City of Man

The City of Man, Religion and Politics in a New Era, by Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner.

The subject and perspective of this book guaranteed a certain level of interest for me.  And I did appreciate it.  It frames a lot of discussion of politics, particularly for Christians, but I think it would be insightful for non-Christians to see what thoughtful Christians understand the essence of faithful politics to be.

The book aims at neither the depth nor the scope of To Change the World. The authors do cite James Davison Hunter’s book several times, mostly in agreement.  They clearly write with desire to persuade Christians that involvement in politics is warranted and important, and it seems some of this motivation is partly fueled by concerns that Hunter or his readers might devalue that involvement.  I did not find Hunter’s book to undermine political involvement.  Whether or not Christians should involve themselves did not seem to be exactly central to Hunter’s thesis, but as To Change the World does of course address Christian involvement in politics, I did not find it to undermine involvement, only to give solid grounding and appropriate expectations for it, and to check irresponsible (less than faithful) ambitions and distortions of true Christ hope.

City of Man provides a great framework and starting point for these conversations.  It certainly does not close any conversations, nor does it seem intended to do so.  Plenty of subjects could be taken up from the book and advanced, and hopefully thoughtful, faithful Christians will (whether in book form or otherwise).

I especially appreciated the authors’ interest in first principles and the solid grounds for politics and the legitimate warrants for government.  I also appreciate their recognition that almost no political issues are clearly divided between pure right and pure wrong, and wisdom and prudence are crucial for faithful engagement.

Excerpts from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham City Jail were quoted very effectively.  Believers should give more attention to his convictions and applications from this 1963 letter and other writings.

Five suggestions in chapter six under a section called “A Primer for Christian Persuaders” (pages 124-127) were especially good – “maintain self-awareness; maintain spiritual grounding, maintain perspective, maintain community, and maintain a spirit of grace and reconciliation.”  These were only briefly presented, and I think the last one could be helpfully clarified by explaining the differences between a basic interest in justice and human good versus a basic interest in “winning” some political game.  The latter fundamentally undermines all involvement.  The former carries with it a disposition that will rightly recognize the opportunities for “grace and reconciliation” that the authors champion but caution can be easily misapplied.

I also appreciate the principled defense and promotion of capitalism as an economic system (in chapter 5).  Again, the authors do not really get into an argument for it here, but the framework is there, and another book by Arthur C. Brooks and Peter Wehner is cited (Wealth and Justice:  The Morality of Democratic Capitalism).  I think this subject has been tremendously under-appreciated by Christians.  Too often Christians settle for a very shallow conception of both politics and especially economics, make some nods toward the corruption and greed associated with capitalism and move on with some vague assumptions that a moderate position must be the most enlightened and most faithful.  I don’t think that’s a very responsible or faithful engagement with economics (nor with politics).

Other times and places would be more appropriate to comment on the value of capitalism (and of course there is a lot out there in this vein – just not a lot of appreciation for it among most Christians).  But for now William F. Buckely’s quote sums up a lot:  “The problem with capitalism is capitalists; the problem with socialism is socialism.”

The authors conclude their Epilogue with three propositions (p. 134-136).  The last point about nobility reminds me of one favorite passage on the virtues and hope of good governance – Isaiah 32:1-8.  After opening the chapter with promises of a king and even princes who will rule in justice and who will provide refuge and cultivate life for those they govern, the passage goes on in description for seven verses.  Verse eight reads:  “But he who is noble plans noble things and on noble things he stands.”

Another wonderfully relevant passage is 2 Samuel 23:1-4.  These passages do not advocate for a Christianization of government; not at all.  They point to the ideals for a government that serves, not exploits, the governed, that cultivates life instead of death and justice instead of oppression.  These basic principles for government are on the level of what often is called “natural law” (see p. 118 – 121), and we should genuinely appropriate them in discussions of what government should be about, without direct regard for Christian-izing anything.  Government should simply be good government.

Christians should faithfully engage in government and economics for what those enterprises are on their own – legitimate, God-ordained goods that should not be considered either “Christian” or “un-Christian,” and not even “more-or-less Christian.”  They can be more-or-less good governments, more-or-less good economies.  We should put a lot of thought into what criteria makes for good governments and good economies.

Praying with Your Eyes Open

I was assigned this book for a course in the fall.  It has a deliberately practical feel and provides reflection questions at the end of each chapter for discussion and practice.

The author – Richard Pratt – helpfully emphasizes that prayer can only really be learned in practice.  Of course, learning about prayer is important – hence the title, and the warrant for writing a book on the topic at all.  But the value of these principles and Biblical grounds for prayer can only be found as we begin to implement them.  Self-discipline and some structure are required.

It is a credit to Dr. Pratt and a strength of the book that he tries to be neither  profound (although he’s a brilliant theologian and pastor) nor particularly personal nor dramatic.  Other books can provide those strengths.  This resource simply lays out solid Biblical principles for viewing God, viewing ourselves and viewing our communications to Him – the three basic components in prayer.

