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• On Tremendous Trifles ©1909
• Hesperus © 2009
• 97 pages

This book shares a lot in common with the Seinfeld—they’re both essentially works about nothing (at least nothing we’d consider worth considering). Tremendous Trifles is a collection of short essays on the things most of us wouldn’t pause to think twice about.

In Chesterton’s able hands, topics such as the detritus in one’s pocket or the magnificence of a blank canvas (otherwise known as a ceiling) reach sublime heights. It’s wonderful to think that the most meaningless items in life are worth (at least) 1,250 words and a column in the local newspaper.

Some might accuse Chesterton of excessive indulgence. You either love his verbose style or hate it. I enjoy slowing down to the leisurely pace he sets.

Since there are numerous editions of Tremendous Trifles around, I should make a few notes about this Hesperus edition. The binding holds together well, the text is crisp, the cover’s cleanly designed, and there’s handy fold-overs on the front and back cover to mark your place. This is the sort of quality paperback that makes you want to buy the rest of the publisher’s set.

Disclaimer: A review copy of this book was provided at no cost through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer’s program.

Here’s the fifth of six posts from Peterson’s Practice Resurrection on the sacred/secular divide:

If we once thought that the world around us was divided into secular and sacred and that it is the Christian’s assignment to specialize in the sacred but just put up with the secular, we can think that no longer: “God so loved the world . . .” (John 3:16).

It’s been at interesting summer at Wellington Street Pentecostal Church. We’ve spent our Sundays going back to the basics of what the Christian life is all about. Now that the series has ended, I thought I’d collect all the messages in one post. You can find individual write-ups along with the resources I used in each message over at wspc.ca. As always, you can find the download links right here on the sermons page.

1. Salvation (Mark 8:34-38)

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2. Prayer (Matthew 6:1-15)

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3. The Bible (2 Timothy 3:16)
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4. Growth (Luke 11:28)

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5. Stewardship (2 Corinthians 9:6-11)

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6. Temptation (James 1:12-16)

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7. Church (Ephesians 2:13-22)

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8. Tradition (Joshua 4:1-7)

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9. Old Testament (Genesis-Malachi)

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10. New Testament (Matthew-Revelation)

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• A Handbook of Contemporary Theology: Tracing trends & discerning directions in today’s theological landscape © 1992
• BridgePoint: Victor Books
• 394 pages

Have you ever had a religious discussion with someone that made you feel uneasy? Perhaps the logic of their position seemed to make sense, but you could sense something was fundamentally different from what you believe? Smith’s Handbook is a decent introductory way to acquaint yourself with the details of various theological beliefs.

The book is divided into two sections. The first part explains the major theologies (Fundamentalism, Orthodoxy, Evangelicalism, etc.). The second section tries to define more nebulous concepts such as Prosperity ‘Gospel’ and New Age Spirituality.

There’s a lot of good basic information here. You can tell that Smith was a professor of this subject by the way his information is so logically laid out. That’s a good thing.

The problem lies in Smith’s perspective. He’s clearly influenced by Southern Baptist-style fundamentalism (Ph.D., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary), yet he never identifies his beliefs. This becomes a problem at the end of each chapter. After each of the 18 theologies, he takes a page or so to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each system. It would have been better if he had clearly stated his beliefs at the outset, rather than making the reader question his level of bias.

The second problem with this book (no fault of the author!) is its age. The theological landscape has shifted quite a bit over the last two decades. While it’s interesting to read about the state of modern theology in 1992—the book’s quite deficient in describing today’s world.

Here’s the fourth of six posts from Peterson’s Practice Resurrection on revivalism and grieving the Spirit:

In some places in the church there is considerable complaint about the absence of the Spirit. These critics are confident that they know what the presence of the Spirit should look like and are loud in protesting his alleged absence. They are also ready with strategies to recruit the Spirit. . . . Some have suggested that this habit and protesting the absence of the Spirit and working up a revival sweat may very well be one more form of “grieving the Holy Spirit of God” (Markus Barth, The Broken Wall).

