Book review: Finding God in The Hobbit by Jim Ware

This book does exactly what it says on the cover. Through easy-to-read, short chapters which follow the story of the Hobbit, Ware picks out particular moments and draws out what he hopes was Tolkien’s underlying Christian faith shining through. The conclusions are easy to grasp, and for a lover of The Hobbit I’m confident this would be a great way to dig deeper into who God is.

Each chapter tells a part of the story, followed by a quick breakdown of what this means in light of Christianity, and a sentence for reflection at the end. It tells just enough of the story to make its points without going through every detail but contains big spoilers, so if you haven’t read The Hobbit already I’d definitely hold off until you have before digging into this.

The author acknowledges the problem with this book right at the beginning, then throughout when appropriate: Tolkien never wanted Middle Earth to be an allegory of the gospel (in contrast to C.S. Lewis’ Narnia). This means that at times the book feels a bit forced, such as when the usefulness of rope is compared with the grace of God (probably the weakest chapter), but this is a minor point.

On the whole I found this to be an enjoyable, informative, fun and gospel-focussed book. I’d heartily recommend it to Tolkien fans, whether Christian or not.

I got this book for free from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

Gravity proves sin

Morality (Photo credit: dietmut)

CS Lewis’ Mere Christianity is one of those must-reads for both Christians and non-Christians. He does this way better than I will so go and read that first, but allow me to plagiarise in an amateur way here.

Laws exist in nature, for example the Law of Gravity. Humans have given names and descriptions to Laws, but the Laws didn’t come into existence with the discovery of their human name.

So the Law of Gravity made things stay on the floor for thousands of years before Newton first said, ‘ow.’

The square root of 144 was 12 before that squiggly symbol was invented.

But there is one Law that’s different: the Law of Morality.

Every single human being operates within some Law of Morality (whether that morality is objective or subjective is a different argument so sit that to one side for the moment). We all know that some things are right and some things are wrong. We get frustrated, upset and/or angry when others do ‘bad’ things, and are inspired when others do ‘good’ things.

But…

We all do things contrary to the Law of Morality all the time. We know what’s right but we still do what’s wrong. Not a single child enters adulthood having done everything right all the time. And sometimes (quite a lot of the time if we’re honest) we go ahead and choose to do things that we know are wrong.

So there are many Laws, but only one that we are able to break (we can’t just tell gravity to switch off). And the one we’re able to break, we’ve all broken.

Summary: every single human being is fundamentally flawed. No animal on the planet demonstrates the hypocrisy that we do, they just live by their instincts and have no concept of right and wrong.

So we’re the only ones who know what’s right, and we all do what’s wrong. That’s called righteousness, and sin.

And we need a righteous one to get us out of our sin.

And his name is Jesus.

Biggest dreams coming true

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There have been a couple of examples recently in which people have won record amounts in Euromillions or whatever, and the journalists’ reports almost always refer to the winners buying their ‘dream house’, and/or their ‘dream car’, or going on their ‘dream holiday’. Whatever it is that they’re going to spend their newfound wealth on, it’s always something they’ve apparently dreamt of. Probably the most overused phrase by lottery winners would be, ‘it’s a dream come true!’

Not wanting to be proud but these people have way less ambitious dreams than I do. When I wake up in the morning I don’t remember taking a sports car for a test drive or looking round country houses and imagining where my bed could go, I remember myself flying, or being immensely strong, or being able to move things using my mind! Mostly flying.

The thing is that actually if I invest enough time and effort into most of the dreams lottery winners talk about, I can achieve them to a certain extent. If I make enough sacrifices, I could probably go out one day in a few years’ time and buy my ‘dream car’. But then it would probably break down one day, or get stolen, or whatever. Randy Alcorn wrote about this:

Who would want to divert kingdom funds to build a dream house on earth if they understood that either it will leave them or they will leave it? Instead, why not use our resources to send building materials ahead to the Carpenter [who] is building our dream house in heaven?

