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shelfreflectionofficial's Reviews (844)
“Love is the one eternal thing all beings are capable of creating. It has more potential than anything else— literature, stonework, folklore. Mortals, more than any, know it intimately. It lingers in the universe long after their bodies have moved on.”
[You can check out my review from Star Mother where I discuss some of the God vs god comparisons. For this review we will just accept Holmberg’s created world of gods, godlings, goddesses, and how celestial beings interact with mortals.]
Love is the driving force of this book.
With Star Mother we felt the love of a mother for her daughter as well as a romantic love.
With Star Father the love is largely romantic with a bit of the depth of friendship thrown in.
Personally I would have been fine with Star Mother being a standalone novel as Holmberg originally intended it. But she wanted Saiyon, the sun god, to have his own happy ending. After the first book, I didn’t really care for that outcome, but here we are.
This book takes place years after Star Mother— Ceris has lived out her days and resides in the sky with her lover and her daughter.
But with the loss of Twilight, the war between the moon and the sun rages on.
Aija (which took me several pages before I figured out the narrator was female) comes across a man near the river on her farm.
She brings him home to take care of him.
They fall in love immediately, obviously.
(Side note here: Aija is in her thirties and has already been married and widowed so this wasn’t a ‘fairytale’ story even though their passion was basically immediate.)
But he is the sun god himself, void of his full power/nature. She nurses him back to health and learns that because he is bound to his duty as the sun god, they cannot be together. His power and heat burns her and would kill her.
“Every time I have loved, I have lost,” he says.
But celestial law is no match for Aija’s love for him!
She will go the distance!
And with the help of three loyal and true friends, she does. Across the land, sea, and stars to find a way to become immortal.
She is willing to give up anything, even her ability to create art, to be with the one she loves.
“My skin and mind craved Sunlight. Even before the consuming dark, I’d always craved Sunlight. It was, perhaps, the most pious thing about me.”
It’s odd to me to think about someone giving up their mortality to become immortal. Usually it’s an immortal becoming mortal for love. Which, personally, seems better… depending what you believe about the after life. Who wants to live forever in the broken universe? It sounds exhausting.
What I liked most about this book was that it was a quest. Every time you think she has figured out a way to become immortal, something goes wrong. Though the romance aspect of it didn’t do much for me, I did like how she recognized the love of her friends to risk what they did to help her be with her love.
As with the first book, I also liked the art aspect. Ceris made tapestries. Aija is more versatile- drawing, painting, sculpting. I really loved her rendering of the Moon. That even though Aija was captive and tormented in darkness she was able to see the hurt the Moon experienced and shine light on her scars in a new way.
What I didn’t like was Saiyon. I didn’t get a great impression of him in the first book and all of a sudden I’m supposed to be enamored with him? Also Aija is willing to take some stupid risks for her obsessive love that puts her loved ones in danger. It’s hard to root for love that seems selfish rather than selfless. I suppose there are aspects of her love that appear sacrificial but in the context of a magical and mythological world, the fantasy of it isn’t engaging to me. It’s not a real situation.
The Star Mother begins with Ceris believing she is sacrificing her life so that two other people can be together. In the end she finds love, but in contrast Aija is sacrificing other people’s safety so that she can get the love she wants. To me one is more honorable than the other.
If you liked the first book, then you will like this one.
If you’re not a fan of celestial romance, I don’t think you’ll be able to get into this one.
Her writing is good, but I definitely don’t think I could read book after book in this genre. I read Star Mother and Star Father back to back and now I’m ready to read something different.
Lastly, I discovered that Charlie Holmberg has a podcast with another author, Caitlyn McFarland, called ‘Your Mom Writes Books’ (awesome title) where they discuss all things books/writing. I listened to one episode and it was pretty entertaining and informative if you are interested in becoming an author. You can check it out HERE.
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
[You can check out my review from Star Mother where I discuss some of the God vs god comparisons. For this review we will just accept Holmberg’s created world of gods, godlings, goddesses, and how celestial beings interact with mortals.]
Love is the driving force of this book.
With Star Mother we felt the love of a mother for her daughter as well as a romantic love.
With Star Father the love is largely romantic with a bit of the depth of friendship thrown in.
Personally I would have been fine with Star Mother being a standalone novel as Holmberg originally intended it. But she wanted Saiyon, the sun god, to have his own happy ending. After the first book, I didn’t really care for that outcome, but here we are.
This book takes place years after Star Mother— Ceris has lived out her days and resides in the sky with her lover and her daughter.
But with the loss of Twilight, the war between the moon and the sun rages on.
Aija (which took me several pages before I figured out the narrator was female) comes across a man near the river on her farm.
She brings him home to take care of him.
They fall in love immediately, obviously.
(Side note here: Aija is in her thirties and has already been married and widowed so this wasn’t a ‘fairytale’ story even though their passion was basically immediate.)
But he is the sun god himself, void of his full power/nature. She nurses him back to health and learns that because he is bound to his duty as the sun god, they cannot be together. His power and heat burns her and would kill her.
“Every time I have loved, I have lost,” he says.
But celestial law is no match for Aija’s love for him!
She will go the distance!
And with the help of three loyal and true friends, she does. Across the land, sea, and stars to find a way to become immortal.
She is willing to give up anything, even her ability to create art, to be with the one she loves.
“My skin and mind craved Sunlight. Even before the consuming dark, I’d always craved Sunlight. It was, perhaps, the most pious thing about me.”
It’s odd to me to think about someone giving up their mortality to become immortal. Usually it’s an immortal becoming mortal for love. Which, personally, seems better… depending what you believe about the after life. Who wants to live forever in the broken universe? It sounds exhausting.
What I liked most about this book was that it was a quest. Every time you think she has figured out a way to become immortal, something goes wrong. Though the romance aspect of it didn’t do much for me, I did like how she recognized the love of her friends to risk what they did to help her be with her love.
As with the first book, I also liked the art aspect. Ceris made tapestries. Aija is more versatile- drawing, painting, sculpting. I really loved her rendering of the Moon. That even though Aija was captive and tormented in darkness she was able to see the hurt the Moon experienced and shine light on her scars in a new way.
What I didn’t like was Saiyon. I didn’t get a great impression of him in the first book and all of a sudden I’m supposed to be enamored with him? Also Aija is willing to take some stupid risks for her obsessive love that puts her loved ones in danger. It’s hard to root for love that seems selfish rather than selfless. I suppose there are aspects of her love that appear sacrificial but in the context of a magical and mythological world, the fantasy of it isn’t engaging to me. It’s not a real situation.
The Star Mother begins with Ceris believing she is sacrificing her life so that two other people can be together. In the end she finds love, but in contrast Aija is sacrificing other people’s safety so that she can get the love she wants. To me one is more honorable than the other.
If you liked the first book, then you will like this one.
If you’re not a fan of celestial romance, I don’t think you’ll be able to get into this one.
Her writing is good, but I definitely don’t think I could read book after book in this genre. I read Star Mother and Star Father back to back and now I’m ready to read something different.
Lastly, I discovered that Charlie Holmberg has a podcast with another author, Caitlyn McFarland, called ‘Your Mom Writes Books’ (awesome title) where they discuss all things books/writing. I listened to one episode and it was pretty entertaining and informative if you are interested in becoming an author. You can check it out HERE.
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
“When an idol fails you, the real culprit turns out to be the person who has urged you to worship it— not the person who has tried to take it away.”
Is God Anti-Gay?
That is a popular question of the day.
When someone asks this question, I believe at the heart of their question is this: Is God against LGBTQ people?
In short, the answer to that is No.
In some ways this question correlates to the oft-(mis)used phrase- ‘Love the sinner, hate the sin.’
What needs to be addressed at the beginning of this is that the culture has so attached sexuality to identity that if we are to oppose a sexual lifestyle, it feels like an attack on the core of who many people believe themselves to be.
This is why clarification and defining terms is so important.
Sam Allberry, a pastor and author of What God Has to Say about Our Bodies, who is same-sex-attracted and living a celibate lifestyle, explains it like this:
“[God] is against who all of us are by nature… But he loves [us] enough to carry [our] burden, take [our] place, clean [us] up, make [us] whole, and unite [us] forever to himself.”
God hates sin. Sin is in opposition to his holiness, it cannot be in his presence. And we all bear the mark of our sinful nature.
“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)
But even when our sin separated us from God, God made a way for us to be with him. He expressed his love for us on the cross. He invites everyone, burdened with all kinds of sins, to come to him, to repent, and be free from the chains of self-worship.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8)
“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Rom 5:10)
That’s the gospel message. We are all sinners and we all need a Savior. God redeems us and calls us out of our sin and offers us freedom and life. And this invitation is extended in love to every person regardless of their sins. God is for us, not against us. Yet this surrender to God requires us to put on a new self that is defined and designed by Him.
Sam Allberry’s book addresses all of the common questions regarding homosexuality, looks at the applicable Bible verses, offers practical and helpful advice in how to love and share the gospel truths with believing and unbelieving same-sex-attracted people, and reminds us of grace and compassion so often missing from these discussions.
Kevin DeYoung (author of What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality?), Mark Dever, Al Mohler (author of The Gathering Storm), Russell D. Moore, Carl Trueman (author of The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self), and Jonathan Leeman (author of How the Nations Rage) all contribute one of those blurbs of praise at the beginning of this book which speaks to the solid theology found within.
Does Our Sexuality Define Us?
One of the most important aspects of this book is the discussion on identity. Allberry uses the term ‘same-sex-attracted’ (SSA).
“Describing myself like this is a way for me to recognize that the kind of sexual attractions I experience are not fundamental to my identity. They are part of what I feel but are not who I am in a fundamental sense. I am far more than my sexuality.”
This is one of the biggest things that muddies the waters of any loving discussion.
Western culture has propped up sexuality as a core part of identity and elevated sexual fulfillment as the mark of a wholly fulfilled life.
How could we attack who people are to their core? How could we deny people the pinnacle of life?
If those two things were true, then it would, indeed, be cruel.
But Christians who believe the Bible understand that our sexuality is not what defines us. It is not our identity and it could never fulfill us. Sex is a good thing, but it is not an ultimate thing. Sex can never fulfill us. The mark of a fulfilled life is not sexual pleasure or marital commitment.
“It is not the teaching of Jesus that tells you that life is not worth living if you can’t be fulfilled sexually— that a life without sex is no life at all. It is not biblical Christianity that insists someone’s sexual disposition is so foundational to who they are, and that to fail to affirm their particular leaning is to attack who that person is at their core. All this comes not from biblical Christianity but from western culture’s highly distorted view of what it means to be a human. When an idol fails you, the real culprit turns out to be the person who has urged you to worship it— not the person who has tried to take it away.”
Along with this statement, Allberry charges the church to stop putting marriage on a pedestal in the same way. Marriage is a sacred covenant that is representative of the church as the bride of Christ, but marriage is not an ultimate thing either and we should not idolize it.
We also must be careful with our words and our tone because when we speak to people struggling with SSA, it is not a political issue, it’s a personal thing. We are dealing with people. With image-bearers of God. And our speech should reflect that compassion as we share God’s truth.
Throughout the book Allberry affirms where our identity is and how we find our fulfillment.
What Questions Does He Answer?
Though Kevin DeYoung’s book has a little more depth in terms of looking at the Scriptures that refer to homosexuality, Allberry still covers quite a bit in this short book and convincingly defends a biblical interpretation that confirms homosexual practice to be a sin and a gospel issue that is not an ‘agree to disagree’ doctrine.
The passages he talks about are Genesis 19; Leviticus 18, 20; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; and 1 Timothy 1:9-10). I won’t go into all the details here but he addresses the greek words, what natural vs unnatural means, consensual vs nonconsensual, temptations, and the other sins listed with homosexuality.
He addresses questions like:
- Isn’t a same-sex partnership okay if it’s committed and faithful?
- Jesus never mentions homosexuality, so how can it be wrong?
- Aren’t we just picking and choosing which Levitical laws that still apply?
- Isn’t the Christian view of sexuality dangerous and harmful?
- Is it sinful to experience same-sex-attraction?
Allberry is firm to tell readers that SSA does not disqualify you from accessing God’s grace, mercy, and love. There is no sin that puts you out of God’s reach. The invitation is for you, no matter what you have done.
God is powerful enough to heal you and take away SSA but it’s not promised and should not be expected. He is not promoting a ‘cure’ for homosexuality. He is promoting God’s forgiveness and the power of the Spirit who helps us in our weakness. He is promoting God’s sanctification that will not be fully realized this side of heaven.
What Does This Mean for the Church?
A strategy of the deceiver is to place a barrier between people with SSA and the church, a wall that divides. And really he’s accomplishing this quite well today. In the LGBTQ community, the church is seen as the enemy. The church is viewed as the oppressor and the opposer.
And tragically, the church has oppressed and opposed in sinful ways to many many people. And God grieves this.
The church has a lot of work to do to correct this perception and reality. To shed the condemnation of false superiority and clothe herself with love and humility and encouragement.
I really felt like Allberry brought the wall down. Reading this book helped me to stop viewing people in divided groups. We have to stop seeing this as an us vs them thing. No one should be ‘outsiders’ in our churches.
He provides great advice on how to communicate with people who come out to us.
How to welcome SSA people/couples into the church and include them in your lives. That we have to resist the urge to confront their homosexuality immediately or mainly.
“Christians who want to explain the Christian faith to gay friends need to know that what the Bible says about homosexuality is not the only thing they need to explain, and it is probably not the first thing, or even the main thing, they need to focus on.”
I love this illustration from Tim Keller he uses:
“Churches should feel more like the waiting room for a doctor and less like a waiting room for a job interview. In the latter we all try to look as competent and impressive as we can. Weaknesses are buried and hidden. But in a doctor’s waiting room we assume that everyone there is sick and needs help.”
No one is any better than the next. Any people attending our churches should be welcomed in good company— we are all struggling with some sin and we all need the Spirit to overcome it. We walk alongside our brothers and sisters and help each other. There is no interview to ace, there is just a Doctor who is waiting for you to let him care for you.
Another fault of the church is the idolization of marriage.
Allberry explains the blessings of singleness and admonishes where the church has gotten this wrong. He charges the church to incorporate single people into their families and their lives. To stop trying to marry every one off as if that is God’s assumed calling on their life.
“Singles should not be thought or spoken of as loose ends that need tying up.”
After all, Jesus was single and celibate and he was obviously no less of a person for it.
“Union with Christ forever is what the earthly states of both marriage and singleness actually point to. The purpose of earthly marriage is not to fulfill us, but to point us to the relationship that does. The purpose of singleness is not to show that we are sufficient, but to point us to the one who is.”
Unity in Diversity
He talks about God’s design for marriage being a man and woman. Part of this description, that Rachel Gilson echoes in her book, Born Again This Way, is how marriage is a reflection of Christ and the church. The two parts of the relationship are distinct and not interchangeable. Christ and the church. Man and woman.
For marriage to be woman and woman or man and man would be like Christ and Christ or the church and the church. It doesn’t work that way. There is unity in the diversity of marriage.
I had never thought about it this way before. When you study Scripture and God’s design for marriage, you see how purposeful it is. You see God’s character reflected and you see his heart to promote and protect life.
Conclusion
This book isn’t even 100 pages but there is so much packed into it.
I’ve struggled a lot with how to love LGBTQ people without condoning a sinful lifestyle. Many negative reviews of this book are negative because they don’t feel like anything Allberry is saying is loving if he is telling them that acting on their desires is wrong.
To many people today, to feel loved by others involves others accepting and approving whatever choices they make. Though Allberry speaks truth in a loving way, it still might not feel loving to those who disagree.
I’m encouraged by this book and have to trust that the power of God’s truth, love, and grace will be revealed to those who hear it. We are ambassadors of the gospel, but we are not the saviors, only God is. My prayer is that people reading this book will see Christ for who he is and that we would love Christ and trust the power of his truth more than the power of our feelings.
Allberry has written a fantastic resource that will unite the body of Christ as we seek to love both God’s commands and designs but also his creation— his image-bearers.
It is not exhaustive, but you can check out some of the resources below for further reading and study.
I would say this book is probably more targeted for believers than unbelievers, but there is something in it for everyone.
Highly recommend!
I’ll end on this powerful quote from Rachel Gilson’s book, Born Again This Way:
“Same-sex-attracted Christians today who are choosing God over sex and romance mirror the eunuch’s costly obedience and trust. Certainly it is not only same-sex-attracted Christians who do this— all Christians are called to God’s high sexual standard. But in this cultural moment, which urges people to boldly take up their LGBT+ identity, those who choose God over sex and romance echo that cry of Peter to Jesus: Where else would we go? You alone have the words of life. In a moment when everyone else was walking away, Peter recognized that Jesus had the only thing worth having— all other options were no options at all.”
Some Other Quotes:
“a number of Christians have said something like this: ‘The gospel must be harder for you than it is for me,’ as though I have more to give up than they do. But the fact is that the gospel demands everything of all of us. If someone thinks the gospel has somehow slotted into their life quite easily, without causing any major adjustments to their lifestyle or aspirations, it is likely that they have not really started following Jesus at all.”
“Denying yourself does not mean tweaking your behavior here and there… It is saying ‘no’ to your deepest sense of who you are, for the sake of Christ. To take up a cross is to declare your life (as you have known it) forfeit. It is laying down your life for the very reason that your life, it turns out, is not yours at all. It belongs to Jesus. He made it. And through his death he has bought it.”
“All of us have desires that are warped as a result of our fallen nature. Desires for things God has forbidden are a reflection of how sin has distorted me, not of how God has made me.”
“God is opposed to all sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage. It’s not that the Bible opposes all homosexual activity but approves of any and every sexual act between heterosexual people.”
Further Reading
- What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality? by Kevin DeYoung
- Gay Girl, Good God by Jackie Hill Perry
- Born Again This Way: Coming Out, Coming to Faith, and What Comes Next by Rachel Gilson
- The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to the Sexual Revolution by Carl Trueman
- What God Has to Say about Our Bodies: How the Gospel Is Good News for Our Physical Selves by Sam Allberry
- The Secular Creed: Engaging Five Contemporary Claims by Rebecca McLaughlin
- Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays vs Christians Debate by Justin Lee [I don’t agree with his conclusions and interpretations of the Bible— see my review— but it was good to hear his story]
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Is God Anti-Gay?
That is a popular question of the day.
When someone asks this question, I believe at the heart of their question is this: Is God against LGBTQ people?
In short, the answer to that is No.
In some ways this question correlates to the oft-(mis)used phrase- ‘Love the sinner, hate the sin.’
What needs to be addressed at the beginning of this is that the culture has so attached sexuality to identity that if we are to oppose a sexual lifestyle, it feels like an attack on the core of who many people believe themselves to be.
This is why clarification and defining terms is so important.
Sam Allberry, a pastor and author of What God Has to Say about Our Bodies, who is same-sex-attracted and living a celibate lifestyle, explains it like this:
“[God] is against who all of us are by nature… But he loves [us] enough to carry [our] burden, take [our] place, clean [us] up, make [us] whole, and unite [us] forever to himself.”
God hates sin. Sin is in opposition to his holiness, it cannot be in his presence. And we all bear the mark of our sinful nature.
“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)
But even when our sin separated us from God, God made a way for us to be with him. He expressed his love for us on the cross. He invites everyone, burdened with all kinds of sins, to come to him, to repent, and be free from the chains of self-worship.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8)
“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Rom 5:10)
That’s the gospel message. We are all sinners and we all need a Savior. God redeems us and calls us out of our sin and offers us freedom and life. And this invitation is extended in love to every person regardless of their sins. God is for us, not against us. Yet this surrender to God requires us to put on a new self that is defined and designed by Him.