I liked the book, and would recommend it, particularly for small groups seeking to lay or solidify the basics.

C.S. Lewis’ birthday

November 29th is the birthday of C.S. Lewis, one of the most appreciated and influential Christian writers of the 1900s.  Like many of our generation, I have enjoyed Lewis’ lucid writing and have benefited deeply from his thoughtful works.

Today I read his introduction to a 1944 publication of an ancient Christian classic – De Incarnatione (On the Incarnation), by Athanasius.  I am working on a short paper biography on Athanasius, a deeply interesting and tremendously significant figure in church history.

But even this brief introduction by Lewis gives a good snapshot to the value of his own contributions.  He speaks so clearly and strongly on the importance of reading old books:

“Every age has its own outlook.  It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes.  We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period.  And that means the old books. … Not, of course, that there is any magic about the past.  People were no cleverer then than they are now; they made as many mistakes as we.  But not the same mistakes.  They will not flatter us in the errors we are already committing; and their own errors, being now open and palpable, will not endanger us.  Two heads are better than one, not because either is infallible, but because they are unlikely to go wrong in the same direction”  (On the Incarnation, Introduction by C.S. Lewis, p. 4-5).

Lewis also assures us that the best old books are not only profound but also clearly written and much more accessible than many might expect.  I have also found this suggestion to be true.  It has become something of burden for me to encourage people to learn to read good books from past generations.  It is hard to overstate the tremendous value of these resources and their benefits to our own development and maturity.  What a wealth of devotional and theological substance is available!  I hope that many more in our generation and the following ones will learn to avail themselves of such rich and enjoyable fuel for the faith.

The Housing Boom and Bust

This short book is the first I have ever read by Thomas Sowell, but I’d been interested in his work for a while.  Sowell very clearly identifies the major players in the recent housing boom and bust and lays out their various roles.

Many of the basic assertions Sowell makes are not particularly surprising – though the details he records are often shocking.   The Housing Boom and Bust offers enduring benefit by thoughtfully bringing together those (perhaps already familiar) facts, illustrating the logical connections between the information that might already be known.  So, Sowell is most helpful in this book in how he processes facts; he is teaching principles more than he is providing information.  Sowell’s book also holds value in (1) his straight-forward account of the factors, and (2) his persistence in principally evaluating merits and not opportunistically taking critical shots.

Sowell does give evaluations and applies some historical lessons in the last chapter – without holding back any criticism.  But it is more effective than if he’d written a polemic against any one party or group.  The last chapter could serve as a summary, though much of the lesson in how to connect the factors would be lost.

One book cited in Sowell’s notes (p. 178) is The Forgotten Man, by Amity Shales.  In much longer and detailed version,  Shales’ book tells the story of the history and economics of the New Deal.  And Sowell’s book sums up many of those same lessons in his concluding chapter.

The Napolean of Notting Hill

The Napoleon of Notting Hill, by G. K. Chesterton (1904)

I read this short novel on our trip to South Africa back in the summer.  It came highly recommended from Amber’s uncle – Lewis, a fellow fan of G.K. Chesterton.

It’s a funny book, and overall pretty good.  But I still like The Man Who Was Thursday much better.

Letters Along the Way

A recent seminary assignment had us read and discuss this book, by D.A. Carson and John Woodbridge.  I found it pretty interesting and really good on most of the topics it addresses (quite a few).

Letters Along the Way, Carson & Woodbridge (1991)

To Change the World

To Change the World, by James Davison Hunter, Oxford Univ. Press (2010)

Hands-down, my favorite book so far this year is To Change the World, by James Davison Hunter.  I read it relatively quickly – from May 13th through June 11th, and during that stretch it was the only book I gave much attention (other than the Scriptures), which is unusual for me.  I delayed any write-up, though, because no simple summary would be sufficient.  I’m not planning to give much comment on it even now, other than to say that Hunter’s book offers a lot of important thoughts for Christians.

I thoroughly enjoyed the competent examination of history and culture.  I deeply appreciated the principled, thoughtful assessment of trends and common assumptions.  And I loved the basic dependence on God’s faithfulness that must under-gird any reliable perspective for Christian responsibility and activity in the world.

I find the dissuasion from common calls to “change the world” far from discouraging, but actually refreshing and freeing.  Hunter says that the book’s questions are “both broadly academic and deeply personal.”  Personally (on both corporate and individual levels), it’s always healthy for Christians’ to see their calling in terms of faithfulness, not quantified fruitfulness.  Only God “knows the ends from the beginning;” only God has the vantage point to issue ultimate value judgments.  No degree of our righteousness – nor even our satisfaction – should ever be located in the works He’s given us to do.  We make evaluations and assessments as tools to heighten discernment and to refine our focus, not as standards to evaluate accomplishment and attribute value (see 1 Corinthians 4, etc.)  We must remember Isaiah 33:5-6, that He Himself will be the stability of our times.