C.S. Lewis summed this up well, as he so often does:

Christianity proposes not to extinguish our natural desires. It promises to bring the desires under just control and direct them to their true object.

So our true dreams can be fulfilled, it’s just that they probably won’t be fulfilled while on earth. But we have a unique opportunity as Christians to store up for ourselves these treasures in heaven, through abstaining from sin, performing good works, and radically using our money, possessions, time, and skills for the glory of God right now. And, by the way, this isn’t a selfish thing (only doing good now because we’ll get a reward later). The treasure we have stored in heaven will increase our ability to glorify Jesus in eternity, so doing good works now actually enables us to do more good works forever!

Shall we all become a bit more radical for our eternal good and God’s eternal glory?

Simple evidence proving God exists

Image by FlickrDelusions via Flickr

This is nothing new, but it’s logical and a good reminder of the truth.

If I have a desire for something (let’s call it Nid for the moment), it shows that Nid must exist. I’m hungry, therefore I know something exists to satisfy that desire; food. I’m tired, therefore I know something exists to satisfy that desire; sleep. These are natural, inbuilt desires that we don’t need telling about – a newborn baby simply wants food, love, and sleep.

There are other desires that are artificial to a certain extent. I have a desire for the latest Xbox game, a new car, to be able to fly like Superman, and to travel to Oz…the simple difference between these two desires is that the first can be genuinely satisfied but the second cannot. I can stop being hungry, and I can stop being tired…but my desire for ‘more stuff’ simply won’t go away. Just look at the wealthy people we see every day in the news – broken marriages, depression, alcoholism, yet they have a whole bunch of stuff we desire. It doesn’t add up…

But the desire still exists, and there is not a single case of an innate desire for something that does not exist. Something inside us all simply knows that infinite joy, peace, and beauty is desirable…but it’s certainly never going to happen on this earth. Here’s C.S. Lewis’ useful summary:

Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for these desires exists. A baby feels hunger; well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim; well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire; well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

A good, more detailed look at this is over here, together with answers to common objections.

It’s all Walt Disney’s fault

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DID YOU KNOW…

I think we all know that pretty much all of Walt Disney’s films are based on popular fairy tales, like Snow White, Cinderella and so on.

But we might not know that the stories were changed because Disney didn’t like sad endings; he was unhappy in life and wanted the characters in his movies to experience paradise in their little worlds. Take Pinocchio: the original story included Pinocchio stomping Jiminy Cricket to death with his foot, and the story ends with Pinocchio being hung – I don’t remember that in the Disney film!

When you think about it, every Disney film follows the same basic storyline: the main character has a dream, and it comes true…and this has now been replicated throughout Hollywood, and even into our minds. We’ve had a couple of generations brought up on Disney films now, but we have more depression, debt and addiction than ever before in history.

Ideas like Disney’s have affected our attitudes to the point that we think the purpose of existing must be to achieve our little dreams of money, sex and power – and when God doesn’t provide on them we’re disappointed. But God always knows better than we do, and always wants better than we do. I’ve quoted this before but it bears repeating – here’s C.S. Lewis, with perhaps one of my favourite quotes of all time:

If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

Proverbs 1:24-33

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The biggest challenge of working systematically through a Bible book is that you can’t simply pick out the nice, easy passages. This is Wisdom speaking:

‘Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them; but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.’ Proverbs 1:24-33

Who’s this talking to?

It’s always important to look at these tough passages in context. Looking at the previous verses we’ve learnt that God defines foolishness as not having fear of the LORD, and it is these fools which Wisdom is addressing here. In other words, this passage is targeted at non-Christians.

