The God Who Plays: A Playful Approach to Theology and Spirituality

by Brian Edgar

Many people would be surprised to hear that a playful attitude towards God and the world lies at the heart of Christian faith. Traditionally Christians have focused on the serious responsibilities of service, sacrifice, and commitment. But the prophets say that the future kingdom is full of people laughing and playing, which has implications for Christians who are called to live out the future kingdom in the present. Play is not trivial or secondary to work and service--only a playful way of living does justice to the seriousness of life! Play is the essential and ultimate form of relationship with God, which is why Jesus told people to learn from children. Indeed, a playful attitude is an important part of all significant relationships. This book explores grace, faith, love, worship, redemption, and the kingdom from the perspective of a playful attitude. It describes how to create a "play ethic" to match the "work ethic" and discusses play as a virtue, Aquinas's warning against the sin of not playing enough, and Bonhoeffer's claim that in a world of pain it is only the Christian who can truly play.

"In The God Who Plays, Brian Edgar presents a wonderful gift to God's overly serious people . . . The chapter headings are inviting, the writing clear and even playful. Brian clearly had fun writing this book. And the imaginative invitations to play with God, concluding each chapter, are irresistible. Enjoy." 
--Gordon Preece, Director, Ethos: EA Centre for Christianity and Society


"Who would expect a theologically robust and illuminating argument for play as central to Christian life and theology? Brian Edgar provides this and more--an original, nuanced, and engaging book that challenges our assumptions and invites us to delight in, and to take seriously, the playful dimensions of spirituality, discipleship, relationships, and God's kingdom." 
--Christine D. Pohl, Professor, Asbury Theological Seminary

"Play, it has been said, is the serious business of childhood and of heaven. What's more, as Brian Edgar convincingly shows, all things, such as work, spirituality, theology, worship, are meant to be infused with play. Indeed, play is rooted in the nature of God, in the perichoresis and playfulness of the Trinity. But not only is his book a profound theological reflection about play; above all, it is a joyful invitation to play and to join with The God who Plays."
--Stephen Seamands, Professor, Asbury Theological Seminary

"In this compelling book, Brian Edgar manages to lighten the spirit and lift the heart while offering profound stimulation for the Christian mind. All such ends, he argues, are proper to authentic theology, and are well summed up in the concept of 'play'. While hardly the most common focus of theological scholarship, Edgar expertly mines Scripture, ecclesial tradition, and saintly experience to demonstrate that play is, in fact, essential rather than peripheral to discipleship, worship, mission, and redemption."
--David Hilborn, Principal, St John's College, Bramcote, Nottingham

Brian Edgar is Professor of Theological Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. He is married to Barbara, has two daughters, and lives in Australia while frequently travelling to the USA to teach. He is the author of God is Friendship: A Theology of Spirituality, Community and Society (2013) and The Message of the Trinity (2004).

Genres: Theology, Christian, Faith, Nonfiction

154 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 8, 2018

About the author

Brian Edgar is Professor of Theological Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary.

Reviews

[Jacob Harada · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute delight to read and have re-orient my spirituality.
Many years ago I read Chesterton - whom Edgar quotes in this book - saying that levity is an essential aspect of Christianity. At the time it seemed far to frivolous and unfounded to be true; the Christianity I had as yet received showed me a world in crisis and religion of urgency. A shift in perspective came partly with this treatise from Brian Edgar. This book affronted my principled disposition toward gravity with it's assertion, "playfulness, delight and joy ought to characterize the nature of the Christian and his or her relationship with God." Christianity is meant to be more about celebration than crisis. To my surprise - and for my emancipation from a misdirected and anxiety-inducing sense of personal responsibility - Edgar finds endorsement of playfulness, delight, and laughter in Scripture. Perhaps the Bible is truly good news. Perhaps in calling out what is broken, it re-affirms what is beautiful. Perhaps it locates grief within the greater context of joy and locates duty within the larger context of a genuinely loving relationship. Weeping to be followed with the Easter Laugh. Gravity overcome in the end by levity.
Grace seems more real to me now and God seems larger. Beauty gained substance and Christianity became safer. Perhaps there are others like me who need a theological treatise to give them permission to relax.

