Rev. Joe -- Books (Qu'ran/Breaking Up With God)

In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. [All] praise is [due] to Allah , Lord of the worlds - The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful, Sovereign of the Day of Recompense. It is You we worship and You we ask for help. Guide us to the straight path - The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray.

I have for a little while tried to find a good book on what seems to be properly called Qu'ran ("Koran" is a typical spelling), especially after an evangelistic leaning group sent me a free one (to possible converts and unbelievers!). It's a nice small blue one with helpful notes. Now, as various accounts (I have found a few books including by Muslims, none quite doing the full job for me) note, the book can really only be truly known in its original language. Like the logos of the Gospel of John, this "word" of God was also always existing -- it was not merely handed down to Muhammed in the 7th Century. I don't know if "begotten not made" would properly be applied given their doctrine, but there seems to be a parallel here.  Islam clearly was inspired by previous religions.

The Qu'ran: A Short Introduction, which I obtained on the recommendation of a comment left on a blog and being able to obtain a used copy, adds to the imperfect but useful volumes read. It is by a believer but one with a liberal viewpoint (written in 2002, ends with a postscript noting "Taliban" translates as "the searchers," whose biggest wrong is to assume that they actually found the truth -- that is a life time effort). It reads like a fairly approachable assigned reading in an introduction course at college. Usefully, since I found it a bit of a trudge at times, the copy was highlighted with notes. It covered the bases and was interesting reading in various respects. Recommended.

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. [1 Corinthians]

Chloe Breyer (Justice Breyer's daughter) wrote a good account entitled The Close: A Young Woman's First Year At Seminary. For a more rocky journey, there is Sarah Bernstein's Breaking Up With God.  As that link's discussion suggests, it was an account of something of an abusive relationship that was at least partially a matter of misconceptions. The book was rather heavy going for me in part since it was in large parts a biography of a rather unpleasant life.  A childish view of God that was a mixture of magic and fear, not helped by a mother who unhappy about her life and the religion she agreed to raise her children (she was raised Episcopalian  and saw Catholicism as kind of beneath her). Then, an abusive college relationship before she finally found a more rewarding life (including a liberal church and more adult theological studies).  

While Sentilles agrees that all talk about God is metaphorical, she sticks like glue to the metaphor she nonetheless rejects. "God" remains a personal, beloved Being, just one to which she is no longer committed. However, she and He are still very much attached by the distance she maintains between them. The notions of Mystery and Love don't quite fill the gap. Might she find a better metaphor?

The best part for me of the book was her discussion of her theological education, including her professor Gordon Kaufman's argument that God is on some level by necessity a metaphor, a human creation of something that cannot truly be known. Some students challenged him -- you are saying God does not exist! Not his point -- he did believe in God, but he was expressing the truth of the matter. The same with "religion" -- why do certain experiences seem "religious" to us? It is a matter of how we see and are taught to understand such terms.  Some take this understanding and have deep belief in God all the same. She lost her faith, perhaps because it was never firmly there -- it was based on sand and confusion.

As the review notes, Sentilles has a strong sense of justice and the book ends with efforts to face up with various injustices, including Prop 8 and environmental issues.  Some might not take her path -- there are liberal churches like the Unitarians that seem friendly to her overall views -- but it might be that the well was poisoned early.  She grew up with an image of God and it did not work for her. This is not surprising since it does not seem like a very good one. "God" to me is a metaphor of sorts and though I don't think it works, surely not by the traditional definition as a concrete reality (man in the sky etc.), there are ways to honor it (the idea) including in a religious context. I respect those who do so, especially in a mature way.

Her struggle to find her way did not quite appeal to me as a book, but it is an important story all the same.* 

---

* Bart Ehrman, who also in effect broke up with God, has a supportive blurb. The review linked and excerpted was written by a friend and former student of Sarah Sentilles. BTW, there is a picture of some woman on the cover next to a suitcase -- doesn't look like the author!