josiah

A good book in a crowded space

Reviewed: 03-21-24 Listener received this title free

I was given a review copy of this book, but the thoughts of the review are my own.
This book is a brief primer hitting on the major points of disagreements between Evangelicals and Orthodox. The tagline seems a bit strange because it reads more as if it was written to Orthodox to point out differences they’ll run into when dialoguing with Evangelicals. This is also a crowded space with many books already written contrasting differences between Protestantism and Orthodoxy. Its existence begs the question of do we really need another one of these books written? My guess is this book is Fr. Farley’s attempt at fixing a few shortcomings with other popular titles in this genre and presenting a better alternative, and if that’s the criteria to grade the book on I think he’s quite successful. This book distinguishes itself in some notable ways to justify another interfaith book being added to the pile. First off this book is quite short while still being information dense, I think this will definitely help people when giving it to a friend so you aren’t giving them too much homework. Secondly, another notable difference is this book isn’t written at all in a combative fashion, it simply presents the author’s points and moves along. The average reader likely will not find anything new or compelling in these pages, which is totally fine given the purpose of this book, and can probably skip it.

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Some necessary wake up calls

Reviewed: 07-01-23 Listener received this title free

Disclaimer: I was given a review copy of this book in audio format.

This book helped me uncover implicit Gnosticism that I had been taught since I was a youth. Phillips isn’t attempting a careful polemic to try and convert everyone over to his side, but instead is giving an introduction to a more holistic non-dualistic form of Christianity to help show what the other side is missing. A good deal of time is spent in this book explaining the idea of how Christ is going to redeem both earth and our bodies in his second coming. This might seem like basic facts to some Christians, but for some like myself, I think that this will come as a bit of a wake up call. Without much thought or acknowledgement I’ve always considered that in the life to come we who are saved will all be magically apparated away from this earth to a more spirit-like/unphysical realm that we can spend eternity with our Savior. This book helped show me that this dualism that separates physical and spiritual can lead to some really problematic behaviors and beliefs that go against the historical teachings of the church. Most notably Philips shows that this Gnosticism can lead to us being bad stewards of earth and more importantly to deny the seriousness of sin and treat it as a passing temporary phenomenon without lasting impact. I also really loved the chapter that talked about marriage and celibacy. Marriage being a form of martyrdom is a really strong thought provoking idea that I think all of us married people should spend time prayerfully thinking on. It’s clear that Phillips’ intended audience leans more towards Protestant believers. Like myself, these Christians are the ones who most need to hear this message. However, this does lead to a couple chapters that seem to dance around Orthodox beliefs and practices perhaps in an attempt to not scare off those outside. This is most strongly felt when Phillips talks about the bodily resurrection to come and then dances clumsily around the dangers of cremation. It’s a small nitpick in an otherwise great book, but it feels like Phillips is at times trying to temper or soften some Orthodox beliefs to try and reach a wider audience which, in all fairness as stated above, Protestants need this book much more than the Orthodox. Philips expertly pulls supporting examples from a wide variety of sources from Wright to Lewis to Irenaeus. Overall I found this book really challenging and thought provoking and with its many quotes and pointers to external sources it was a great jumping off point towards me challenging my own gnostic beliefs.

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Loved it!

Reviewed: 11-23-15

This was my first Kurt Vonnegut novel (not the conventional one to start with, I know) but it is the best novel I've listened to all year. John Malcovich is the perfect reader for this piece as well. Bravo! Excellent overall.

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10 people found this helpful