[Brandon H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, Brian Edgar makes the case that Christianity isn't just about holiness, service, and sacrifice. It also includes an element of play. And by play, he doesn't just mean playing games or having fun but something much deeper - how the gospel causes us to have playful mindsets and attitudes as we live out our faith this side of the Parousia. He goes on to make the case that having a playful mindset/attitude is essential to living the Christian life as it was meant to be lived. Play also helps us relate to God at a deep level. God Himself plays and wants to play with us.

A playful God? Christianity, a playful faith? I had never considered such things. And I don't recall hearing this argued in the pulpit or in publications. So the topic intrigued me and I gave it a shot. Wow! Am I glad I did! What a delightful and thought-provoking book! If I had read this one last year when it first came out, I would have submitted it for the book of the year award. I took copious notes and will be returning to it often.

A couple of quotes -

"A life of Christian ministry, service, sacrifice and worship that does not embody, as part of it, the joy and delight of a playful relationship with God will become a duty-bound and moralistic life that will have difficulty in developing a close, intimate relationship with the one who is our chief and best Friend. This is because a playful attitude lies at the heart of all close relationships. The absence of this kind of relationship has meant burnout for far too many Christians. Just as in everyday life work without play makes one dull, in the Christian life service without a playful relationship with God leads to spiritual dullness." Page 8


"Play is the most perfect expression of the life of the one completely reliant upon the grace of God. In playing there is no thought of the production of any “thing” for the common good, no sense of the need to “do something” that will justify one’s existence, and play is not an expression of an innate sense of responsibility for caring for oneself or the life of others. Yet God calls us to this childish way of life, a way of living that is characterized by play, and although it is childish it is by no means trivial." Page 22

Another reviewer -

"In this compelling book, Brian Edgar manages to lighten the spirit and lift the heart while offering profound stimulation for the Christian mind. All such ends, he argues, are proper to authentic theology, and are well summed up in the concept of 'play'. While hardly the most common focus of theological scholarship, Edgar expertly mines Scripture, ecclesial tradition, and saintly experience to demonstrate that play is, in fact, essential rather than peripheral to discipleship, worship, mission, and redemption." --David Hilborn, Principal, St John's College, Bramcote, Nottingham

[Mary Lou · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brian Edgar’s new book The God Who Plays has been given awards for its creative approach to Christian life. However, I think Edgar is guilty of the license writers take when they superimpose their meaning on words and concepts that do not normally have that meaning. The Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines play as “to amuse oneself, as taking part in a game of sport…to act, deal or touch carelessly or lightly; to trifle (with a person or thing),…to act in a specified way, especially to pretend to be; activity engaged in for amusement or recreation.” (p. 1104).None of these definitions are appropriate to a Christian’s relationship with God. For example, he says, “There is no trivialization in saying that life, death, and resurrection are all part of the playful purpose of life. Even death is a part of this great and wonderful game” (The God Who Plays, Brian Edgar, Cascade Books, 2017, p. 125). Those words actually trivialize some of the most painful and significant struggles of the human life. Going through them with God involves strength and comfort and the empowerment of His presence, but it is not in a “playful” attitude. For the same reason, Edgar’s statement that God “plays with the people who have not had other people play with them” has misleading connotations. So I found myself arguing with the author throughout the book and decrying how he twists the meaning and the experience of all of life. Certainly, a relationship with God should involve joy and creativity and friendship and spontaneity. It is not about work and serving a burdensome God, but emphasizing only the positive attributes of creativity and fun misses the blessing and the responsibility of partnership with God in all of life, including its significant pathos.

[pianogal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this one more than I did. It was VERY academic, which was sad, because that's kind of the opposite of what play is. A couple chapters really hit the mark for me, but sadly a lot of it was hard to get through.

[James Wheeler]

I love the topic and idea, the writing style just wasn't for me.

