Book Review – How (Not) to Speak of God
I’ve spent a fair amount of time reading this break, catching a chance to finish up on a few that I’d started and prepare for a book discussion with some good friends in a week or so. One book that I’ve been slowly go through with a couple of small group leaders this last quarter is How (Not) to Speak of God. I originally heard about the book from the Pomomusings blog this last summer.
The book approaches the broader theological issues that the "emerging church" confronts as churches like Ikon, where author Peter Rollins attends, work out what it means to be church in the postmodern, post-Christian world. While it’s hard to pin down a theological stance on this movement (because it’s filled with people from every denomination and non-denomination) I feel like Rollins does a great job of distilling some of his ideas about church and faith into some clear philosophical and theological points. Not arguments, not doctrinal statements, just points of conversation.
Using practical service examples from his own community, Rollins
wrestles with issues of belief and disbelief, the presence of God, the
language of our religious expression, and a variety of surrounding
topics that are thoughtfully discussed and humbly presented. His
approach to the theistic/atheistic dichotomy of faith was particularly
fascinating. It struck me as a different way of perceiving God — we have the ability to experience God and know God, while at the same
time lacking proper ability to describe him and therefore our
ideas/images are inherently inaccurate. We must therefore approach the
God we know with some form of atheism, knowing that our ideas are insufficient and maybe wrong. Check the book out if that doesn’t make
sense, because I had to read it a few times and I’m less articulate
that Rollins.
The other piece to the book that makes it valuable is the use of real
service examples to display the theological concepts in practice (the
orthopraxy). The service meet in a pub-style location, with live music
spun by a DJ. The small room is often described as lit by candles, with
a projection screen displaying either some piece of artwork or a
poem/song that fits the service. It seems like it would be one of those
uber-hip churches, but with a very purposeful approach in each aspect
of art or sound in the room, all combining to create a church
experience that is multi-sensory. Each service described in the book
reflects a previous chapter or idea out of the orthodoxy (theology)
section. It is great to see illustrations of the linkage between the
two ortho’s (-doxy & -praxy) because more often then not, it’s easy
to talk about good, new ideas for church, or be open to reinterpreting
the way we commonly choose to go about worship, but in actuality let
little change. While some of the services are a bit more radical than
some may find comfortable or palatable, they all seem to be humbly and
honestly carried out in hopes of create an open, authentic place to
worship and experience God.
It has been great discussing this book with a couple of guys who lead
small groups at the INN this last quarter. They have been challenged
and excited by the ideas and it will be interesting to see how we each
choose to apply or wrestle with the praxis as well.
