Book Review: "God is in the Manger" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"God is in the Manger" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, compiled and edited by Jana Riess, published 2010 by Westminster John Knox Press.

Just to be clear right from the get-go, this isn't a book written for this purpose by Dietrich Bonhoeffer during his lifetime.  It's a compilation of various reflections, sermons, and thoughts about Advent and Christmas that have been gathered from his papers and letters.  However, that shouldn't dissuade you from checking this out.  It's a wonderful compilation, and I think the great man himself would be very happy with the way it turned out.  The book lets Bonhoeffer speak for himself on the subject with little, if any, extra interpretation added.  Much of it is from the period when Bonhoeffer was in prison in Berlin, and that context gives many of the letters and reflections quite a powerful setting.

The first part of the book is dedicated to the Advent season.  As are most Advent devotionals, the book is geared around four themes, one for each candle around the Advent wreath.  These four themes are: Waiting, Mystery, Redemption, and Incarnation.  This book actually jived pretty well with the study we were doing for Advent at church, and I thought it was really on point.

The first week's theme, "waiting," centers around the action that is most familiar to us at Advent, which is of course waiting, waiting in expectancy and hope.  Not only do the readings reflect on our waiting, but God's waiting as well, his waiting to send his son, and his waiting to see the fruits of Christ's mission brought forward.  The second week, "mystery" focuses on the great mystery of why all of this was done for us, and what it all means.  Bonhoeffer describes this mystery not as an unknown, but as something we know to a certain extent and strive to learn more and more about. Some of the most powerful reflections were from this second week.

The third week tackles the topic of redemption: just what is it that Christ has done for us?  In this theme, the manger certainly foreshadows the cross as the life of Christ is looked at as a whole.  Some folks who haven't spent any time reading in Bonhoeffer's original writings might get a little bogged down here, as some of it is pretty heavy, theologically speaking, but the overall thrust is that the baby in the manger becomes Christ on the Cross, which is good news for us in the final analysis.

The final week of Advent focuses on the Incarnation itself: what a powerful thing it is for creator of the stars, the sky, the land, the sea, and all within it to become one of his own frail creatures just to save us from ourselves. For me this has always been the most powerful aspect of Christmas, and I was not disappointed in what Bonhoeffer had to say about it.

The last part of the book contains devotions for the 12 days of Christmas and one for Epiphany itself. These devotions focus largely on how we should respond to the gift of Christmas and dealing with what we have in front of us.  Contained in this section are some of Bonhoeffer's final letters, and they really help to put things in perspective.

This book was a top notch Advent study, and as I mentioned earlier, I really like the way they put it together.  The same group has another Bonhoeffer compilation for Lent that is out, and I'm seriously considering it getting it as well.  I wouldn't even say that you have to know a lot about Bonhoeffer to really get something out of this book.  There's something for everyone and it can really help folks to have a meaningful Advent and Christmas season.  I know it certainly helped me.

Book Review: Under Wraps, The Gift We Never Expected.

"Under Wraps: The Gift We Never Expected" is an all-church advent study by Jessica LaGrone, Andy Nixon, Rob Renfroe, and Ed Robb.  It was published in 2014 by Abingdon Press.

I'll readily admit that I'm tough person to please with an advent study. I've been through many, MANY of them over the years, and to me they're often a dime a dozen.  I did three different studies this year alone.  One I did for my personal devotions, one I did with my family, and this one, Under Wraps, we did as a church at Community United Methodist.  It was my second favorite of the three, though honestly it had a tough task to be as good as the Bonhoeffer one that I've been doing as personal devotion!

Generally speaking advent devotions are grouped into four themes, one per week between the start of advent and Christmas.  These correspond to the 4 candles in the Advent wreath.  Usually the themes are something along the line of love, peace, joy, and hope.  Most devotions take these four rather broad themes and stumble through the four weeks, putting out a lot of words without managing to say much at all.  Fortunately, "Under Wraps" is different.  The book is indeed grouped into 4 themes, but they're quite different.  They explore 4 attributes of the nature of God:  God is Expectant, God is Dangerous, God is Jealous, and God is Faithful.

The first chapter, God is Expectant, is by Jessica LaGrone.  This theme centers around the idea that we're not the only ones who wait expectantly during Advent.  Have you ever gotten a friend, relative, or spouse what you considered to be the perfect gift, something you just know they'll love?  That sense you have as you wait to see the reaction on the person's face when they open it is the same kind of expectation that God has as he waits for us to unwrap the perfect gift of his son, Jesus.  This gift was not cheap either, in fact it cost Jesus his life.