Sam Allberry’s book addresses all of the common questions regarding homosexuality, looks at the applicable Bible verses, offers practical and helpful advice in how to love and share the gospel truths with believing and unbelieving same-sex-attracted people, and reminds us of grace and compassion so often missing from these discussions.
Kevin DeYoung (author of What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality?), Mark Dever, Al Mohler (author of The Gathering Storm), Russell D. Moore, Carl Trueman (author of The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self), and Jonathan Leeman (author of How the Nations Rage) all contribute one of those blurbs of praise at the beginning of this book which speaks to the solid theology found within.
Does Our Sexuality Define Us?
One of the most important aspects of this book is the discussion on identity. Allberry uses the term ‘same-sex-attracted’ (SSA).
“Describing myself like this is a way for me to recognize that the kind of sexual attractions I experience are not fundamental to my identity. They are part of what I feel but are not who I am in a fundamental sense. I am far more than my sexuality.”
This is one of the biggest things that muddies the waters of any loving discussion.
Western culture has propped up sexuality as a core part of identity and elevated sexual fulfillment as the mark of a wholly fulfilled life.
How could we attack who people are to their core? How could we deny people the pinnacle of life?
If those two things were true, then it would, indeed, be cruel.
But Christians who believe the Bible understand that our sexuality is not what defines us. It is not our identity and it could never fulfill us. Sex is a good thing, but it is not an ultimate thing. Sex can never fulfill us. The mark of a fulfilled life is not sexual pleasure or marital commitment.
“It is not the teaching of Jesus that tells you that life is not worth living if you can’t be fulfilled sexually— that a life without sex is no life at all. It is not biblical Christianity that insists someone’s sexual disposition is so foundational to who they are, and that to fail to affirm their particular leaning is to attack who that person is at their core. All this comes not from biblical Christianity but from western culture’s highly distorted view of what it means to be a human. When an idol fails you, the real culprit turns out to be the person who has urged you to worship it— not the person who has tried to take it away.”
Along with this statement, Allberry charges the church to stop putting marriage on a pedestal in the same way. Marriage is a sacred covenant that is representative of the church as the bride of Christ, but marriage is not an ultimate thing either and we should not idolize it.
We also must be careful with our words and our tone because when we speak to people struggling with SSA, it is not a political issue, it’s a personal thing. We are dealing with people. With image-bearers of God. And our speech should reflect that compassion as we share God’s truth.
Throughout the book Allberry affirms where our identity is and how we find our fulfillment.
What Questions Does He Answer?
Though Kevin DeYoung’s book has a little more depth in terms of looking at the Scriptures that refer to homosexuality, Allberry still covers quite a bit in this short book and convincingly defends a biblical interpretation that confirms homosexual practice to be a sin and a gospel issue that is not an ‘agree to disagree’ doctrine.
The passages he talks about are Genesis 19; Leviticus 18, 20; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; and 1 Timothy 1:9-10). I won’t go into all the details here but he addresses the greek words, what natural vs unnatural means, consensual vs nonconsensual, temptations, and the other sins listed with homosexuality.
He addresses questions like:
- Isn’t a same-sex partnership okay if it’s committed and faithful?
- Jesus never mentions homosexuality, so how can it be wrong?
- Aren’t we just picking and choosing which Levitical laws that still apply?
- Isn’t the Christian view of sexuality dangerous and harmful?
- Is it sinful to experience same-sex-attraction?
Allberry is firm to tell readers that SSA does not disqualify you from accessing God’s grace, mercy, and love. There is no sin that puts you out of God’s reach. The invitation is for you, no matter what you have done.
God is powerful enough to heal you and take away SSA but it’s not promised and should not be expected. He is not promoting a ‘cure’ for homosexuality. He is promoting God’s forgiveness and the power of the Spirit who helps us in our weakness. He is promoting God’s sanctification that will not be fully realized this side of heaven.
What Does This Mean for the Church?
A strategy of the deceiver is to place a barrier between people with SSA and the church, a wall that divides. And really he’s accomplishing this quite well today. In the LGBTQ community, the church is seen as the enemy. The church is viewed as the oppressor and the opposer.
And tragically, the church has oppressed and opposed in sinful ways to many many people. And God grieves this.
The church has a lot of work to do to correct this perception and reality. To shed the condemnation of false superiority and clothe herself with love and humility and encouragement.
I really felt like Allberry brought the wall down. Reading this book helped me to stop viewing people in divided groups. We have to stop seeing this as an us vs them thing. No one should be ‘outsiders’ in our churches.
He provides great advice on how to communicate with people who come out to us.
How to welcome SSA people/couples into the church and include them in your lives. That we have to resist the urge to confront their homosexuality immediately or mainly.
“Christians who want to explain the Christian faith to gay friends need to know that what the Bible says about homosexuality is not the only thing they need to explain, and it is probably not the first thing, or even the main thing, they need to focus on.”
I love this illustration from Tim Keller he uses:
“Churches should feel more like the waiting room for a doctor and less like a waiting room for a job interview. In the latter we all try to look as competent and impressive as we can. Weaknesses are buried and hidden. But in a doctor’s waiting room we assume that everyone there is sick and needs help.”
No one is any better than the next. Any people attending our churches should be welcomed in good company— we are all struggling with some sin and we all need the Spirit to overcome it. We walk alongside our brothers and sisters and help each other. There is no interview to ace, there is just a Doctor who is waiting for you to let him care for you.
Another fault of the church is the idolization of marriage.
Allberry explains the blessings of singleness and admonishes where the church has gotten this wrong. He charges the church to incorporate single people into their families and their lives. To stop trying to marry every one off as if that is God’s assumed calling on their life.
“Singles should not be thought or spoken of as loose ends that need tying up.”
After all, Jesus was single and celibate and he was obviously no less of a person for it.
“Union with Christ forever is what the earthly states of both marriage and singleness actually point to. The purpose of earthly marriage is not to fulfill us, but to point us to the relationship that does. The purpose of singleness is not to show that we are sufficient, but to point us to the one who is.”
Unity in Diversity
He talks about God’s design for marriage being a man and woman. Part of this description, that Rachel Gilson echoes in her book, Born Again This Way, is how marriage is a reflection of Christ and the church. The two parts of the relationship are distinct and not interchangeable. Christ and the church. Man and woman.
For marriage to be woman and woman or man and man would be like Christ and Christ or the church and the church. It doesn’t work that way. There is unity in the diversity of marriage.
I had never thought about it this way before. When you study Scripture and God’s design for marriage, you see how purposeful it is. You see God’s character reflected and you see his heart to promote and protect life.
Conclusion
This book isn’t even 100 pages but there is so much packed into it.
I’ve struggled a lot with how to love LGBTQ people without condoning a sinful lifestyle. Many negative reviews of this book are negative because they don’t feel like anything Allberry is saying is loving if he is telling them that acting on their desires is wrong.
To many people today, to feel loved by others involves others accepting and approving whatever choices they make. Though Allberry speaks truth in a loving way, it still might not feel loving to those who disagree.
I’m encouraged by this book and have to trust that the power of God’s truth, love, and grace will be revealed to those who hear it. We are ambassadors of the gospel, but we are not the saviors, only God is. My prayer is that people reading this book will see Christ for who he is and that we would love Christ and trust the power of his truth more than the power of our feelings.
Allberry has written a fantastic resource that will unite the body of Christ as we seek to love both God’s commands and designs but also his creation— his image-bearers.
It is not exhaustive, but you can check out some of the resources below for further reading and study.
I would say this book is probably more targeted for believers than unbelievers, but there is something in it for everyone.
Highly recommend!
I’ll end on this powerful quote from Rachel Gilson’s book, Born Again This Way:
“Same-sex-attracted Christians today who are choosing God over sex and romance mirror the eunuch’s costly obedience and trust. Certainly it is not only same-sex-attracted Christians who do this— all Christians are called to God’s high sexual standard. But in this cultural moment, which urges people to boldly take up their LGBT+ identity, those who choose God over sex and romance echo that cry of Peter to Jesus: Where else would we go? You alone have the words of life. In a moment when everyone else was walking away, Peter recognized that Jesus had the only thing worth having— all other options were no options at all.”
Some Other Quotes:
“a number of Christians have said something like this: ‘The gospel must be harder for you than it is for me,’ as though I have more to give up than they do. But the fact is that the gospel demands everything of all of us. If someone thinks the gospel has somehow slotted into their life quite easily, without causing any major adjustments to their lifestyle or aspirations, it is likely that they have not really started following Jesus at all.”
“Denying yourself does not mean tweaking your behavior here and there… It is saying ‘no’ to your deepest sense of who you are, for the sake of Christ. To take up a cross is to declare your life (as you have known it) forfeit. It is laying down your life for the very reason that your life, it turns out, is not yours at all. It belongs to Jesus. He made it. And through his death he has bought it.”
“All of us have desires that are warped as a result of our fallen nature. Desires for things God has forbidden are a reflection of how sin has distorted me, not of how God has made me.”
“God is opposed to all sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage. It’s not that the Bible opposes all homosexual activity but approves of any and every sexual act between heterosexual people.”
Further Reading
- What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality? by Kevin DeYoung
- Gay Girl, Good God by Jackie Hill Perry
- Born Again This Way: Coming Out, Coming to Faith, and What Comes Next by Rachel Gilson
- The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to the Sexual Revolution by Carl Trueman
- What God Has to Say about Our Bodies: How the Gospel Is Good News for Our Physical Selves by Sam Allberry
- The Secular Creed: Engaging Five Contemporary Claims by Rebecca McLaughlin
- Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays vs Christians Debate by Justin Lee [I don’t agree with his conclusions and interpretations of the Bible— see my review— but it was good to hear his story]
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[On my list for Most Anticipated Books of 2022]
“You can’t beat a raptor into submission. You must work with its natural behavior to bend it to your will.”
If you haven’t read this series before, you’ll want to read it from the beginning: 1) The Cipher and 2) A Different Dawn. And I would highly recommend doing so!
If you’re already familiar with this series then you know that our female protagonist, Nina, former street cop, works with a special FBI team made up of Breck, a computer wiz, Kent, a former Navy SEAL, and Wade, a criminal profiler.
In The Falcon, the team is back in Phoenix, AZ working on another series of murders.
Young women are being abducted from the AIT campus. No bodies have been found and no suspects have been investigated.
A break in the case leads them to all but one of the missing girls, all in different states of mummification. As their investigation progresses, they discover the culprit not only an obsession with Egyptian rituals and culture, but has knowledge of falconry training and is himself searching for a mate that he will tame and train to love him back.
“This guy is an expert in training. Conditioning. Manipulation.”
“Falconry taught him patience, wisdom, and self-mastery.”
“He tries to control what he cannot understand. The frustration mounts as he repeatedly fails.”
Just like The Cipher, the mind of The Falcon is pretty twisted.
The team becomes extra invested when the next girl to be taken is Nina’s neighbor and ‘surrogate daughter’ Bianca who has been touring AIT to attend there in the fall.
I had suspected in book two that Bianca was going to be joining the team in some capacity in the future, but I hadn’t anticipated her being the victim. I still wonder if she will indirectly assist the team in every book. She’s their secret weapon! And as I had hoped from book two, Bianca did use less f-words so that was nice.
There was some swearing here or there but nothing distracting and excessive.
There was also some technical jargon and explanations that wasn’t super clear, but even if you didn’t understand it, you knew the overall purpose of what the action was going to do and it didn’t take away from the story.
The connection to Egyptian mythology and rituals was interesting but I couldn’t stop thinking about the comment one of our museum tour guides said as we were visiting a museum in London. We had limited time and he had us bypass the Egyptian exhibit saying, “Egypt matters for nothing!”
So if you feel as strongly as our tour guide, you may not enjoy that aspect of this book!
Another random tidbit from my life that is fractionally relevant— the killer gives ostrich feathers to the girls after he kills them because of Egyptian mythology, but they talk about how there’s a lot of ostrich farms in Arizona. I lived there for one year and it just so happened that the annual ostrich festival was being held the weekend of my birthday! They had a parade with ostriches and they did ostrich racing as well. So I feel a special connection to Arizonan ostriches. The end.
I’ve recommended this series to many people and I do so again here. I love the characters and character development (we see Nina and Kent become much closer in this book) as a team and also Nina individually as she continues to work through her hard past.
I love that book two gave Nina a new family, but then it leaves me wondering about the other members of the team. It never seems like they have anything to do or think about other than being with Nina and doing their work. Maybe that’s common in the FBI given the nature of the job? I don’t necessarily want Maldonado to invest more page real estate to all the other character’s families, but it would be nice to know they had lives too.
The writing is suspenseful and reads fast! Maldonado’s expertise in law enforcement and the FBI is very evident in her books and I feel like it’s pretty realistic. And her characters usually don’t go off on stupid ‘hero moments’ without notifying the team so I appreciate that too!
This book releases June 28, 2022, so keep this one on your radar this year! The release date gives you plenty of time to read the first two books in preparation.
Over and out.
Sidenote: I get a kick out of her book covers all having someone running away and looking at other books I’ve read, I’ve realized that it’s more common than I thought. So check out my blog this month because I’ll be doing a post of more books with covers like that!
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
Book Review Blog | Facebook | Pinterest
“You can’t beat a raptor into submission. You must work with its natural behavior to bend it to your will.”
If you haven’t read this series before, you’ll want to read it from the beginning: 1) The Cipher and 2) A Different Dawn. And I would highly recommend doing so!
If you’re already familiar with this series then you know that our female protagonist, Nina, former street cop, works with a special FBI team made up of Breck, a computer wiz, Kent, a former Navy SEAL, and Wade, a criminal profiler.
In The Falcon, the team is back in Phoenix, AZ working on another series of murders.
Young women are being abducted from the AIT campus. No bodies have been found and no suspects have been investigated.
A break in the case leads them to all but one of the missing girls, all in different states of mummification. As their investigation progresses, they discover the culprit not only an obsession with Egyptian rituals and culture, but has knowledge of falconry training and is himself searching for a mate that he will tame and train to love him back.
“This guy is an expert in training. Conditioning. Manipulation.”
“Falconry taught him patience, wisdom, and self-mastery.”
“He tries to control what he cannot understand. The frustration mounts as he repeatedly fails.”
Just like The Cipher, the mind of The Falcon is pretty twisted.
The team becomes extra invested when the next girl to be taken is Nina’s neighbor and ‘surrogate daughter’ Bianca who has been touring AIT to attend there in the fall.
I had suspected in book two that Bianca was going to be joining the team in some capacity in the future, but I hadn’t anticipated her being the victim. I still wonder if she will indirectly assist the team in every book. She’s their secret weapon! And as I had hoped from book two, Bianca did use less f-words so that was nice.
There was some swearing here or there but nothing distracting and excessive.
There was also some technical jargon and explanations that wasn’t super clear, but even if you didn’t understand it, you knew the overall purpose of what the action was going to do and it didn’t take away from the story.
The connection to Egyptian mythology and rituals was interesting but I couldn’t stop thinking about the comment one of our museum tour guides said as we were visiting a museum in London. We had limited time and he had us bypass the Egyptian exhibit saying, “Egypt matters for nothing!”
So if you feel as strongly as our tour guide, you may not enjoy that aspect of this book!
Another random tidbit from my life that is fractionally relevant— the killer gives ostrich feathers to the girls after he kills them because of Egyptian mythology, but they talk about how there’s a lot of ostrich farms in Arizona. I lived there for one year and it just so happened that the annual ostrich festival was being held the weekend of my birthday! They had a parade with ostriches and they did ostrich racing as well. So I feel a special connection to Arizonan ostriches. The end.
I’ve recommended this series to many people and I do so again here. I love the characters and character development (we see Nina and Kent become much closer in this book) as a team and also Nina individually as she continues to work through her hard past.
I love that book two gave Nina a new family, but then it leaves me wondering about the other members of the team. It never seems like they have anything to do or think about other than being with Nina and doing their work. Maybe that’s common in the FBI given the nature of the job? I don’t necessarily want Maldonado to invest more page real estate to all the other character’s families, but it would be nice to know they had lives too.
The writing is suspenseful and reads fast! Maldonado’s expertise in law enforcement and the FBI is very evident in her books and I feel like it’s pretty realistic. And her characters usually don’t go off on stupid ‘hero moments’ without notifying the team so I appreciate that too!
This book releases June 28, 2022, so keep this one on your radar this year! The release date gives you plenty of time to read the first two books in preparation.
Over and out.
Sidenote: I get a kick out of her book covers all having someone running away and looking at other books I’ve read, I’ve realized that it’s more common than I thought. So check out my blog this month because I’ll be doing a post of more books with covers like that!
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
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“‘The evangelicals’ are being defined—and even defining themselves—by agendas other than the gospel.”
What does evangelical mean? Who are evangelicals? Is this term too damaged to be used?
After reading Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s book Jesus and John Wayne, I wondered if what I believed evangelical to mean was true anymore. Frankly, most of what you hear about evangelicals these days seems tainted by its associations.
Right now, the perception and seemingly widely held negative connotation of ‘evangelical’ does not seem like something I want to be identified with.
Michael Reeves recognizes the precarious place the word ‘evangelical’ hangs and has written a book to address this controversial word and remind us why we may still call ourselves evangelical.
I needed this book and am glad for his biblical grounding of ‘evangelical’ and his encouragement to return to evangelical integrity (more on that later).
He says,
“I believe that there is a biblical case to be made for the importance and the goodness of being evangelical.”
“I do not at all mean to defend everything that calls itself evangelical.”
“Looking around at the phenomenon of evangelicalism today, it often seems a mile wide and an inch deep.”
“Across the world, swathes have come to self-identify as evangelical without holding to classic evangelical beliefs. And then there is the problem of how being “evangelical” has become associated with particular cultures, with politics, or with race.”
What is an Evangelical?
‘Evangelical’ comes from the word ‘evangel’ which comes from the Greek word for ‘good news.’
And we have the title of this book: Gospel People. Evangelicals= to be ‘of the gospel.’
Reeves describes the marks of evangelicals by quoting several passages written by the apostle Paul. Many prominent theologians have echoed this formatting throughout church history. These beliefs are not new compilations at all.
There is no real ‘definition’ of evangelical as many would like to be able to point to, but these are the gospel essentials required for evangelicalism.
“Any definition of the evangel and so of evangelicalism must follow apostolic teaching with its essential qualities of being Trinitarian, Scripture-based, Christ-centered, and Spirit-renewed.”
He focuses his book on discussing these three R’s: Revelation, Redemption, Regeneration.
Revelation of the Father
The revelation of the Father is His Word— the Bible.
To be evangelical means that you have a high view of Scripture. Maintaining the supremacy and authority of Scripture. Human wisdom, church tradition, and other valuable sources of learning are helpful, but they are not the ultimate voice or the source of Truth.
“There are a number of authorities to which the healthy evangelical will want to submit: the governing authorities of the land (Rom. 13:1), church elders, and creeds. But none of those authorities, along with Christian tradition and reason, are infallibly trustworthy like the word of God. They are of men. Scripture is of God.”
This discussion involves the terms ‘inerrancy,’ ‘infallible,’ and ‘inspired.’
“For Jesus, Scripture is the word of God, and as such he could teach “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). To suggest that the word of God might be faulty or untrustworthy is to imply that God is faulty and untrustworthy.”
