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Desiring The Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, And Cultural Formation (2009)

by James K.A. Smith(Favorite Author)

4.24 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0801035775 (ISBN13: 9780801035777)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Baker Academic

review 1: This was a difficult read for me. Smith's main point is that our daily habits and rituals (our liturgies) form what we love, and what we love form what we believe and who we become. I have always preferred in the past to think the other way around- that what I think and believe forms what I love, and what I love forms my actions. Perhaps because what I think and believe are often of higher value than my actions :) And I still think it is a much tighter balance (belief influencing action and action influencing belief) than Smith seems to allow. Still, I often shuddered to realize how much I allow our cultural habits and rituals to shape me in ways I do not necessarily agree with (example: therapy shopping). It has forced me to sift through my actions, especially those a... morections on daily, weekly, or seasonal repeat, with a fine tooth comb. What is this forming in me, what love and what belief system? It's an unpleasant experience.
review 2: Rating: 4.5It is hard for me to think of a book that I have read recently that I found so well-written, researched, engaging, and thought-provoking. Indeed, it's hard to imagine asking for more from a book - I was constantly stopping with excitement to read passages to my wife, after which we would engage in either rigorous debate or discussion. Smith's thesis couldn't be closer to the heart of a thesis paper I just finished for my degree (Theology of Embodiment: the Arts as an Embodied Missiology for the Church). He makes a strong and, I believe, important case for a reorientation of Christian education from "thinking" and "believing" thing models of human beings to a more robust, and biblical, philosophical anthropology that understands humans as primarily lovers - a profoundly Augustinian notion. In other words, we operate from desires, which reside in our heart; thus, we are shaped, foremost, by our desires, or loves, which are expressed in how we worship. Indeed, we often worship at altars other than God - it is here where some of Smith's most skillful exegesis takes place, as he dissects various cultural "liturgies" in order to expose not only how they shape us effectively and affectively, but also how they often do a much better job than the contemporary church's attempts at education. In other words, the Church, and its various modes of Christian education, too often exhibits a stunted "philosophical anthropology" - it treats people primarily as thinkers or believers, when they are actually lovers. Indelibly linked to this idea is the issue of embodiment (something my wife and I study and are passionate about). If you believe that a human being is primarily a thinking thing or a believing thing, then education happens only in realm of the academia, the didactic, and abstract; and, it is inevitable that you will, in some sense, educate in such a way that denies the physical, the material, and the embodied nature of human life.What Smith does so well, though I think it also deserves it's own book (which, I believe I read that he will address in Vol. 3 - tentatively titled "Embodying the Kingdom") is address the importance and goodness of the human body. Though, he doesn't stop there. Through his thoughtful engagement with philosophy, culture, and theology, he makes the case that our embodiment is integrally and inextricably linked to worship; we are shaped by embodied practices, "liturgies," which shape/direct our love and desires. His opening exegetical, and imaginative critique of the modern mall, is an extremely well written and disturbing bit of prose, in the best way.In all of this, Smith emphasizes another aspect which is drastically under-appreciated, underutilized, and often misunderstood cultural arena in the Church - the Arts. In particular, Smith uses film and literature with relative ease and effectiveness to highlight various points he makes throughout. This effort not emphasizes the importance of the arts in the Christian life of the Church, but, and I think Smith argues well, it is an imperative part of Church worship precisely because we are effected at the "gut" level by story more than by didactic teaching of abstract ideas. To that I say a loud "Amen!"Finally, I couldn't give the book a complete 5 stars, because the final two chapters left me a bit wanting (though, I readily admit that this may be the nature of a 3 volume series). The entire book seems to keep building in a great way, and then drops off a bit by the final chapter, which felt too small and a bit rushed. I wanted to dwell a bit more on several of the topics (particularly several of the sacraments). Also, his conclusions regarding a "new monasticism" within Christian education felt a bit strained at times (again, I think this may be because of the chapter's brevity). But, I think a lot of this will be expounded in the following volumes, which I can't wait to read!Overall, this is a fantastic work, which I believe is highly needed for several areas of the Church. Smith is extremely astute in all areas from philosophy to culture to theology; he is a gifted writer of critique, and hope. And, he is, without a doubt, thought-provoking. I highly recommend it, and I hope one day I might be able to sit down and meet him (sounds like we share a lot of interests and passions in common). less

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