Review - The Reason for God

The Reason for God by Timothy Keller

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the first book I've read in a long time, possibly even the first book ever, that is a well-reasoned, intellectually satisfying argument for the existence of God and his divinity in Jesus Christ.

One of the things I like most about Keller's writing is that he comes across as a down-to-earth person who obviously has great respect and patience for people's questions. Not having grown up a Christian, I have often had great difficulty relating to people who speak "Christianese" and justify faith using only the Bible, but Keller's arguments put God and Jesus in a rational, scientific, and historical context. He frames the book in two sections: confronting doubts about Christianity (scientific, cultural, Biblical, historical, etc.) and analyzing the foundations of its claims (particularly about Jesus).

The book comes down to a conclusion that I've heard in many other places--Jesus wasn't just an enlightened teacher. If you read everything he says in the Bible, you will quickly conclude that either he was the son of God . . . or he was a stark raving nutcase. But it's one or the other.

I want to summarize parts of the book here, but I would have to water it down too much for a small post, and I don't think I could do it justice. If I had to recommend one book, though, that sums up all of the reasons why I am a Christian, why my doubts six years ago were not enough to keep me from becoming one, and why, though I continue to struggle with faith, I keep coming back to Christ, it would be this one.

You won't find any irrefutable proof of God in this book (or in life, for that matter), but Keller makes an excellent, gently stated argument.

View all my reviews

Review - The Princess and the Goblin

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was really an enjoyable read. George MacDonald was a fantasy writer and minister who lived from 1824-1905. To put his work into perspective, he followed closely on the heels of Hans Christian Andersen and helped to convince Lewis Carroll to publish his Alice stories. Although he is not as well known now, he also served as an inspiration for the next generation of fantasy writers (Lewis, Tolkien, L'Engle)--part of the sort of bridge between true fairy tales and the fantasy genre as we know it today.

In The Princess and the Goblin, the Princess Irene aids the miner boy Curdie in uncovering and foiling a wicked plot by the underground-dwelling goblins. A simple story, but beautifully written and full of magic.

As MacDonald was a Christian minister, his faith does imbue his stories with a sense of spirituality, but I found it to be more subtle than in Lewis' Narnia stories. The two children are aided by Princess Irene's mysterious great great grandmother, who can only be seen by those who believe she is there. Lots of connections to God in this character, particularly in the following touching scene:

The princess was so bewildered with astonishment and admiration that she could hardly thank her, and drew nigh with timidity, feeling dirty and uncomfortable. The lady was seated on a low chair by the side of the fire, with hands outstretched to take her, but the princess hung back with a troubled smile.

'Why, what's the matter?' asked her grandmother. 'You haven't been doing anything wrong—I know that by your face, though it is rather miserable. What's the matter, my dear?'

And she still held out her arms.

'Dear grandmother,' said Irene, 'I'm not so sure that I haven't done something wrong. I ought to have run up to you at once when the long-legged cat came in at the window, instead of running out on the mountain and making myself such a fright.'

'You were taken by surprise, my child, and you are not so likely to do it again. It is when people do wrong things wilfully that they are the more likely to do them again. Come.'

And still she held out her arms.

'But, grandmother, you're so beautiful and grand with your crown on; and I am so dirty with mud and rain! I should quite spoil your beautiful blue dress.'

With a merry little laugh the lady sprung from her chair, more lightly far than Irene herself could, caught the child to her bosom, and, kissing the tear-stained face over and over, sat down with her in her lap.

'Oh, grandmother! You'll make yourself such a mess!' cried Irene, clinging to her.

'You darling! do you think I care more for my dress than for my little girl?'

Anyway, wonderful story. You can read it online for free at Project Gutenberg--here is a direct link. They also have most of MacDonald's other stories since they are in the public domain. The book is followed by a sequel, The Princess and Curdie. Incidentally, there was also an animated movie of The Princess and the Goblin from 1992. I don't think I ever saw it since it looked pretty cheesy, but now I am intrigued to know whether it follows the book.

View all my reviews

Review - This Present Darkness

This Present Darkness by Frank E. Peretti

rating: 4 of 5 stars

Peretti really hooked me with this one. I read and read all weekend until it was done.

This is the story of the small town of Ashton, secretly under the control of a demonic horde. Unbeknownst to one another, Marshall Hogan, the owner and editor of the local newspaper, and Hank Busche, new pastor of a small church, slowly uncover the hideous secrets of the town.

All characters are largely unaware, save for brief encounters, of the details of the battle between angels and demons on the spiritual plane constantly taking place around them.

Although the massive conspiracy theory was implausible and the exorcism a bit overdone, it stood up as a suspenseful work and a fascinating illustration of spiritual warfare.

I would recommend slogging through the first thirty pages or so if you're a stickler for writing style--it's worth it to get to the main story, at which point Peretti finally learns the word "said" and tones down the cliche descriptions of people.

View all my reviews.

Review - The Beautiful Fight

So, after a couple of people have asked me over the past year, I've finally joined the social networking site GoodReads. Check out my page here. The good part about this is that it's prompting me to review the books that I read, which I plan on cross-posting to this blog. I hope that these reviews are beneficial to somebody and help to give me some more content here! So, without further ado, I give you...

The Beautiful Fight by Gary Thomas - 4/5 stars

This is a great book to remind Christians that just being in church is not enough. One of my favorite images that Gary evokes is that going to church or spending time praying are like a lunch break--they can be used to rest and restore people. But when the relaxing is done, it's time to go back to "work."

What is "work," in this case? It's continually evaluating our inner state and making ourselves available to God. It's learning to see with his eyes, hear with...more This is a great book to remind Christians that just being in church is not enough. One of my favorite images that Gary evokes is that going to church or spending time praying are like a lunch break--they can be used to rest and restore people. But when the relaxing is done, it's time to go back to "work."

What is "work," in this case? It's continually evaluating our inner state and making ourselves available to God. It's learning to see with his eyes, hear with his ears, and be his hands and feet in the world. We can't be arrogant or hateful and be living Christ-centered, transformed lives at the same time.

The other important issue Gary brings up is that Christians often focus far too much on the words "don't" or "shouldn't" and not on the words "do" or "should." Understanding that we have a loving God should inspire us to do the same for others--mere moralism is not enough. We have all failed to do good to other people and to ourselves too many times to judge other people for failing in the same ways.

Something that annoyed me about the book: It seemed that at least once per chapter, the author made a "please don't take this the wrong way" kind of disclaimer. His writing felt defensive to me because of this, as though he had to justify everything.

Overall, though, this book brings some great insights into how Christians should be treating other people on a daily basis, and what it means to do "the will of God" (it doesn't have to mean becoming a pastor or a missionary--it could mean just doing what you enjoy most and allowing God to shine through you in it).

Prisoners

An article on why being a prison librarian is not so scary after all: So You Want To Become a Prison Librarian?

When I was on my desperate job hunt last spring before I knew which school I would be going to, I noticed an ad for a library assistant in the King County jail. It paid over $18/hr, just for an assistant position.

I suppose they have to pay more to get people in there. Even my own reaction to the idea of working in a prison library was at first fear. Would inmates ever get violent in the library? Would they create uncomfortable situations for the librarian . . . sexual comments, threatening comments, etc.?

The reality according to that article, and a woman in one of my online classes, seems to be that prisoners in libraries are quite well-behaved. If they don't stay that way, then they can lose their library privileges, for one thing. For another--I bet there are some prisoners who aren't well-behaved enough to have library privileges in the first place.

For the ones who do use the library, some for the first time in their lives, the recent Standardized Chapel Library Project came as a brutal kick in the face. The project is an effort by the Bureau of Prisons to keep books off of prison library shelves that could incite radical religious views. However, rather than pulling only books with radical points of view, the Bureau made a list of approved books and pulled all religious books that were not on it.

In prisons, libraries are places for people to heal. They are places where prisoners can learn new trades, be exposed to new ideas, even find healing in faith. For the Bureau to do this is not only counter-intuitive, it directly goes against the mission of a "correctional facility" . . . to correct. To help those who want it.

I am glad that there has been such an outcry from all people against this that the Standardized Chapel Library Project has been halted and books will be returned to the shelves. For although these men and women are in prison, it was a wise man who once said:

"If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:31.5-32