For more information on why we can trust God’s Word and the way it was compiled, these two books would prove helpful:
- Taking God at His Word by Kevin DeYoung
- Surviving Religion 101 by Michael J. Kruger
Redemption of the Son
The redemption of the Son is the centrality of Jesus as the Son of God and the only Savior for our sins.
To be evangelical means that you believe in Jesus and his saving power on the cross.
“the eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ, has by His life, death, and resurrection, as our Representative and Substitute, obtained a complete salvation for sinners, and a redemption from the guilt, power, and consequences of sin, and that all who believe on Him are, even while they live, completely forgiven and justified from all things, are reckoned completely righteous before God, are interested in Christ and all His benefits.”
In Christ alone we are saved. We cannot add to this by requiring a way to earn salvation by good works. And we cannot substitute anyone else in his place.
“Because Christ’s redemptive work is entirely sufficient, the gospel is God’s kind work of rescue, not his offer of assistance. It is not a call for the strong and good to prove themselves, but for the weak and bad to prove the depths of the mercy of Christ.”
Regeneration of the Spirit
The regeneration of the Spirit is the importance of the life-transformation that happens through the work of the Holy Spirit.
“It is he who anoints the messenger, confirms the word, prepares the hearer, convicts the sinful, enlightens the blind, gives life to the dead, enables us to repent and believe, unites us to the body of Christ, assures us that we are God’s children, leads us into Christ-like character and service, and sends us out in our turn to be Christ’s witnesses. In all this the Holy Spirit’s main preoccupation is to glorify Jesus Christ by showing him to us and forming him in us.”
To be evangelical means that doctrine is important, but that our theology must be put into practice and change hearts. Evangelism is sharing the good news with others and believing in the power of the Spirit to transform lives, making people more like Christ.
“Born of the Spirit, we should spurn both spiritual hypocrisy and emptiness, loving both God and neighbor as we “glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3).”
Why Does it Matter?
“Since being gospel people means both unwavering faithfulness to the gospel and a refusal to elevate other issues to the level of the gospel, evangelicals have to walk a line between fighting over too much and discerning too little.”
The Evangelical Free Church uses the phrase ‘Major on the Majors, Minor on the Minors.’ Meaning- we do not compromise on gospel doctrines (the majors) but we allow for differences on non-gospel issues (the minors) in order to keep unity in the Church.
Evangelicals are found in many different denominations.
Gavin Ortlund has written a helpful book— Finding the Right Hills to Die On— using the term ‘theological triage’ to refer to discerning what areas of disagreement are first, second, or third tier issues (first tier meaning major gospel doctrines that ARE the right hills to die on).
Reeves says,
“The truer mark of the evangelical is discernment. Holding firm to the gospel, and holding it supreme, we reject all that opposes or presumes to rival it—and that must include the tribalism that elevates personalities, culture, politics, or any other issue to the level of the gospel. For evangelicals seek, before all things, to be people of the gospel, not people of a sect.”
Knowing what evangelical means matters because if we compromise on any of these major beliefs, we cease to be evangelical. We cease to be gospel people because we no longer have the gospel as God has given us to it in the Bible.
What is Happening with Modern Day Evangelicalism?
The last chapter of the book was my favorite. I practically highlighted the entire thing.
The other chapters were helpful, especially if you aren’t sure how you can articulate what evangelical means or what the gospel is, but the last chapter, titled Gospel Integrity, speaks to the problem of how ‘evangelical’ has become convoluted in America today and how we should respond.
I’d like to point out here, as Reeves does, that ‘evangelical’ is not an American word. It has been hijacked in American politics and has come to represent something other than its true definition, but there are far more evangelicals outside the US than inside. And those evangelicals are not representative of a racial or political block as we currently see in America.
In the US there are surveys and studies everywhere you look claiming statistics about evangelicals’ beliefs and habits which in turn create widely held connotations of what evangelicals are and what they stand for. But there are many people identifying as evangelicals without being evangelical in their beliefs.
For example,
“One 2020 survey found that 30 percent of American “evangelicals” believe that Jesus is not God; 65 percent believe he is instead the first being created by God; 46 percent believe the Holy Spirit is a force, not a person; and in any case, 23 percent feel that belief is a matter of opinion, not objective truth.”
This hardly meets the criteria for being gospel people.
Should we abandon this term ‘evangelical’?
Reeves argues that no, we should not. The term, however it’s masqueraded, is truly what we are- gospel people.
“The word evangelical has centuries of pedigree for a good reason. It may have lost some of its value in some places, but that can be regained through reinvestment. And where else can we people of the gospel go? There really is no acceptable and viable alternative with anything like the historical weight or the descriptive simplicity.”
Instead of glossing over the problems, he poses that we must “not to condone or flee, but repent and reform.” It’s a reformation movement to continually renew ourselves in biblical truths not a conformation movement that adapts to the cultural worldview and beliefs.
We maintain evangelical integrity.
And this, says Reeves, requires humility.
Ouch, right? If there’s one thing largely lacking in America— and in my own heart— it’s humility.
“[Evangelical integrity] is the bearing of one refreshed by the gospel. Captivated by the magnificence of God, such evangelicals will not be so drawn to man-centered therapeutic religion. Under the radiance of his glory, they will not want to establish their own little empires. Their tiny achievements will seem petty, their feuds and personal agendas odious. He will loom large, making them bold to please God and not men. They will not dither or stammer with the gospel. But aware of their own redemption they will share his own meekness and gentleness, not breaking a bruised reed. They will be quick to serve, quick to bless, quick to repent, and quick to laugh at themselves, for their glory is not themselves but Christ. This is the integrity found through the lifting up of Christ in his gospel.”
There is no unity without humility.
We need to reflect on what we’ve believed and what we’ve presented as our beliefs. Have we contributed to the perception (or reality) that evangelicals place a political or social agenda above the gospel? Have we compromised biblical truths in order to conform to accepted cultural values? We need to, in humility, return to the revelation our Father, the redemption of Jesus, and the regeneration of the Holy Spirit and be reformed and renewed by it. We don’t need to fear the 'evangelical’ identity as long as we are fearing our God.
These books are helpful as we think about politics and what the church should be centered on:
- How the Nations Rage by Jonathan Leeman
- What is the Mission of the Church? by Kevin DeYoung
- The Gospel as Center by D.A. Carson and Tim Keller
- ‘Fundamentalism’ and the Word of God by J.I. Packer
Conclusion
Calling all gospel people! This book is for you.
Even if you don’t call yourself a gospel person— if you’ve ever wondered what the heck ‘evangelicals’ are, this book is for you.
Gospel People is completely worth reading, even if you just read the last chapter. But in truth, the entire book is very relevant to today.
I’ve grown up in the evangelical free church my entire life. If I’m googling what evangelical means, then I’m assuming there are plenty of others who are too. This book is a Scripture-rich explanation of the gospel, the marks of evangelicals, and a call for evangelical integrity.
Plus it’s short, so that helps too!
I’ll leave you with this quote that circles back to our three R’s:
“Through the gospel, we come to realize that without God’s revelation, we are left groping in the darkness of ignorance. Without the redemption of the Son, we are utterly lost in our guilt and alienation from God. Without the Spirit’s work of regeneration, we are helplessly mired in our sin. In the gospel, God is exalted, and we delight to be abased before him. And only then, when he is lifted up, are people drawn to him (John 12:32).”
Extras:
Throughout the book Reeves quoted from J.C. Ryle on features of Evangelical Religion. Here are some of his quotes that I’m sure you’ll see represent the material above:
“The first leading feature in Evangelical Religion is the absolute supremacy it assigns to Holy Scripture, as the only rule of faith and practice, the only test of truth, the only judge of controversy.”
“Evangelical Religion does not despise learning, research, or the wisdom of days gone by.”
“A leading feature in Evangelical Religion is the depth and prominence it assigns to the doctrine of human sinfulness and corruption.”
“A leading feature in Evangelical Religion is the high place which it assigns to the inward work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of man.”
“A leading feature in Evangelical Religion is the importance which it attaches to the outward and visible work of the Holy Ghost in the life of man.”
“You may spoil the Gospel by disproportion. You have only to attach an exaggerated importance to the secondary things of Christianity, and a diminished importance to the first things, and the mischief is done.”
“Keep the walls of separation as low as possible, and shake hands over them as often as you can.”
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
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What does evangelical mean? Who are evangelicals? Is this term too damaged to be used?
After reading Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s book Jesus and John Wayne, I wondered if what I believed evangelical to mean was true anymore. Frankly, most of what you hear about evangelicals these days seems tainted by its associations.
Right now, the perception and seemingly widely held negative connotation of ‘evangelical’ does not seem like something I want to be identified with.
Michael Reeves recognizes the precarious place the word ‘evangelical’ hangs and has written a book to address this controversial word and remind us why we may still call ourselves evangelical.
I needed this book and am glad for his biblical grounding of ‘evangelical’ and his encouragement to return to evangelical integrity (more on that later).
He says,
“I believe that there is a biblical case to be made for the importance and the goodness of being evangelical.”
“I do not at all mean to defend everything that calls itself evangelical.”
“Looking around at the phenomenon of evangelicalism today, it often seems a mile wide and an inch deep.”
“Across the world, swathes have come to self-identify as evangelical without holding to classic evangelical beliefs. And then there is the problem of how being “evangelical” has become associated with particular cultures, with politics, or with race.”
What is an Evangelical?
‘Evangelical’ comes from the word ‘evangel’ which comes from the Greek word for ‘good news.’
And we have the title of this book: Gospel People. Evangelicals= to be ‘of the gospel.’
Reeves describes the marks of evangelicals by quoting several passages written by the apostle Paul. Many prominent theologians have echoed this formatting throughout church history. These beliefs are not new compilations at all.
There is no real ‘definition’ of evangelical as many would like to be able to point to, but these are the gospel essentials required for evangelicalism.
“Any definition of the evangel and so of evangelicalism must follow apostolic teaching with its essential qualities of being Trinitarian, Scripture-based, Christ-centered, and Spirit-renewed.”
He focuses his book on discussing these three R’s: Revelation, Redemption, Regeneration.
Revelation of the Father
The revelation of the Father is His Word— the Bible.
To be evangelical means that you have a high view of Scripture. Maintaining the supremacy and authority of Scripture. Human wisdom, church tradition, and other valuable sources of learning are helpful, but they are not the ultimate voice or the source of Truth.
“There are a number of authorities to which the healthy evangelical will want to submit: the governing authorities of the land (Rom. 13:1), church elders, and creeds. But none of those authorities, along with Christian tradition and reason, are infallibly trustworthy like the word of God. They are of men. Scripture is of God.”
This discussion involves the terms ‘inerrancy,’ ‘infallible,’ and ‘inspired.’
“For Jesus, Scripture is the word of God, and as such he could teach “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). To suggest that the word of God might be faulty or untrustworthy is to imply that God is faulty and untrustworthy.”
For more information on why we can trust God’s Word and the way it was compiled, these two books would prove helpful:
- Taking God at His Word by Kevin DeYoung
- Surviving Religion 101 by Michael J. Kruger
Redemption of the Son
The redemption of the Son is the centrality of Jesus as the Son of God and the only Savior for our sins.
To be evangelical means that you believe in Jesus and his saving power on the cross.
“the eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ, has by His life, death, and resurrection, as our Representative and Substitute, obtained a complete salvation for sinners, and a redemption from the guilt, power, and consequences of sin, and that all who believe on Him are, even while they live, completely forgiven and justified from all things, are reckoned completely righteous before God, are interested in Christ and all His benefits.”
In Christ alone we are saved. We cannot add to this by requiring a way to earn salvation by good works. And we cannot substitute anyone else in his place.
“Because Christ’s redemptive work is entirely sufficient, the gospel is God’s kind work of rescue, not his offer of assistance. It is not a call for the strong and good to prove themselves, but for the weak and bad to prove the depths of the mercy of Christ.”
Regeneration of the Spirit
The regeneration of the Spirit is the importance of the life-transformation that happens through the work of the Holy Spirit.
“It is he who anoints the messenger, confirms the word, prepares the hearer, convicts the sinful, enlightens the blind, gives life to the dead, enables us to repent and believe, unites us to the body of Christ, assures us that we are God’s children, leads us into Christ-like character and service, and sends us out in our turn to be Christ’s witnesses. In all this the Holy Spirit’s main preoccupation is to glorify Jesus Christ by showing him to us and forming him in us.”
To be evangelical means that doctrine is important, but that our theology must be put into practice and change hearts. Evangelism is sharing the good news with others and believing in the power of the Spirit to transform lives, making people more like Christ.
“Born of the Spirit, we should spurn both spiritual hypocrisy and emptiness, loving both God and neighbor as we “glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3).”
Why Does it Matter?
“Since being gospel people means both unwavering faithfulness to the gospel and a refusal to elevate other issues to the level of the gospel, evangelicals have to walk a line between fighting over too much and discerning too little.”
The Evangelical Free Church uses the phrase ‘Major on the Majors, Minor on the Minors.’ Meaning- we do not compromise on gospel doctrines (the majors) but we allow for differences on non-gospel issues (the minors) in order to keep unity in the Church.
Evangelicals are found in many different denominations.
Gavin Ortlund has written a helpful book— Finding the Right Hills to Die On— using the term ‘theological triage’ to refer to discerning what areas of disagreement are first, second, or third tier issues (first tier meaning major gospel doctrines that ARE the right hills to die on).
Reeves says,
“The truer mark of the evangelical is discernment. Holding firm to the gospel, and holding it supreme, we reject all that opposes or presumes to rival it—and that must include the tribalism that elevates personalities, culture, politics, or any other issue to the level of the gospel. For evangelicals seek, before all things, to be people of the gospel, not people of a sect.”
Knowing what evangelical means matters because if we compromise on any of these major beliefs, we cease to be evangelical. We cease to be gospel people because we no longer have the gospel as God has given us to it in the Bible.
What is Happening with Modern Day Evangelicalism?
The last chapter of the book was my favorite. I practically highlighted the entire thing.
The other chapters were helpful, especially if you aren’t sure how you can articulate what evangelical means or what the gospel is, but the last chapter, titled Gospel Integrity, speaks to the problem of how ‘evangelical’ has become convoluted in America today and how we should respond.
I’d like to point out here, as Reeves does, that ‘evangelical’ is not an American word. It has been hijacked in American politics and has come to represent something other than its true definition, but there are far more evangelicals outside the US than inside. And those evangelicals are not representative of a racial or political block as we currently see in America.
In the US there are surveys and studies everywhere you look claiming statistics about evangelicals’ beliefs and habits which in turn create widely held connotations of what evangelicals are and what they stand for. But there are many people identifying as evangelicals without being evangelical in their beliefs.
For example,
“One 2020 survey found that 30 percent of American “evangelicals” believe that Jesus is not God; 65 percent believe he is instead the first being created by God; 46 percent believe the Holy Spirit is a force, not a person; and in any case, 23 percent feel that belief is a matter of opinion, not objective truth.”
This hardly meets the criteria for being gospel people.
Should we abandon this term ‘evangelical’?
Reeves argues that no, we should not. The term, however it’s masqueraded, is truly what we are- gospel people.
“The word evangelical has centuries of pedigree for a good reason. It may have lost some of its value in some places, but that can be regained through reinvestment. And where else can we people of the gospel go? There really is no acceptable and viable alternative with anything like the historical weight or the descriptive simplicity.”
Instead of glossing over the problems, he poses that we must “not to condone or flee, but repent and reform.” It’s a reformation movement to continually renew ourselves in biblical truths not a conformation movement that adapts to the cultural worldview and beliefs.
We maintain evangelical integrity.
And this, says Reeves, requires humility.
Ouch, right? If there’s one thing largely lacking in America— and in my own heart— it’s humility.
“[Evangelical integrity] is the bearing of one refreshed by the gospel. Captivated by the magnificence of God, such evangelicals will not be so drawn to man-centered therapeutic religion. Under the radiance of his glory, they will not want to establish their own little empires. Their tiny achievements will seem petty, their feuds and personal agendas odious. He will loom large, making them bold to please God and not men. They will not dither or stammer with the gospel. But aware of their own redemption they will share his own meekness and gentleness, not breaking a bruised reed. They will be quick to serve, quick to bless, quick to repent, and quick to laugh at themselves, for their glory is not themselves but Christ. This is the integrity found through the lifting up of Christ in his gospel.”
There is no unity without humility.
We need to reflect on what we’ve believed and what we’ve presented as our beliefs. Have we contributed to the perception (or reality) that evangelicals place a political or social agenda above the gospel? Have we compromised biblical truths in order to conform to accepted cultural values? We need to, in humility, return to the revelation our Father, the redemption of Jesus, and the regeneration of the Holy Spirit and be reformed and renewed by it. We don’t need to fear the 'evangelical’ identity as long as we are fearing our God.
These books are helpful as we think about politics and what the church should be centered on:
- How the Nations Rage by Jonathan Leeman
- What is the Mission of the Church? by Kevin DeYoung
- The Gospel as Center by D.A. Carson and Tim Keller
- ‘Fundamentalism’ and the Word of God by J.I. Packer
Conclusion
Calling all gospel people! This book is for you.
Even if you don’t call yourself a gospel person— if you’ve ever wondered what the heck ‘evangelicals’ are, this book is for you.
Gospel People is completely worth reading, even if you just read the last chapter. But in truth, the entire book is very relevant to today.
I’ve grown up in the evangelical free church my entire life. If I’m googling what evangelical means, then I’m assuming there are plenty of others who are too. This book is a Scripture-rich explanation of the gospel, the marks of evangelicals, and a call for evangelical integrity.
Plus it’s short, so that helps too!
I’ll leave you with this quote that circles back to our three R’s:
“Through the gospel, we come to realize that without God’s revelation, we are left groping in the darkness of ignorance. Without the redemption of the Son, we are utterly lost in our guilt and alienation from God. Without the Spirit’s work of regeneration, we are helplessly mired in our sin. In the gospel, God is exalted, and we delight to be abased before him. And only then, when he is lifted up, are people drawn to him (John 12:32).”
Extras:
Throughout the book Reeves quoted from J.C. Ryle on features of Evangelical Religion. Here are some of his quotes that I’m sure you’ll see represent the material above:
“The first leading feature in Evangelical Religion is the absolute supremacy it assigns to Holy Scripture, as the only rule of faith and practice, the only test of truth, the only judge of controversy.”
“Evangelical Religion does not despise learning, research, or the wisdom of days gone by.”
“A leading feature in Evangelical Religion is the depth and prominence it assigns to the doctrine of human sinfulness and corruption.”
“A leading feature in Evangelical Religion is the high place which it assigns to the inward work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of man.”
“A leading feature in Evangelical Religion is the importance which it attaches to the outward and visible work of the Holy Ghost in the life of man.”
“You may spoil the Gospel by disproportion. You have only to attach an exaggerated importance to the secondary things of Christianity, and a diminished importance to the first things, and the mischief is done.”
“Keep the walls of separation as low as possible, and shake hands over them as often as you can.”
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
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A provocative title. A damning declaration. It is clear Kobes Du Mez (KDM) is writing to ruffle feathers.
Although feathers need to be ruffled, her writing, dripping with disdain for white evangelicals and all things Christian, and her blatant, contemptuous bias single-handedly discredits to me any important and rightful critiques she makes. Paired with the mystery of what KDM actually believes about the Bible, I’m not sure how much of her worldview I want to ingest.
