Reviews for Creation, Evolution and Meaning

The average rating for Creation, Evolution and Meaning based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-10-28 00:00:00 Lucille Caron Update: upon reading this book again, I find I still rate this book as highly even though in the past couple of years I have thought and read a lot more about the sacramental as opposed to the transactional view of Jesus and the life of a christian. This book started a switch in my outlook on life and lead to a lot of freedom and joy in my life as a christian. And confirmed the wisdom of choosing to go to an Anglican church instead of an evangelical church (even if the evangelical church is as much a sacrament of the eternal truth of Christ's presence in the world as the anglican church is, but in my opinion the evangelical church tends to describe itself and its goals in more transactional terms). Anyway, this book will be one of the cornerstones of the next non-fiction book I will be writing, which will be about precisely this subject: the sacramental view of the world and the good news that is. I do enjoy Capons informal style, his asides and excursions, and the lively examples he gives. It's not everybody's cup of tea, but I like it! This time (maybe because I read it as study, and not purely for enjoyment) some passages were a bit repetitive or not as clear theologically as I would like them. Thus a star less than my original assessment. But as I said, this was not meant to be studied, but to be enjoyed, like a walk through nature with the author, hearing him rambling about his walk with God and the freedom he enjoys, and sharing with him venison pie and a good red wine ... Reading this book I found out Capon is an anglican. Mmm ... could the fact that I have been enjoying his books the last couple of years have to do something with my switch to the anglican church? I don't know, I just know that in this book he gives a very convincing case for a sacramental view of the way God works, something I also find as true in sunday morning services and communion. Definitely a connection there! I loved consuming this book, and know that I will have to read it again soon, as it confirmed lots of thoughts that were already swirling in my brain, gave a kind of theological framwork to interpret the movie Cloud Atlas (I watched that one shortly before I started to read this book, and I definitely saw paralels), but also convicted me that I have hardly started to get a grip on how good the Good News really is. I know in my heart: 'This is what I want to believe'. It fits with what I know from the bible about Jesus and from my own experience in listening prayer, but I know I find it heart living out of this truth. (But Capon would say that that's what the sacraments are for, to make visible and concrete something that is already true in our lives, but in mistery). So I look forward to once again take this in, ruminate on it and try to live in it. That's no punishment by the way, as Capon as always, takes a conversational approach, and mixes a liberal dose of (sometimes even risquee) humor, wit and wisdom in his theological diatribes, which leads to a life-affirming smile while contemplating deep truths. Even though the introduction makes clear Capons life was not that of a saint, his constant conscious choice for grace, love and joy had rubbed of on his character. I very much like to spend time with him. If you want to read a non-stuffy book on theology, want to know why the good news is Good News, or just want to read a good book, this is a good one to start!

Review # 2 was written on 2014-06-17 00:00:00 John James Capon is a very engaging writer who is fun and entertaining to read. Theologically, he is impossible to pin down to a specific label because he holds so many unique and often surprising viewpoints. I couldn't say that I agreed with everything that he puts forward in this volume, but I appreciated the book for making me think outside the box. This book is actually a collection of three of Capon's early books. The first -- "An Offering of Uncles" -- is a witty and eye-opening view of life, in which the author makes the world come alive through stories and theological insights. It covers quite a range of material, but I dare say you won't be disappointed in the journey. "The Third Peacock" deals with theodicy and the problem of evil in very "Caponian" way -- through fairy tales with surprising twists and turns. "Hunting the Divine Fox" was designed to be a sort of overview of theology, but again, done in an unorthodox manner which doesn't seem very textbook. It was by far my least favorite (and probably the least orthodox), but it did still have its moments. I would recommend this collection to any student of theology who loves to think. As the title suggests, Capon has a deep love for theology and the Word of God, and his excitement for the subject matter shines through in his unique style of writing. Though I wouldn't agree with every position the author takes, I'm still giving this book 5 stars because it was just so doggone fun to read.