This book has me quite conflicted. Whilst reading, my rating went from four stars, to three, to two, and back to three. Allow me to elaborate.
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I received a free copy of this book from InterVarsity Press via NetGalley for review purposes.
About the book
Have you lost your footing in church? Or has the church lost its footing? Many of us feel unsteady, disoriented, even crushed after an endless string of scandals within the walls of a place meant to offer compassion and safety. Others feel forced to draw back or distance ourselves from the church. All the while, our instincts tell us this is not what Jesus wanted for his people. But what did he intend? After four decades of ministry, Anglican bishop Todd Hunter is no stranger to betrayal and pain in the church. Still, he has hope. He believes more than ever that Jesus is who the world needs and that Jesus has plans for his followers. In What Jesus Intended, Hunter offers a vision for emerging from the rubble of bad religion and rebuilding faith among a community of sincere believers. By unpacking the purposes of Jesus, we can expose twisted, toxic religion for what it is and embrace the true aims of the gospel. Come for a fresh hearing of Jesus—one that offers us the healing and goodness we’ve always longed for.
Amazon
About the author
Todd Hunter is the founding bishop of The Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others and the founding pastor of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Costa Mesa, CA. He is past President of Alpha USA and former National Director for the Association of Vineyard Churches. He is author of Christianity Beyond Belief, Giving Church Another Chance, The Outsider Interviews, The Accidental Anglican and Our Favorite Sins. Todd has been an adjunct professor of evangelism, leadership in contemporary culture and spiritual formation at George Fox University, Fuller Seminary, Western Seminary, Vanguard University, Azusa Pacific University, Biblical Seminary and Wheaton College. In addition, he has been a Distinguished Lecturer at several institutions of higher learning. Todd and his family live in Costa Mesa, California.
Amazon
So, what’s the gist?
Hunter steps up to the plate with the aim of bringing Christians back to who Jesus really is and “rescue his reputation from the rubble of bad religion”. Quite the tall order, but Hunter decides it’s worth the effort — and I agree.
The good…
The author immediately acknowledges many of the reasons why people are leaving the church and/or disassociating from Christianity, including but not limited to: sexism, misogyny, racism, abuse of power, homophobia, transphobia, and enforcement of rules within institutions that create injustice and unfairness. Hunter doesn’t shy away from highlighting the growing number of high-profile Christian leaders being involved in so-called scandals like extramarital affairs, or criminal behaviour such as abuse, rape, fraud, and more. He also highlights the spiritual trauma that can be caused by religious institutions. I think this is an excellent way to start this book, because it suggests that the author isn’t going to skirt around the issues or try to deflect… which is mostly accurate for this book, but not entirely.
I think the author does a good job of exploring the spectrum of issues when discussing Christianity and politics. He specifically calls out Christian Nationalism, and the blurred lines between conservative or fundamentalist Christianity and right-wing political extremism. He also speaks on how some liberal or progressive Christians have fallen into the trap of following unscrupulous, celebrity-like pastors, who make church services almost indistinguishable from a celebrity guru’s self-help conference.
Each section concludes with questions for the reader to ponder, along with a suggested prayer, always with the prompt to add your own words or change the prayer completely, if you so choose. I like this layout, as it helps the reader solidify what we have read, and also apply the principles to our own lives. The questions definitely helped me to identify some issues I can now work through, and some opportunities I can pursue in my walk with Jesus, to bring people to Him and contribute to improving the health of my local church.
The less-than-good…
However, an aspect of the layout that I didn’t like was the “agony aunt” style of each chapter. It’s not that I particularly dislike that format in general, but in this case, the questions asked by each person felt extremely forced and staged. The people feel like characters created by the author for the purpose of asking very specific questions in a way that sets up the author to provide the answers he wants to, in the way he wants to.
To be clear, I have no way of knowing whether or not the questions cited are from real people and real conversations. I’m just saying that, regardless, they feel fake. They read as fake. They read like AI-generated characters; two-dimensional, “uncanny valley”, all using an almost identical “voice”. They monologue too performatively for it to be a normal conversation.
I understand quotes and conversations get edited for brevity and clarity. I also understand the author uses these questions and conversations as anchor points, used as a tool to allow him to answer the question within that chapter. However, it would have made more sense if the author said these were an amalgamation of conversations and questions he’s experienced over the years. To give each person a name, then proceed to have them all “speak” with identical “tone”, format – long monologues with no interaction from the author, random personal questions from people he doesn’t know well, claims that the author knew what the speaker was thinking, and quite stereotypical atheist/agnostic-adjacent ways of arguing – it’s just formulaic and not believable. And if they actually are real stories, then the author does a poor job of illustrating them as individuals, with their own styles of speaking.
In my opinion, this weakens the author’s position, because the foundational setup feels dubious.
The bad…
As such, this led me to feel quite frustrated later on in the book when one of the people asks a specific question and the author actually fails to answer it, choosing rather to go off on a tangent and tiptoe around the subject. Why set up the question in your own book if you don’t want to answer it? This gives the impression of dishonesty, or at least deflection, even if that isn’t actually the case.
The okay again…
On the other hand, the author raises some challenging but important questions, including topics such as doubt, disagreement, and conflict. I appreciate this honesty. It can be tempting to quash doubts and push them to the back of your mind. It can be easier to ignore injustice in order to “keep the peace”. But the author encourages us to explore those doubts and challenge these injustices, even – or, especially – if they come from within the church itself.
On the whole…
I feel like this book had incredible potential. And although it didn’t quite live up to that potential for me, I still think it’s a good book with some excellent ideas.
It started off strong, seeming to dive into topics that tend to be avoided in Christian circles. Being willing to be vulnerable instead of defensive, the author sets out to identify, acknowledge, and dust off the “rubble of bad religion”; to uncover the heart of what Jesus actually taught. The author attempts to go back to the often forgotten basics and strip away the unnecessary “shoulds” and “musts” that religion often enforces. I think this is a brilliant concept and one that is much needed in today’s world. Hunter draws parallels between now and when Jesus disrupted the forms of religion at the time. He sought to break down barriers between the people and God, created by the religious practices of the day, and this is still relevant to us today.
However, I think some poor stylistic choices were made, and honestly, the third quarter of the book comes off as ‘fluff’. It seems a bit like the book was too short for publication so the third quarter was inserted to pad it out. It could have been much more concise and what they would have lost in length, they would have gained in maintaining the pacing from the first half of the book – and hence, the interest of the reader.
In conclusion…
Overall, I found this book thought-provoking, interesting, and flawed. I think it is worth reading for the excellent parts, but I wouldn’t feel too guilty about doing some skim-reading in the third quarter. Also, allow yourself to cringe at the *possibly, allegedly, just my opinion, don’t sue me* “fake” conversations. The points made are still worth considering, so try to forgive the author for their uncomfortable delivery.
Goodreads rating: ★ ★ ★
What Jesus Intended: Finding True Faith in the Rubble of Bad Religion was published on 18th July 2023. I received a free copy of this book from InterVarsity Press via NetGalley for review purposes.
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