Her book is not a compassionate, pointed critique of sin, the happening and handling of abuse and violence, the falls of the powerful, consumerism, Christian nationalism, or unbiblical prescriptive “gender roles” (whatever this means anymore) nor is it an urging to evangelicals to return to and hold fast to biblical principles (because she never checks in with what the Bible teaches), but rather, Jesus and John Wayne is an accusatory tirade against an entire group of people, condemned by transplanting the sins of “evangelical” leaders and assuming motives and beliefs of “all” their apparent followers—identified distinctly by their ballot in 2016.
She says, “In 2016, many observers were stunned at evangelicals’ apparent betrayal of their own values. In reality, evangelicals did not cast their vote despite their beliefs, but because of them.”
What beliefs, you ask? Well according to KDM’s research and opinion, evangelicals’ core beliefs stem from an obsession with militant masculinity and patriarchy. This phrase is used no fewer than 1000 times in this book. Evangelicals didn’t vote for Trump because of a conviction grounded in Scripture to protect the lives of the unborn or even economic policies that do more than look good on paper; KDM is convinced it’s because Trump represented aggressive manliness just like John Wayne, evangelicals’ ‘ultimate hero.’
She claims evangelicalism is “linked to opposition to gay rights and gun control, to use of excessive force against black Americans in law enforcement situations and to traditionalist gender ideology. White evangelicals have pieced together this patchwork of issues, and a nostalgic commitment to rugged, aggressive, militant white masculinity serves as the thread binding them together into a coherent whole.”
This convoluted grouping and broad-stroke-labeling is the MO of her book. I fear many readers will blindly accept her labeling as truth. Just because she calls something militant or patriarchal or significant, does not mean she is right. Like a review I share below says— accusations are not evidence.
Though the term ‘evangelical’ is an enigma to me at this point, one can’t deny that— like all groups of people— there are blemishes in evangelical history, sins committed, outright abuses, and unbiblical liberties taken in the pursuit of power and money.
But what makes KDM’s book dangerous is that her negatively charged word selection and irresponsibility in representing a fair, complete picture of the background and context surrounding her strategically pulled quotes and accusations makes it hard for the general reader to decipher fact from exaggeration, widespread belief from outlying extremism.
Readers who will not think critically of her remarks and skewed presentation or ask further questions are likely to recognize the real grievances done by the leaders she selected to portray and then make the sweeping conclusion: “Christians and the Bible are what’s wrong with the world and I can’t be part of it anymore.”
KDM does nothing to hinder readers from reaching this conclusion and I believe it is to the severe detriment to the Church, if she in fact, calls herself part of it.
She claims a lot of things for “many” people that are misrepresented or simply untrue. And similar to the condemnations found in Divided by Faith, it would seem to both KDM and Emerson, no matter what evangelicals say or do or don’t say or do, it is the epically wrong choice steeped in ulterior racist and male-dominating motives.
I felt similarly when I read Jemar Tisby’s book The Color of Compromise— although, he handled the reporting of historical events and people with far more respectability. Both books seem to lump groups of people together, assume motives, use false equivalence, and leave us with certain questions about what they believe the Bible teaches.
(Sidenote: Tisby, in his book, basically annihilates every single president for being racist so let’s not pretend that suddenly in 2016 we have some sort of historical moral standard for presidents that we have to vote in accordance with.)
In her book KDM points out criticisms the Caner brothers received from the Muslim community when they wrote Unveiling Islam and offers her own take: “...[critics] accusing the brothers of ‘either purposely or ignorantly’ presenting ‘half-truth after half-truth, mischaracterization after mischaracterization and falsehood after falsehood.’ But the book told evangelicals exactly what they wanted to hear.” Ironically, I feel this description could be applied to her own book. I think her accusations are purposefully inflammatory and incomplete yet nonetheless what ‘the masses’ want to hear.
Her snarkiness and overuse of passive-aggressive scare quotes leaves me truly wondering what her beliefs even are- which parts is she condemning? Every last word? If white evangelicals are all that’s wrong in America, what would the “un-fractured” nation even look like?
The Bible stands in opposition of the culture and is foolishness to those who do not believe it. To follow the teachings of the Bible, it will naturally cause division of beliefs about what is right and wrong.
To her thesis: I believe KDM has failed to present compelling evidence that white evangelicals ‘corrupted a faith’ or ‘fractured a nation.’ Furthermore, her explanation of why evangelicals voted for Trump— “militant masculinity”— is laughably simplified and not representative.
(Another sidenote: Politics, economics, and morality are a complex combination and it seems glaringly obvious to me that there are hundreds of reasons for why people vote the way they do. I understand that those who vote differently than me do so under deep convictions of what they believe is morally right, justice-seeking, and beneficial for our country. I would hope others would look at my vote the same way. I fail to see how this book benefits us as a country or us as a Christian community.)
Frankly, I’m not going to waste my time detailing all the ways this book is problematic. There are several other reviews that speak many of my feelings and I’ve included them below. Actually many of the mentioned reviewers would even still recommend reading this book after offering their critiques.
I don’t think I do.
I do think KDM has pointed out some very disheartening and horrendous things that deserve to be critiqued and denounced in the church. But there is nothing about her writing style that makes me believe she is qualified to present a fair assessment and proper representation of really anything. I’ll look elsewhere.
Critiques of abuse and sin should be made, yet beliefs that are grounded in Scripture alone should be upheld whether they are countercultural or not.
As Jonathan Leeman says in his book How the Nations Rage: “Until Christ returns, the nations will rage and plot in vain. We, meanwhile, point to the Lord and to his Anointed, both in word and deed. We’re on the right side of history so long as we stand with the Lord of history. His vindication will be our vindication.”
These Goodreads reviews here, here, and here resonated with me.
As did these more comprehensive reviews I pulled excerpts from…
This review by Anne Kennedy on CBMW:
“For Du Mez, it is only “conservatives” who fall prey to marketing and celebrity culture…She is able to see the speck in the eye of the white evangelical Trump supporter, but not the degree to which her provocative and energetic style makes for such a culturally advantageous, if not actually fashionable product.”
“By taking sincerely held theological and ethical beliefs off the table as possible motives for voting habits and replacing them with supposedly toxic masculine consumerism, Du Mez doesn’t have to deal with what many Christians in America actually believe. Nor does she have to grapple with the fact that Mr. Trump (though it was so astonishing) ran as a pro-life candidate and lived up to his campaign promises on that score. Du Mez apparently heard all evangelicals saying that they believed Mr. Trump was an ideal political candidate, whereas many voters — not just evangelical ones — said in plain English that they merely preferred Mr. Trump to Mrs. Clinton.”
“Du Mez said [in an interview] she wanted to be aggressive. She was tired of people privileging a warrior Christ rather than the one that preaches peace. It is a convenient choice. One that, I’m sure, she feels free to make because she will not suffer any loss of social or, tragically, academic credibility. People who believe in a male Christ who died for a Church who is likened to a Bride, who take their theology from a book shaped by a masculinity and femininity so embedded in the text that the words are rendered insensible when it is excised, who humble themselves before an objective Truth that makes claims on their manner of life, their identity, their sexuality, and the darkest parts of their souls, do not have any power right now.”
“The desperation and rage that many Americans felt at the end of eight years of Mr. Obama — not because they were racist, but because marriage as an institution had been blasphemed, because religious protections were eroding right under their very noses, and because the other candidate was someone who was so politically committed to the horrors of abortion that she never once during her campaign equivocated or moderated her view — were willing to take what they could. When all the other better and more logical candidates had left the stage and Mr. Trump was still standing, they went out and voted for him.”
“It would be fair to continue to debate the wisdom of that vote, to have a political discussion that included the economic and moral considerations that evangelicals hold, whether they be good and holy, or tawdry and foolish. Unfortunately for all of us, the existence of this book — and its whole-hearted embrace even by many evangelicals as “explaining everything” — proves that no such discussion will take place.”
This review by Kirsten Sanders on Mere Orthodoxy:
“What role should stories play in the telling of truth? And whose stories should be given epistemic priority? There are ethical obligations to hear not only the stories that correspond with our larger theories or social concerns, but also the ones that are conflicting.”
“KDM reads these smaller examples not as outliers but as evidence. This is a risky method. It is this question of sources that proved troubling to me as a reader, for KDM often chooses not the most prominent individuals or events, but, in my opinion, the most egregious.”
“KDM’s examples are unimpeachable and lamentable. But is this kind of swashbuckling patriotism a feature or a bug? Does evangelicalism generate this on its own, a kind of misogynist machine? Or are these statistically significant errors, aberrations due to sin or formation or culture? Some of these guys are bad dudes. But are they all bad in the same way, for the same reasons?”
“…she announces her verdict a lot, and the book can read like a conclusion in search of evidence. The questions she asks are broad, expansive ones that use words that remain ill-defined.”
“Economic factors are ignored in this book to its peril.”
“…the tendency of Jesus and John Wayne is to flatten “evangelicalism” by stating that voting for Trump (which, keep in mind, does not equal support for Trump) confirms something significant about “evangelicalism” writ large.”
This review by Jamie Carlson on Mere Orthodoxy:
“… she acknowledges at times that trends in evangelicalism corresponded to similar trends in broader American culture, yet she does not show how evangelicals set themselves apart as being uniquely bad in their embrace of these trends. Her citations, then, seem to work against her argument. This places disproportional blame on evangelicals for ills that plague American culture more broadly.”
“…she makes claims about the motives of some leaders without substantiating them.”
“Accusations are not proof, particularly when there are much simpler explanations…”
This review by Garrett O’Hara on Things Above:
“Jesus and John Wayne does a decent job of historically documenting actual problems in American evangelicalism. However, its ideological slant and snide tone get in the way of having a more positive impact, instead choosing to conjure the cheers of a choir which seeks to have its own left-leaning biases confirmed.”
“We later find that ‘For conservative white evangelicals, the ‘good news’ [are these scare quotes?] of the Christian gospel has become inextricably linked to a staunch commitment to patriarchal authority [this is code for complementarianism], gender difference, and Christian nationalism, and all of these are intertwined with white racial identity.’”
This review cites two others, but uniquely to this review was this statement:
“In 2003, I was part of a Pentagon team tasked by the Secretary of the Air Force to review these allegations [in Colorado Springs]. I spent a year on the investigation, during which we interviewed hundreds of witnesses and examined thousands of pages of documents. I was also one of the principal drafters of the June 2003 report to the Secretary of the Air Force, which was subsequently reviewed by Department of Defense and Congressional investigations. All of this is to say I know something about the circumstances to which Du Mez refers. And her description is both wrong and tendentious.”
AND… Because these topics are too important to only read one book about it:
How the Nations Rage is a fantastic book about the relationship between the church and politics, critiques when the church has been silent and when it has turned politics into a god, and talks through straight line vs jagged line political issues. It also suggests we stop using the phrase ‘culture wars.’
Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth is the best book I’ve read on a proper relationship between Christians and social justice issues, it forces us to ask important questions about what our politics is saying about our faith.
Evangelical Feminism is an excellent defense of complementarianism that fairly represents egalitarians and looks at the implications of the varying ways of interpreting Scripture.
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus is the story of a man’s journey to Christianity while defending his Islamic faith. He essentially studied in depth the Quran vs the person of Jesus but came to realize things about his religion that he hadn’t known before.
“Fundamentalism” and the Word of God explains the misconceptions of fundamentalists and breaks down what it means and what fundamentalists believe. Much of the earlier history KDM talks about involves fundamentalists and this would be a good clarifier for that buzzword.
What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality? is a very good, comprehensive, and easy to understand study of the Scriptural passages that talk about homosexuality and addresses all the common debate issues
A(Typical) Woman is a phenomenal book about biblical womanhood that shows us the diversity and freedom we have in being a woman, not trying to ‘fit in’ to what we think the ‘right woman’ is. God doesn’t call us to be typical- we are called to be faithful. So good!
The Unsaved Christian is a great book that challenges the depth of our faith. This speaks in part against Christian Nationalism as KDM also critiqued and reminds us that politics should not be dividing us as a church.
Before You Lose Your Faith addresses some of the criticisms of the church that has caused people to deconstruct. It does not defend the ways the church has failed but has called the church to be both a place of safety and of truth.
Book review blog: www.shelfreflection.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/shelfreflection
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/shelfreflectionblog
Although feathers need to be ruffled, her writing, dripping with disdain for white evangelicals and all things Christian, and her blatant, contemptuous bias single-handedly discredits to me any important and rightful critiques she makes. Paired with the mystery of what KDM actually believes about the Bible, I’m not sure how much of her worldview I want to ingest.
Her book is not a compassionate, pointed critique of sin, the happening and handling of abuse and violence, the falls of the powerful, consumerism, Christian nationalism, or unbiblical prescriptive “gender roles” (whatever this means anymore) nor is it an urging to evangelicals to return to and hold fast to biblical principles (because she never checks in with what the Bible teaches), but rather, Jesus and John Wayne is an accusatory tirade against an entire group of people, condemned by transplanting the sins of “evangelical” leaders and assuming motives and beliefs of “all” their apparent followers—identified distinctly by their ballot in 2016.
She says, “In 2016, many observers were stunned at evangelicals’ apparent betrayal of their own values. In reality, evangelicals did not cast their vote despite their beliefs, but because of them.”
What beliefs, you ask? Well according to KDM’s research and opinion, evangelicals’ core beliefs stem from an obsession with militant masculinity and patriarchy. This phrase is used no fewer than 1000 times in this book. Evangelicals didn’t vote for Trump because of a conviction grounded in Scripture to protect the lives of the unborn or even economic policies that do more than look good on paper; KDM is convinced it’s because Trump represented aggressive manliness just like John Wayne, evangelicals’ ‘ultimate hero.’
She claims evangelicalism is “linked to opposition to gay rights and gun control, to use of excessive force against black Americans in law enforcement situations and to traditionalist gender ideology. White evangelicals have pieced together this patchwork of issues, and a nostalgic commitment to rugged, aggressive, militant white masculinity serves as the thread binding them together into a coherent whole.”
This convoluted grouping and broad-stroke-labeling is the MO of her book. I fear many readers will blindly accept her labeling as truth. Just because she calls something militant or patriarchal or significant, does not mean she is right. Like a review I share below says— accusations are not evidence.
Though the term ‘evangelical’ is an enigma to me at this point, one can’t deny that— like all groups of people— there are blemishes in evangelical history, sins committed, outright abuses, and unbiblical liberties taken in the pursuit of power and money.
But what makes KDM’s book dangerous is that her negatively charged word selection and irresponsibility in representing a fair, complete picture of the background and context surrounding her strategically pulled quotes and accusations makes it hard for the general reader to decipher fact from exaggeration, widespread belief from outlying extremism.
Readers who will not think critically of her remarks and skewed presentation or ask further questions are likely to recognize the real grievances done by the leaders she selected to portray and then make the sweeping conclusion: “Christians and the Bible are what’s wrong with the world and I can’t be part of it anymore.”
KDM does nothing to hinder readers from reaching this conclusion and I believe it is to the severe detriment to the Church, if she in fact, calls herself part of it.
She claims a lot of things for “many” people that are misrepresented or simply untrue. And similar to the condemnations found in Divided by Faith, it would seem to both KDM and Emerson, no matter what evangelicals say or do or don’t say or do, it is the epically wrong choice steeped in ulterior racist and male-dominating motives.
I felt similarly when I read Jemar Tisby’s book The Color of Compromise— although, he handled the reporting of historical events and people with far more respectability. Both books seem to lump groups of people together, assume motives, use false equivalence, and leave us with certain questions about what they believe the Bible teaches.
(Sidenote: Tisby, in his book, basically annihilates every single president for being racist so let’s not pretend that suddenly in 2016 we have some sort of historical moral standard for presidents that we have to vote in accordance with.)
In her book KDM points out criticisms the Caner brothers received from the Muslim community when they wrote Unveiling Islam and offers her own take: “...[critics] accusing the brothers of ‘either purposely or ignorantly’ presenting ‘half-truth after half-truth, mischaracterization after mischaracterization and falsehood after falsehood.’ But the book told evangelicals exactly what they wanted to hear.” Ironically, I feel this description could be applied to her own book. I think her accusations are purposefully inflammatory and incomplete yet nonetheless what ‘the masses’ want to hear.
Her snarkiness and overuse of passive-aggressive scare quotes leaves me truly wondering what her beliefs even are- which parts is she condemning? Every last word? If white evangelicals are all that’s wrong in America, what would the “un-fractured” nation even look like?
The Bible stands in opposition of the culture and is foolishness to those who do not believe it. To follow the teachings of the Bible, it will naturally cause division of beliefs about what is right and wrong.
To her thesis: I believe KDM has failed to present compelling evidence that white evangelicals ‘corrupted a faith’ or ‘fractured a nation.’ Furthermore, her explanation of why evangelicals voted for Trump— “militant masculinity”— is laughably simplified and not representative.
(Another sidenote: Politics, economics, and morality are a complex combination and it seems glaringly obvious to me that there are hundreds of reasons for why people vote the way they do. I understand that those who vote differently than me do so under deep convictions of what they believe is morally right, justice-seeking, and beneficial for our country. I would hope others would look at my vote the same way. I fail to see how this book benefits us as a country or us as a Christian community.)
Frankly, I’m not going to waste my time detailing all the ways this book is problematic. There are several other reviews that speak many of my feelings and I’ve included them below. Actually many of the mentioned reviewers would even still recommend reading this book after offering their critiques.
I don’t think I do.
I do think KDM has pointed out some very disheartening and horrendous things that deserve to be critiqued and denounced in the church. But there is nothing about her writing style that makes me believe she is qualified to present a fair assessment and proper representation of really anything. I’ll look elsewhere.
Critiques of abuse and sin should be made, yet beliefs that are grounded in Scripture alone should be upheld whether they are countercultural or not.
As Jonathan Leeman says in his book How the Nations Rage: “Until Christ returns, the nations will rage and plot in vain. We, meanwhile, point to the Lord and to his Anointed, both in word and deed. We’re on the right side of history so long as we stand with the Lord of history. His vindication will be our vindication.”
These Goodreads reviews here, here, and here resonated with me.
As did these more comprehensive reviews I pulled excerpts from…
This review by Anne Kennedy on CBMW:
“For Du Mez, it is only “conservatives” who fall prey to marketing and celebrity culture…She is able to see the speck in the eye of the white evangelical Trump supporter, but not the degree to which her provocative and energetic style makes for such a culturally advantageous, if not actually fashionable product.”
“By taking sincerely held theological and ethical beliefs off the table as possible motives for voting habits and replacing them with supposedly toxic masculine consumerism, Du Mez doesn’t have to deal with what many Christians in America actually believe. Nor does she have to grapple with the fact that Mr. Trump (though it was so astonishing) ran as a pro-life candidate and lived up to his campaign promises on that score. Du Mez apparently heard all evangelicals saying that they believed Mr. Trump was an ideal political candidate, whereas many voters — not just evangelical ones — said in plain English that they merely preferred Mr. Trump to Mrs. Clinton.”
“Du Mez said [in an interview] she wanted to be aggressive. She was tired of people privileging a warrior Christ rather than the one that preaches peace. It is a convenient choice. One that, I’m sure, she feels free to make because she will not suffer any loss of social or, tragically, academic credibility. People who believe in a male Christ who died for a Church who is likened to a Bride, who take their theology from a book shaped by a masculinity and femininity so embedded in the text that the words are rendered insensible when it is excised, who humble themselves before an objective Truth that makes claims on their manner of life, their identity, their sexuality, and the darkest parts of their souls, do not have any power right now.”
“The desperation and rage that many Americans felt at the end of eight years of Mr. Obama — not because they were racist, but because marriage as an institution had been blasphemed, because religious protections were eroding right under their very noses, and because the other candidate was someone who was so politically committed to the horrors of abortion that she never once during her campaign equivocated or moderated her view — were willing to take what they could. When all the other better and more logical candidates had left the stage and Mr. Trump was still standing, they went out and voted for him.”
