Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Book 18 of 2010

SLowed up a bit haven't I?  Partly because I got busy.  Partly because this one, Atonement for a 'Sinless' Society, just didn't grab me.  I've been working away at it for over a month and in fact reshelved it without reading teh last couple chapters.

I grabbed it off the library shelf because the concept of finding an atonement theory to counter the issue of shame struck a chord with me.  Atonement theory only works when it speaks to the great longing in our hearts.  FOr some that is guilt, for some it is being isolated, for others it is shame.

But in the end I was underwhelmed.  I was underwhelmed in Mann's description of post-industrialized/post-modern attitudes towards sinfulness and morality. I was struck that Mann only seems to use sin as meaning wrongdoing rather than that which separates us from God.  ANd whiole I think he started on a helpful track, that Jesus' life and death show that he follows the good advice from SHakespeare's Polonius "to thine own self be true" I found that he lost that track.  Mind you he was trying to find the atonement moment on the cross and I tend to find the key to salvation in the resurrection so we were on different wavelengths to start.

A good theses.  ANd a topic worthy of exploration.  But in the end the style of teh writing is what did me in.  Dry dry dry.

No comments:

Post a Comment