Transcendence domesticated
As per the norm, Rev. McCain has unleashed another stellar posting over at Cyberbrethren - Courting Reverence.
This fine posting investigates why courtrooms have been allowed to keep their formality and purposeful sense of reverence, while churches have not. More important, though, is the discussion of why this has been, and continues to be, a bad thing for churches and the sinners who enter them.
Personally, I much prefer the traditional architecture of a cross-shaped church — preferably one where the historic liturgy is being celebrated in a joyously reverent fashion (and, no, that is not a contradiction!).
I fear that what has happened in the past 25-50 years is that the medium has overwhelmed and subverted the message. We’ve become too focused on the environment in which the message is delivered and/or the “mindset” of those receiving the message, and lost sight of the blessed message that we all so desperately need. The purpose of the Divine Service is for God to deliver His gifts to us. It is not for us to feel good & comfortable about what we are offering up to God. Music, words, architecture, and actions all have a role in properly ensuring that both praxis and doctrine are orthodox & complementary.
-ghp
Brown’s noise
A few weeks back, I finally broke down and gave in. On a trip to the local public library, I checked out copies of Dan Brown’s novels Angels & Devils and The DaVinci Code. Even more, I actually read them! 
Vast amounts of ink have been spilled reviewing, discussing, bemoaning, and condemning these novels, especially The DaVinci Code. As novels go, however, here’s the worst thing that I can say about them:
As works of literature, they fall short. Even more damning, as contemporary “page-turner” novels, they stink. They are formulaic to the point of absurdity. The characters have the depth of the puddles on my driveway on a sunny day. They are duplicitous, in that novels (WORKS OF FICTION) should not contain disclaimers/contentions that they describe “real” things accurately — if that’s such a concern, then write a non-fiction book. I respect fiction, and counterfactual history in particular, too much to let it be sullied by such lowbrow tactics.
I didn’t expect anything from these novels theologically, as I already knew that they were full of crap. I knew going in that the author had an axe to grind wrt orthodox Christianity. Even so, I was still amazed at the ways in which the author worked to give his non-historical suppositions a veneer of plausibility and/or “truthiness.” Dan Brown obviously hates orthodox Christianity, because both books are full of venomous slander that serves no purpose other than to make people doubt the Truth.
I actually found Angels & Devils to be a better “read” than The DaVinci Code, as it was somewhat less implausible (to damn it with faint praise…). I also found the historical underpinnings of it to be of greater interest, and the “science” element had a nice Tom Clancy-ish feel to it. Sure, it fell apart under the weight of its own outrageous implausibility in the end, but at least it wasn’t horrifically offensive right from the conceptual get-go like the Code. I find an indictment of the Papacy much less problematic than one lodged against Christ Himself. So sue me.
All things considered, I enjoyed the Left Behind series more than Brown’s two novels. While both sets of novels are severely lacking theologically (the former via “mere” heterodoxy, and the latter with more blatant blasphemy/heresy), I never got the feeling that LaHaye & Jenkins were putting on airs. Brown, OTOH, seems much more enamored of his “craft” and comes across as being much more pretentious. Quite frankly, neither set/series should be high on anyone’s reading list, especially if someone isn’t properly grounded theologically.
Either a good secular novelist, or something like Paul Maier’s Skeleton novels, would be a much better choice for meeting your fiction-reading needs.
-ghp
Book Review: _To Hell with All That_
BOOK REVIEW:
To Hell with All That (Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife)
by Caitlin Flanagan
2006 - Little, Brown & Co.
ISBN: 0316736872
I first heard about this book in the July 1 issue of World Magazine, in which there was a brief description of the book along with an interview with the author. I was intrigued by the interview, as I find the fallout from feminism to be quite the interesting topic, historically, culturally, and theologically.
Flanagan brings a very interesting perspective to her examination of “the central concerns of women’s private lives — weddings, sex, nannies, housekeeping, marriage, children…” There seems to be a growing movement among 2nd/3rd generation “feminists” that the old-guard/1st-generation feminists seem to find increasingly distressing - i.e., that sometimes home & hearth can be the best & most attractive choice, and that perhaps traditional roles actually did serve a useful purpose.
The chapters on modern weddings, housekeeping, marital sex, and “executive” children are the most compelling, as they deal head-on with many of the issues that trouble families & society today. I found the chapters that dealt with the author’s personal issues - e.g., nannies & “mother” issues - to be somewhat less compelling. While they were somewhat illustrative of the larger points (better) made in other chapters, they struck me as a bit too self-indulgent & not quite as compellingly well-written as the rest of the book.
Flanagan writes from a self-professed “Evangelical Christian” worldview that is refreshingly consistent throughout the whole book. This, however, should not be taken to mean that there’s a whole lot of theological depth anchoring the book. Rather, it would be more accurate to say that a reasonably conservative (if not wholly/obviously orthodox) Christian faith informs this book’s foundational points. For example, while many of the points made in the book are quite illustrative of, say, a Lutheran view of the Order of Creation, there was never an explicit statement acknowledging the Order of Creation’s primacy in properly defining & managing male-female roles. IOW, while Christianity was mentioned rather regularly, the overall tone of the book struck me as more political/sociological than theological. That said, it was still on more solid theological ground than most of the dreck that’s available at the local Barnes & Noble.
All things considered, this is a useful and worthwhile book. I can easily recommend To Hell with All That as a book that is worth the time/effort to find & read.
-ghp
[Note: This review has now been cross-posted over at Luther Library. Please take the time to check out Luther Library for cogent & well-informed reviews (present company excepted, of course!)]
5 Bostons & 2 Pugs
I’ve been meaning to post this for a while now, but I’ve just been slack. Thanks to IndianaJane, I’ve now been properly motivated… 
This photo was taken on Apr 20, 2003, at the apex of the number of dogs in the family - 5 Boston Terriers & 2 Pugs!
Oliver & Ruby belong to big sis, and were 12 wks & 1 yr respectively. Lucy & Molly (depending on who you ask, the “pug sisters” or the “demon pugs”) belong to Jenny (big sis’s oldest & my number 1 goddaughter), and were also 12 wks & 1yr respectively. Clancy belongs to my parents, and was 5 y/o. Bwanna & Hammie are the Territorial Bostons, and were 13 yrs & 1 yr respectively.
Bostons are the coolest little dogs/fur-people, and have been a staple in my family for over 40 years. At some point I plan on doing a more thorough write-up of the Piper Family BT’s (building off of a web page that I did years ago). But for now, this will have to suffice.
-ghp
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