“It would be fair to continue to debate the wisdom of that vote, to have a political discussion that included the economic and moral considerations that evangelicals hold, whether they be good and holy, or tawdry and foolish. Unfortunately for all of us, the existence of this book — and its whole-hearted embrace even by many evangelicals as “explaining everything” — proves that no such discussion will take place.”
This review by Kirsten Sanders on Mere Orthodoxy:
“What role should stories play in the telling of truth? And whose stories should be given epistemic priority? There are ethical obligations to hear not only the stories that correspond with our larger theories or social concerns, but also the ones that are conflicting.”
“KDM reads these smaller examples not as outliers but as evidence. This is a risky method. It is this question of sources that proved troubling to me as a reader, for KDM often chooses not the most prominent individuals or events, but, in my opinion, the most egregious.”
“KDM’s examples are unimpeachable and lamentable. But is this kind of swashbuckling patriotism a feature or a bug? Does evangelicalism generate this on its own, a kind of misogynist machine? Or are these statistically significant errors, aberrations due to sin or formation or culture? Some of these guys are bad dudes. But are they all bad in the same way, for the same reasons?”
“…she announces her verdict a lot, and the book can read like a conclusion in search of evidence. The questions she asks are broad, expansive ones that use words that remain ill-defined.”
“Economic factors are ignored in this book to its peril.”
“…the tendency of Jesus and John Wayne is to flatten “evangelicalism” by stating that voting for Trump (which, keep in mind, does not equal support for Trump) confirms something significant about “evangelicalism” writ large.”
This review by Jamie Carlson on Mere Orthodoxy:
“… she acknowledges at times that trends in evangelicalism corresponded to similar trends in broader American culture, yet she does not show how evangelicals set themselves apart as being uniquely bad in their embrace of these trends. Her citations, then, seem to work against her argument. This places disproportional blame on evangelicals for ills that plague American culture more broadly.”
“…she makes claims about the motives of some leaders without substantiating them.”
“Accusations are not proof, particularly when there are much simpler explanations…”
This review by Garrett O’Hara on Things Above:
“Jesus and John Wayne does a decent job of historically documenting actual problems in American evangelicalism. However, its ideological slant and snide tone get in the way of having a more positive impact, instead choosing to conjure the cheers of a choir which seeks to have its own left-leaning biases confirmed.”
“We later find that ‘For conservative white evangelicals, the ‘good news’ [are these scare quotes?] of the Christian gospel has become inextricably linked to a staunch commitment to patriarchal authority [this is code for complementarianism], gender difference, and Christian nationalism, and all of these are intertwined with white racial identity.’”
This review cites two others, but uniquely to this review was this statement:
“In 2003, I was part of a Pentagon team tasked by the Secretary of the Air Force to review these allegations [in Colorado Springs]. I spent a year on the investigation, during which we interviewed hundreds of witnesses and examined thousands of pages of documents. I was also one of the principal drafters of the June 2003 report to the Secretary of the Air Force, which was subsequently reviewed by Department of Defense and Congressional investigations. All of this is to say I know something about the circumstances to which Du Mez refers. And her description is both wrong and tendentious.”
AND… Because these topics are too important to only read one book about it:
How the Nations Rage is a fantastic book about the relationship between the church and politics, critiques when the church has been silent and when it has turned politics into a god, and talks through straight line vs jagged line political issues. It also suggests we stop using the phrase ‘culture wars.’
Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth is the best book I’ve read on a proper relationship between Christians and social justice issues, it forces us to ask important questions about what our politics is saying about our faith.
Evangelical Feminism is an excellent defense of complementarianism that fairly represents egalitarians and looks at the implications of the varying ways of interpreting Scripture.
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus is the story of a man’s journey to Christianity while defending his Islamic faith. He essentially studied in depth the Quran vs the person of Jesus but came to realize things about his religion that he hadn’t known before.
“Fundamentalism” and the Word of God explains the misconceptions of fundamentalists and breaks down what it means and what fundamentalists believe. Much of the earlier history KDM talks about involves fundamentalists and this would be a good clarifier for that buzzword.
What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality? is a very good, comprehensive, and easy to understand study of the Scriptural passages that talk about homosexuality and addresses all the common debate issues
A(Typical) Woman is a phenomenal book about biblical womanhood that shows us the diversity and freedom we have in being a woman, not trying to ‘fit in’ to what we think the ‘right woman’ is. God doesn’t call us to be typical- we are called to be faithful. So good!
The Unsaved Christian is a great book that challenges the depth of our faith. This speaks in part against Christian Nationalism as KDM also critiqued and reminds us that politics should not be dividing us as a church.
Before You Lose Your Faith addresses some of the criticisms of the church that has caused people to deconstruct. It does not defend the ways the church has failed but has called the church to be both a place of safety and of truth.
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“When we abide in the Spirit, we take on a new nature in Christ, we are no longer branches bound for death. We are now grafted into a living, fruitful vine which causes us to bear good fruit.”
This past year I taught my daughters a song to remember the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I’ve tried to point out when they are exhibiting those attributes and when they need reminding of them.
And I realized that I hadn’t reflected on these much now that I’m an adult.
This was a good study on this short passage of Galatians to remind us that this list of characteristics is not a guidepost to see if we’re Christian-enough.
Each of these remind us of who God is. When we practice these characteristics, we are imaging God.
And yet, they are very hard to do day-in and day-out. I love that this study emphasizes our need for the Holy Spirit and the power that is ours through Him. We can only bear this fruit through the Spirit.
“The term fruit denotes a sort of overflow; produced from the One who dwells within us.”
This is a three week study, 5 days of reading each week (2 pages each) with daily and weekly questions.
It covers Galatians 5:16-26.
It begins with contrasting the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. Works of the flesh are in opposition to the fruit of the spirit and are at work out of love of ourselves.
The fruit of the spirit is how we relate to and serve others.
Then it goes through each of the 9 attributes in a little more detail with verses about God’s character and how our knowledge of Him and trusting in His sufficiency helps us exemplify his character to others.
We can be loving, joyful, peaceable, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled because He is all those things first. We can give out of the abundance of the Spirit, trusting that all our own needs are met in Christ and that He supplies the power we need to bear this fruit.
We cannot produce this fruit on our own or when we’re preoccupied with ourselves and our own needs. Selfishness— the works of the flesh— seeks to satisfy ourselves.
Lastly, she talks about the goodness of the law, of God’s truth and instruction for us. The law doesn’t save but we are called to love God’s Word. It is good, holy, and true and cultivating our hearts which then fortifies and grounds the roots that bear the fruit.
She also reminds us that along with bearing fruit is the step of pruning. Cutting away our sin and sinful desires:
“When we cut away the sinful, fleshly desires, we begin to make ample room for the fruit of the Spirit to be born and to thrive.”
This book is very short which is nice for practical purposes and time management, but I kinda wish there was more to it! I feel like there is so much to reflect on with the fruit of the Spirit that is easy to bypass as adults. Sometimes we view the fruits of the spirit like the Bible stories we feel like we ‘already know.’
So I went ahead and ordered Jerry Bridge’s book on the fruit of the spirit and plan to do a little more study and reflection. And probably a blog post so check back on my site later!
As has been my conclusion in the past- The Daily Grace Co. has some great studies, some lighter than others, that will get you in the Word and reflecting on who God is, what he has done for us, and how we are to live in response to it.
Check out my original blog post to see some pics of inside the book.
Book Review Blog | Facebook | Pinterest
This past year I taught my daughters a song to remember the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I’ve tried to point out when they are exhibiting those attributes and when they need reminding of them.
And I realized that I hadn’t reflected on these much now that I’m an adult.
This was a good study on this short passage of Galatians to remind us that this list of characteristics is not a guidepost to see if we’re Christian-enough.
Each of these remind us of who God is. When we practice these characteristics, we are imaging God.
And yet, they are very hard to do day-in and day-out. I love that this study emphasizes our need for the Holy Spirit and the power that is ours through Him. We can only bear this fruit through the Spirit.
“The term fruit denotes a sort of overflow; produced from the One who dwells within us.”
This is a three week study, 5 days of reading each week (2 pages each) with daily and weekly questions.
It covers Galatians 5:16-26.
It begins with contrasting the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. Works of the flesh are in opposition to the fruit of the spirit and are at work out of love of ourselves.
The fruit of the spirit is how we relate to and serve others.
Then it goes through each of the 9 attributes in a little more detail with verses about God’s character and how our knowledge of Him and trusting in His sufficiency helps us exemplify his character to others.
We can be loving, joyful, peaceable, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled because He is all those things first. We can give out of the abundance of the Spirit, trusting that all our own needs are met in Christ and that He supplies the power we need to bear this fruit.
We cannot produce this fruit on our own or when we’re preoccupied with ourselves and our own needs. Selfishness— the works of the flesh— seeks to satisfy ourselves.
Lastly, she talks about the goodness of the law, of God’s truth and instruction for us. The law doesn’t save but we are called to love God’s Word. It is good, holy, and true and cultivating our hearts which then fortifies and grounds the roots that bear the fruit.
She also reminds us that along with bearing fruit is the step of pruning. Cutting away our sin and sinful desires:
“When we cut away the sinful, fleshly desires, we begin to make ample room for the fruit of the Spirit to be born and to thrive.”
This book is very short which is nice for practical purposes and time management, but I kinda wish there was more to it! I feel like there is so much to reflect on with the fruit of the Spirit that is easy to bypass as adults. Sometimes we view the fruits of the spirit like the Bible stories we feel like we ‘already know.’
So I went ahead and ordered Jerry Bridge’s book on the fruit of the spirit and plan to do a little more study and reflection. And probably a blog post so check back on my site later!
As has been my conclusion in the past- The Daily Grace Co. has some great studies, some lighter than others, that will get you in the Word and reflecting on who God is, what he has done for us, and how we are to live in response to it.
Check out my original blog post to see some pics of inside the book.
Book Review Blog | Facebook | Pinterest
“The assumption that discriminatory bias can be automatically inferred when there are differences in socioeconomic outcomes— and that the source of that bias can be determined by where the statistics were collected— seems indefensible. Yet that seemingly invincible fallacy guides much of what is said and done in our educational institutions, in the media and in government policies.”
“The actual consequences of a social vision cannot be assessed on the basis of its good intentions or even its plausibility. The real test is what has actually happened when that vision has been applied, and what the implications are of those social consequences.”
“Contrary to much that has been said, disparities in socioeconomic outcomes are neither improbable from a theoretical standpoint nor uncommon from an empirical standpoint.”
Ibram X. Kendi, famous anti-racist activist, has famously said, “When I see racial disparities, I see racism.”
Do disparities equal discrimination?
Thomas Sowell, influential African-American economist and social theorist, has written this book to examine the prevailing social vision which says that racial disparities must be caused by racial discrimination.
This book is a presentation of facts and research that tear substantial holes in the progressive narrative and reveal, unsurprisingly, that there are a lot of causes at play when we look at disparities in America and in the world at large.
Sowell argues that though racial discrimination does exist, it is neither the sole nor primary cause for racial disparity. Just because there are some disparities between groups, does not necessarily mean it’s someone’s fault and requires ‘fixing.’
This book should be required reading.
If you even have an inkling of interest in social justice, economics, or what creates disparities in the world, you will find this book very enlightening.
I love that Sowell begins with this quote from Democratic politician and sociologist Daniel Patrick Moynihan:
“You’re entitled to your own opinion, but you’re not entitled to your own facts.”
I’ve done a lot of reading on this topic and I have yet to be presented with compelling evidence of systemic racism as the cause of disparities and Sowell’s book affirms this stance. But this message of racism as the cause for poverty, income gaps, and employment disparities is on repeat— their opinion is clear but their facts are lacking.
I cannot recommend this book enough to offer a logical, intelligent, and easy to understand presentation of empirical evidence that will better inform your view of how the world works.
I cannot include all the quotes and information I have noted from this book or my review would be way too long. I’ll share some here but you might as well just read it yourself.
“Discrimination as an explanation of economic and social disparities may have a similar emotional appeal for many. But we can at least try to treat these and other theories as testable hypotheses. The historic consequences of treating particular beliefs as sacred dogmas, beyond the reach of evidence or logic, should be enough to dissuade us from going down that road again— despite how exciting or emotionally satisfying political dogmas and the crusades resulting from those dogmas can be, or how convenient in sparing us the drudgery and discomfort of having to think through our own beliefs or test them against facts.”
What’s really important about this book is the way Sowell helps the reader think through this whole controversy. As we know, correlation does not equal causation. We’ve been told lately ‘what’ to think, not ‘how’ to think. Discrimination and Disparities will help you think critically.
“Emotional manipulation is only one of the dangers when words are used in ways that obscure both realities and the connections of cause and effect behind those realities.”
“If we are serious about seeking causation, we must look beyond emotional words, which are not necessarily intended to inform or convince, but often achieve their goal if they simply overwhelm through repetition or silence through intimidation.”
“The mere omission of one crucial fact can turn accurate statistics into traps that lead to conclusions that would be demonstrably false if the full facts were known. This often happens in comparisons of different ethnic groups and different income classes, among other comparisons.”
When we hear certain phrases or statistics, are we thinking through what they’re really talking about? Are we questioning what could be alternative reasons for the ‘facts’ they provide? Are we questioning the criteria they are evaluating?
One thing I really liked about Discrimination and Disparities is that Sowell doesn’t just look at disparities in America. He shows us research from all over the world of disparities between various ethnic minorities and majorities. Disparities are not just an American phenomenon. His understanding of global economics and the realities of how the world functions as a whole gives insight on how America fits into this picture.
He offers many examples that skewed or unequal outcome distributions is actually very common. We see it in people, institutions, and in nature.
What does ‘equal’ mean?
It’s unclear what people are striving for when they desire ‘equality’ and the elimination of disparities. For one thing, we can’t expect equal outcomes if we have unequal inputs.
The Coddling of the American Mind talks about unequal outcomes in regards to educational institutions and college sports and reminds us that we must account for people’s differences in interests, priorities, goals, and desire.
This idea of ‘equality’ doesn’t have any long-term promises. People make different choices and have different preferences and priorities. Is this vague sense of ‘equality’ definable, measurable, and sustainable?
There may be ways to increase opportunity, wealth, or education, but if we can’t be honest about what we’re measuring, if we can’t recognize the empirical evidence that exists, then the prevailing social vision of the day may be promoting policies and ideas that actually do the opposite of what they claim. We have to understand the reality of how the world and people work to understand how to function within it.
Sowell tackles disparities in terms of employment, income, education, and geography. He addresses slavery, taxes, minimum wage laws, public housing, social justice, culture preservation, crime and violence, welfare, politics, wealth distribution, terminology like ‘change,’ ‘opportunity,’ ‘violence,’ ‘diversity,’ and ‘privilege.’
Some interesting things Sowell talks about:
- Birth order is an element of disparities. Firstborns, on average, have a higher IQ than siblings born after them- A study of a National Merit Scholarship finalists showed that “finalists from five-child families, the first-born was the finalist more often than the other four siblings combined.” It was also the same for 2, 3, and 4 child families. There is not an equality of outcomes among siblings raised in the same family, so why would we expect to see equal outcomes when more factors are different?
- “In the United States, income differences between middle aged people and young adults are larger than income differences between blacks and whites.” Age is an element of disparities. With the advancement in technology human knowledge and experience is more valuable in the job market. As people get older and gain more human capital (knowledge, skill, experience) they make more money. Pair this with the fact that ethnic groups in the US have varying median ages (sometimes 20 years different), we would expect to see disparities in income between ethnic groups as a whole.
- Lots of interesting minimum wage laws discussion. In 1948 there was no minimum wage law and the unemployment rate between young black and white males showed no significant difference. Yet after minimum wage laws went into effect unemployment for young black males was regularly twice as high as young white males in subsequent years. Minimum wage increases can also decrease the number of jobs available or the number of hours employees work. Studies looking at number of employees and number of hours worked showed that in 2016 minimum wage laws actually “lowered low-wage employees’ earnings by an average of $125 per month.” Also, in the 1920s (under Coolidge) when there were no minimum wage laws, unemployment ranged from 4.2% down to 1.8%.
- Education disparities might be helped if viewed differently. The Success Academy charter schools in New York showed high success for black and Hispanic minorities from low-income families compared to white and Asian students from high income families in the public schools. “Successful charter schools give a glimpse of what can be accomplished by black children in low-income ghettos when self-sorting frees them from the disruptions and violence of unruly classmates, just a small number of whom can prevent a whole class from getting a decent education.” This is also a criticism of the ‘No child left behind’ policy that can often keep kids from getting a good education that would give them “a chance for a better life.” Ironically, the NAACP wants to ban charter schools. Statistics also change in regards to educational outcomes when hours of time spent on schoolwork is considered and the peer pressures of certain ethnic groups in their attitudes toward success in school or lack thereof.
- An empirical study shows that companies using criminal background checks tended to hire more blacks than companies which did not use such checks.
- Discrimination charges can be filed against companies strictly based on the make-up of their employees. There does not have to be an individual person claim they experienced discrimination. This hurts communities made up of more minorities because “Employers therefore have incentives to locate their businesses away from concentrations of minority populations, so that they will not be as legally vulnerable to costly charges of discrimination if their work force does not end up with the same demographic makeup as that of the surrounding population.” Companies also tend to settle these charges outside of court because of financial and reputational cost. Then these settlements are used to ‘prove’ discrimination in large companies when, in fact, there was often times no particular claim of racial discrimination.
- Tax rate decreases are often misunderstood. We just hear the rhetoric ‘tax breaks for the rich’ as if it’s a terrible thing. But if the tax rate is so high, ‘rich’ people will invest their money in tax-exempt investments. By decreasing the tax rate, it makes more sense for people to invest their money in investments with a higher rate of return and pay the taxes on those funds. So actually, tax rate cuts increases tax revenue. So in these terms, tax increases for the rich actually ends up being wealthy people paying a lower percentage of the tax revenue by a pretty large percentage.
- Distribution of wealth is a major topic heard today. But Sowell explained the fallacy of this idea really well in his book. This idea of re-distributing wealth originates from the idea that wealth is distributed in the first place. But “Most income in a market economy is earned directly by providing something that someone else wants, and values enough to pay for it, whether what they are paying for is labor, housing, or diamonds. People who are unable to understand why John D. Rockefeller in the past, or Bill Gates in the present, received so much money might ask what each of them supplied to others that millions of others were willing to pay for, with their individually modest payments that added up to gigantic fortunes.” He said it would be like saying Babe Ruth took more than his fair share of the New York Yankee’s home runs. What Gates got “was a share of the value added, as judged by the people who chose to spend their own money to get it.”
- “Despite the high poverty rate among black Americans in general, the poverty rate among black married couples has been less than 10 percent every year since 1994.” This percentage is less than white people as a whole.
- There is a lot of interesting data to look at when considering the top 20% of people based on income and the bottom 20%. He highlights the high turnover rate of people between these groups (highest turnover being in the top quintile), the misleading statistics because of capital gains, and the aspects of age, education, and skill. “IRS data show that half the people who earned over a million dollars a year at some time during the years from 1999 to 2007, did so just once in those nine years.”
Conclusion
This is a must-read book.
Do I have the qualifications to judge all of his statistics and sources? No, but his bibliography is sooo many pages long and if one had the time, one could consider it. I am not that one. Sowell’s intelligence, influence, and knowledge precedes him. There has been nothing I’ve read from sources promoting the prevailing social vision that compels me to reject any of the evidence Sowell presents here.
