Radical Together: A Review

Radical Together, by David Platt, is a continuation of his previous work titled Radical. The message of both books is very similar with the difference being in to whom the message is intended. Radical was intended to shake up the faith of the individual in light of what the gospel says to the American Dream. Radical Together is intended to shake up the faith of the church and to encourage them to live out this radical faith in community together. I believe that the strength of Platt's message is found in the stories of those from his church who are living this out. Platt is not just talking in ideas and dreams but in how real lives have embodied these ideas and dreams. I believe that this is a very inspirational book that also asks very important questions to the church in America today. I admire the courage that it takes to go against the flow of American Christianity and be a "voice in the wilderness," but there is a certain level of credibility that comes from pastoring a large church that is faithfully living out this message.

I would definitely recommend this book for everyone. The writing is very engaging and the message is one that needs to be pondered by all Christians. I would encourage everyone to read Radical first in order to fully grasp the totality of the message. There are six sessions of small group discussion questions at the end of the book that would prove to be very helpful for such a group to talk through the message of the book. I pray that the church in America could become radical together for the gospel in the world.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

If Darwin prayed

It is not too often that I come across a book that baffles me theologically, but my latest offering from the Speak Easy network did just that. "If Darwin Prayed" is a collection of prayers that are written for use in the liturgical worship of the church by a pastor in Vancouver in the United Church of Canada.  The book is laid out well and divided up by the various seasons and special Sundays in the liturgical calendar.  Each section contains a brief overview of the theological emphasis that particular season or Sunday is to use.  The prayers are beautifully written and each has the scripture reference that was used in crafting each prayer.  I believe these prayers would work well in both a corporate and personal setting.

Now to the theology.  I think was most baffled by the total acceptance of Darwin's theory of evolution in the theological framework of these prayers.  I do not consider myself to be fiercely conservative in the debate between creation and evolution, but I have never come across a total acceptance of the evolutionary theory in Christian thought.  It does seem that process theology is the most prominent influence and I will admit to just a basic understanding of the intricacies found in process theology.  I think I was most caught off guard at how all of creation was regarded in the same light.  There was no one part more important than the other.  Here's a sample quote in the introduction.

What if our image of God were informed by evolution as both a biological and spiritual impulse?  The great story of the universe reveals that there is no disconnection anywhere in the universe.  We are cousins with the stars, giraffes, amoebas, bananas - let alone monkeys!  We share an unbroken lineage with all of life.  To modify the central image of Jesus' teaching, we are kin with all that is in the kin-dom of God.  This is a stunning revelation.  Mystics has intuited it, but now science has revealed it to be fact.  We share a single energy with every form and every mode of consciousness in the universe.  This knowledge should be the cause for great celebration in our churches every Sunday and in our prayer life throughout the week.

There is a certain beauty to the harmony of creation that is painted but I don't know if I'm ready to fully go there just yet.  There are biblical passages that point to the elevated status that humans have in creation and I would be curious how these are interpreted in this theological framework.   There are many other similar questions that arise theologically and because of that I would urge those interested to be open to new ideas or well versed in this theological framework to appreciate what is being attempted.