The second chapter, God is Dangerous, is by Ed Robb.  The word "dangerous" is not something we often associate with cute little baby Jesus sitting in all of our Nativity scenes at Christmas, but Christ, and therefore God, is dangerous.  Abraham was called out of his homeland to go into an entirely different land.  Moses was called back to Egypt, where he was wanted for murder, to confront the ruler of the land in order to free the Jewish people.  Most of the disciples suffered a martyr's death, and even in modern times, people like Dietrich Bonhoeffer have been executed for acting on their Christian beliefs.  God has big plans for his children, and sometimes, they call for sacrifice and danger.

The theme of the third chapter is God is Jealous by Andy Nixon.  He reflects on the state of what I call the "corporate Christmas" and talks about how God wants to be first in our lives, not just at Christmastime, but through the whole year as well.  This isn't jealousy in the form of a jilted lover. The Hebrew word in the Old Testament that is translated as "jealous" is qin'ah, which means warmth or heat.  It is evocative of the passion that God had for us and the passion that he wants us to have for him, and for each other.

The final, and perhaps most powerful chapter is by Rob Renfroe and centers on the idea that God is Faithful.  Pastor Renfroe talks about the difference between a contract and a covenant.  In a contract, the agreement can be nullified if one party does not fulfill it's end of the bargain.  However in a covenant, a wounded or unfulfilled party is still called upon to execute their end of things even if the other party does not.  Sometimes in life you want a contract.  When you build a house, you don't want to have to pay if the contractor only builds half of your house.  However in a marriage you want a covenant.  You make a vow for richer or poorer, for better or for worse, and you want your spouse to stand with you even when you fail.  God is a covenant God, and sticks by us even though we are far from perfect.  He sticks by us so much that he sent his only son, born in a manger at Christmas, to die on a cross for our own shortcomings.

All in all this wasn't my favorite Advent study, but it was a good one and was certainly both different from your run of the mill devotions and meaningful.  Some chapters were better than others, but I thought each author did a good job making their point.  There are also supplementary materials such as a leaders guide and a DVD available should your church decide to do this study.  Both were informative, even though some of the video was nearly a word for word rehash of the book.  If you're looking for a new Advent study to try out next year, this one would be a good place to start.

Book Review: "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy" by Eric Metaxas

I've been on an extraordinary journey over the last few weeks, as I've hinted at in a few other entries. I've been reading the book "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy" by Eric Metaxas and participating in a class at church based on the book. It's a remarkably well written story about someone who was perhaps one of the most remarkable people of the last century: German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Of course for those of you not familiar with Bonhoeffer, he was much more than a pastor, as the title of the book suggests.  He was an integral part of the German resistance inside the Nazi state itself.  He worked to smuggle Jews out of the country, which led to his arrest in 1943.  He was also a member of the conspiracy that worked to attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler.  The conspiracy culminated in the failed "Valkyrie" operation in July 1944. His connection to this, and other plots against Hitler, was discovered and he was executed in April 1945, just about three weeks before the fall of Germany.

Of course, to really get a feel for the man, one must understand his family and culture.  That's where Metaxas begins with the book.  Bonhoeffer's family was an old, aristocratic one.  His father was considered to be the preeminent psychiatrist in Germany.  One of his brothers became a scientist and studied alongside Albert Einstein himself.  Another brother was killed fighting for Germany in Word War I. He had another brother who was a high ranking lawyer in German society.  His mother was highly intelligent as well, and she was great musician.

This family and culture raised young Dietrich to be a thinker, and to think about all sides of different issues and problems.  He eventually decided to become a student of theology, which was a slight disappointment to his psychiatrist father and physicist older brother, but they supported him.  He would eventually make a name for himself in the Christian world.  He traveled a lot and studied/served a pastor in Spain, the United States, and London.  He also published several books on theology, some of which have become modern classics.

Bonhoeffer was in Berlin was Hitler came to power, and he and his family opposed him and the Nazi party from the start.  It came to a head in the 1930s when the Nazis, through state action and propaganda, succeeded in making the German Lutheran church a organ of the state that disseminated the Nazi viewpoint and sanctioned the discrimination of Jews.  Bonhoeffer and some other pastors set themselves against this and broke away from the main German church.  For a time, Bonhoeffer even ran an illegal seminary to train pastors for this "Confessing Church."  Eventually it all became too bothersome for the Nazis and the Gestapo shut it down.