Even if you don’t expect to agree with everything he says or how he says it, this would still be a valuable read. He gives so much to consider, think about, discuss, and learn and at the very least, it will jump start your critical thinking muscles!
Just get the book and read it. Please.
[More quotes below because I just couldn’t pare it down]
Further Reading
Discrimination and Disparities is a more economically based book. But here are some others that also consider whether progressive policies actually do what they think they’re doing and other ways of thinking through the prevailing social justice narrative. (Reviews on my website)
- Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (Sowell quotes this book; super interesting read!)
- Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe by Voddie T. Baucham Jr. (this has the element of how Christians respond in these times, but he includes a lot of statistics and explanations of things you don’t here in the media)
- Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democratic Plantation by Candace Owens (Owens is a controversial conservative voice but she still presents compelling evidence in her books as well)
- Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth: 12 Questions Christians Should Ask about Social Justice by Thaddeus J. Williams (this also is written for Christians but there are a lot o presentation of facts and statistics as well)
Quotes:
“Because someone ended up failing at some endeavor, that does not automatically mean that he was denied opportunity or access at the outset… achievement does not necessarily mean they must have been privileged at the outset.”
“Children who are currently being raised with the kinds of values, discipline and work habits that are likely to make them valuable contributors to society, and a source of pride to themselves and to those who raised them, are called ‘privileged,’ and are taught in schools to feel guilty when other children are being raised with values, behavior, and habits that are likely to leave them few options as adults, other than to live at the expense of other people, whether via the welfare state or through a life of crime or both.”
“Verbal vogues have more than verbal consequences. In so far as they create a false equivalence between violence and socioeconomic conditions, they excuse lawlessness and social disorders whose principal victims are the less affluent, both immediately and in the longer-run repercussions.”
“Many intellectuals, living in the safety and comfort of free societies, have found it expedient to redefine freedom, so that an expansion of government determination of economic outcomes, through an expansion of government compulsion, is not seen as a trade-off of freedom, but as simply an expansion of freedom, as conveniently redefined.”
“The very possibility that what different groups want to do, or have had a background to do, or are prepared to invest their efforts in doing, can affect their representation in different endeavors is ignored in assumptions as to how outcomes can differ so much in particular endeavors.”
“All too often, there is an implicit assumption that the cause of some disparity is located where the statistics on that disparity were collected… This implicit assumption has been embedded int the law of the land by the Supreme Court of the United State, which has treated disparities in the employment, pay and promotions of people from different groups as evidence of discriminatory bias by employers under its ‘disparate impact’ standard. That approach ignores the very possibility that what happened to people before they reached an employer— or a college admissions office or a crime scene— may have had a ‘disparate impact’ on the kinds of people they became and the kinds of skills, values, habits, and limitations they bring with them to the places were statistics are later collected.”
“Morally neutral factors seem to attract far less attention than other causal factors which stir moral outrage, such as discrimination or exploitation. But our personal responses tell us nothing about the causal weight of different factors, however much those responses may shape political crusades and government policies.”
“Among the dire consequences for society as a whole are widespread resentments, bitterness, disorder, and violence on the part of those who have been told incessantly that they are ‘entitled’ to a demographically defined ‘fair share’ of what is produced, and that this ‘fair share’ is being denied to them by others who are guilty of maliciously keeping them and their loved ones down.”
“Before we can say who has ailed, or who has succeeded, in some endeavor, we must first know who was trying to succeed in that endeavor in the first place. Those who are not trying are not likely to succeed, regardless of how much innate ability they may have, and regardless of how much opportunity may exist.”
“We can learn how dangerous it is, to a whole society, to incessantly depict outcome differences as evidence or proof of malevolent actions that need to be counter-attacked or avenged.”
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“The actual consequences of a social vision cannot be assessed on the basis of its good intentions or even its plausibility. The real test is what has actually happened when that vision has been applied, and what the implications are of those social consequences.”
“Contrary to much that has been said, disparities in socioeconomic outcomes are neither improbable from a theoretical standpoint nor uncommon from an empirical standpoint.”
Ibram X. Kendi, famous anti-racist activist, has famously said, “When I see racial disparities, I see racism.”
Do disparities equal discrimination?
Thomas Sowell, influential African-American economist and social theorist, has written this book to examine the prevailing social vision which says that racial disparities must be caused by racial discrimination.
This book is a presentation of facts and research that tear substantial holes in the progressive narrative and reveal, unsurprisingly, that there are a lot of causes at play when we look at disparities in America and in the world at large.
Sowell argues that though racial discrimination does exist, it is neither the sole nor primary cause for racial disparity. Just because there are some disparities between groups, does not necessarily mean it’s someone’s fault and requires ‘fixing.’
This book should be required reading.
If you even have an inkling of interest in social justice, economics, or what creates disparities in the world, you will find this book very enlightening.
I love that Sowell begins with this quote from Democratic politician and sociologist Daniel Patrick Moynihan:
“You’re entitled to your own opinion, but you’re not entitled to your own facts.”
I’ve done a lot of reading on this topic and I have yet to be presented with compelling evidence of systemic racism as the cause of disparities and Sowell’s book affirms this stance. But this message of racism as the cause for poverty, income gaps, and employment disparities is on repeat— their opinion is clear but their facts are lacking.
I cannot recommend this book enough to offer a logical, intelligent, and easy to understand presentation of empirical evidence that will better inform your view of how the world works.
I cannot include all the quotes and information I have noted from this book or my review would be way too long. I’ll share some here but you might as well just read it yourself.
“Discrimination as an explanation of economic and social disparities may have a similar emotional appeal for many. But we can at least try to treat these and other theories as testable hypotheses. The historic consequences of treating particular beliefs as sacred dogmas, beyond the reach of evidence or logic, should be enough to dissuade us from going down that road again— despite how exciting or emotionally satisfying political dogmas and the crusades resulting from those dogmas can be, or how convenient in sparing us the drudgery and discomfort of having to think through our own beliefs or test them against facts.”
What’s really important about this book is the way Sowell helps the reader think through this whole controversy. As we know, correlation does not equal causation. We’ve been told lately ‘what’ to think, not ‘how’ to think. Discrimination and Disparities will help you think critically.
“Emotional manipulation is only one of the dangers when words are used in ways that obscure both realities and the connections of cause and effect behind those realities.”
“If we are serious about seeking causation, we must look beyond emotional words, which are not necessarily intended to inform or convince, but often achieve their goal if they simply overwhelm through repetition or silence through intimidation.”
“The mere omission of one crucial fact can turn accurate statistics into traps that lead to conclusions that would be demonstrably false if the full facts were known. This often happens in comparisons of different ethnic groups and different income classes, among other comparisons.”
When we hear certain phrases or statistics, are we thinking through what they’re really talking about? Are we questioning what could be alternative reasons for the ‘facts’ they provide? Are we questioning the criteria they are evaluating?
One thing I really liked about Discrimination and Disparities is that Sowell doesn’t just look at disparities in America. He shows us research from all over the world of disparities between various ethnic minorities and majorities. Disparities are not just an American phenomenon. His understanding of global economics and the realities of how the world functions as a whole gives insight on how America fits into this picture.
He offers many examples that skewed or unequal outcome distributions is actually very common. We see it in people, institutions, and in nature.
What does ‘equal’ mean?
It’s unclear what people are striving for when they desire ‘equality’ and the elimination of disparities. For one thing, we can’t expect equal outcomes if we have unequal inputs.
The Coddling of the American Mind talks about unequal outcomes in regards to educational institutions and college sports and reminds us that we must account for people’s differences in interests, priorities, goals, and desire.
This idea of ‘equality’ doesn’t have any long-term promises. People make different choices and have different preferences and priorities. Is this vague sense of ‘equality’ definable, measurable, and sustainable?
There may be ways to increase opportunity, wealth, or education, but if we can’t be honest about what we’re measuring, if we can’t recognize the empirical evidence that exists, then the prevailing social vision of the day may be promoting policies and ideas that actually do the opposite of what they claim. We have to understand the reality of how the world and people work to understand how to function within it.
Sowell tackles disparities in terms of employment, income, education, and geography. He addresses slavery, taxes, minimum wage laws, public housing, social justice, culture preservation, crime and violence, welfare, politics, wealth distribution, terminology like ‘change,’ ‘opportunity,’ ‘violence,’ ‘diversity,’ and ‘privilege.’
Some interesting things Sowell talks about:
- Birth order is an element of disparities. Firstborns, on average, have a higher IQ than siblings born after them- A study of a National Merit Scholarship finalists showed that “finalists from five-child families, the first-born was the finalist more often than the other four siblings combined.” It was also the same for 2, 3, and 4 child families. There is not an equality of outcomes among siblings raised in the same family, so why would we expect to see equal outcomes when more factors are different?
- “In the United States, income differences between middle aged people and young adults are larger than income differences between blacks and whites.” Age is an element of disparities. With the advancement in technology human knowledge and experience is more valuable in the job market. As people get older and gain more human capital (knowledge, skill, experience) they make more money. Pair this with the fact that ethnic groups in the US have varying median ages (sometimes 20 years different), we would expect to see disparities in income between ethnic groups as a whole.
- Lots of interesting minimum wage laws discussion. In 1948 there was no minimum wage law and the unemployment rate between young black and white males showed no significant difference. Yet after minimum wage laws went into effect unemployment for young black males was regularly twice as high as young white males in subsequent years. Minimum wage increases can also decrease the number of jobs available or the number of hours employees work. Studies looking at number of employees and number of hours worked showed that in 2016 minimum wage laws actually “lowered low-wage employees’ earnings by an average of $125 per month.” Also, in the 1920s (under Coolidge) when there were no minimum wage laws, unemployment ranged from 4.2% down to 1.8%.
- Education disparities might be helped if viewed differently. The Success Academy charter schools in New York showed high success for black and Hispanic minorities from low-income families compared to white and Asian students from high income families in the public schools. “Successful charter schools give a glimpse of what can be accomplished by black children in low-income ghettos when self-sorting frees them from the disruptions and violence of unruly classmates, just a small number of whom can prevent a whole class from getting a decent education.” This is also a criticism of the ‘No child left behind’ policy that can often keep kids from getting a good education that would give them “a chance for a better life.” Ironically, the NAACP wants to ban charter schools. Statistics also change in regards to educational outcomes when hours of time spent on schoolwork is considered and the peer pressures of certain ethnic groups in their attitudes toward success in school or lack thereof.
- An empirical study shows that companies using criminal background checks tended to hire more blacks than companies which did not use such checks.
- Discrimination charges can be filed against companies strictly based on the make-up of their employees. There does not have to be an individual person claim they experienced discrimination. This hurts communities made up of more minorities because “Employers therefore have incentives to locate their businesses away from concentrations of minority populations, so that they will not be as legally vulnerable to costly charges of discrimination if their work force does not end up with the same demographic makeup as that of the surrounding population.” Companies also tend to settle these charges outside of court because of financial and reputational cost. Then these settlements are used to ‘prove’ discrimination in large companies when, in fact, there was often times no particular claim of racial discrimination.
- Tax rate decreases are often misunderstood. We just hear the rhetoric ‘tax breaks for the rich’ as if it’s a terrible thing. But if the tax rate is so high, ‘rich’ people will invest their money in tax-exempt investments. By decreasing the tax rate, it makes more sense for people to invest their money in investments with a higher rate of return and pay the taxes on those funds. So actually, tax rate cuts increases tax revenue. So in these terms, tax increases for the rich actually ends up being wealthy people paying a lower percentage of the tax revenue by a pretty large percentage.
- Distribution of wealth is a major topic heard today. But Sowell explained the fallacy of this idea really well in his book. This idea of re-distributing wealth originates from the idea that wealth is distributed in the first place. But “Most income in a market economy is earned directly by providing something that someone else wants, and values enough to pay for it, whether what they are paying for is labor, housing, or diamonds. People who are unable to understand why John D. Rockefeller in the past, or Bill Gates in the present, received so much money might ask what each of them supplied to others that millions of others were willing to pay for, with their individually modest payments that added up to gigantic fortunes.” He said it would be like saying Babe Ruth took more than his fair share of the New York Yankee’s home runs. What Gates got “was a share of the value added, as judged by the people who chose to spend their own money to get it.”
- “Despite the high poverty rate among black Americans in general, the poverty rate among black married couples has been less than 10 percent every year since 1994.” This percentage is less than white people as a whole.
- There is a lot of interesting data to look at when considering the top 20% of people based on income and the bottom 20%. He highlights the high turnover rate of people between these groups (highest turnover being in the top quintile), the misleading statistics because of capital gains, and the aspects of age, education, and skill. “IRS data show that half the people who earned over a million dollars a year at some time during the years from 1999 to 2007, did so just once in those nine years.”
Conclusion
This is a must-read book.
Do I have the qualifications to judge all of his statistics and sources? No, but his bibliography is sooo many pages long and if one had the time, one could consider it. I am not that one. Sowell’s intelligence, influence, and knowledge precedes him. There has been nothing I’ve read from sources promoting the prevailing social vision that compels me to reject any of the evidence Sowell presents here.
Even if you don’t expect to agree with everything he says or how he says it, this would still be a valuable read. He gives so much to consider, think about, discuss, and learn and at the very least, it will jump start your critical thinking muscles!
Just get the book and read it. Please.
[More quotes below because I just couldn’t pare it down]
Further Reading
Discrimination and Disparities is a more economically based book. But here are some others that also consider whether progressive policies actually do what they think they’re doing and other ways of thinking through the prevailing social justice narrative. (Reviews on my website)
- Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (Sowell quotes this book; super interesting read!)
- Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe by Voddie T. Baucham Jr. (this has the element of how Christians respond in these times, but he includes a lot of statistics and explanations of things you don’t here in the media)
- Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democratic Plantation by Candace Owens (Owens is a controversial conservative voice but she still presents compelling evidence in her books as well)
- Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth: 12 Questions Christians Should Ask about Social Justice by Thaddeus J. Williams (this also is written for Christians but there are a lot o presentation of facts and statistics as well)
Quotes:
“Because someone ended up failing at some endeavor, that does not automatically mean that he was denied opportunity or access at the outset… achievement does not necessarily mean they must have been privileged at the outset.”
“Children who are currently being raised with the kinds of values, discipline and work habits that are likely to make them valuable contributors to society, and a source of pride to themselves and to those who raised them, are called ‘privileged,’ and are taught in schools to feel guilty when other children are being raised with values, behavior, and habits that are likely to leave them few options as adults, other than to live at the expense of other people, whether via the welfare state or through a life of crime or both.”
“Verbal vogues have more than verbal consequences. In so far as they create a false equivalence between violence and socioeconomic conditions, they excuse lawlessness and social disorders whose principal victims are the less affluent, both immediately and in the longer-run repercussions.”
“Many intellectuals, living in the safety and comfort of free societies, have found it expedient to redefine freedom, so that an expansion of government determination of economic outcomes, through an expansion of government compulsion, is not seen as a trade-off of freedom, but as simply an expansion of freedom, as conveniently redefined.”
“The very possibility that what different groups want to do, or have had a background to do, or are prepared to invest their efforts in doing, can affect their representation in different endeavors is ignored in assumptions as to how outcomes can differ so much in particular endeavors.”
“All too often, there is an implicit assumption that the cause of some disparity is located where the statistics on that disparity were collected… This implicit assumption has been embedded int the law of the land by the Supreme Court of the United State, which has treated disparities in the employment, pay and promotions of people from different groups as evidence of discriminatory bias by employers under its ‘disparate impact’ standard. That approach ignores the very possibility that what happened to people before they reached an employer— or a college admissions office or a crime scene— may have had a ‘disparate impact’ on the kinds of people they became and the kinds of skills, values, habits, and limitations they bring with them to the places were statistics are later collected.”
“Morally neutral factors seem to attract far less attention than other causal factors which stir moral outrage, such as discrimination or exploitation. But our personal responses tell us nothing about the causal weight of different factors, however much those responses may shape political crusades and government policies.”
“Among the dire consequences for society as a whole are widespread resentments, bitterness, disorder, and violence on the part of those who have been told incessantly that they are ‘entitled’ to a demographically defined ‘fair share’ of what is produced, and that this ‘fair share’ is being denied to them by others who are guilty of maliciously keeping them and their loved ones down.”
“Before we can say who has ailed, or who has succeeded, in some endeavor, we must first know who was trying to succeed in that endeavor in the first place. Those who are not trying are not likely to succeed, regardless of how much innate ability they may have, and regardless of how much opportunity may exist.”
“We can learn how dangerous it is, to a whole society, to incessantly depict outcome differences as evidence or proof of malevolent actions that need to be counter-attacked or avenged.”
Visit: www.shelfreflection.com
[Nominated for ‘Best Fiction’ category of the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards Reading Challenge]
“A book is a resting place for the memories of people who have lived before. A way for the memory to stay fixed after the soul has traveled on.”
I loved Anthony Doerr’s book All the Light We Cannot See.
But I have to be honest… the title of this book didn’t really intrigue me. All I could think of was Jack Nicholson and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Was this book about crazy people?
My commitment to finish the book wavered once I began reading.
The book has over 600 pages— though with all the title pages and empty pages it’s not quite that long. It also feels pretty disjointed to begin with. There are several characters in different places and different time periods. There is the thread of an old manuscript in bits and pieces here and there.
I worried it would be impossible to keep track of everything.
So I’m going to help you out!
First of all… don’t read an ebook. You’re going to want a physical copy that you can flip back easily.
Second- here is the basic plot of the book and a cast of characters to help you keep it in order.
Summary and Characters
Cloud Cuckoo Land is the name of a humorous (I think…) story of “A man transformed into a donkey, then a fish, then a crow, journeying across earth, ocean, and stars to find a land without suffering, only to choose to return home in the end.”
The protagonist of Cloud Cuckoo Land— this story within a story— is Aethon. He is seeking a paradisaical city in the clouds called Cloud Cuckoo Land where there is no pain or grief. But is the end-product worth what he would have to give up to get it?
Anthony Diogenes (real author, fictional story) gives this story to his dying niece. We follow the journey of this story as it is passed on verbally and through old, weather and time-beaten copies. It is what connects every character in this story.
Konstance: A teenage girl years in the future trapped in a vault on a spaceship (Argos) traveling to a new planet because Earth is deteriorating. A sickness has suddenly been taking over the people in the spaceship and Konstance is quarantined in a special chamber with only the AI system (Sybil) as a companion and her virtual reality set that allows her to access a virtual library with books on every subject imaginable, and an atlas that allows her to travel the world virtually. Her father has verbally passed on the story of Cloud Cuckoo Land and she is spending her time discovering what really happened on Earth and what’s currently going on with Argos now.
Zeno: A gay elderly man in present day Lakeport, Idaho helping five kids re-enact the story of Cloud Cuckoo Land in the town library. When he was younger he spent time as a POW in Korea and learned the original Greek language from a fellow British POW, Rex. Carrying on the flame of Rex’s passion for old manuscripts, Zeno works on translating an old and mostly illegible copy of Cloud Cuckoo Land that was discovered. Now as the children prepare to put on their play, a man comes into the library with a bomb.
Seymour: An (autistic?) teenage environmental activist in present day Lakeport, Idaho planning to bomb the library because it is close to his target— a realty company bulldozing forest area to build more homes. Son of a single mom who has to spend all of her time working to make ends meet, Seymour spends most of his time in the library learning all kinds of Greek mythology and facts about nature and animals. Eventually he becomes sucked into a dark web group of activists that he hopes to join up with once he proves himself with a grand action to save the planet.
