Kim Gentes

Many of the works I have chosen to review have been deeper theological writings, some of which have been by revered biblical scholar, N.T. Wright. His work as both a historian and theologian has colored his books with a particularly powerful edge. Because of his scholarly bent, when thinking about a general book outlining Christianity and its claims to those outside of the faith (or new to it), I wouldn't have thought to consider a book by Wright. However, "Simply Christian" is just that. It is a book that presents the Christian faith in a clear and understandable format to any who might be interested.

Within its pages, Wright poses a thoughtful progression that examines the human experience to point to an unspoken awareness in ourselves, and our world, of something missing. Wright's "echoes of a voice" elements are justice, spirituality, relationship and beauty– all things which tell us that the universe (and our place in it) are meant for something different than we have come to. But more than a sense of lack, they point to something that exists that we can't name. And in his development of what that is, he names it. The Jewish God, YHWH.

Wright's use of these arguments and specific components (especially justice and beauty) echo clearly the arguments of CS Lewis' writings in both Mere Christianity (which uses moral code/justice) and his sermon/writing The Weight of Glory (which uses beauty and love). I mention Lewis and Wright in the same context, because their parallel books seem to be aimed at the same thing, and both writers are up to the task. Simply Christian, however, is a much more historical and technical exploration of how the world and context of Jewish monotheism brought about the person of Jesus, and how Jesus turned out to be not only the answer for Jewish religious hopes, but also the ultimate "Lord" of the entire human race.

Wright's basic premise is this– God created a good world, but man rebelled from him. God has set out on a plan to rescue his rebelled creation and that plan has come to embodiment in God himself coming to earth in the person of Jesus. Jesus announced this rescue plan of re-creation (putting the creation to rights) and now invites all people into that rescue– not only for their own sakes, but to join in as part of the solution. That solution is called the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the realm/dimension of God's love and reign invading and reclaiming man and the earth for God's purposes. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God continues to work through all those who join in (Christians) and through the church– the gathered Body of Christ.

As best as I can, that is how I would summarize Wright's preposition in Simply Christian. The problem with doing such a summary, however, is that I risk infraction of any number of logical, practical or theological arguments because, simply put, just as life is not simple, Christianity isn't either. And boiling Christian faith down to a few short lines of innocuous (and fairly un-actionable) statement is precisely what Wright avoids by taking on all the salient points in life-breathing detail. I want to make that point because this book is not "Simple Christianity", as if everything intelligent about it could be reduced to a set of polarized truisms. In fact, the author puts to use his own varied, and sometimes extended, metaphors throughout the book to help us grasp the nuance of key concepts and moving narrative of the story of God, creation, man, Jesus, and eventually, the church.

Simply Christian is a very well written book, but it also has significant historical and rhetorical ammunition in its muzzle. The author banters through classical references (Plato, Epicurus, Lucretius), extensive Jewish back-story (all the relevant biblical narrative, as well as apocryphal and historic characters such as Judas Maccabaeus, Simeon ben Kosiba), 1^st century Roman world (Caesar, the rise of Rome as a world empire), and plenty of 18^th to 21^st century (Nietzsche, Hitler, Oscar Wilde, 9/11 attacks) references as well. He does all of this as a way of providing proper context and flow to the presentation being made. It is all excellent, but it is not going to feel "simple" to say a 7^th grade student. Wright continues to be in good company, however, as Lewis' regular references to literary or classical world touch-points would likewise be foreign to many readers.

That said, Simply Christian is an excellent book with mountains of good points and very few detractions. The delightful surprises I found are the excellent highlighting he does in correcting the dozens of common misconceptions that people (Christians and non-Christians alike) have of what being Christian really means. His theological stature here helps immensely, as he grasps at "truisms" and debunks them cleanly. Playing with language and logic, he clarifies many incorrect and unhelpful misunderstandings of who Jesus is, what he said and (not the least important) what happens after we die.

Because the truth and explanation of Christianity is not ultimately "simple" (in terms of boiling it down to one-liners that can be defended), this book is not either. However, in the scope sense, it is a well-written exposition and recommendation on what it means to be Simply Christian.