In 1939, as Hitler had begun attacking and annexing his neighbors to the east, war looked likely. Bonhoeffer's friends throughout Europe and the USA managed to get him a teaching position in New York City.  He once again left Germany to come to the States.  His friends and family were hoping that he would be safe there during the coming war and could return afterward to help Germany rebuild and reform it's church.  However after less than a month, Bonhoeffer decided that it was not God's will that he sit safe and sound in New York while the people of Germany suffered.  He returned to Germany in the summer of 1939.

As World War II broke out the Bonhoeffer family was in a position to know about the various atrocities committed by the Nazis from the onset.  One of Dietrich's brothers in law, Hans von Dohnanyi, worked in the Abwehr, the German military intelligence arm and was keeping a file on all of the things the SS and others were up to.  He passed all of this information on to Dietrich and his family.  Later, Dietrich decided that the only thing to do was to join the Abwehr himself.  However he and many others were not agents of Germany at all, but members of a conspiracy that meant to assassinate Hitler.  Bonhoeffer took many trips to countries in Europe trying to get the British and the Americans to support the Abwehr conspiracy, but he never quite managed it.

The Gestapo soon found out about his involvement in "Operation 7," in which 7 Jews were smuggled out of Germany and into neutral Switzerland.  He was arrested in 1943 and was housed in a military prison called Tegel.  In 18 months there he became what was basically a prison pastor, working with both guards and inmates.  He also wrote many letters to friends and family that were preserved and published after his death and the end of the war.

However his time was up after an outraged Hitler survived the assassination attempt of July 20, 1944. The SS squeezed everyone they could for information on the Abwehr conspiracy and they eventually found the secret file that Bonhoeffer's brother in law was keeping on the subject.  It implicated Bonhoeffer as well as another one of his brothers and two of his brothers in law. In early April, 1945, excerpts from the diary of the head of the Abwehr were found and brought to Hitler.  Bonhoeffer and many others were mentioned by name.  Hitler ordered that all of them be executed.  Bonhoeffer nearly avoided this fate through a weird case of mistaken identity, but he was eventually transported to Flossenburg concentration camp and was executed by hanging at dawn on April 9, 1945.  The Flossenburg camp doctor witnessed the event and marveled at how bravely Pastor Bonhoeffer walked his own way to the gallows.  His bother Klaus and two brothers in law were also executed for their role in the conspiracy.

This marker rests at Flossenburg in the field where Bonhoeffer and other members of the conspiracy were hanged on April 9, 1945.  Bonhoeffer's body was burned and no remains were ever recovered.

Of course there is much more to Bonhoeffer's life than what can be covered in a summary and book review, which is why I highly recommend that you read Eric Metaxas' book for yourself.  It's a big read, clocking in at over 570 pages, but it's really worth it. If you're intimidated by big books, there is an abridged version available. It's not a hard read though.  Metaxas writes in a style that flows well and reads more like a story than a measured out biography.  In fact, even though the reader knows that Bonhoeffer dies in the end, there are some places where Metaxas really makes you feel like he was going to get out of it by the skin of his teeth.

It is possible that some of you out there may take exception to my glowing praise of Metaxas' work. He's come under some heat recently about some of his statements about America possibly going the way of the Nazis.  Look, I don't know all that much about what he believes politically, but he's certainly entitled to his opinion.  I can disagree with him and still respect him as an author and a thinker.  It must also be kept in mind that Bonhoeffer was a fairly conservative thinker himself, though Metaxas doesn't present him as dogmatically so.  All in all it's definitely a 5 star read and a very inspiring book.

Statue of Dietrich Bonhoeffer at Westminster Abby in London, in the gallery of Modern Day Martyrs.  Martin Luther King Jr also has a statue in this gallery.

Book Review: The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg

Trying to find books about the emergent view of Christianity on a book store shelf in Utah can be a tricky proposition.  There isn't much there.  You can find plenty of Mark Driscoll or Duck Dynasty and their take on the faith, but don't bother looking for Brian McLaren or Marcus Borg.  That's why I was a little surprised to find this title and my local store a few weeks ago.  I gave it a shot and wasn't disappointed.

