More and others to change society. I was delighted by an artful account of the life of a full life. I was blessed by the biography of a godly woman engaged in living her life according to her fierce convictions, which were shaped more by the content of Scripture than the cultural needs.

This is a book that belongs on your shelf. More importantly, it deserves to be read.

Note: A gratis copy of this book was provided by the publisher. There was no expectation of a positive review. All thoughts and ideas expressed above are my own.