Anna: An orphaned young girl in the walled city of Constantinople in the 1400s living with her sister as embroideresses. She is a curious girl and as her city faces a life-threatening siege from enemy forces, she and a friend discover a building with old manuscripts. Her curiosity and insatiable desire to learn to read them gets her in to trouble but also saves her. She manages to keep one copy which just so happens to be an old and damaged manuscript of Cloud Cuckoo Land.
Omeir: A boy in Bulgaria in the 1400s, born with a cleft palate, making a life with his family who has been driven out of their village because of superstitions surrounding his deformity. When the sieging forces advancing upon Constantinople come across their farm and his strong oxen team, Omeir is conscripted to join the army. A nature and animal loving boy, he is far from passionate about this new task. Eventually he meets Anna with her copy of Cloud Cuckoo Land and the book becomes an integral part of their family. He has taken it upon himself to preserve it.
My Thoughts
My original feelings toward the book was negative. I felt like it was going to be a slog to the end. I thought it would take me forever to finish.
My feelings did change.
It took me awhile to get into it, but I found myself enjoying picking it up each day and it read faster than I anticipated. I wasn’t a fan of the formatting of the book and the disjointedness, but I like the concept of this story weaving itself into so many lives. The power of the story of hoping for something better that sustains people through hard times that endures through the ages through storms, wars, and temporary abandonment.
I still don’t like the title ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land.’ It doesn’t sound as magical as, say, Terabithia, and it doesn’t roll off the tongue very gracefully. I think it was supposed to be a comical story but I wouldn’t say that was obvious. Since the tones of the characters’ stories were dark, it was hard to feel the joy or humor coming across through the Cloud Cuckoo Land excerpts.
I also didn’t really like the ending in Konstance’s storyline. I felt like it left too much unexplained.
It falls into the Fiction genre, so it’s not necessarily going to be suspenseful or mysterious. It’s not Fantasy so it’s not going to be some epic adventure. It’s not Romance so it’s not going to describe a deep love story.
I would describe it as contemplative.
What connects these characters are loss and hardships where they hope for something better, something more. It makes you reflect on hope, story, contentment, and memory.
Doerr has written this as somewhat of an anthem for books— the history and stories that carry through the ages— and librarians— the people who help preserve and share them with people who wouldn’t otherwise have access.
I’m not sure it’s one I would reread. I’m not sure it’s a must-read book. But I did enjoy it and I’m not disappointed for having done so.
I think it’s a book that, if read properly could make you think for awhile, but it could also leave you wondering ‘That’s it?’
Maybe you should read it and consider my book club suggestions below to give you something to think about!
[If you like books that incorporate Greek mythology, try Alex Michaelides thriller, The Maidens]
Book Club Discussion
It seems like this would make a good book club book for those who do that. Here are a few things you may find interesting to discuss with your group.
- There is a theme of ‘owls’ that runs through a few of the storylines. What significance does this have?
- Is there any significance to the specific animals the man changed into— donkey, fish, crow? (i.e. donkeys are associated with stubbornness and a limited fear response; fish are social animals living in groups that might conform; crows can be seen as aggressive and quarrelsome yet intelligent)
- What was each character losing? How did they react to that loss? Constructively or destructively?
- What was each character hoping for? Did they get what they wanted or did they realize what they already had was enough?
- What are your speculations on Argos? Why do you think Doerr left it open-ended?
- Is Cloud Cuckoo Land supposed to be a metaphor for heaven or something else?
- The first librarian at the library in Alexandria was Zenodotus. Are there any other interesting correlations with the other characters’ names?
- What significant purposes do libraries serve today? Do you partake of their value?
- Consider these two quotes. How do they influence each character’s life and how do you apply it to your own life?
“The things that look fixed in the world— mountains, wealth, empires— their permanence is only an illusion. We believe they will last, but that is only because of the brevity of our own lives.”
“Why is it so hard to transcend the identities assigned to us when we were young?”
- How do we preserve our memories and how important is it to us? Should it be important?
- Do technological advancements hurt or help our ability to value and preserve meaningful memories? Consider heritage, physical deterioration, and virtual manipulation.
- What stories have impacted your life?
- The end of Cloud Cuckoo Land was too damaged so Zeno and the kids wrote their own ending. How would a different ending have changed your perception of the story?
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“A book is a resting place for the memories of people who have lived before. A way for the memory to stay fixed after the soul has traveled on.”
I loved Anthony Doerr’s book All the Light We Cannot See.
But I have to be honest… the title of this book didn’t really intrigue me. All I could think of was Jack Nicholson and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Was this book about crazy people?
My commitment to finish the book wavered once I began reading.
The book has over 600 pages— though with all the title pages and empty pages it’s not quite that long. It also feels pretty disjointed to begin with. There are several characters in different places and different time periods. There is the thread of an old manuscript in bits and pieces here and there.
I worried it would be impossible to keep track of everything.
So I’m going to help you out!
First of all… don’t read an ebook. You’re going to want a physical copy that you can flip back easily.
Second- here is the basic plot of the book and a cast of characters to help you keep it in order.
Summary and Characters
Cloud Cuckoo Land is the name of a humorous (I think…) story of “A man transformed into a donkey, then a fish, then a crow, journeying across earth, ocean, and stars to find a land without suffering, only to choose to return home in the end.”
The protagonist of Cloud Cuckoo Land— this story within a story— is Aethon. He is seeking a paradisaical city in the clouds called Cloud Cuckoo Land where there is no pain or grief. But is the end-product worth what he would have to give up to get it?
Anthony Diogenes (real author, fictional story) gives this story to his dying niece. We follow the journey of this story as it is passed on verbally and through old, weather and time-beaten copies. It is what connects every character in this story.
Konstance: A teenage girl years in the future trapped in a vault on a spaceship (Argos) traveling to a new planet because Earth is deteriorating. A sickness has suddenly been taking over the people in the spaceship and Konstance is quarantined in a special chamber with only the AI system (Sybil) as a companion and her virtual reality set that allows her to access a virtual library with books on every subject imaginable, and an atlas that allows her to travel the world virtually. Her father has verbally passed on the story of Cloud Cuckoo Land and she is spending her time discovering what really happened on Earth and what’s currently going on with Argos now.
Zeno: A gay elderly man in present day Lakeport, Idaho helping five kids re-enact the story of Cloud Cuckoo Land in the town library. When he was younger he spent time as a POW in Korea and learned the original Greek language from a fellow British POW, Rex. Carrying on the flame of Rex’s passion for old manuscripts, Zeno works on translating an old and mostly illegible copy of Cloud Cuckoo Land that was discovered. Now as the children prepare to put on their play, a man comes into the library with a bomb.
Seymour: An (autistic?) teenage environmental activist in present day Lakeport, Idaho planning to bomb the library because it is close to his target— a realty company bulldozing forest area to build more homes. Son of a single mom who has to spend all of her time working to make ends meet, Seymour spends most of his time in the library learning all kinds of Greek mythology and facts about nature and animals. Eventually he becomes sucked into a dark web group of activists that he hopes to join up with once he proves himself with a grand action to save the planet.
Anna: An orphaned young girl in the walled city of Constantinople in the 1400s living with her sister as embroideresses. She is a curious girl and as her city faces a life-threatening siege from enemy forces, she and a friend discover a building with old manuscripts. Her curiosity and insatiable desire to learn to read them gets her in to trouble but also saves her. She manages to keep one copy which just so happens to be an old and damaged manuscript of Cloud Cuckoo Land.
Omeir: A boy in Bulgaria in the 1400s, born with a cleft palate, making a life with his family who has been driven out of their village because of superstitions surrounding his deformity. When the sieging forces advancing upon Constantinople come across their farm and his strong oxen team, Omeir is conscripted to join the army. A nature and animal loving boy, he is far from passionate about this new task. Eventually he meets Anna with her copy of Cloud Cuckoo Land and the book becomes an integral part of their family. He has taken it upon himself to preserve it.
My Thoughts
My original feelings toward the book was negative. I felt like it was going to be a slog to the end. I thought it would take me forever to finish.
My feelings did change.
It took me awhile to get into it, but I found myself enjoying picking it up each day and it read faster than I anticipated. I wasn’t a fan of the formatting of the book and the disjointedness, but I like the concept of this story weaving itself into so many lives. The power of the story of hoping for something better that sustains people through hard times that endures through the ages through storms, wars, and temporary abandonment.
I still don’t like the title ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land.’ It doesn’t sound as magical as, say, Terabithia, and it doesn’t roll off the tongue very gracefully. I think it was supposed to be a comical story but I wouldn’t say that was obvious. Since the tones of the characters’ stories were dark, it was hard to feel the joy or humor coming across through the Cloud Cuckoo Land excerpts.
I also didn’t really like the ending in Konstance’s storyline. I felt like it left too much unexplained.
It falls into the Fiction genre, so it’s not necessarily going to be suspenseful or mysterious. It’s not Fantasy so it’s not going to be some epic adventure. It’s not Romance so it’s not going to describe a deep love story.
I would describe it as contemplative.
What connects these characters are loss and hardships where they hope for something better, something more. It makes you reflect on hope, story, contentment, and memory.
Doerr has written this as somewhat of an anthem for books— the history and stories that carry through the ages— and librarians— the people who help preserve and share them with people who wouldn’t otherwise have access.
I’m not sure it’s one I would reread. I’m not sure it’s a must-read book. But I did enjoy it and I’m not disappointed for having done so.
I think it’s a book that, if read properly could make you think for awhile, but it could also leave you wondering ‘That’s it?’
Maybe you should read it and consider my book club suggestions below to give you something to think about!
[If you like books that incorporate Greek mythology, try Alex Michaelides thriller, The Maidens]
Book Club Discussion
It seems like this would make a good book club book for those who do that. Here are a few things you may find interesting to discuss with your group.
- There is a theme of ‘owls’ that runs through a few of the storylines. What significance does this have?
- Is there any significance to the specific animals the man changed into— donkey, fish, crow? (i.e. donkeys are associated with stubbornness and a limited fear response; fish are social animals living in groups that might conform; crows can be seen as aggressive and quarrelsome yet intelligent)
- What was each character losing? How did they react to that loss? Constructively or destructively?
- What was each character hoping for? Did they get what they wanted or did they realize what they already had was enough?
- What are your speculations on Argos? Why do you think Doerr left it open-ended?
- Is Cloud Cuckoo Land supposed to be a metaphor for heaven or something else?
- The first librarian at the library in Alexandria was Zenodotus. Are there any other interesting correlations with the other characters’ names?
- What significant purposes do libraries serve today? Do you partake of their value?
- Consider these two quotes. How do they influence each character’s life and how do you apply it to your own life?
“The things that look fixed in the world— mountains, wealth, empires— their permanence is only an illusion. We believe they will last, but that is only because of the brevity of our own lives.”
“Why is it so hard to transcend the identities assigned to us when we were young?”
- How do we preserve our memories and how important is it to us? Should it be important?
- Do technological advancements hurt or help our ability to value and preserve meaningful memories? Consider heritage, physical deterioration, and virtual manipulation.
- What stories have impacted your life?
- The end of Cloud Cuckoo Land was too damaged so Zeno and the kids wrote their own ending. How would a different ending have changed your perception of the story?
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“We are moms who love our children and know the privilege of our high calling, but see its demands, along with our struggles and shortcomings, and know, without a doubt, how much we need encouragement and help along the way.”
“Greatness is not about puffing ourselves up, but laying ourselves down. It is not only about what we’re doing, but why and how we’re doing it. It is the humble posture of the heart.”
Kristen Wetherell gets me.
She understands how motherhood makes you weary. She understands all the struggles and the needs.
Motherhood is hard. So how do we do it?
How do we endure? How do we love our kids when we don’t like them?Where do we get the strength and joy to not just survive each day, but do it with less sinful behavior? (my words, not hers)
Kristen has written this relatable and convicting book to remind us in all seasons and contexts of motherhood that at the core, we have a heart and hand disconnect. We may display servants’ hands but not with servants’ hearts.
“My goal, then, is not to give you more things you must do or be, adding to your already-long-enough list of shoulds, nor will we grow in humility simply by focusing on our shortcomings and sins as we walk with Christ. The pages that follow are not about parenting; neither is this book a pep talk to bolster your self-confidence. It is not even directly about motherhood, although I’m praying your pursuit of motherhood is affected by it. Instead, this book is about a person whose heart we most need. It is about the truest definition and demonstration of humility. This book is a meditation on Christ—because what weary moms need is a long, lingering look at humility in the flesh, the beautiful and blessed Jesus, who reveals to us what servant-heartedness looks like.”
Kristen takes us through the book of John, from creation to Christ’s promised returning, to show us how Jesus created, sustains, satisfies, provides, leads, and loves us. How he has sacrificed for us, prays for us, and dwells with us.
Note on the formatting: At the end of each chapter there is a section of meditation and reflection and then a prayer. I really liked the prayers because it helped me know what to pray for myself. Then at the end of the book are more discussion questions for each chapter. It would make a good study for a group of women.
Why is motherhood so hard?
Because of sin.
We are sinners. Our kids are sinners.
Behavior modification won’t fix all of our problems. We all need our hearts changed.
A major theme in this book is that we need to stop trying to be our own Savior or our kids’ Savior. We could never be. We will never be good enough moms on our own. We will never be good enough moms to rescue our children from their sinful hearts.
Only Christ can do that.
“Motherhood means sacrifice—your last bites of ice cream, your pre-baby body, those eight-straight hours of glorious nighttime sleep, your financial freedom, the clean car, the clean house, the clean shirt. All sacrificed on the altar of motherhood. In many symbolic ways, we are laying down our lives for our kids, and if it came to it, we know we would die for them. But we can’t save them from sin… we will never be able to sacrifice enough to remedy their biggest problem. And we will never be able to sacrifice enough to solve ours; no depth of guilt over our sins and failings and no amount of striving to be good enough will do.”
That is the first thing we need to get right. To stop striving on our own. [ahem, read When Strivings Cease]
Everything we need we have in Christ and his Spirit who lives in us.
We are strengthened in motherhood because he gives us strength, endurance, patience, gentleness, love, joy, self-control, peace, kindness, and faithfulness.
I’m not sure if you can be a mom and NOT recognize your limitations.
“Jesus knows your limitations because he created them. Far from what we think and want to believe, our limitations are God-given. They are not mistakes, but are tailor-made by our Creator. True, some of our weaknesses are linked to sin and suffering… But many of our limitations are God-designed and intentionally given to us… So we will know, without a doubt, how much we need him, which is the best place we can be.”
To be a humble mom we must know that the source of all we need is not within ourselves but in Him who Sustains us.
And when we are in Christ, he is making us new. He is transforming our hearts. We are given new desires.
Here are some quotes that depict some of the things that make us feel like failures:
“… our culture tells us that worth must be proven, that self-actualization is our goal, and that an idealistic home and children are what make us valuable.”
“it’s hardest to serve our children when no one, or nothing, seems to be serving us in return, when our rights or authority (or even our very presence in the room!) seem disregarded, or when we are not getting what we want or think we deserve.”
“the problem doesn’t lie in the good things we’d like to enjoy or the rest we need; it is when we grasp at those gifts like they are more important than other human beings.”
“Even after an ideal day with our kids, we know how our heads hit the pillow wondering, Is this really all there is for me? This should have filled me up—why do I still feel so empty?”
“Give me social media so I will not be lonely. Give me praise so I will not be undervalued. Give me opportunities so I will not feel useless. Give me obedient children so I will not be inconvenienced. Give me another purchase online so I will not be without… Within our hearts, thirst and worship are connected. Whatever we thirst for, we will worship. And whatever we worship, that we will thirst for.”
But when we look at the person of Christ in the book of John we see his gentle and lowly heart for his children. [ahem… read Gentle and Lowly]
We see his heart in his incarnation that he would take on flesh and live among sinners. We see his heart in his ministry as he heals and restores the outcasts and broken-hearted, how he serves the poor, the afflicted, the women, the children. We see his heart in his sacrifice on the cross, bearing the weight of the world’s sin to give us life. We see his heart in his intercession for us at the right hand of God— he didn’t just do his ‘work’ and go back to heaven hoping that we don’t screw everything up; he is praying for us and carrying us to the end. We see his heart in his promised return when he will come back and make all things right and bring ultimate restoration.
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28
He has given us the example of service out of compassion. And as mothers we can look at the place God has put us, the eternal souls we care for, and know that what we do is a privilege and we exemplify Christ when we do it.
Jesus understands our toils, our sacrifices, our needs. He lived them.
And he has come to give us help in the form of His Spirit, as already talked about, but also His Word.
“In your doubts, do you need to remember the truth of who God is today? In your discouragements—in all the trials that make motherhood hard, that make you forget how loved you are, that bring you to suspect God of holding out on you—do you need to remember all the ways Jesus has served you?”
“We need Scripture so our faith does not wither, so we do not remake God in our own image, and so we become mothers who can discern truth from error.”
We can’t expect to be humble moms if we aren’t filling ourselves up with Scripture. The Bible tells us who God is, what he has done, and what he is doing. It reminds us of his promises. It is his living Word that strengthens our faith, is the source of our joy and our hope, and makes us more like Him.
This book is one that I’ll probably come back to whenever I’ve lost sight of my Shepherd. Whenever the struggles and sacrifices of motherhood become too much and I need to be reminded of who I am in Christ and what I have because of it. When I need to set my eyes on the hope that is to come and be faithful in what he has given me now.
I would recommend this book to all moms or moms-to-be. (Sidenote: she does a good job of including adoptive, foster, and waiting moms)
I can’t think of a better quote to end this review with. Be encouraged, moms, God is bigger than any struggle we have in motherhood, no matter how daily, and His heart is for YOU.
“A piece of dark chocolate may help for a brief moment, but what we’re desperate for—what our souls truly long for and need most—is life-giving, lasting, unshakable joy in a risen Savior who walked out of his grave. We need eternal, living hope, a reality check that lifts our eyes and hearts off our circumstances to the unseen kingdom of Christ, our good and gracious Shepherd-King, who is alive, and is with us by his Spirit, and is working out all his purposes—even the hard ones in our homes—for his own honor and for our Christlikeness, our joy, our humility.”
Extra Resources
Wetherell recommends the ‘Dwell’ app for an audio Bible
- Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund (I love this book! She quoted it a lot in Humble Moms)
- Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches by Rachel Jankovic
- Parenting by Paul Tripp (this puts our parenting struggles in the framework of sin and the Spirit’s work)
- Gospel-Centered Motherhood by Stefanie Boyles
- Eve in Exile by Rebekah Merkle (emphasizes the importance of motherhood)
- Becoming a Woman Whose God is Enough by Cynthia Heald
- When Strivings Cease by Ruth Chou Simons
More Quotes
“Each day presents us with opportunities to lower ourselves as Christ lowered himself. And this is our privilege because it was his.”
“As we wipe soiled bottoms for the millionth time—As we play the same imaginary game on repeat—As we try to understand the sadness behind our child’s tears—As we empty our supposed “rights” as mothers, laying aside our glory—We are not only serving our kids, we are serving the One who has first given up everything he deserved to serve us.”
“Instead of being high and-mighty moms who wag our fingers at our kids, confused and frustrated that they keep getting it wrong, we will be moms on our knees, humble and prayerful, as we plead for Jesus to do what only he can do.”
“No bad day of motherhood, no angry meltdown toward your kids, no attempts to escape from your circumstances, no wayward worship or mishandled thirst will shut off the fountain of rich mercy and grace that is in Jesus.”