Amazon Link: http://amzn.to/12WHEkd

Review by Kim Gentes

Over 1600 years ago a young man made a journey- from a life dedicated to fulfillment in sexual passions and rhetorical conjecture to spiritual discovery and embrace of Christ and the church. That young man wrote down his story in what many consider to be the first autobiography in Western literature- "The Confessions". "Confessions" was written by Saint Augustine, who would later become the famed bishop of Hippo (Hippo Regius). His literary output, along with his philosophical and theological stature, made him one of the famed 35 "Doctors of the Church" throughout history.

The essence of the book is framed well by its title- this is the testimony of a man who pours out his confession and remorse of sins, all the while showing almost no regard for his own piety as viewed through posterity. But Augustine is anything but thoughtless. He is seen as one of the great theological thinkers in all church history. But "Confessions" shows us the strength and expanse of his character- his ability to be fully intellectual in logic and rhetorical arts, while being completely aware and involved through his passions and senses. He argues convincingly, at times, through understandings of sin, grace and even the essence of time, and yet feels, cries, repents, anguishes and joys all the experiences of his life.

"Confessions" first several books (chapters) are a chronological account of Augustine's life, beginning literally at his birth and eventually leading up to his conversion and eventual baptism into the Catholic church. He talks extensively about his vices related to sexual relationships, his search for "truth" (as found through various academic and religious pursuits) and his desire for integrity in ethics (viewed through scepticism of others dishonesty and his realization of his own duplicity).

Augustine was searching for the reality of eternity, joined the "trendy" religion of the day (Manichaeism) and pursued a worldly career with much success and promise (professor of rhetoric). Hints of his eventual conversion are seen early in his life, his mother being an ardent Christian. Augustine has deeply Platonic seeds planted by his "enlightenment" of true happiness that occurs when he reads Cicero's Hortensius, which disavows physical pleasures for the search of truth. Through a brilliant mind he deduced the fallacies of much of the materialist philosophies of his day and (at least in his intellectual pursuit) seems to be pounding on the church door to find God by the time he is finally captured into Christ by the words and influence of Ambrose, the brilliant orator and bishop in Milan.

Throughout the volumes, Augustine is deeply philosophical about a range of things related to internal sins and thoughts and temptations, but once he is converted and is baptized, his life turns completely from his focus on a secular career and sin indulgences. This is not because he has no more desires, but because he struggles with them, confronts them and ruthlessly surrenders his life to teachings of scripture and direction of the church. Once "in", Augustine becomes clear champion of the faith combating his former vices (especially Manichaeism and astrology) by writing and arguing against them. "Confessions" itself is part of that legacy of Augustine's apologetics. The book itself has a final section of 4 chapters that are starkly different than the first 9. Moving from an autobiographical style, Augustine moves into philosophical and intellectual explorations of the topics of time, eternity, matter, form, creation and even the Trinity. In the last two chapters he moves into a rhetorical interpretation of Genesis 1/2, explaining his thoughts on creation and trying to confer the possibilities of how portions might be scientific (though he never uses that term) and/or allegorical.

"Confessions" is a deeply human book, expressing for the ages the plight of the human soul- its vices, joys and ultimately its discovery of true purpose in the person of Christ. Augustine has a highly developed sense of emotions in this book, but it is coupled with a brilliant mind whose introspections range from core Christianity to profound theology. Though there are some topics and ideas that are obviously bound in the 4th century, along with its author, so much of this book is truly "modern", even "post-modern", in that Augustine looks both to philosophical thought and deductive experience to parse through the theories and realities he is facing in his quest for God.

The book is relatively short (270-300 pages depending on the version you have) and should be at the top of the reading list for any thoughtful person searching for truth, for reality and ultimately, for God. To struggle through "Confessions" is to struggle alongside Augustine, and indeed with the human narrative, from our base nature into the reality of spiritual discipleship and life. If you have this book for a school/college assignment, don't be afraid, get reading. It will not be disappointing. A true classic.

The great thing is, this book is available in every format, from paperback (I have the Penguin Classics edition), to digital book (I recommend the Oxford version for Kindle), and even on digital audio book.

