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Unclean: Meditations On Purity, Hospitality, And Mortality (2011)

by Richard Beck(Favorite Author)

4.46 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

160899242X (ISBN13: 9781608992423)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Cascade

review 1: A must read if you're fascinated about the psychology and theology behind disgust, both animal disgust and social disgust. I really appreciated his ponderings on how disgust and a purity paradigm hinders the global church's growth. Beck's biblical passage he dissects is Jesus' words to the Pharisees: "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." A truly though provoking book, although somewhat academic in nature. But because I read this book, I'll always think twice about my reactions to disgust in my own life.
review 2: This is a meaty book with a lot of stuff to say about the intersection of the psychology of disgust and churches, particularly the tension between purity and hospitality. As someone who would be seen as unclean by many churches (including ones I used to be ... morepart of), this felt like someone finally explained what I couldn't figure out about why I'm "unclean" but the twice-divorced man on his third marriage was "clean". It's backed with interesting studies (loved the dixie cup one) and the whole subject is just fascinating. I'll probably read this again as I think there's a whole lot more to chew on there. The one part I felt was kind of weak was the conclusion. Both of his options for resolving the tension seemed one-sided and not terribly realistic for actually solving the problem. But as a dissection of the problem, it was outstanding. less

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