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The Gospel is Bigger Than You Think Audiolibro Por Anthony Delgado arte de portada

Kingdom Gospel for the win

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 12-19-24

In this book, Delgado examines what he calls “the gospel of Middle America.” This is a kind of “cultural folk religion” that is focused on individualism and individual salvation. Within this presentation of the gospel, there is a higher value placed on conversion than on transformation. This gospel presentation relies heavily on short, pithy “evangelistic tools”, such as the Four Spiritual Laws or the Romans Road. However, according to Delgado it suffers from several deep flaws. For one, it glosses over at best and perhaps erodes at worst much of the communal and collectivist culture in which the Bible was formed. As he rightly notes, “there is no gospel without the Bible and no Bible without the Church.” Often, a focus on an individualistic interpretation of the biblical text creates an environment where the historical traditions and confessions of generations past are seen with either apathy or perhaps even skepticism. This skeptical eye extends all the way back into the foundational Scriptures of the apostles: the Hebrew Bible itself, what Christians call the Old Testament. This can cause what Delgado calls “functional Marcionism” – a subtle and unacknowledged yet very active resistance to the ancient near east and Jewish context of the Scriptures. Much of Delgado’s book is an extended project to recover that ancient worldview: to envision what he calls a “bigger” gospel, one that is more than “Jesus only, New Testament only.”


But the expansiveness of this view of the gospel is not limited to just ancient text in ancient context. It is also highly relevant to the Christian culture of today. In highlighting the focus on conversion over transformation, Delgado notes that it is no accident the modern American church has encountered numerous scandals of moral and spiritual failure. While he does not cite names, I would extend his supposition to such figures as Ted Haggard, Bill Hybels, Mark Driscoll, Ravi Zacharias, and sadly far too many others to comprehensively name – in addition to institutional organizations such as Calvary Chapel, Covenant Life Church, Hillsong, and Word of Faith. All of these share a common theological and cultural DNA: the gospel of Middle America, with all its Protestant evangelical trappings. By focusing on “number of souls won” and not “number of souls transformed”, I would personally claim that this quasi-gospel message has done incalculable harm to the real depth and breadth and beauty – as well as the actual truth – of the true Gospel we find in the pages of Scripture. But as always on this podcast, my goal is not to bash and tear down, but to lament, repent, and reconstruct. And in this regard, Delgado’s book is incredibly valuable in many respects: both by naming the virus, describing its symptoms, and by offering a healing balm that will be much more likely to actually transform its hearers. As he puts it: a gospel that is “bigger than you think.”

Overall, would I recommend this book? Without a doubt, my answer is “yes”. I found it to be a necessary and invaluable retrieval of the ancient worldview and contextual understanding of the Scriptural story, and as someone whose work revolves around the harm done by the institutional Church and church people, I resonated thoroughly with his assessment of the problem and the solution to the dilemma facing the people of God. We in the evangelical Protestant world, without a doubt need to do better at transforming our lives to the Kingdom Gospel. A large portion of the blame for this lies in church structures and institutions that emphasize the single commitment or “moment of decision” as a marker of spiritual health and blessing. St James and the prophet Micah, however, tell a different story: the religion that God accepts as pure and faultless is to visit the vulnerable in their time of need, to aid the weak in their distress, to make justice and righteousness roll down like a rushing waterfall. We have been so concerned with what we consider to be correct theology, and pointing out the sins of the world, that we have neglected to be transformed by that Gospel and be a light to that world. I do have some significant reservations about his chapter on Gospel Restitution which I will address in a separate format and place. But I don’t want that to detract from what is overall a highly relevant, well-written, and desperately needed breath of fresh air in the arena of practical theology. If you are considering buying a book for yourself or your loved one this holiday season, or just to fill out your bookshelf, you will not go wrong with The Gospel is Bigger Than You Think.

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Parable of the Sower Audiolibro Por Octavia E. Butler arte de portada

Not bad, but not good

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
2 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 05-06-24

I really want someone to explain to me — without reference to its supposed prescience or its sequel — why this book is lauded so much. MILD SPOILERS. I see glimpses of promise: the prose is actually very good, and flows smoothly, and conveys horror and fear without sensationalizing it (which is tough to do). We are mercifully spared teenage angst, even with a teenage MC. There are moments of complexity and fleshing out of characters that are very satisfying. The world-building has so many tantalizing glimpses of promise.

But all this promise is wasted on the execution. The MC is a bit of a Mary Sue, with a kind of faux-humility. She claims (over and over) to have “just discovered” a new religion and not created it, but never once reflects on the hubris and arrogance (as well as self-delusion) of this claim. There is a constant tension surrounding who to trust, and how far, but none of this ever ends badly (for that reason, at least). I had trouble not rolling my eyes when time after time, the group is spared the worst of the travails of (post?)apocalyptic survival by a cache of money conveniently pilfered from a dead body. I know that of course people would carry money, but a) the amounts beggared belief, and b) there were too many convenient contrivances of how they found bodies they had not actually done the “dirty work” to obtain, or which had (miraculously) not been scavenged by someone else.

And I struggle, because this is a bleak novel that delivers emotional gut-punch time and again on the fringes of the narrative. But it still seemed too easy for the nascent cul— I mean, community of Earthseed. A great example of how it could have been harder, and to pay off what amounted to an irrelevant gimmick of the MC (her “hyperempathy”), would have been to have her unable to help someone she loved because of her condition. This possibility is alluded to a few times, but it is never paid off. This is one of many “Chekhov’s guns” which fizzle out and go nowhere (eg, the rifle).

The character development wasn’t that great either. Again: not bad, but not good. There is a moment of “tough choices” that seems like it will lead to a problem later. However, that point forward the potentially antagonistic character’s development is shelved in favor of a new male focus, leading to an icky and unnecessary March-November “romance” with a guy whose sole defining attribute seems to be his former wealth. This contributes nothing to his character apart from a vain tic — it doesn’t pay off as troubles with survival, as distrust from poorer cul— I mean, community members, or anything else. Its only narrative value seems to be a deus-ex-machina ending, giving them a safe haven and a (quasi-)happy ending.

My overall feeling is one of frustration. I can see why people say “read the sequel” because there is SO MUCH unfulfilled promise. But then, *don’t tell me THIS book is good*. It’s not. It’s not bad, but it’s not good either. And as a result, I’m highly disinclined to endure a sequel — even if there is a promise of payoff. Because the failure to deliver on that promise is what defines THIS book.

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