Because, because, because, because, because…

There’s quite a significant introductory sentence to this passage which makes abundantly clear the reasons why Wisdom, who represents God, is saying what she is saying. Read it through and you’ll see that Wisdom initiated in a number of different ways, and the people just stiff-armed Him. Look at the things they’ve done: they refused to listen to her call, they did not heed her stretched-out hand, they ignored her counsel, they wouldn’t listen to her reproof, they hated her knowledge, and they didn’t choose the fear of the LORD. The blame for the consequences listed in this passage sits squarely with the people. They’ve been given plenty of opportunities to avoid the unpleasantness, but have not taken them.

The knee-jerk reaction for most people when reading a passage like this is ‘but that doesn’t seem very fair! How mean of Wisdom to mock when terror strikes!’ The simple truth is that non-Christians have been given innumerable opportunities to escape from this insane wrath, yet they have actively chosen not to take them. This punishment is deserved. God is fair, just, and kind when He sees distress and anguish coming upon those who have actively rejected His help and says ‘this is your fault’.

But God seems mean

He does, doesn’t He? This passage would suggest that it’s describing hell (the eternal consequences for unbelievers’ sin), and that the suffering souls call to God and He says ‘no, too late’. But I don’t think that’s the case. Have a look at the particular words used to describe God’s response: ‘they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices’ – again, the fact that God will not respond is their fault. This same idea is mirrored in the language of Romans 1, where Paul writes that God ‘gave them up’ to their sin. God pursues and pursues and pursues, but if someone is dead set against receiving His grace, He will hand them what they have been begging for, even though they will not like it.

John Piper explained this well in a blog post when he talked about the consequences of our actions. He said that a person who enjoys excessive amounts of food is effectively begging to become obese and unhealthy. Of course, no-one wants to get fat, but it’s the clear and well-understood consequence of a person’s actions. Similarly, no-one smokes in order to get breathing problems or lung cancer. If it happens, however, it’s an obvious result of that person’s actions. C. S. Lewis summed this entire idea up so well when he said, ‘There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’

Our response

Are you a Christian? If not, you should read this Bible passage again, very carefully. Clearly you don’t believe in hell and Jesus being alive and everything else, but if you’re going to say that you must also be comfortable saying that, if it is all real, you are happy with God’s just wrath being poured out on you. I’m sure that God does seem mean, but there is good news. The wrath that you have earned, that punishment that you deserve, has already been poured out on a substitute. Jesus of Nazareth was crucified as a criminal despite the fact he had done nothing wrong, and in that historical event he won eternal life and joy for all who will accept the saving hand of God. If you, by faith, will accept that your punishment has already been spent on him, you will be raised into new life as he was. The same promise given in this passage will be for you: ‘whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease’. If you do, please contact me.

If you already are a Christian, you should respond too. We must accept the truth of hell. Now, having accepted that, think for a moment about those you know who are not Christians. Family members, friends, colleagues, customers, the ice cream man…if they have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour, that eternal torment is also their destiny. The idea of hell must serve as a kick up our behinds to get into conversations with those around us who don’t know Jesus and to be God’s stretched-out hand in our communities.

The Final Summit by Andy Andrews

This is a fictional book about David Ponder, who is whisked away by the archangel Gabriel to lead a discussion with historical characters about the salvation of mankind. The group is given five opportunities to come up with the answer to ‘the question’, each time benefitting from the input of another historical figure, such as King David, Winston Churchill, and Abraham Lincoln.

Let’s start with the things I liked. I found a lot of the history behind the characters interesting, and found myself doing further research on some of them, which is always good. I also liked the fact that the book made me think about what my own answer to ‘the question’ would be; there’s a series of questions at the end of the book as well, which would help for discussion in a small group setting.

Unfortunately, as much as I tried to like the book, there were a few too many annoyances for me to do so. The story itself is just a little too simple and predictable for my liking; I don’t want to give the game away here but the way the storyline plays out isn’t in the least surprising. What this means is that at times it feels like chapters are extended just for the sake of it, so the group will come up with a new answer and Ponder will effectively say, ‘should we give the answer, or should we talk about it for a few more pages?’ The answer from the group is, ‘let’s talk about it.’