It's a challenging book, to be sure.  Some of Borg's propositions are very challenging to someone like me who was raised in a very orthodox American Christian home.  If you read my blog regularly, you'll know that I'm hardly a stickler for traditional doctrine or dogma, but Borg ends up more leftist than myself in some respect.  Of course, that's a bit of an injustice to Borg to label him that way, but that's really the best way I can think to describe him.  It might be more accurate to say that he's even more comfortable with things which sit outside of the realm of current Christian orthodoxy than I am. That's not a bad thing either.  In this book Borg is out to challenge what we think is traditional Christianity, and even though I didn't always agree with him, his points were always well thought out and gave me a lot to chew on.

He cuts right to the heart of the matter early in the book.  Borg asks "what does faith mean?" "Does God exist?"  "How should we view the Bible?" Also: "How should we view Jesus?"  These issues around faith, God, the Bible, and Christ are the foundational beliefs of Christianity.  I could spend multiple blog entries talking about his views on all of these things, but we'll suffice it to say that in his mind, a lot of what we think is traditional, orthodox Christianity is really fairly new, coming about in the last 200-300 years as a response to the Enlightenment.  Borg often advocates for what he sees as more accepting, and maybe a bit more of a mystical, pre-enlightenment view of these issues, and for the most part, I like that.  I enjoy exploring the more mystical side of life and faith.

The second half of the book talks about how now, after reconsidering these basic aspects of Christianity, we should live our lives as Christians.  He sees it as a two sided coin.  The first is love God with all your heart and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself.  This can entail disciplined practice both within the church and as an individual, but it also involves a greater sense of social justice, advocating the view that Christians need to do more to stand for the poor and marginalized and also to stand against the systems of power and government in the world.  He sees these systems as rigged in favor of the already powerful and wealthy, and it's hard to argue with him.

I highly suggest this book, especially for two groups of people.  First, for people who aren't Christians that think that Christianity today only exists on the far right of the political spectrum.  This book shows that it's just not the case.  I would also recommend it for Christians who are interested in reading more in depth about their faith, and perhaps exploring different disciplines to help them deepen their faith.

Book Review: "Revival: Faith as Wesley Lived It," by Adam Hamilton

My background as a Christian is largely Calvinist Reformed, with a dash of Roman Catholicism thrown in.  So how in the world did I end up drawn to the United Methodist Church?  Well, as I've stated in previous entries, I eventually found the other perspectives to come up short when I tried to square them with what I actually believed, not only about Jesus, but about the world around us and how we, as Christians, should respond to that world.  Then came a man named John Wesley.

Now, I already knew a bit about Wesley.  When I was considering going into the ministry I studied a lot about different perspectives on Christianity.  I knew he was the founder of Methodism, and I knew he used to travel around and preach outdoors.  As a musician, liturgist, and worship leader I was more acquainted with his brother Charles, who penned many of the classic hymns of the faith.  I never seriously looked into the Wesley theology though.

That changed over this last year as my search for light, my search for the sacred, brought me to the United Methodist Church, where my parents have attended for 10 years or so since our church closed. I began to read about Wesley bit by bit, to see what it was already about.  I watched a biopic about his life, which I figured was going to be like a B movie type deal, but I actually found it to be quite good and inspiring.  This lead me to read more and more about him.

As all this was going on, I heard that our adult Sunday school class was going to study Wesley and his teachings through a book by Adam Hamilton.  Even though I work most Sunday mornings and can't attend class after church, I bought the book and jumped at the chance to learn more about this man and his philosophy.

I'm happy to say that the book was outstanding.  It's a fairly short read.  I was reading it one chapter per week in concert  with what the Sunday school class was doing, but I could have probably finished it pretty quickly otherwise.  Over the course of six chapters, Hamilton looks at various pivotal moments/time periods in the life of Wesley and talks about how they affected his teachings and ministry.  He covers Wesley's early life in Epworth, his formative years and the first rise of Methodism at Oxford, his short time in the United States which led him to a crisis of personhood and faith leading to his Aldersgate experience, the regeneration of his ministry of grace at Bristol, the rise of Methodism in London, and finally how Wesley persevered and guided his faith and the faith of others until he died in London at age 87.

However, the book is more than just a biographical sketch of John Wesley.   Adam Hamilton really dives into Wesleyan theology and how it effects us as Christians today, and how it should inspire us in our daily lives.  This was finally a version of Christianity that was in sync with what I believed to be true.

There's a couple of things that struck me.  First, Wesley preached that Christianity is for everyone, regardless of race, gender, social status, economic status, or anything else.  After his Aldersgate experience, he traveled throughout the English countryside and ministered to the needs of the poor, the hungry, and the marginalized: people who were not usually welcome in the churches of the day. Much of this was done outside in fields, on mountainsides, and in market squares.  These people flocked to his message of Christ for all.

