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Making Sense of the Christian Faith Participant Book
Making Sense of the Christian Faith is an exciting and inviting exploration of the major theological doctrines of the Christian faith in the order of the biblical story. Written as a conversation in order to invite you to "jump into" the conversation, the text stimulates the reader's thinking instead of attempting to persuade a particular point of view. The book is written as a single narrative that anyone can read with great enjoyment and satisfaction. Topics include Theology, Creation, Sin, Covenant Law, Community, Incarnation, Atonement, Church and Holy Spirit, and Eschatology.
238 pages, Paperback
First published October 6, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 24, 2013
==Innovative theological interpretation==
The book's eight chapters cover these subjects: Theology; Creation; Sin; Covenant, law, community; Incarnation; Atonement; Church and the Holy Spirit; Eschatology. It is written in a conversational format, the author (shown in light type) and his alter-ego (in bold type). Some readers may find this irritating. It can be somewhat like slicing a salami: One slice...another slice...another slice...another slice.... At times I found it tediously contrived but the subject matter did keep me reading. The introduction states that the book explores seven major theological doctrines of the faith in the order of the biblical story. Genesis is thoroughly covered at the beginning and Revelation at the end.
As stated, the author is adventurous in pursuing different doctrines. (No wonder he needs his alter-ego to sort it out for the reader!) To his credit I think he succeeds in being Bible-based in his reasoning without being literalistic. He teaches that each biblical author provided a confession of his faith as they saw it at their time and place in history. Taking that position opens the mind and heart to consider theologies which are not proprietary of any one school of theology, church, sect or denomination.
I found chapters seven and eight to be the most cogent. For example, his points are well taken about the relevance of weekly attending church to stay on course spiritually. I love this mental representation: "At best, church reminds us of how much we are loved, reconnects us with the body of Christ, calls and commissions us to be God's partners in the world, and sends us back out again into the world....I think of this coming to church and going back out to the world again as the respiratory system of the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit breathes us in to be called and commissioned, and breathes us back into the world to make a difference." (p 204&5)
I like his view of God being involved wherever his love is being manifested, regardless of belief: "Some of the work God gives us is what we might call distinctively Christian--sharing the story of Jesus. But some of it--...dealing with caring for each other--is done by all kinds of people, even people who don't believe in Jesus. And that makes sense. Because the God who raised Jesus from the dead is also the one who created the whole world and everyone in it in the first place." (p 190)
He hits the nail on the head about not concentrating on "the end times" as God's final solution for our troubled world--that we cannot abjure ourselves from helping to resolve this world's problems because Christ will return and all non-believers will be "left behind" with the mess. He says: "Champions of a realized eschatology would say that one of the major problems of a future eschatology [i.e. rather than one focused on the foreseeable present future] is precisely that it doesn't have any meaningful ethical implications. If God is going to bring history to a close at an appointed time in the future, then there's not much Christians need to do except watch, pray and stay faithful." (p 224) "We may be called to take care of the whole world, but we are not the ones responsible for redeeming it. God will do that in time, which means that we are free to do what we can, sometimes even making a world of difference right where we are." (p 230)
Although I was no great fan of the book's formatted, conversational pretense, I appreciated the author's gift of innovative theological interpretation and doctrinal nuance. There are many more gems as good as those cited.
The book's eight chapters cover these subjects: Theology; Creation; Sin; Covenant, law, community; Incarnation; Atonement; Church and the Holy Spirit; Eschatology. It is written in a conversational format, the author (shown in light type) and his alter-ego (in bold type). Some readers may find this irritating. It can be somewhat like slicing a salami: One slice...another slice...another slice...another slice.... At times I found it tediously contrived but the subject matter did keep me reading. The introduction states that the book explores seven major theological doctrines of the faith in the order of the biblical story. Genesis is thoroughly covered at the beginning and Revelation at the end.
As stated, the author is adventurous in pursuing different doctrines. (No wonder he needs his alter-ego to sort it out for the reader!) To his credit I think he succeeds in being Bible-based in his reasoning without being literalistic. He teaches that each biblical author provided a confession of his faith as they saw it at their time and place in history. Taking that position opens the mind and heart to consider theologies which are not proprietary of any one school of theology, church, sect or denomination.
