Theology of Luck: Fate, Chaos, and Faith

by Rob A. Fringer, Jeff K. Lane

Are all things under God's control or only some things? Do we have a part to play or does God direct everything to its preplanned end? What about events that don t seem to be under anyone s control? Where is God then? For that matter, where are we?These questions and others like them are handled with precision in A Theology of Luck. After considering what kind of God we believe in, the authors paint a relational portrait of a God of love. It is with this idea of God that we find insight into the inexplicable occurrences of life and arrive at a vision of faith and practice that encompasses both God and ourselves. A Theology of Luck is not just about grappling with what we cannot understand about the world. It is about embracing our role as participants in God's loving and ongoing plan for the world. Endowed with grace and the gift of free will, we join God in revealing God's love and vision to the world.

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2015

Reviews

[Michelle Upton]

The ‘Theology of Luck’ asks you to think about what type of God you believe in and if your words and actions truly represent those ideas. Fringer and Lane ask if you believe in a ‘God of control’, where events are predetermined or predestined; a ‘God of passivity’, who lets things play out and is incapable of intervening; or do you believe in the third view? A God of relationship, where God works in and through us to bring about beauty even in the most difficult of times.

This book discusses the idea of luck (chance, coincidence, fortune, accident etc) while taking into consideration our choices, freewill, the consequences which stem from those choices (both intentional and unintended) and asks where God is in all of this. These questions then ask us, the reader, to consider where our beliefs lie and if they are in line with how we live day to day. For example, if I say ‘It was all part of God’s plan’, then what do I mean by that and is it what I really believe?

As someone who is still searching and who sees my own path as spiritual but without the traditional religious practises, I found this book was a great tool for getting into the nitty gritty of exactly what it is I believe, and for this reason I think it’s an even more valuable tool for those people who hold strong their religious beliefs. The ‘Theology of Luck’ discusses a God of relationship who allows us to doubt, question and even ‘get angry in the midst of our suffering’. It’s here I thought of Rob Bell’s book ‘What We Talk About When We Talk About God’. He states that ‘Faith and doubt aren’t opposites they are, it turns out, excellent dance partners.’ I think regardless of your religion or spiritual path you should always be eager to find out more and ask the tough questions—how else are we to grow?

Fringer and Lane gets the reader to look at how their religion is sometimes used by people to gain or have power, manipulate, or even used just to get into heaven; all of which are self centred reasons (and, of course, are found in all religions). It’s true that there are those people out there who complete the rituals of their religion, rock up to church every Sunday, pray every night and then are as mean as hell behind closed doors. This also made me think of those who are going through the motions of their religion without ever asking themselves why or what exactly it is they believe – were they just told they had to believe it, no questions asked? In that case does everything they are told ring true with them? This brings us back again to one of the central questions—Do your beliefs match your actions? Do your actions truly represent what it is you believe? These can be difficult issues to look at but I think if they make you feel uncomfortable then you should probably be asking yourself them more than anyone. But this is a good thing, really good, because I believe that as you search for the answers you search for yourself and only then can you move closer to becoming your true self.

What I like about this book is how Fringer and Lane talk about how our choices are really the most spiritual activity in which we engage, ‘The acts we traditionally attribute to being worship prepare us for the spiritual act of making choices!’ This is so good. They then discuss the concept of calling, at this point I started getting goose bumps. They talk about our Primary calling, ‘not a self-seeking call but a self-surrendering call to love our world, and the people in it, in the same way God loves creation’, and our Occupational calling, ‘a conscious choice that aligns with our primary calling.’ For me, I think this is at the core of what we all look for, and once we realise it, strive for.

Fringer and Lane bring to our attention that we all see God through different lenses and as a writer and lover of books I thought of the Edmund Wilson quote, ‘No two persons ever read the same book.’ But it’s true, as our lives are as unique as the path we take in life then so too are our beliefs, views and ideas that we have of this one same God. This is true in any religion. Our interpretations can only ever be subjective, and will differ and change at different points in our journey. This too is okay because this too will show us for who we really are, in the present moment, and who we want to be.

Fringer and Lane talk about how the only way we can understand, discover, learn about and broaden our own views is by coming together with others and starting a conversation. So, lets do it. I believe that if we open our hearts, ask the big questions and are willing to have a ‘relationship’ with God, then we can move our lives into a path where love is given and received in abundance.

In conclusion, I really loved this book and I believe Fringer and Lane have achieved what they set out to do, and that was start a really interesting conversation.

[Roger Leonhardt]

Pretty bad

[Yolanda Tansley]

This book raises a lot of questions about the beliefs of every kind of Christian. At times, it is uncomfortable and difficult to read as you are enlightened to your erroneous ways at other times it's just irritating. I am still not sure how I stand on some of the topics raised but I totally agree with the reasoning behind each idea presented by the writers. We are to take responsibility as Christian and stop blaming God for everything that goes wrong and show the love of Jesus to everyone to make our faith something desirable to others outside of it. If you are not a Christian already this is a great book to learn about what Christianity should be like.

[Dan]

I wished it was more to the point. I ended up speed-reading it.