“You could anxiously fret. You could fear the future. You could over-analyze your every decision. You could numb out with entertainment, food and drink, work, or social media. You could strive with all your might to be a “great mom.” Or you could rest in the refuge of your Good Shepherd.”
“When you’re tired of serving your kids; when you feel like giving up; when you’re discouraged and weary; when everything feels out of your control; when you’re sleep-deprived and can’t take another step; when your heart feels flat and cold; when you’re not sure how to face another mess, another conflict, or another day of motherhood, remember: You will see Jesus. You will be honored by the Father. And it will have been worth it all. We may not know what the outcome of our mothering work will be, but we know the outcome Jesus has worked for us. We know where we are headed. For the joy set before us—the joy of endlessly loving and serving him—we follow the One who has first served us (Heb. 12:1–2), who lost his life so we will keep ours for eternity. With eyes fixed on our humble Jesus, we will endure with faithfulness.”
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
“Greatness is not about puffing ourselves up, but laying ourselves down. It is not only about what we’re doing, but why and how we’re doing it. It is the humble posture of the heart.”
Kristen Wetherell gets me.
She understands how motherhood makes you weary. She understands all the struggles and the needs.
Motherhood is hard. So how do we do it?
How do we endure? How do we love our kids when we don’t like them?Where do we get the strength and joy to not just survive each day, but do it with less sinful behavior? (my words, not hers)
Kristen has written this relatable and convicting book to remind us in all seasons and contexts of motherhood that at the core, we have a heart and hand disconnect. We may display servants’ hands but not with servants’ hearts.
“My goal, then, is not to give you more things you must do or be, adding to your already-long-enough list of shoulds, nor will we grow in humility simply by focusing on our shortcomings and sins as we walk with Christ. The pages that follow are not about parenting; neither is this book a pep talk to bolster your self-confidence. It is not even directly about motherhood, although I’m praying your pursuit of motherhood is affected by it. Instead, this book is about a person whose heart we most need. It is about the truest definition and demonstration of humility. This book is a meditation on Christ—because what weary moms need is a long, lingering look at humility in the flesh, the beautiful and blessed Jesus, who reveals to us what servant-heartedness looks like.”
Kristen takes us through the book of John, from creation to Christ’s promised returning, to show us how Jesus created, sustains, satisfies, provides, leads, and loves us. How he has sacrificed for us, prays for us, and dwells with us.
Note on the formatting: At the end of each chapter there is a section of meditation and reflection and then a prayer. I really liked the prayers because it helped me know what to pray for myself. Then at the end of the book are more discussion questions for each chapter. It would make a good study for a group of women.
Why is motherhood so hard?
Because of sin.
We are sinners. Our kids are sinners.
Behavior modification won’t fix all of our problems. We all need our hearts changed.
A major theme in this book is that we need to stop trying to be our own Savior or our kids’ Savior. We could never be. We will never be good enough moms on our own. We will never be good enough moms to rescue our children from their sinful hearts.
Only Christ can do that.
“Motherhood means sacrifice—your last bites of ice cream, your pre-baby body, those eight-straight hours of glorious nighttime sleep, your financial freedom, the clean car, the clean house, the clean shirt. All sacrificed on the altar of motherhood. In many symbolic ways, we are laying down our lives for our kids, and if it came to it, we know we would die for them. But we can’t save them from sin… we will never be able to sacrifice enough to remedy their biggest problem. And we will never be able to sacrifice enough to solve ours; no depth of guilt over our sins and failings and no amount of striving to be good enough will do.”
That is the first thing we need to get right. To stop striving on our own. [ahem, read When Strivings Cease]
Everything we need we have in Christ and his Spirit who lives in us.
We are strengthened in motherhood because he gives us strength, endurance, patience, gentleness, love, joy, self-control, peace, kindness, and faithfulness.
I’m not sure if you can be a mom and NOT recognize your limitations.
“Jesus knows your limitations because he created them. Far from what we think and want to believe, our limitations are God-given. They are not mistakes, but are tailor-made by our Creator. True, some of our weaknesses are linked to sin and suffering… But many of our limitations are God-designed and intentionally given to us… So we will know, without a doubt, how much we need him, which is the best place we can be.”
To be a humble mom we must know that the source of all we need is not within ourselves but in Him who Sustains us.
And when we are in Christ, he is making us new. He is transforming our hearts. We are given new desires.
Here are some quotes that depict some of the things that make us feel like failures:
“… our culture tells us that worth must be proven, that self-actualization is our goal, and that an idealistic home and children are what make us valuable.”
“it’s hardest to serve our children when no one, or nothing, seems to be serving us in return, when our rights or authority (or even our very presence in the room!) seem disregarded, or when we are not getting what we want or think we deserve.”
“the problem doesn’t lie in the good things we’d like to enjoy or the rest we need; it is when we grasp at those gifts like they are more important than other human beings.”
“Even after an ideal day with our kids, we know how our heads hit the pillow wondering, Is this really all there is for me? This should have filled me up—why do I still feel so empty?”
“Give me social media so I will not be lonely. Give me praise so I will not be undervalued. Give me opportunities so I will not feel useless. Give me obedient children so I will not be inconvenienced. Give me another purchase online so I will not be without… Within our hearts, thirst and worship are connected. Whatever we thirst for, we will worship. And whatever we worship, that we will thirst for.”
But when we look at the person of Christ in the book of John we see his gentle and lowly heart for his children. [ahem… read Gentle and Lowly]
We see his heart in his incarnation that he would take on flesh and live among sinners. We see his heart in his ministry as he heals and restores the outcasts and broken-hearted, how he serves the poor, the afflicted, the women, the children. We see his heart in his sacrifice on the cross, bearing the weight of the world’s sin to give us life. We see his heart in his intercession for us at the right hand of God— he didn’t just do his ‘work’ and go back to heaven hoping that we don’t screw everything up; he is praying for us and carrying us to the end. We see his heart in his promised return when he will come back and make all things right and bring ultimate restoration.
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28
He has given us the example of service out of compassion. And as mothers we can look at the place God has put us, the eternal souls we care for, and know that what we do is a privilege and we exemplify Christ when we do it.
Jesus understands our toils, our sacrifices, our needs. He lived them.
And he has come to give us help in the form of His Spirit, as already talked about, but also His Word.
“In your doubts, do you need to remember the truth of who God is today? In your discouragements—in all the trials that make motherhood hard, that make you forget how loved you are, that bring you to suspect God of holding out on you—do you need to remember all the ways Jesus has served you?”
“We need Scripture so our faith does not wither, so we do not remake God in our own image, and so we become mothers who can discern truth from error.”
We can’t expect to be humble moms if we aren’t filling ourselves up with Scripture. The Bible tells us who God is, what he has done, and what he is doing. It reminds us of his promises. It is his living Word that strengthens our faith, is the source of our joy and our hope, and makes us more like Him.
This book is one that I’ll probably come back to whenever I’ve lost sight of my Shepherd. Whenever the struggles and sacrifices of motherhood become too much and I need to be reminded of who I am in Christ and what I have because of it. When I need to set my eyes on the hope that is to come and be faithful in what he has given me now.
I would recommend this book to all moms or moms-to-be. (Sidenote: she does a good job of including adoptive, foster, and waiting moms)
I can’t think of a better quote to end this review with. Be encouraged, moms, God is bigger than any struggle we have in motherhood, no matter how daily, and His heart is for YOU.
“A piece of dark chocolate may help for a brief moment, but what we’re desperate for—what our souls truly long for and need most—is life-giving, lasting, unshakable joy in a risen Savior who walked out of his grave. We need eternal, living hope, a reality check that lifts our eyes and hearts off our circumstances to the unseen kingdom of Christ, our good and gracious Shepherd-King, who is alive, and is with us by his Spirit, and is working out all his purposes—even the hard ones in our homes—for his own honor and for our Christlikeness, our joy, our humility.”
Extra Resources
Wetherell recommends the ‘Dwell’ app for an audio Bible
- Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund (I love this book! She quoted it a lot in Humble Moms)
- Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches by Rachel Jankovic
- Parenting by Paul Tripp (this puts our parenting struggles in the framework of sin and the Spirit’s work)
- Gospel-Centered Motherhood by Stefanie Boyles
- Eve in Exile by Rebekah Merkle (emphasizes the importance of motherhood)
- Becoming a Woman Whose God is Enough by Cynthia Heald
- When Strivings Cease by Ruth Chou Simons
More Quotes
“Each day presents us with opportunities to lower ourselves as Christ lowered himself. And this is our privilege because it was his.”
“As we wipe soiled bottoms for the millionth time—As we play the same imaginary game on repeat—As we try to understand the sadness behind our child’s tears—As we empty our supposed “rights” as mothers, laying aside our glory—We are not only serving our kids, we are serving the One who has first given up everything he deserved to serve us.”
“Instead of being high and-mighty moms who wag our fingers at our kids, confused and frustrated that they keep getting it wrong, we will be moms on our knees, humble and prayerful, as we plead for Jesus to do what only he can do.”
“No bad day of motherhood, no angry meltdown toward your kids, no attempts to escape from your circumstances, no wayward worship or mishandled thirst will shut off the fountain of rich mercy and grace that is in Jesus.”
“You could anxiously fret. You could fear the future. You could over-analyze your every decision. You could numb out with entertainment, food and drink, work, or social media. You could strive with all your might to be a “great mom.” Or you could rest in the refuge of your Good Shepherd.”
“When you’re tired of serving your kids; when you feel like giving up; when you’re discouraged and weary; when everything feels out of your control; when you’re sleep-deprived and can’t take another step; when your heart feels flat and cold; when you’re not sure how to face another mess, another conflict, or another day of motherhood, remember: You will see Jesus. You will be honored by the Father. And it will have been worth it all. We may not know what the outcome of our mothering work will be, but we know the outcome Jesus has worked for us. We know where we are headed. For the joy set before us—the joy of endlessly loving and serving him—we follow the One who has first served us (Heb. 12:1–2), who lost his life so we will keep ours for eternity. With eyes fixed on our humble Jesus, we will endure with faithfulness.”
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
What a great book!
Andy Weir is best known for his book The Martian. I haven’t read it, but you can bet it’s on my TBR now!
In Project Hail Mary, a science teacher and his BFF alien buddy science and engineer the crap out of space stuff to save their planets from a star-eating microbe.
It’s a bit more complicated than that, but that’s the main gist!
Weir fashions a brilliant, humorous, and endearing story filled with complicated science that he generally dumbs down for us, giving us a very pleasant book.
I only found one mistake in his science, but I won’t embarrass him by explaining it to you. (This is sarcasm.)
Here’s the bigger plot gist:
Ryland Grace, academia-genius-turned-middle-school-science-teacher, wakes up on a space ship with little to no memories of who he is, where he is, and why he is there. To make matters worse, his other two crew members have died during the medically-induced coma part of their trip.
Grace has a very special set of skills that will save all of humanity. He just can’t remember them yet. And yes, he understands the gravity of the situation. (Was I ever NOT going to use a space pun? No.)
We discover there is an organism (Astrophage) that is absorbing the sun’s energy in space and thanks to carbon-dioxide rich atmosphere of Venus, are multiplying at an alarming rate. If the sun dims too much, everything on Earth dies.
Project Hail Mary is Earth’s last-ditch effort to save their world. Send some people in space on a suicide mission to find a solution to the problem and send back their data before they die.
Sidenote: There’s a thread through the second half of the book of Grace’s emotional roller coaster of: “I’m gonna die. Wait, I don’t have to die anymore! Nope, I’m gonna die again. Cool, this means I can live! Crap, I’m gonna die” etc etc.
As the book unfolds, we are taken into flashbacks of memories Grace has to fill in the gaps. They are mostly related to on-ship dilemmas or information that triggers them (i.e. ‘How did my ship get here so fast?’ Flashback to how they turned astrophage into a highly effiicient fuel-source. ‘How am I supposed to communicate my findings back to Earth?’ Flashback to the scientists who created the beetles— named John, Paul, George, and Ringo of course— that use the stars to find their way home. ‘How did I lose my memory?’ Flashback to a very shocking realization that I won’t tell you about sorry not sorry)
If the launch of this ship was the first Hail Mary of the book, the second one occurs shortly after Grace awakens and discovers an alien ship hanging out next to him.
‘The robotic arms drop back to pass and launch the ball… I mean cylinder… high into the oxygen-less air! It spins, end over end toward the endzone… I mean spaceship… at an incredible speed but it will still take minutes before it reaches its destination! Can Grace catch it? He jumps into his space suit! He’s entering the air lock! He calculates the angle of the throw! He runs… I mean floats… toward the pass! He reaches out! He grabs it! He caught it! Grace caught the pass! It’s over folks! Touchdown science nerds!’
Okay, that’s not the climax of the book and there are no sports announcers in space (yet), but this was a momentous pass because it was the start of one of the best friendships you’ll ever read.
Grace’s new BFF whom he names Rocky, looks like a spider, has no eyes, speaks in music, can build literally anything, and requires someone to watch him sleep. Also his mate is of course named Adrian.
We watch as Grace and Rocky figure out how to communicate and problem solve the Astrophage apocolypse that is threatening both of their planets.
My Thoughts
I loved this plot. It’s ‘out there’ but it all makes sense. (And to all the people out there who read this book and try to figure out when the ‘science’ doesn’t make sense and find the ‘plot holes’… keep it to yourself. No one cares.)
The sun is dimming and the earth is cooling. So what does earth need to do while they wait for a solution?: Stop accidentally causing global warming and now do it purposefully as must as possible. Turns out the fastest way to do this is nuke Antarctica. Brilliant.
I’m no science hobbyist so words like panspermia, neutrino, silicate, gimbal, and understanding the wavelengths of light are not my typical conversation topics. If you know this stuff then this book will be an even bigger win for you.
But though a lot of the science went over my head (including all the metric measurements… thanks America) I still got the basics to follow what they were doing and I even learned some stuff! Like why we can microwave things and watch it without our faces melting off. Or how X-rays, microwaves, WiFi, and the color purple are all just wavelengths of light. Or how a spaceship can generate centrifugal force to create gravity. (see my original blog post for a diagram)
I loved the characters.
The flashbacks introduce a wider cast of characters but most of the book is just Grace and Rocky and their relationship is awesome and hilarious. Weir’s take on this particular alien life is endearing and different than most portrayals you see. (Well, at least based on what I’ve read/seen)
It looks like Ryan Gosling might be working on a movie adaptation for this book. Which could be really good, or may ruin my picture of Rocky. Plus I feel like I picture Grace being more like a Chris Pratt character than Ryan Gosling. Did they just pick him because he has the same initials?!
Conclusion
This definitely earned its place as winner of the science fiction category.
And you should read it. It’s quite enjoyable.
P.S. A three-anused mud sloth is not a real thing. I checked.
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Andy Weir is best known for his book The Martian. I haven’t read it, but you can bet it’s on my TBR now!
In Project Hail Mary, a science teacher and his BFF alien buddy science and engineer the crap out of space stuff to save their planets from a star-eating microbe.
It’s a bit more complicated than that, but that’s the main gist!
Weir fashions a brilliant, humorous, and endearing story filled with complicated science that he generally dumbs down for us, giving us a very pleasant book.
I only found one mistake in his science, but I won’t embarrass him by explaining it to you. (This is sarcasm.)
Here’s the bigger plot gist:
Ryland Grace, academia-genius-turned-middle-school-science-teacher, wakes up on a space ship with little to no memories of who he is, where he is, and why he is there. To make matters worse, his other two crew members have died during the medically-induced coma part of their trip.
Grace has a very special set of skills that will save all of humanity. He just can’t remember them yet. And yes, he understands the gravity of the situation. (Was I ever NOT going to use a space pun? No.)
We discover there is an organism (Astrophage) that is absorbing the sun’s energy in space and thanks to carbon-dioxide rich atmosphere of Venus, are multiplying at an alarming rate. If the sun dims too much, everything on Earth dies.
Project Hail Mary is Earth’s last-ditch effort to save their world. Send some people in space on a suicide mission to find a solution to the problem and send back their data before they die.
Sidenote: There’s a thread through the second half of the book of Grace’s emotional roller coaster of: “I’m gonna die. Wait, I don’t have to die anymore! Nope, I’m gonna die again. Cool, this means I can live! Crap, I’m gonna die” etc etc.
As the book unfolds, we are taken into flashbacks of memories Grace has to fill in the gaps. They are mostly related to on-ship dilemmas or information that triggers them (i.e. ‘How did my ship get here so fast?’ Flashback to how they turned astrophage into a highly effiicient fuel-source. ‘How am I supposed to communicate my findings back to Earth?’ Flashback to the scientists who created the beetles— named John, Paul, George, and Ringo of course— that use the stars to find their way home. ‘How did I lose my memory?’ Flashback to a very shocking realization that I won’t tell you about sorry not sorry)
If the launch of this ship was the first Hail Mary of the book, the second one occurs shortly after Grace awakens and discovers an alien ship hanging out next to him.
‘The robotic arms drop back to pass and launch the ball… I mean cylinder… high into the oxygen-less air! It spins, end over end toward the endzone… I mean spaceship… at an incredible speed but it will still take minutes before it reaches its destination! Can Grace catch it? He jumps into his space suit! He’s entering the air lock! He calculates the angle of the throw! He runs… I mean floats… toward the pass! He reaches out! He grabs it! He caught it! Grace caught the pass! It’s over folks! Touchdown science nerds!’
Okay, that’s not the climax of the book and there are no sports announcers in space (yet), but this was a momentous pass because it was the start of one of the best friendships you’ll ever read.
Grace’s new BFF whom he names Rocky, looks like a spider, has no eyes, speaks in music, can build literally anything, and requires someone to watch him sleep. Also his mate is of course named Adrian.
We watch as Grace and Rocky figure out how to communicate and problem solve the Astrophage apocolypse that is threatening both of their planets.
My Thoughts
I loved this plot. It’s ‘out there’ but it all makes sense. (And to all the people out there who read this book and try to figure out when the ‘science’ doesn’t make sense and find the ‘plot holes’… keep it to yourself. No one cares.)
The sun is dimming and the earth is cooling. So what does earth need to do while they wait for a solution?: Stop accidentally causing global warming and now do it purposefully as must as possible. Turns out the fastest way to do this is nuke Antarctica. Brilliant.
I’m no science hobbyist so words like panspermia, neutrino, silicate, gimbal, and understanding the wavelengths of light are not my typical conversation topics. If you know this stuff then this book will be an even bigger win for you.
But though a lot of the science went over my head (including all the metric measurements… thanks America) I still got the basics to follow what they were doing and I even learned some stuff! Like why we can microwave things and watch it without our faces melting off. Or how X-rays, microwaves, WiFi, and the color purple are all just wavelengths of light. Or how a spaceship can generate centrifugal force to create gravity. (see my original blog post for a diagram)
I loved the characters.
The flashbacks introduce a wider cast of characters but most of the book is just Grace and Rocky and their relationship is awesome and hilarious. Weir’s take on this particular alien life is endearing and different than most portrayals you see. (Well, at least based on what I’ve read/seen)
It looks like Ryan Gosling might be working on a movie adaptation for this book. Which could be really good, or may ruin my picture of Rocky. Plus I feel like I picture Grace being more like a Chris Pratt character than Ryan Gosling. Did they just pick him because he has the same initials?!
Conclusion
This definitely earned its place as winner of the science fiction category.
And you should read it. It’s quite enjoyable.
P.S. A three-anused mud sloth is not a real thing. I checked.
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