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Dark Sayings : Essays for the Eyes of the Heart
IS IT POSSIBLE FOR A BOOK OF CONTEMPLATIVE THEOLOGY TO BE NEO-NOIR? In some ways, this collection of essays does resemble a detective novel: there are mysteries to solve, it always seems to be night-time, conventional methods are ignored, and nothing is what it appears to be. The Bible demonstrates that all good theology is not only a story, it is a movie, and not only a movie, but a movie deliberately designed to perplex, surprise and unsettle us. However, while the anxiety, alienation, romance, and dark wit (hopefully) remain, this book reserves noir’s hard-boiled cynicism and nihilism for the foibles of those who rebel against God. For the Christian writer-director, the darkness is only a device employed to bring the reader to the light. The deliberate ambiguities are only temporary cowls that eventually will be stripped away. Like the Bible, which, if we are honest, is a very dark book, these Dark Sayings, in their fundamental mindset and ultimate trajectory, are unshakeably optimistic.
457 pages, Paperback
Published February 1, 2018
6 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 18, 2018
This book was a delight to read. It was worth reading for the section entitled "Capo: Babel Academy" alone!
The first twenty chapters apply Michael Bull's systematic typology to difficult passages of the Bible, such as the curse of Ham/Canaan by Noah and Nebuchadnezzar's dream. These are the "dark sayings" referred to in the book title. Those familiar with Bull's Bible Matrix blog and his previous books will be familiar with his method of Scripture interpretation, which relies on discerning regular patterns built in to the text, such as the five point covenant model, ancient Israelite holy days, and the furniture of the tabernacle/temple. I would recommend those who are unfamiliar with Bull's writings read at least Bible Matrix: An Introduction to the DNA of the Scriptures before reading Dark Sayings.
In chapters twenty one through twenty five Michael Bull sets his typological sights on movies and television, interpreting Little Shop of Horrors, Twin Peaks, Donnie Darko, Blade Runner, Blade Runner 2049, and Sunshine. These are not the usual cheesy Christian fanboy reviews with a couple of Bible verses sprinkled on top. Bull uses his typological method to perform an internal critique of the movies and their underlying messages. I believe Greg Bahnsen would be proud!
Bull hints at this in the introduction:
"The Bible demonstrates that all good theology is not only a story, it is a movie, and not only a movie, but a movie deliberately designed to perplex, surprise, and unsettle us."
Although in some cases the creators of these movies and television programs have an anti-Christian agenda, at the end of the day they are still God's creatures, created in His image, and living in His world. Michael Bull points out that the themes of the Bible matrix are built in to the world God made. Human storytellers cannot help but include these themes in their own works, having no other mediums or materials available. At best, unbelievers infuse their creative works with the borrowed capital of biblical truths; at worst they subvert the truth, often by inverting the Bible matrix.
Michael Bull also does a fascinating internal critique of the views expressed by Jordan Peterson, and Peterson's primary influence, Carl Jung. This is primarily in the introduction, but also sprinkled throughout the rest of the book. While finding truth and inspiration in elements of the Jungian practice of shadow work, Bull weighs Peterson/Jung in the balance and finds them wanting:
"The problem with Jung and Peterson is that the mirrors of modern psychology are only broken shards, fragments of a moral framework bequeathed to us by our Christian heritage."
I found this book not only fun to read, but culturally relevant in the best sense of the term. Michael Bull has an important message in Dark Sayings, for the Church and the world. If we want compelling answers for the world's problems, we must take the effort to discern what God says about these things in His Word, and we must apply the truths revealed in real life. These problems are often sent by God, not simply to make our lives difficult, but to test us, force us to grow from children to adults, and ultimately raise us up with Christ in glory.
The first twenty chapters apply Michael Bull's systematic typology to difficult passages of the Bible, such as the curse of Ham/Canaan by Noah and Nebuchadnezzar's dream. These are the "dark sayings" referred to in the book title. Those familiar with Bull's Bible Matrix blog and his previous books will be familiar with his method of Scripture interpretation, which relies on discerning regular patterns built in to the text, such as the five point covenant model, ancient Israelite holy days, and the furniture of the tabernacle/temple. I would recommend those who are unfamiliar with Bull's writings read at least Bible Matrix: An Introduction to the DNA of the Scriptures before reading Dark Sayings.
