Another Way: Thinking Together about the Holy Spirit

by Jeremy Garber

How can theologians, philosophers, and ordinary people think about the Holy Spirit in the twenty-first century? This volume offers one the pneumatology of minoritarian communal interpretation, the alternative creation of meaning within an oppressive majority context. Garber looks at the stories of Saul, Ezekiel, and Jesus in the Gospels; the Radical Reformers of the sixteenth century; and a contemporary group of "spiritual but not religious" artists to see how they understand the Spirit working in their lives. He weaves together the theories of John Howard Yoder, Deleuze and Guattari, and media theorists like Stanley Fish, Jeremy Stolow, and Thomas Lindlof as a theological and philosophical background to those stories. In the end, the Holy Spirit is "being weird like Jesus together"--and Garber offers some observations on what that might look like, throughout history and today. "This important exploration across the minoritarian landscape offers a unique view of what it means to find the Holy Spirit in our own troubled time. The Spirit is best seen in the concrete, which this conversation offers from several different angles. This book takes an honest wrestle with what theory, Bible, media, and experience might offer the real church community. His theology truly lies in that 'tension' he calls for 'between passionate faith and theological complexity.'" --Elizabeth Coody, Assistant Professor, Morningside College "Another Way challenges individualistic understandings of the work of the Holy Spirit. Bringing Deleuze and Guattari into conversation with Anabaptist thought and media theory, Garber describes the Holy Spirit as God emerging in the communal creation and transition of meanings that opposes systems of oppression and violence. As a Mennonite theologian, he brings this method to bear on the troubling legacy of John Howard Yoder and the connections between Yoder's thought and sexually abusive behavior." --Jeffrey H. Mahan, Professor of Religion and Public Communication, Iliff School of Theology Jeremy Garber is the Academic Advising and Writing Center coordinator at the Iliff School of Theology. He teaches constructive theology, religion and popular culture, and vocational training. Jeremy was born into the Mennonite faith and still practices it as an adult.

182 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 9, 2019

Reviews

[Ethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seems to be a high level thesis featuring a good amount of Mennonite "inside baseball," ultimately using an informal gathering of artists known as Another Way and the story of its development, flourishing, and collapse as a vehicle by which to consider Deleuzean/Guattarian themes regarding majoritarian vs. minoritarian culture and movements, as well as Yoderite themes of nonviolence, and all with a view to consider how the Holy Spirit would have us form minoritarian communities.

That the introduction has to go through a long apology to justify the author's already finished work of using Yoder and Yoderian thought despite all which was revealed about Yoder's flagrant sexual immorality is not great (although the author does at least provide the service of being explicit and forthright regarding the nature of Yoder's immorality as opposed to just speaking about it abstractly).

The author does go through extensive explanations of Deleuze and Guattari's ideas and theories, as well as Yoder's ideas and theories, but it is all a lot. I would not suggest it is an attempt at elitism, but it is so thoroughly imbued with technical terminology and frameworks as to be very, very challenging to break into and persevere within.

Getting to the actual application in terms of the Another Way group ultimately felt not a little underwhelming in light of all the discussions of theory, their application to the work of the Spirit, and the foray into Mennonite history and heritage in light of such minoritarian theory.

There's a lot going on here, and it definitely isn't for the common man, average reader, and very intimidating for anyone not deeply involved in Mennonite theology and practice.