Book Review: Godology
Young people don’t like church anymore. And apparently it’s because there aren’t any books about God out there that people under thirty will like. So enter Godology, by Christian George. A book about theology, spiritual disciplines and orthopraxy aimed at postmodern young adults, it is definitely hip. It has quotes from “The Office” along with quotes from Calvin, Edwards and Foster. Which is fine – awesome even. But I wouldn’t recommend the book to any young adult I know.
What probably sounded like a fabulous idea ended up being frentic and shallow in reality. Each chapter is an exploration of a characteristic of God: wisdom, unity, creativity, holiness. And each chapter combines this with a spiritual discipline to emphasize that aspect of God: meditation, prayer, art, silence. And added in is a practical expression of Christian life: discipleship, spiritual tradition, reverent worship, working for justice. The downside? Each chapter is only 12 pages long. This isn’t time to do a good job of discussing any one of these things, let alone all three. Plus, George always brings in some aspect of popular culture to tie things together.
The chapter on holiness, for instance, has this flow:
- Two paragraphs on God’s holiness
- A paragraph on tornados, then a page on God’s holiness
- Two paragraphs on chocolate and its history
- A page and a half on how Christians should be holy
- A page on the discipline of silence
- Two pages on how making chocolate requires fermentation, then silence ferments us, then chocolate is good for us, and silence is good for us
- A few paragraphs on voices
- Two pages on how chocolate uses child slavery, and how Christians should speak up for justice.
- An ending paragraph on giving up chocolate “diluted with spiritual milk” and returning to the purity of true devotion to God.
So the book is a good idea – I agree that young people need a way to explore the depths of the character of God in a way they will find honest and relevant. And they should absolutely be exposed and encouraged to practice spiritual disciplines and present outward evidence of Christ. And by all means use quotes from “The Office.” But there is no need to be so ADD about the whole thing. If your editor will only give you 12 pages for God’s holiness, maybe you don’t have enough time to do holiness AND silence AND seeking justice AND making everything so relevant to chocolate?
I wish there was an “I like this” button here.
Seriously, thanks for the warning. Most of the trendy new books aren’t written for me, and they seem to be written for someone wanting the flashy, noisy, exciting days of Sunday School and Youth Group to live on forever. Obviously, I’m old now. But since when did reading a good book on who God is not just be a simple look, without the muddling of The Office and chocolate. Way too distracting and off topic for me.