I also didn’t find the writing that compelling – I read the book through but wouldn’t describe it as a page turner, apart from the fact that I felt like I wanted to skip pages at times – the comparison to C. S. Lewis’ writing found on the opening page are unfounded in my opinion.

But underlying all this is my genuine concern with the book. SPOILER ALERT. I find that the selection of historical figures and answers that the group comes up with (along with Gabriel’s responses) don’t encourage a biblical understanding of a successful civilisation. For me, the key to mankind’s salvation is found only in God – worship of Him, and the free gift of His grace. But the answer found by the group to be the right one is entirely based around mankind’s works to achieve their own success.

So in conclusion the uninspiring narrative and predictable storyline would lead me to give this a mediocre review on the best of days, but the gospel of works that’s preached throughout it undermines any hope I had when starting it that I had found the new C. S. Lewis.

I’d certainly recommend this book to a mature Christian who wanted a fun fiction book to inspire restricted biography study, but generally I don’t have a good opinion of it I’m afraid.

I got this book for free from BookSneeze.com. I’m not required to give a positive review.

Desires for more

I know this is uncreative but I was caused to think by this quote:

The sobering reality is that having a longing does not mean that it will necessarily be fulfilled. As [C.S.] Lewis observes, simply because I get hunger pangs does not guarantee I will get to fill my belly. But what it dies tell me is that I was created to eat. These inconsolable yearnings tell us that we are creatures who have been created to find fulfilment somewhere else. Lewis says, ‘If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.’

That’s from The God Who Smokes by Timothy J. Stoner, and he quotes from Mere Christianity. Next time you have one of ‘those’ longings, thank God a better time is coming soon!

The God Who Smokes by Timothy J. Stoner

Yes, the guy’s name’s funny. He admits it on the opening pages. Anyway, this book OS intended to be ‘scandalous meditations in faith’, particularly by trying to find middle ground between the emerging/emergent and fundamentalist evangelical movements. Stoner’s chapters look at God’s character and our response.

For a start, this is phenomenally well-written. Through personal stories and clever analogies it’s impossible not to enjoy the communication style. The content’s good too, biblically sound, logical and gracious.

That said, I struggle to put this in a box. With this title you don’t expect orthodoxy, but that is what you get, albeit presented in a post-modern style. He clearly tries to get the emergent crowd on board by using the word ‘crap’ in the introduction, and quoting Rob Bell and Brian McLaren throughout, but he fundamentally disagrees with them both.

The problem with this book isn’t the words, it’s the cover. It doesn’t really discover a new middle ground in Christianity, it just presents evangelicalism in a more Rob Bell style.

So, it gets plenty of thumbs up from me – I looked forward to reading it every day – but on this occasion you have to conclude that you can’t judge a book by its cover!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis (audio)

There are some books you relish the thought of reviewing, and this has to be one of them. Mere Christianity is one of the books that has impacted me more than any other, and this audio version is excellent – I particularly rate that it’s read by a Brit – thank you!

This is effectively the edited transcript of a series of radio sessions C.S. Lewis gave on his journey through faith, and it reads very naturally. Some of the language is a bit dated now but it’s certainly not difficult to understand, and at the end of the day everything he says is just as relevant now as it was when he first spoke it. If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time there’s a good chance you’ve heard this book quoted on more than one occasion.

C.S. Lewis is profoundly logical. His analogies are absolutely spot-on, and I can’t imagine coming to the end of a chapter with him and thinking ‘I just don’t get how he’s come to that conclusion’. One or two parts of his thinking may come across as a bit ‘traditional’ to some modern readers/listeners, but if I were you I’d hold my tongue, take a swift dose of humility, and let C.S. Lewis do the speaking.

I really would recommend this to anyone. New Christians, non-Christians, people who have been Christians for decades – this book will encourage and challenge you.

I got this audiobook for free from christianaudio.com. I’m not required to give a positive review.