[Adam Carnehl · Rating 3 out of 5]

The "Theology of Play" is something theologians have dabbled in since the 1960s. Earlier Christian thinkers such as G. K. Chesterton and, perhaps most especially, Martin Luther, long recognized the centrality of joy, laughter, and lightness to the Christian Faith, but since the mid-20th century, heavy hitting theologians such as Jürgen Moltmann and Hugo Rahner have more seriously explored "play" itself as a significant aspect of the Christian experience. Brian Edgar's book is a contribution to this ongoing discussion about the purpose and beauty of "play" within the life of faith. His thesis is that "play is the essential and ultimate form of relationship with God." He suggests that it "lies at the very heart of all spirituality and is critical for the whole of life" (1). It's probably worth noting that Edgar's other published book explores the notion of God as "friend" to the Christian, and so many of his conclusions in "The God Who Plays" build on this, exploring how play is an essential marker of the friend-friend relationship.

Overall Edgar's book is not as theologically acute as Moltmann's nor as historically learned as Rahner's, but it fills a gap somewhere in books by Christians on play. The strength of this book is how Edgar teases out the aspects of play in worship, love, redemption, and the kingdom. Rather than simply demonstrate why God plays or how the Christian life is play, he shows what play might look like in these different realms or experiences.

[Derek DeGroot · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Often, we tend to judge a book like this by how much of it we agree with. There are many statements made here I’m not sure I would adopt fully. But, I love books that make me think differently and help to round out my own exploration of who I believe God is. This book is great for this!

The book is full of compelling reasons that God is playful, and that a relationship with Him can and should include play. I found myself highlighting and underlining nearly every page! I particularly liked the views of work and play together, as someone with a traditional view of work ethic as a central part of living out faith. Play is central to what COULD be, and as an image bearer of a Creator, I find the interplay there fascinating. There are so many valuable takeaways, too. Competitors (or opponents) aren’t enemies, disorder isn’t play, and that play is nothing other than human freedom. Play is vulnerable, yet safe. Play is central to the creating of beauty. Altogether, I’ll be thinking about these concepts for a while.

[Jackie Liu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book aims to explore the importance of play in the Christian attitude to theology and spirituality. It raised some great points. It definitely helped me 1. spend more time thinking about play, 2. understand the eschatological importance of play, and 3. understand the importance of integrating work, rest, and play.

I would've liked to see more exploration on the application side, and what it might look like lived out.

Some of his ideas felt a bit disconnected, and at some points irrelevant. It probably makes sense in Brian's head, but I think I missed the point in several sections haha. Keen to read some Moltmann or Chesterton on the same topic, though!

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the content of the book. I did not appreciate the delivery of the content. The book was very heady and I had to read paragraphs multiple times to really understand the author. If I wasn’t doing this book as study with my church group. I don’t know if I would have taken the time to reread chapters and understand the author. I did really appreciate the content and the theroies of play was fasinating and I’ve developed more of a playful nature because I’ve read this book. It requires some heavy lifting on the reader though to understand his concepts. That is why I’m giving it a low score.

[Cameron Barham]

“The language of play is important because it indicates clearly the ethos of the community of Christ. It stresses the joyful, interactive, intimate, communal nature of life together, and challenges any view of the kingdom that excludes fun, laughter, games, creativity, dance or joy. This is the way of life that Christians and the church are to present to the world.”, p. 104

[Liam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book. I entered upon this book, expecting it to be, well.. playful. What I found was an overly serious, scholarly study of the subject. The book reads like a doctoral dissertation. It’s absolutely - terribly boring for a book with such a title - and such a cover! I also expected a devotional quality to it. Instead it is sterile, dry, and boring.

Theological error also seemed to lurk behind every corner as well. Perhaps my expectations were high, but I had hoped to read something in the theological vein of Piper’s Christian Hedonism (though a lighter treatment maybe - and with a focus on enjoyment in the Christian life). However this seemed more like the attempt of someone who had just read scripture for the first time giving their first whack at some theology. It was truly terrible. I won’t go in to all the details. But suffice it to say that this book is not worth your time - unless maybe you happen to be writing a dissertation on how similar worship is to children’s games - and which games match worship better than others.. then it’ll give you some material.

Not a very quality work. Couldn’t continue reading it at about a third of the way in.