In chapters twenty one through twenty five Michael Bull sets his typological sights on movies and television, interpreting Little Shop of Horrors, Twin Peaks, Donnie Darko, Blade Runner, Blade Runner 2049, and Sunshine. These are not the usual cheesy Christian fanboy reviews with a couple of Bible verses sprinkled on top. Bull uses his typological method to perform an internal critique of the movies and their underlying messages. I believe Greg Bahnsen would be proud!
Bull hints at this in the introduction:
"The Bible demonstrates that all good theology is not only a story, it is a movie, and not only a movie, but a movie deliberately designed to perplex, surprise, and unsettle us."
Although in some cases the creators of these movies and television programs have an anti-Christian agenda, at the end of the day they are still God's creatures, created in His image, and living in His world. Michael Bull points out that the themes of the Bible matrix are built in to the world God made. Human storytellers cannot help but include these themes in their own works, having no other mediums or materials available. At best, unbelievers infuse their creative works with the borrowed capital of biblical truths; at worst they subvert the truth, often by inverting the Bible matrix.
Michael Bull also does a fascinating internal critique of the views expressed by Jordan Peterson, and Peterson's primary influence, Carl Jung. This is primarily in the introduction, but also sprinkled throughout the rest of the book. While finding truth and inspiration in elements of the Jungian practice of shadow work, Bull weighs Peterson/Jung in the balance and finds them wanting:
"The problem with Jung and Peterson is that the mirrors of modern psychology are only broken shards, fragments of a moral framework bequeathed to us by our Christian heritage."
I found this book not only fun to read, but culturally relevant in the best sense of the term. Michael Bull has an important message in Dark Sayings, for the Church and the world. If we want compelling answers for the world's problems, we must take the effort to discern what God says about these things in His Word, and we must apply the truths revealed in real life. These problems are often sent by God, not simply to make our lives difficult, but to test us, force us to grow from children to adults, and ultimately raise us up with Christ in glory.
April 5, 2018
Bull is a fantastic writer, he's produces the kind of writing that has you pause and ponder something you thought you understood thoroughly. This is coupled with a clearness that is very refreshing. There were a lot of, "aha!" moments as I read, things I want to return to and ponder more.
Now, I thoroughly enjoy James B. Jordan's teachings, Bull is someone who has taken these teachings and run with them. In doing this, Bull can sometimes lack the epistemic humility that Jordan more often has (although in Jordan he often expresses it by saying, "I might be wrong, but I'm probably not"). I prefer a writer with a spine that doesn't hem and haw about they believe, so in that sense, I liked it, however, if Jordan is already out on the skinny branches, Bull is on the tender outer veins of a single leaf. Because I do accept of a lot of Jordan's premises I found myself benefiting from the book, but if one didn't have the foundation, they would be lost and confused (and nevermind the fact that I haven't read The Bible Matrix). That being said, I enjoyed the Biblical analysis, even if I didn't always agree with it, or even follow it. I also found the concept fascinating of analyzing cryptic secular movies and TV shows using that same typological biblical analysis, but it was the least engaging part of the book for me (probably because I haven't done the same leg-work with these TV shows and movies that I have done with the Bible itself).
Overall, I would recommend it.
It's worth noting that I received this book from Michael Bull when he posted on Twitter that he'd send it to a limited number of people the book for free if they'd read and review it by March 31st (sorry I'm late to write this!).
Now, I thoroughly enjoy James B. Jordan's teachings, Bull is someone who has taken these teachings and run with them. In doing this, Bull can sometimes lack the epistemic humility that Jordan more often has (although in Jordan he often expresses it by saying, "I might be wrong, but I'm probably not"). I prefer a writer with a spine that doesn't hem and haw about they believe, so in that sense, I liked it, however, if Jordan is already out on the skinny branches, Bull is on the tender outer veins of a single leaf. Because I do accept of a lot of Jordan's premises I found myself benefiting from the book, but if one didn't have the foundation, they would be lost and confused (and nevermind the fact that I haven't read The Bible Matrix). That being said, I enjoyed the Biblical analysis, even if I didn't always agree with it, or even follow it. I also found the concept fascinating of analyzing cryptic secular movies and TV shows using that same typological biblical analysis, but it was the least engaging part of the book for me (probably because I haven't done the same leg-work with these TV shows and movies that I have done with the Bible itself).