If you’d like some summary, a book abstract is available on the Faithful Presence website.  By all accounts, the book is significant.  You can find plenty of reviews out there; two are linked here:

Andy Crouch, in Books and Culture

Justin Taylor, Between Two Worlds

I only briefly browsed these two reviews, and I think they might be helpful.  I would caution against dismissing Hunter’s book too quickly, based on these or any reviews (the reviews themselves largely commend Hunter’s work, but sometimes people can read a review and think they have boxed up the whole book and all the concepts.  Maybe sometimes that’s true, but I don’t think that would be the case here.  The volume of reviews actually seem to testify that Hunter’s book, if nothing else, deserves a close first-hand look).

The Shepherd Leader

Prompted by a new release add and my great interest in the topic, I quickly read The Shepherd Leader, by Timothy Witmer.  You can see the strong endorsements from familiar leaders on the website linked above:  very compelling.

The Shepherd Leader, by Timothy Witmer (2010)

I also appreciated the book.  It outlays solid Biblical foundations for the importance of shepherding- tremendously valuable!  But Dr. Witmer majors on the practical, and gives abundant suggestions for implementing a good shepherding plan.  The book primarily addresses elders of local churches, and certainly provides good basics for understanding and practicing those responsibilities and opportunities.

The Shepherd Leader gives a great starting point, sets a good bar for how to think about and practice basic shepherding in the local church.  It does strike me as a minimal requirement bar, though.  For instance,  Witmer suggests evaluating health largely by criteria of church attendance.  And even though the over-arching intent is to make shepherding more proactive than reactive, the implications of the book mostly stop short of considering how to develop and equip people.

It’s quite possible that elders can realistically offer no more to every church member than to keep in fairly close contact and join with them as they walk through issues and situations in their lives.  The more extensive “discipleship” – type training I have in mind would probably only be doable with a relative few.  Still, the elder’s responsibility in shepherding would seem to include a thoughtful concern to build people up, move them forward in their equipping and maturity, even if the opportunity to invest with some is greater than with others.  I don’t really know much of an elder’s experience yet, but I hope it’s not unreasonable to say and do more for the positive development and growth of believers in local church settings.

Certainly we must not put too much pressure on people to achieve particular marks of growth or anything.  We want to trust God to do the spiritual work of maturing people in the grace and knowledge of Jesus.  I pray He’ll guide us to be faithful shepherds – according to passages like 1 Peter 5, Acts 20, 1 Timothy and Titus that Witmer cites, but also to be deliberate in building up the saints for the work of ministry, as Paul explains the aims of spiritual leadership in Ephesians 4.

Thanks be to God for grace in all these things!

Cry, the Beloved Country

Last week at the beach with my wife’s family I read the most distinctly South African novel I know of – Cry, the Beloved Country.  I visited South Africa in February on a planning trip for this summer, and my wife and I plan to spend 12 days in Johannesburg later this month with the ministry team that just landed there last week.

Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton (1948)

The book was published in 1948, just before the apartheid system was implemented.  It’s a tremendous story.  Drawing on resources from his Christian faith, Paton presents a nuanced view of  the evil and destruction that plagues the world, facing trouble and pain while still appreciating legitimate good  and holding to the real hope we have.

You can pretty easily find a lot more extensive information on the book, the author and the country.  But I would highly recommend it – as fictional novel, but also for its great historical, cultural and political value.  It offers a representative portrait of both the deep brokenness and the persisting hope for eventual redemption that characterize South Africa’s recent and current conditions.

In the author’s note on the 1987 edition, Paton affirms one man’s judgment that “one of the most important characters in the book [is] the land of South Africa itself” (p. 5).  Throughout the novel, the land and the people share so much – both sufferings and hope.  By the close of the book, I couldn’t help thinking that Romans 8:18-25 provides wonderfully clear grounding for the entire novel:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.  And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved.  Now hope that is seen is not hope.  For who hopes for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

A Praying Life

A Praying Life, by Paul Miller, NavPress, 2009

Several people from our church highly recommended this book as one of the best on prayer they’d ever read.  Certainly it offers a refreshingly candid and hopeful perspective on prayer.  And most of the appeal lies in those qualities, I think.  The stories Miller tells are down-to-earth and mostly revolve around “every-day” experience.  The value of seeing God’s purpose and faithfulness in and through all things could not be overstated, and Miller steadily walks the reader through lessons along those lines.

He does draw out some specific suggestions and offers some helpful tools, too.  They should not be dismissed, either.

Personally, I did not find the book as radically transformational or as deeply encouraging as some others might have.   It will probably strike those deeper chords with the reader to whatever degree he or she struggles with guilt,  pressure or just disappointment regarding outward standards or structures for prayer.  The book does nicely confirm the joys and struggles of walking with God in prayer.  And it is very readable.  Ultimately, I think it could be helpful and I’d be happy for people to read and appreciate it, too.