Amazon Link: http://amzn.to/12PaLZT

Review by Kim Gentes

The central character of all Christendom is, of course, the person of Jesus. Yet, across even the Christian community there is much conjecture about some of the main tenants of the faith. An understanding of who Jesus is, why he came and what he accomplished are essential. Historian and theologian N.T. Wright approaches this subject as both a scholar and pastoral leader by combining the major points of his thesis from "Jesus & the Victory of God" (a complex scholarly graduate-level book) and the summarizing of "The Challenge of Jesus" (a much smaller book for local churches). Wright attacks the questions that people have about Jesus as a real, historical figure and the claims which Christians often take as "normal" for the faithful. But rather than deep technical renderings of logic and argument (such as his repudiations of others such as Dominic Crossnan in "Jesus & the Victory of God"), Wright focuses simply on explaining most of his reasoning from the scriptures themselves and drawing the backdrop from his work in history.

Wright does a brilliant job of explaining what he considers is the "real Jesus", one based on the historical context of the social, political and religious forces at work in the time of Jesus on earth. He does this primarily by explaining the three main forces driving the context for the narrative of the Gospels. The first force is the Roman empire and its dominating political and military control that crushes down on the middle east and the people of Israel. The second force is the ethos and history of the Jews, especially as it has been galvanized by the Maccabean dynasty, whose rebellious origins are the archetype for a series of nationalistic uprisings meant to free the Jews from a stream of dominating overlords (including the Greeks/Persians, Egyptians, Syrians, Parthians and Romans). The last great force is the self-critical voice of the prophetic tradition of the Jewish prophets. Wright explains each of these "forces" as a type of storm system which come together in the time and story of Jesus appearance to contribute to a kind of "perfect storm". Jesus positions his message- the kingdom of God- as the singular clear response to this perfect storm.

It is in the midst of this meteorological metaphor that Wright explains Jesus vocation with this brilliant language:

And with that, the sea is lashed into a frenzy; the wind makes the waves dance like wild things; and Jesus himself strides out into the middle of it all, into the very eye of the storm, announcing that the time is fulfilled, that God’s kingdom is now at hand. He commands his hearers to give up their other dreams and to trust his instead. This, at its simplest, is what Jesus was all about.1

What I love about this book is that the author is very clearly speaking to "everyman" here, and yet he still takes the opportunity to teach valuable history and theology.  This book is poignantly underpinned by Wright's foundational understanding of Jesus as the herald announcing, enacting and resetting our definition of God as the new king progressively taking over earth. Jesus reconstitutes the sacred symbols of temple and time around himself, which is the ultimate repudiation of Jewish religious systems and leaders- which is what leads to his death. Wright also makes it clear that Jesus was calling for a complete revolution and was himself a revolutionary leader in every aspect of the word- except military. Jesus announcement of a "new kingdom" could not, and would not, be seen as non-political, and the degree to which it was reinforced the Roman engagement (along with the Jewish leader's angst) in Christ's eventual crucifixion. The author doesn't say that it is only political, but that Jesus was calling for a new king in charge- God himself- in every aspect of cultural, familial and political sphere. 

The final, short section of the book deals with the results of Jesus claims as they are played out in the lives of his disciples and the early church.

I very much enjoyed this book by N.T. Wright. I feel it has more accessibility than many of his books, and obviously that is the intent here. He succeeds. It is also a very convincing coalescence of several of his themes presented in other books (the aforementioned, as well as "How God Became King"). He does this through his well paced metaphor (perfect storm) without descending into the depths of critical historical argumentation.

Amazon Link: http://amzn.to/16KZMgH

I highly recommend this book.

Review by Kim Gentes

1. Wright, N. T. (2011-10-25). Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters (p. 56). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition. 

Economics is often a much maligned area of study. Say the word "economics" to a bunch of bankers and you will doubtless get endless theories of investment vehicles, interest rate charts and inflation debates. Say the same word to government officials and you will get long monologues on monetary policy, interventionism vs social responsibility and unemployment numbers. Say "economics" to a person balancing their checkbook or a small business owner and you will get responses about debt, taxes, capital expenditures and return on investment. However, each of these responses are centered around a manifestation of economic ideas- but they are not truly what economics is. In the massive volume "Human Action: A Treatise on Economics", Austrian professor Ludwig von Mises explains economics as the meaning and conduct of people towards a specific end. It is, above all else, action and its meaning. To quote von Mises:

Economics is not about things and tangible material objects; it is about men, their meanings and actions.1

To grasp von Mises entire thesis, you must understand his perspective for which economics is primarily aiming. Specifically, von Mises believes that action is taken to achieve a goal. He says:

Strickly speaking the end, goal, or aim of any action is always the relief from a felt uneasiness.2

For von Mises, the study of economics is the study of human actions meant at achieving relief from uneasiness (or "want satisfaction"). Based on that premise, "Human Action" became the seminal text of what is commonly called the Austrian School of economics. The book is long (about 1150 pages) and delves as much into the nature of human decision making as it does in its results. It is for this reason that the book is rife with long and detailed arguments in support of laissez-faire economics and the free enterprise system as the only way in which successful "want satisfaction" can be achieved for the broadest benefit of the society. Most succinctly, von Mises ties the ideological superstructure of liberalism, constitutions, bills of rights, and laws- all forms of social, religious and political freedoms- to their counterpart in economic freedom that is instantiated in free market system of modern capitalism. Ludwig von Mises spares no words on his socialist, interventionist and Marxist counterparts, and provides extensive and clear explanations on the errors of such economic thought.

The author provides deft guidance to his book's approach in these introductory sentences:

What is commonly called the "industrial revolution" was an offspring of the ideological revolution brought about by the doctrines of the economists. The economists exploded the old tenets: that it is unfair and unjust to outdo a competitor by producing better and cheaper goods; that it is iniquitous to deviate from the traditional methods of production; that machines are an evil because they bring about unemployment; that it is one of the tasks of civil government to prevent efficient businessmen from getting rich and to protect the less efficient against the competition of the more efficient; that to restrict the freedom of entrepreneurs by government compulsion or by coercion on the part of other social powers is an appropriate means to promote a nation's well-being. British political economy and French Physiocracy were the pacemakers of modern capitalism. It is they that made possible the progress of the natural sciences that has heaped benefits upon the masses. What is wrong with our age is precisely the widespread ignorance of the role which these policies of economic freedom played in the technical evolution of the last two hundred years. People fell prey to the fallacy that the improvement of the methods of production was contemporaneous with the policy of laissez faire only by accident.3

"Human Action" is not a book for casual reading, and requires you to learn and maintain a new subset of vocabulary which will be needed for interpreting this book. The terms "praxeology" (which means, actions) and "catallactics" (meaning- exchanges) are used hundreds of times and become self-evident within the text, but von Mises layers on this dozens of words which have limited meaning outside of scholars and university studies. Still, the book is deeply enthralling. If you are a logician, you will find his arguments and structured presentation to be euphoric.

Above everything else, Ludwig von Mises is a champion of freedom. Certainly, this thesis aims at the freedom of economics, but he attacks, and defeats with logic, dozens of misguided theorems which come from the the impulse of people to control others. It seems he doesn't believe in capitalism because of its benefits only, but because it is an expression of freedom, as much as speech, political liberalism, freedom of religion and any other form. In that vein, he confronts the manifestations of doctrines which oppose freedom up to and including war-mongering. His summary sentences on aggression are poignant and brilliant:

How far we are today from the rules of international law developed in the age of limited warfare! Modern war is merciless, it does not spare pregnant women or infants; it is indiscriminate killing and destroying. It does not respect the rights of neutrals. Millions are killed, enslaved, or expelled from the dwelling places in which their ancestors lived for centuries. Nobody can foretell what will happen in the next chapter of this endless struggle. This has nothing to do with the atomic bomb. The root of the evil is not the construction of new, more dreadful weapons. It is the spirit of conquest. It is probable that scientists will discover some methods of defense against the atomic bomb. But this will not alter things, it will merely prolong for a short time the process of the complete destruction of civilization. Modern civilization is a product of the philosophy of laissez faire. It cannot be preserved under the ideology of government omnipotence. Statolatry owes much to the doctrines of Hegel. However, one may pass over many of Hegel's inexcusable faults, for Hegel also coined the phrase “the futility of victory” (die Ohnmacht des Sieges). To defeat the aggressors is not enough to make peace durable. The main thing is to discard the ideology that generates war.4

This is just one example of von Mises broad but systematic approach to understanding human action and its good and bad forms of expression.  This example highlights his broadness of vision, his highly developed understanding of philosophical underpinnings of humanity, and above all, his ability to clearly distinguish the ideas of human intention from the realities of human action.

Of course, there are the long and extensive descriptions of dozens of items such as monetary, inflationary, and governmental policies, interest rates, free trade, taxation, theory of value and much more.

What you gain from reading the book is an exploration of the ideas and motivations that lead to decisions, that produce specific results, and that assist or hamper the actual perpetuation of a free market system. This is a scholarly book and delves deeply into its subject of praxeology and catallactics. The minor errors with this book are centered mostly around the attempt it makes to be progressive relative to the time of writing- by including relevant "current" examples, the subject and examples are dated to the era in which the original and revisioned versions were printed. None of us can escape our time period of existence, but Mises exposes some of his own prejudices and angst by doing so. The book could have done without those. At times as well, his deriding of socialist and interventionist motivations run far deeper than probably most people's intentions who take opposing views. It is understandable that Mises is trying to hold serve against the prevailing Keynsians and New Deal advocates of his era, but at times Mises rhetoric becomes so sarcastic as to be vitriolic.

However, we can forgive both these misteps partly because it would take such a strong and detailed opposing voice (which von Mises provides therein) to successfully dismantle the vices and embedded character of government planning, control, and what Mises would consider socialist economic agendas. We can further forgive von Mises because, in the end, he wins. The fall of almost every communist and social planning state in the world (most of which collapsed or revolted during the 20th century) was the ultimate proof that the free market system is its own validation. As is proven by many other texts and studies, capitalism is the resulting manifestation of liberalism being played out in the realm of economic reality- and that reality, however cyclical and unpredictable, has proven for the last 300 years to the be the only system which could produce vast increases in the production, standard of living and per capita income of its entire population. We can forgive Mises bluntness for the simple fact that he has been proven right. 

The book "Human Action" has became the bedrock of Austrian School economics and the cited source that grounded much further work from champion economists who took up the banner of free market thinkers such as Milton Friedman and others. One need not agree with all the sharp criticisms of von Mises towards his opponents, but we are shocked to find out how much of his sharp criticism (that might have sounded preposterous at the time of writing) now seems all too obvious in its results in reality. If you are studying economics, this will doubtless be one of the main works you must read to be thoroughly informed. While it is exceptionally articulate and filled with specifics, it remained unfettered by meaningless side notes (which is often common in economics texts).

An iconic and foundational book on the study of economics from the view of classic liberalism. A landmark.

Amazon Link: http://amzn.to/ZoxhYX

Review by Kim Gentes

1. Mises, Ludwig von (2009-03-30). Human Action: Scholar's Edition (LvMI) (Kindle Location 2413). Ludwig von Mises Institute. Kindle Edition.

2. Ibid., (Kindle Location 2406)

3. Ibid., (Kindle Location 856-865)

4. Ibid., (Kindle Locations 16189-16199)

In the last four years I have read many thousands of pages of materials in researching an understanding of economics, history and culture. In that time I have read little that was as well-written and insightful as David Graeber's "Debt: the First 5,000 Years".

What initially holds Graeber's work above others is his contrarianism related to the foundations of Adam Smith's capitalism, especially the historical telling of barter as the nascent form of exchange that led eventually to our current modern version of free market capitalism. The author makes the point that debt, rather than barter and money, was the foundational language and system of exchange and has remained so for 5,000 years.  The book claims that Smith's story related to the origins of markets, as found within "The Wealth of Nations", is a contrived fiction in which barter is used as the seed explanation for how currency/money/economy developed.

The grander plot of the book is that reciprocation can expose itself in two primary ways - owing a favor, or owing a debt. As he says poignantly-

the difference between owing someone a favor, and owing someone a debt, is that the amount of a debt can be precisely calculated.1

The book starts off with a modern day controversy about global (specifically, third world) debt. The question is raised about whether paying back debt is a moral question. From this launching point, the author traces back, through his anthropological background, five millennia of understanding human societies and how their systems of debt have become the framework for our understanding and conversations about virtually every aspect of life, especially (and including) morality. Graeber states-

If one looks at the history of debt, then, what one discovers first of all is profound moral confusion. Its most obvious manifestation is that most everywhere, one finds that the majority of human beings hold simultaneously that (1) paying back money one has borrowed is a simple matter of morality, and (2) anyone in the habit of lending money is evil.2

Part of the reason that morality and debt are so closely and importantly linked for the author is that he goes to great lengths to connect the idea that the moral failure surrounding debt is not with the debtor (as current culture suggests) but the with creditor. Graeber makes this important distinction not purely on the present circumstance (in which one person places themselves in debt to another as part of an exchange), but uses historical and anthropological examples (and theory) to expose the fact that for thousands of years debt has been enforced by the most heinous means- from debt peonage, slavery, prostitution, imprisonment, war, violence and more. At the root of the human ability to harm and debase one another over a debt is the fact that debts devalue not just the items exchange, but the very people themselves.

From this perspective, the crucial factor, and a topic that will be explored at length in these pages, is money’s capacity to turn morality into a matter of impersonal arithmetic—and by doing so, to justify things that would otherwise seem outrageous or obscene...3

...The way violence, or the threat of violence, turns human relations into mathematics will crop up again and again over the course of this book.4

The book develops a long and complicated understanding of various ages of exchange in which society went from credit based exchange to coin/currency exchange and back and forth for various reasons. Graeber's work is compelling if not confusing. While he is obviously a brilliant researcher and thinker, he languishes several times in the book to keep himself on task to his earlier promises. Many points that look to be big items drift off aimlessly into side issues and what seems like favorite quotes from the authors research work rather than essential points to the thesis. One of Graeber's important points about exchange/market systems is that they are integrated tightly with government constructs of debt and war.

modern money is based on government debt, and that governments borrow money in order to finance wars.5

All of this actually does matter in his final thinking, but he mars the straight lines of thought by randomly attacking capitalist thinkers like Milton Friedman and Adam Smith because he doesn't like that they said things built on utopian models (though he admits that what they said ended up being true and actually working in the real world).  Graeber is right in one sense- it matters why society thinks the way they do, and how ideas that changed history came into being. But while he is proving his points he meanders unsuccessfully through some issues by pretending that his ability to invert the predicate logic of a phrase (i.e. "what does society owe us?" into "What do we owe society") is appropriately addressing the real issue.  But in the end, his book is much better than the faults he makes in crafting his narrative- because he asks some great questions.

The biggest of these is about the nature of exchange and the nature of value. At the core failure of humanity in relationship to debt is a devaluing not of goods, but of the human person itself. Graeber is at his best when he challenges us to recognize that our history and our current practices have run rampant not because we use one economic system or another (capitalism or such), but because we allow the exchange system to carry us too far -- we allow it to exchange human life for goods. In essence, our systems of debt exchange place a value on human life as a way of equating what can be paid back when the currency is not. This happens in slavery, debt peonage, debtors prisons, and even wage labor.  It is ultimately a very compelling point, since he basis it on solid history and plenty of modern examples.

Some may decry this book as anti-capitalist, but I think Graeber is reaching for a higher ideal than that. I think he is looking for valuing human life right on forward to the present. That we provide protection for wage laborers, abolish debt peonage systems (that still exist in some countries today), even human slavery and worse.  He is also advocating the questioning of some systems that were built on these premise and have become unchallenged (such as new NGO loan systems, World Bank and the IMF), leaving whole nations in essentially debt servitude to multi-national corporations and countries such as the US.

Though he says these things, Graeber is not a raving anti-capitalist. His book is well worth reading. It sparks of brilliance in places and requires serious thought.  The corruption of the value of human life has been enmeshed into the exchange of the marketplace, and for Graeber this must be untangled if we are to make better decisions for the future. For this, he deserves huge praise and an honest reading of the material. 

Amazon Book Link: http://amzn.to/WZkw0w

Review by Kim Gentes

1. Graeber, David (2011-07-12). Debt: The First 5,000 Years (Kindle Location 8120). Random House Inc Clients. Kindle Edition. 

2. Ibid., Kindle Locations 202-204

3. Ibid., Kindle Locations 310-312

4. Ibid., Kindle Locations 320-321

5. Ibid., Kindle Locations 7694-7695