Second, I like what Wesley had to say about grace.  For modern Protestant Christians, it's the grace of God through Christ that "saves" or justifies us.  It's a gift that can only be accepted and not earned. Wesley was opposed to ideas like Calvinist predestination which claims that God destined some to be saved and some to be condemned from the very beginning.  As mentioned, for Wesley, God's grace is for all.  Wesley mentions three kind of grace.  Prevenient grace is God's grace at work in our lives before we ever believe in him or seek him.  It guides us closer to God through those in our lives and events around us.  This kind of grace is not irresistable and will not override one's free well, but can lead us finally to God.  At this point, we experience Justifying grace, the acceptance of Christ in our lives.  But for Wesley, it didn't end there.  Further we can experience Sanctifying grace.  This is how God works in us after we become Christians. It's how we grow and mature in our faith and respond to the world around us, and for Wesley this was very important.

The last thing is how Wesley viewed works of mercy.  For Wesley it wasn't enough to have achieved justification.  God wants us to reach out to others, especially the poor and marginalized.  This doesn't just include preaching, it includes helping them, attending to actual physical needs. However again Wesley is quick to underline that these works of mercy are not the means to grace, but the ends of grace.  They are the result of the people of God actively going out into the world to serve others.

So these are just a few things highlighted throughout the book.  I would encourage anyone, Christian or not, to read it and think about how you can affect the world around you for the better.  Perhaps, like me, and like Wesley himself, you will find that your heart has been "strangely warmed" to the message and mission  of Jesus Christ.

Book Review: "Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?" by Brian McLaren

I wish more people would read Brian McLaren's books. I genuinely think he's onto something.  This is the third one of his that I've read, and I think it's the best so far.  In all of his books he advocates for a new spirit in Christianity, a spirit that is more focused on being like Jesus than on Old Testament moral codes and whatever conservative political cause happens to be raging at the moment.

The heart of this book is daring to ask, and answer, a simple question:  What if Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and the Prophet Mohammed were to meet?  What would happen if they all bumped into each other at the local diner?  If you take these four great men at their word, it's hard to believe that they would get into an argument over who was right or whose followers were on the right path.  What you might actually envision is a very hospitable meeting where ideas are exchanged and love is given.

So why are the followers of these great men so different?  McLaren seeks to answer that throughout the book, at least as far as Christians go.  Along the way he ruffles a lot of feathers.  If you're a more traditional Christian, this book will challenge you to think about your deeply held religious beliefs, and that's a good thing.  People like me, who think that the Christianity has gone off the rails, welcome this process and the results can be life changing for the better.

The first set of assumptions that McLaren challenges have to do with doctrine, and I think it's here that he probably angers the most people.  He tackles Creation, Original Sin, Election, the Trinity, Christology, and the Holy Spirit.  All through these reformulations he is asking the question: How can we view these doctrines in a way that makes us benevolent people without watering down the Christian faith?

If making you think about doctrine wasn't enough, next McLaren tackles liturgy, which has long been an interest of mine as I've taken part in various Protestant and Catholic liturgies.  First McLaren looks at how to re-imagine the church year to help foster his Strong-Benevolent Christian identity.  This includes sections on Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time.  The he goes on to talk about baptism, music, Bible reading, and concludes with a beautifully written chapter on Communion. 

Finally McLaren talks about how to take his Strong-Benevolent Christian Identity out into the world, getting into the nuts and bolts of dealing with people from other faiths or people with no religion.  He doesn't advocate seeing people as "conversion targets."  He advocates being nice and Christlike to people form other religions or people with no religion.  He argues that we should respectfully learn about their beliefs and traditions and see the good in everyone.  After all, Christians believe that humans were made in the image of God, so we can see God in Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, atheists...it doesn't matter.  He draws on his own experiences with people from other traditions to hope that if Christians can set a Christlike example and lead the way, then perhaps others will join us in making the world a better place.

This book will make you think about things, whether you're a Christian or not.  I encourage folks to read it.  Obviously it will challenge you if you call yourself a Christian, but it can also challenge non Christians or lapsed Christians to see the faith in a new light and know that not every Christian wishes to be hostile to everyone else.

I'm not done with this book.  Well, I finished it, but it's impossible to not have other thoughts and feelings about the things he says here.  Look for other entries in the future on various aspects of this Strong-Benevolent Christian identity.