PT Media Picks: Books

A story of football and redemption

The Blind Side: The Evolution of a Game

by Michael Lewis (W. W. Norton, 2006; 299 pages; $24.95, hardcover)

This is a book about football and much more. It is a story of redemption. It is the story of Michael Oher and of the Tuohy family in Memphis, Tenn., who became his angels and made him a member of their family. It is also the story of the importance of the left tackle to professional football, and of the profound influence that California coach Bill Walsh has had on the game.

The book explains the growing importance of the left tackle, who is instrumental in protecting the blind side of right-handed quarterbacks. Their pay level has risen above all of the other players, except possibly the quarterback. “The ideal left tackle was big, but a lot of people were big. What set him apart were ... incredibly nimble and quick feet ... He had the body control of a ballerina and the agility of a basketball player,” writes Lewis.

Oher was born and raised in one of the most depressed sections of Memphis. His mother was preoccupied with her own problems and had little time for Michael. His father was murdered. Somehow he survived situations that have destroyed many others. He was passed through the Memphis city schools up through the eighth grade, but was virtually illiterate and uninformed. The story of his changed life, his gradual progress in school, his graduation from high school and admission to the University of Mississippi is gripping and dramatic.

The descriptions of Oher’s prowess on the field are amazing as well. He is a phenomenal athlete, who is loved by a Christian family and has built his life on the foundation of faith in Jesus Christ. There is some coarse language in the book, but it is neither gratuitous nor intrusive. This book will delight football fans and will make a way into the heart of anyone who loves a story of hope.

—Foster H. Shannon, former moderator, Presbytery of San Gabriel

Fresh apologetic

Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense

by N.T. Wright (Harper SanFrancisco, 2007; 256 pages; $22.95, hardcover)

In Simply Christian renowned Biblical scholar and Anglican bishop N.T. Wright presents a fresh and thoughtful apologetic for Christian faith. The first four chapters of the book open with four philosophical questions: What is justice? What quenches spiritual longing? Why do we enjoy beauty? How are we drawn into relationships? Wright believes that each of these perennial questions points beyond itself and calls out to human hearts as “echoes of a voice.” The reader will have to decide if Wright is persuasive in his conviction that “God’s passion to put the world to rights” is the voice all creation struggles to hear.

The second section of the book lays out core Christian beliefs about God the Creator; Jesus, the person who announced God’s reign, who died and rose again; and the Holy Spirit, whose breath fills the world. In order to differentiate a Christian understanding of God from non-Christian perspectives, Wright describes three basic ways human beings might imagine themselves in relation to God. In Option One “God is everything, and everything is God.” In Option Two, God (or the gods) and the rest of creation exist in totally separate spheres. Option Three describes the perspective of classic Judaism and Christianity. In this option earthly and divine spheres overlap so that we see the God of heaven at work in us and in the world.

In the final section Wright presents the practical side of faith: worship, prayer, belonging to the church, reading the Bible and living with hope for the future. Here again, Wright uses the three options to provide a framework for demonstrating how Christian approaches to faith may differ in content — though not necessarily in form — from other faith practices. For example, a variety of motivations lead people to practice the spiritual discipline of prayer or meditation. The goal of Christian prayer, however, looks very different from the goal of that which is practiced by proponents of Option One or Option Two. Only Option Three invites those who pray into a relationship with the Triune God.

Simply Christian is a guide for anyone who desires a step-by-step approach to Christian faith. Wright’s stories and examples helpfully address some of the questions that inspire doubts, gently leading the reader to deeper faith. While the book claims to be accessible to those outside the faith, it is difficult to imagine that someone without any religious background would find the book an easy read. Then again, Wright is masterful in his use of non-technical language to outline Christianity’s core beliefs and how these are lived out in the world today. For instance, he speaks of “biblical inerrancy” but introduces the concept by describing “the book God breathed.” Likewise, he deals with “ecclesiology” without ever using the term, speaking of it in the context of “believing and belonging.” Furthermore, Wright tactfully avoids a discussion of theological differences or intra-denominational feuds, helpfully remaining focused on what it means to be simply Christian.

—Tammy Wiens, associate for spiritual formation for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Louisville, Ky.

The politics of the Religious Right

Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America

by Randall Balmer (Basic Books, 2006; 242 pages; $24.95, hardcover)

Randall Balmer is an academic and historian who often writes books for a popular audience.  Since he wrote The Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism, we can safely assume his credentials to write a book about the politics of the “Religious Right” are in order.  Balmer grew up in that world and identifies with it still, both personally and as a focus of his writing and research.

This book is no dispassionate examination of dry documents in an archive; Balmer takes the gloves off and keeps them off throughout the book. He dissects the various issues the Religious Right (the phrase he prefers) has taken on in the “culture wars” of the last 30 years.  Chapter 1 looks at abortion, homosexuality and literalistic Biblical interpretation. He recounts the slow (and politically cynical) way the Religious Right took up the cause of abortion. The spark for the abortion focus of the Religious Right, Balmer found, is the threat that segregationist “evangelical” schools (Bob Jones University specifically) faced from the IRS in the 1970s.  During one conference call on the matter, the movement leaders were looking for a rallying point that was going to evoke passion among the faithful.  “How about abortion?” one of the conferees asked.

“Not only have leaders of the Religious Right betrayed Scripture, but they have shamelessly manipulated important issues ... for partisan purposes, all the while ignoring Jesus’ teaching on other matters,” Balmer writes.

Balmer is an impassioned academic who has finally seen and heard enough.  He no doubt intends this book as a call to his fellow believers in the evangelical world to see the light as he sees it.  And he may well be disassociating himself from that world, or at least its more conspicuous inhabitants. His uncompromising language will no doubt grate on many of them, and will fall on deaf ears with others. It may well be a matter of conscience and a burden to him to see the church distorted by politics of any stripe. 

At times Balmer is indignant, and other times almost mean. He is certainly fed up with the hypocrisy and outright lies he’s seen and heard from the Religious Right.  It is hard to say if this book will do much for the Religious Right, but it is certainly interesting reading for centrist or progressive Christians.

—Bob Craigmile, systems librarian, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Ga.