I found chapters seven and eight to be the most cogent. For example, his points are well taken about the relevance of weekly attending church to stay on course spiritually. I love this mental representation: "At best, church reminds us of how much we are loved, reconnects us with the body of Christ, calls and commissions us to be God's partners in the world, and sends us back out again into the world....I think of this coming to church and going back out to the world again as the respiratory system of the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit breathes us in to be called and commissioned, and breathes us back into the world to make a difference." (p 204&5)
I like his view of God being involved wherever his love is being manifested, regardless of belief: "Some of the work God gives us is what we might call distinctively Christian--sharing the story of Jesus. But some of it--...dealing with caring for each other--is done by all kinds of people, even people who don't believe in Jesus. And that makes sense. Because the God who raised Jesus from the dead is also the one who created the whole world and everyone in it in the first place." (p 190)
He hits the nail on the head about not concentrating on "the end times" as God's final solution for our troubled world--that we cannot abjure ourselves from helping to resolve this world's problems because Christ will return and all non-believers will be "left behind" with the mess. He says: "Champions of a realized eschatology would say that one of the major problems of a future eschatology [i.e. rather than one focused on the foreseeable present future] is precisely that it doesn't have any meaningful ethical implications. If God is going to bring history to a close at an appointed time in the future, then there's not much Christians need to do except watch, pray and stay faithful." (p 224) "We may be called to take care of the whole world, but we are not the ones responsible for redeeming it. God will do that in time, which means that we are free to do what we can, sometimes even making a world of difference right where we are." (p 230)
Although I was no great fan of the book's formatted, conversational pretense, I appreciated the author's gift of innovative theological interpretation and doctrinal nuance. There are many more gems as good as those cited.
November 12, 2017
As with other books by Professor Lose, this book clearly sets out the principles being discussed. That being said, his writing style of having a fictional character ask him questions and then the author answering them does present a little bit of difficulty in reading the book...but I must be a glutton for punishment as this is the third of his "Making Sense of..." books that I've read over the past couple years.
This series of books does succeed in part in explaining the different aspects of the Christian faith. There always seem to be little tidbits I take away from them. In this book, I particularly liked his explanation of the the "Kingdom of God" both being here and not being here...i.e., God's Kingdom is here in the sense that we are to enjoy His Kingdom which began by Christ being born, and yet not here because God's Kingdom is also coming in the future. His explanation of the "Second Coming" of Christ as having already happened by Christ's resurrection (His birth being the first coming and His resurrection being the second coming) is an interesting viewpoint and does help to back up his explanation of the Kingdom both being here and yet not being here.
This series of books does succeed in part in explaining the different aspects of the Christian faith. There always seem to be little tidbits I take away from them. In this book, I particularly liked his explanation of the the "Kingdom of God" both being here and not being here...i.e., God's Kingdom is here in the sense that we are to enjoy His Kingdom which began by Christ being born, and yet not here because God's Kingdom is also coming in the future. His explanation of the "Second Coming" of Christ as having already happened by Christ's resurrection (His birth being the first coming and His resurrection being the second coming) is an interesting viewpoint and does help to back up his explanation of the Kingdom both being here and yet not being here.
November 15, 2017
The book is written in a question/answer format as if in conversation with two people and it is well written although I do not particularly like that type of format. Tends to lead to rather shallow writings/discussions in my opinion. Which may have been on purpose as I don't think the author has a very high view of scripture.
I read it for a bible study and enjoyed the class and conversation with others in the class but I did not enjoy the book and do not recommend it. Maybe it was supposed to be presented in a softball manner so that a person can easily catch all that was discussed. However, knowledge that is easily gained and contorted to be personally acceptable can just as easily be lost or worse yet, contorted even more to meet your personal desires. That is not beneficial to anyone.
I read it for a bible study and enjoyed the class and conversation with others in the class but I did not enjoy the book and do not recommend it. Maybe it was supposed to be presented in a softball manner so that a person can easily catch all that was discussed. However, knowledge that is easily gained and contorted to be personally acceptable can just as easily be lost or worse yet, contorted even more to meet your personal desires. That is not beneficial to anyone.
April 15, 2023
A really great book for teen or adult study. The theology is based on a Lutheran theology. Our group had great conversations sparked by this book.
The book is written as a conversation. It bothered me that it didn't say WHO these two people are in the conversation.
The book is written as a conversation. It bothered me that it didn't say WHO these two people are in the conversation.
November 24, 2015
I bought this book because I heard David Lose, the author, speak a couple of years ago.
This is a terrific book that spells out key Christian concepts like atonement and incarnation in clear and lively language. The format is that Lose is having a conversation with a curious reader, and this format allows Lose to unknot issues that readers might have. Besides being clear, Lose also shows some humor along the way as he takes the reader from Genesis to Revelation.
This would be ideal for a church's new member class.
This is a terrific book that spells out key Christian concepts like atonement and incarnation in clear and lively language. The format is that Lose is having a conversation with a curious reader, and this format allows Lose to unknot issues that readers might have. Besides being clear, Lose also shows some humor along the way as he takes the reader from Genesis to Revelation.
This would be ideal for a church's new member class.
July 13, 2012
This is an amazing presentation of the heart of Christian beliefs. It focuses on how Christian doctrine illuminates the type of relationship God desires to have with people. Very uplifting.
September 8, 2016
The question and answer style wore me out until I was unable to finish it. It will be donated to the used book of the church bazaar.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews