I read this book and reviewed it some time back. I still hold a positive view of the book, but would like to note how reading it with a group from my church went.
Everybody liked it a lot. It was roundly appreciated and deemed helpful, though one person did not understand the importance of the concepts in the book. The idea was that all Christian ideas and concepts are so apparent that there can be no room for disagreement amongst them. My thought is that this person will discover over time that such an attitude is misguided. Many other people saw the importance of making Jesus central in the practicalities of life and have started trying to do so, though many of them had already had this idea, Christian Archy helped them to see it.
Where the book caused significant difficultly for the group was that it started out using rather unfamiliar theological language and mentioned a number of authors they were unfamiliar with without explaining who they really were or their significance. I wish the book had gone further in this direction, though it only had so much space due to the constraints of the series.
One other thought about the book would perhaps be a section, or even an html address to specific practical steps that could be taken by an individual and church community to live under Christ's archy. And I stress 'could' because it is Christ who is ultimate, not any list of steps.
Everybody liked it a lot. It was roundly appreciated and deemed helpful, though one person did not understand the importance of the concepts in the book. The idea was that all Christian ideas and concepts are so apparent that there can be no room for disagreement amongst them. My thought is that this person will discover over time that such an attitude is misguided. Many other people saw the importance of making Jesus central in the practicalities of life and have started trying to do so, though many of them had already had this idea, Christian Archy helped them to see it.
Where the book caused significant difficultly for the group was that it started out using rather unfamiliar theological language and mentioned a number of authors they were unfamiliar with without explaining who they really were or their significance. I wish the book had gone further in this direction, though it only had so much space due to the constraints of the series.
One other thought about the book would perhaps be a section, or even an html address to specific practical steps that could be taken by an individual and church community to live under Christ's archy. And I stress 'could' because it is Christ who is ultimate, not any list of steps.
1 comment:
As the publisher of Christian Archy I'm taking your comments seriously. One of my hopes for the Areopagus series is that the books will be useful for small groups to study and deepen their understanding of their faith.
I'm getting together a list of folks to help me produce an online resource such as you describe which could become the "go to" place for those looking for ways to live under Christ's archy. We'll connect it with other books on the same topic as well. The first three books in the series, Christian Archy, Ultimate Allegiance, and The Politics of Witness all deal with that topic in some way.
Feel free to e-mail me (pubs@energion.com) with any thoughts or suggestions. I hope to get this going in the next few weeks.
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