Book Review – Through the River: Understanding Your Assumptions About Truth

Through the River: Understanding Your Assumptions about Truth, by Jon and Mindy Hirst, took me a while to read.  It’s not long, but it’s dense with philosophical thought and information.

The Hirsts describe three basic truth lenses: positivism, instrumentalism, and critical realism, applying them to Christianity and how Christians relate to the world and each other.  They use analogy and story to explain the truth lenses, but reading it still requires work. I found myself taking notes and making outlines to make sense of it all. Here are the basics of the three truth lenses:

Positivists, known in the book as Rock Dwellers, believe that “all truth about us and about our world is knowable, and that it is our job to engage in an active search for that truth, allowing us to expose untruth.”  All truth is objective, regardless of individual viewpoint, culture, etc.

Instrumentalists (Island Dwellers in the book) reject total objectivity, seeing truth as a personal matter. Truth can be different for each person, depending on their background and experience.  Instrumentalists have no problem allowing different systems and theories to co-exist.

Critical Realists, known as Valley Dwellers in the book, is summarized as “the truth you know, and the truth that you are learning.” This lens acknowledges that universal truths exist, but also that the experiences of different people and cultures affect how they perceive and use these truths. Critical realists understand that we can always learn more about truth, and that we can learn from the perspective of others.

Interestingly, these truth lenses can apply regardless of one’s religious and political viewpoints. I can think of people who are liberal and conservative, religious and atheist, who could fit all of these descriptions.  And I can even see all three in myself, at various times in my life and in different situations. I know there are issues on which I’m pretty rock-like, and others in which I’m a good deal more tolerant.

Though it was a difficult read that took a lot of concentration, I did enjoy the book and appreciate what it had to say.  I think it does provide a good explanation of why many people have trouble relating to each other on religious and political issues, and it gives good suggestions for how people can try to relate to each other.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free copy of this book from The Ooze Viral Bloggers program in exchange for this review.

Book Review: The Seven Faith Tribes by George Barna

I had a hard time with this book. Barna divides (based on research, polling, etc.) the American people into seven faith tribes: Casual Christians, Captive Christians, American Jews, Mormons, Pantheists, Muslims, and Skeptics.

I really dislike making generalizations about people, so the first part of the book, in which he explains the characteristics of each faith tribe, was difficult to read.  Also, I felt like implication was always that the Captive Christians were the ones who got it right.

However, later in the book Barna does compile a list of values that the faith tribes do have in common, and suggests that it would be beneficial to our country for the faith tribes to do all they can to instill and encourage these values.

My husband read this book first, and kept telling me that while the first part would make me mad, the last part would make up for it. I didn’t quite feel that way — I still felt like Barna was pushing a Captive Christian worldview.  So I can’t say that this was a book I liked, or that I felt was important information.

It is the result of a great deal of research, though, and it was interesting to look at the data comparisons and research methods in the appendices.

Disclosure: I received this book free in exchange for a review via http://viralbloggers.com.

Book Review: Finding An Unseen God by Alicia Britt Chole

In this book, Chole writes about her journey from adamant atheist (she used to deliberately antagonize her Christian friends in high school) to ardent believer. It’s an interesting read. Chole keeps some suspense going throughout the book, leading up to the moment, the encounter that made her a believer (which I found anti-climactic, but sometimes real life is anti-climactic).

The book is also an apologetic, or an explanation of why the Christian faith is true.  A lot of this does make sense and matches my own experiences, but some of it irked me.

For instance, Chole says that she’s grateful for “the privilege of learning from Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh and Christian friends.”  However, she also implies that pluralism (the idea that other faiths are equally good roads to God) is wrong, and that Christianity is the only correct faith.  I wonder how her Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh friends feel about that?

Chole explains four filters she uses to determine whether a faith is a valid one:

• Is it consistent at its core?
• Is it livable and not just quotable?
• Is it sustainable through life-size pain?
• Is it transferable to others (will it work for people in other cultures, economic situations, etc.)?

She makes a good case that Christianity passes these filters, but I suspect that devout people of other religions could make a strong case for their faith passing as well.

I did like Chole’s statements that God is not bothered by questions about faith, and that it’s OK to question.

“Believing does not mean that you will no longer have questions.  Believing does not mean that you will turn off your brain.”

And another good quote:

“God neither dilutes discrepancy nor ignores complexity.  God does not conveniently edit out the uncomfortable.”

Although this book irked me at times, it was an interesting read. I’m not sure it’s the kind of book an atheist would be willing to read, but it will be interesting to believers, and maybe to people on the edge of faith.

Disclosure: I received this book free in exchange for a review via http://viralbloggers.com