• The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb © 2009
• W. W. Norton & Company
• 224 pages

I couldn’t resist ordering this once I read the cover:

The first book
of the bible
graphically
depicted!
NOTHING LEFT OUT!

I taught through Genesis a few years ago, and realized just what “nothing left out” would mean!

I was pleasantly surprised by how faithful Crumb was to the text. He took a scholarly translation (Robert Alter’s The Five Books of Moses), and worked diligently to illustrate it. This isn’t some gratuitous parody or vain satire. This is God’s word . . . with pictures.

Much of the criticism about Crumb’s work centres on his depiction of God as a shiny old man with a monstrous beard. I tend to agree—God’s not an elderly man with eccentric facial hair. That said, what image should an illustrator use for a person who walked with Adam in the cool of the evening and who appeared to his chosen people? He clearly showed up in some form they could comprehend!

If you’re easily offended, just ignore this book. If you’re curious and want to better visualize the Genesis narratives, give it a try.

Here’s the third of six posts from Peterson’s Practice Resurrection on morality:

The Christian life does not start with moral behavior. We don’t become good in order to get God. But having been brought into the operations of God, moral behavior provides forms for maturing in a resurrection life. Moral acts are forms in the sense that a pottery vase gives form to a bouquet of flowers, in the sense that a bucket provides a container for getting water from the well to the kitchen, in the sense that a bugle gives form to a compressed column of air so that taps can be played. Moral acts are art forms for arranging and giving expression to resurrection.

• The Zahir: A Novel of Obsession (P.S.) © 2005
• Harper Perennial
• 298 pages

I’m afraid my journey with Coelho is over. I was intrigued by The Alchemist, even though it smacked of neo-gnosticism. Veronica Decides to Die had such a twisted premise, I could overlook the philosophy. The Devil and Miss Prym, again, was such an interesting take on a folksy tale, I half-enjoyed it. In The Zahir, Coelho’s mushy spiritualism collided so violently with my worldview it was a chore to read.

I did enjoy the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the book—the cultures of Brazil, France and Kazakhstan combine to make interesting reading. Coelho’s prose is beautiful to read, as well. He moves effortlessly between dialogue and thought.

In the end, though, I’m tired of people thinking that leaving their old life behind will allow them to “find themselves”. That mid-life-crisis myth has spoiled too many relationships for me to take it seriously.

• Israel’s Sacred Songs: a Study of Dominant Themes © 1966
• The Seabury Press
• 242 pages

This book introduces readers the ways that Israel used cultural idioms from the surrounding nations to describe her God.

Since we have a well preserved set of ancient documents from Israel (the Hebrew Scriptures), and little from the surrounding nations, it’s easy to think that all of Israel’s praise-language was her own divine invention. That is clearly not the case—God has always and continues to use our culture to speak to us (indeed, there’s no other way).

Unfortunately, the 1960s scholarly tone makes the book a little difficult to read. Still, the information (especially the quotations from other cultures) is worth the effort if you can find a good second-hand copy somewhere.

• Saint Francis (Christian Encounters Series) © 2010
• Thomas Nelson
• 233

In Saint Francis, West successfully made life and times of a thirteenth-century saint come alive.

I chose to review this book because I didn’t know much about Francis other than a few folktales and the hymn, “All Creatures of Our God and King”. It turns out there’s a lot more to Francis than a madman singing to the birds. He walked across battle lines during one of the crusades and tried to convert the Sultan. He took the pope’s derogatory remark to go and roll in pig filth literally and still managed to secure a second audience. Even aside from the miracles—communication with animals, stigmata, etc.—Francis lived a remarkable life.

There were times in the biography where West clearly added circumstantial details to make Francis’ life more vivid. You often read statements like, “It does not take much of a leap to envision Francis and his Sons of Babylon fighting rival gangs” (31), or, “The local priest may have known about the chamber and used the area to store foodstuffs” (71). This is due to the paucity of historic data West had to work with.

This is a fine introduction to the life of a remarkable God-touched saint.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free as a member of Thomas Nelson’s Booksneeze program.