Overall, I would recommend it.
It's worth noting that I received this book from Michael Bull when he posted on Twitter that he'd send it to a limited number of people the book for free if they'd read and review it by March 31st (sorry I'm late to write this!).
May 18, 2018
This is a very unusual book. It incarnates an inverse version of the famous WTS/Murray motto: "radically speculative systematic theology." Speculative does not always mean wrong, but it does mean we need to be careful. Michael Bull's speculations are a buckshot, they go in many directions. Most of them are very bold departures from traditional views on the exegesis of particular passages or on a section of dogmatics. Some of them can prove themselves to be extremely helpful in reading the text. Some of them are the sorts of interpretations that seminary professors would read and mock in a classroom, completely off-base from a confessional Reformed point of view.
The best parts of the book come out when Bull works with archetypes and fleshes out some of the archetypal structures of the Bible. He doesn't always have a coherent and persuasive argument for what he sees in the text (I'm not yet convinced by the scheme of the Bible matrix), but he does manage to capture a lot of archetypal movement in the pages and stories of Scripture which would not even get a second glance from the contemporary reader. Learning to hear Scripture as music (as Alastair Roberts put it in his recent book) is a direction in which the church has a long way to grow. In this sense, Bull has the right sort of intuition, because the Bible is not a textbook and shouldn't be read like one.
The parts of the book that impressed me least were some of the revisions of the doctrine of God. "God Himself, being triune, is a process, and He is a process because He is a relationship" and "[there is] a hierarchy of authority within the Trinity" may be language that attempts to describe true things about God, but there are more accurate and much more orthodox ways to do that without falling under suspicion of heresy. In the same vein, a robust Chalcedonian Christology could have improved the book at several points.
I would not recommend this book to young Christians or those just beginning their journey into a serious study of theology. But if you consider yourself a student of theology, reading a book or two like this one will help you become a better and more careful reader of Scripture, whether or not you agree with some or most of its conclusions.
The best parts of the book come out when Bull works with archetypes and fleshes out some of the archetypal structures of the Bible. He doesn't always have a coherent and persuasive argument for what he sees in the text (I'm not yet convinced by the scheme of the Bible matrix), but he does manage to capture a lot of archetypal movement in the pages and stories of Scripture which would not even get a second glance from the contemporary reader. Learning to hear Scripture as music (as Alastair Roberts put it in his recent book) is a direction in which the church has a long way to grow. In this sense, Bull has the right sort of intuition, because the Bible is not a textbook and shouldn't be read like one.
The parts of the book that impressed me least were some of the revisions of the doctrine of God. "God Himself, being triune, is a process, and He is a process because He is a relationship" and "[there is] a hierarchy of authority within the Trinity" may be language that attempts to describe true things about God, but there are more accurate and much more orthodox ways to do that without falling under suspicion of heresy. In the same vein, a robust Chalcedonian Christology could have improved the book at several points.
I would not recommend this book to young Christians or those just beginning their journey into a serious study of theology. But if you consider yourself a student of theology, reading a book or two like this one will help you become a better and more careful reader of Scripture, whether or not you agree with some or most of its conclusions.
April 17, 2018
This was an enjoyable read. Having never read the author before I am now wanting to read more of his stuff as he is a fantastic writer, knows his bible very well, and seems to have a knack for finding the oddest (in a good way) of topics. I disagreed with a number of his conclusions throughout, but the book was stimulating, and the theme highly creative and unique, nonetheless. The basic idea is that Scripture reads, essentially, like a Tarrentino film. Dark, unpredictable, and genuinely gut wrenching. I’m reminded of the idea of *felix culpa*. The evil of the world is utilized by the King to bring about the greatest of goods. Bull, likewise, engages with a lot of current cultural topics to show how the themes of Scripture are woven into even those areas that we wouldn’t see them in culture. I overall suggest Bull for his often keen insight on topics that wouldn’t even really begin to cross your mind.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews