A Light So Lovely by Sarah Arthur, 2018

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Bestselling and beloved author Madeleine L'Engle, Newbery winner for A Wrinkle in Time, was known the world round for her imaginative spirit and stories. She was also known to spark controversy - too Christian for some, too unorthodox for others. Somewhere in the middle was a complex woman whose embrace of paradox has much to say to a new generation of readers today.

A Light So Lovely paints a vivid portrait of this enigmatic icon's spiritual legacy, starting with her inner world and expanding into fresh reflections of her writing for readers today. Listen in on intimate interviews with L'Engle's literary contemporaries such as Philip Yancey and Luci Shaw, L'Engle's granddaughter Charlotte Jones Voiklis, and influential fans such as Makoto Fujimura, Nikki Grimes, and Sarah Bessey, as they reveal new layers to the woman behind the stories we know and love. A vibrant, imaginative read, this book pulls back the curtain to illuminate L'Engle's creative journey, her persevering faith, and the inspiring, often unexpected ways these two forces converged.

For anyone earnestly searching the space between sacred and secular, miracle and science, faith and art, comeand find a kindred spirit and trusted guide in Madeleine - the Mrs Whatsit to our Meg Murry - as she sparks our imagination anew.

(224 pages)

When I was young and tearing through every children's book I could find in the house, I stumbled across my mother's childhood copies of Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quintet. I picked up A Wrinkle in Time with absolutely no preconceived ideaas about it . . . and I absolutely loved it.

There's something so grabbing about the way those books take reality and flip it inside out, challenging our ideas of how the universe works. It's been many, many years since I last reread any of the books, but there are so many things I still remember so vividly from them.

One thing I do not vividly remember? Any references to God or Christianity, or any indication that L'Engle was a Christian. I mean, it seems obvious reading A Light So Lovely, but as a little girl reading the books I just found them to be interesting and exciting with no more religious subtext than any of the other books I was reading at the time (though I also didn't notice the symbolism in the Chronicles of Narnia until someone pointed out to me that Aslan is Jesus, so take this with a certain grain of salt). It doesn't surprise me at all that some Christians denounced the series as being too new-agey, and in fact my mom was just as surprised as I was that L'Engle was some big Christian writer. She thought the books were just science fiction.

Anyway, all this buildup is to say that I found the discussion of L'Engle's life and faith in A Light So Lovely very interesting. I suppose it adds something to the series, though I admit I was just as happy when the books were just fun adventures without all this subtext. A Light So Lovely makes a lot of interesting points about L'Engle's faith and life, though I have to say that it's fairly disjointed and feels almost disorganized at times. It's organized into topical chapters like "Truth and Story" and "Religion and Art," each of which bring in lots of quotes from different people. But they often jump around in the timeline, so it's quite confusing. And I honestly don't really care that much about Madeleine L'Engle herself, so reading a bunch of quotes and conversations with other people I've never even heard of talking about her was not exactly exhilarating.

Above all, I think I would have much rather read a straight-up biography of her life than this slightly meandering discussion of her perspectives on religion and her habit of basically only seeing/remembering things in a way that fit her narrative. My mom tried to read it and stopped halfway through, similarly stating that she'd rather have just read a biography.

The book does include so many great quotes from L'Engle herself, though, so I'm going to end this review with a couple of my favorites:

"If it's bad art, it's bad religion, no matter how pious the subject."

Like it or not, we either add to the darkness of indifference and out-and-out evil which surround us or we light a candle to see by." 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

A Flexible Faith by Bonnie Kristian, 2018

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BONNIE KRISTIAN shows that a vibrant diversity within Christian orthodoxy-which is simply to say a range of different ways to faithfully follow Jesus-is a strength of our faith, not a weakness.

It is all too easy to fail to grasp the diversity of the Christian faith-especially for those who have grown up in one branch of the church and never explored another. We fail to realize how many ways there are to follow Jesus, convinced that our own tradition is the one Christian alternative to nonbelief.

A FLEXIBLE FAITH is written for the convinced and confused believer alike. It is a readable exploration of the lively theological diversity that stretches back through church history and across the spectrum of Christianity today. It is an easy introduction to how Christians have historically answered key questions about what it means to follow Jesus. Chapters will include 17 big theological questions and answers; profiles of relevant figures in church history; discussion questions; single-page Q&As-profiles of more unusual types of Christians (e.g., a Catholic nun or a member of an Amish community); and a guide to major Christian denominations today.

As Bonnie shares her wrestlings with core issues-such as who Jesus is, what place the Church has in our lives, how to disagree yet remain within a community, and how to love the Bible for what it actually is-she teaches us how to walk courageously through our own tough questions.

Following Jesus is big and it is something that individual believers, movements, and denominations have expressed in uncountably different ways over the centuries. In the process of helping us sort things out, Bonnie shows us how to be comfortable with diversity in the Body. And as we learn to hold questions in one hand and answers in the other, we will discover new depths of faith that will remain secure even through the storms of life.

(272 pages)

This book is so awesome.

No, seriously. Just to start with, it's so nice to read a book about Christian theology that's not trying to make every reader believe exactly the same thing as the author.

Kristian starts the book by laying out a few main beliefs all Christians must have to be counted as Christians (basically believe in the Bible, Jesus, and the Holy Trinity), and makes the argument that all other issues are open for interpretation by different denominations. Then, each chapter in the rest of the book describes the logic behind all the main opposing viewpoints on a given topic. Kristian offers her own viewpoint at the end of a handful of chapters, but never implies that her perspective is the only valid one; on the rest of them, she doesn't even offer any hints about what she believes.

I love it. I love that she's fighting the "my way or the highway" attitude in so many churches, that she's showing her readers all the valid options for personalizing their faith. I may not agree with all of the options she lists (in fact, I'm quite strongly opposed to a few of them!), but I love that she lays everything out in a way that lets every reader draw their own conclusions.

She also has an interview with a different "out of the box" Christian in between the chapters. Some people might find those really interesting as well, but I found myself skimming over them a fair bit.

A Flexible Faith is a wonderful resource for nonbelievers as an overview of Christian beliefs, for questioning Christians trying to get away from a denomination that's just not right for them, and for established Christians with a shallow understanding of competing Christian ideals. Basically, for anyone with any questions about any area of Christianity, A Flexible Faith is a wonderful starting point.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Cheesus Was Here by J.C. Davis, 2017

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Sixteen-year-old Delaney Delgado knows miracles aren’t real—if they were, her kid sister wouldn’t be dead. So when the image of baby Jesus appears on a Babybel cheese wheel, she’s not buying the idea that God’s got a dairy obsession. Soon, religious signs begin turning up all over Del’s hometown, tiny Clemency, Texas. Overnight, news vans fill the streets and religious pilgrims start searching for God in the discount aisle of the grocery store.

Hell-bent on proving the so-called miracles are fake, Del convinces her best friend, Gabe, to help her find the truth. While Gabe’s willing to play detective, as a preacher’s son he’s more interested in finding evidence that supports the miracles. But when the whole town becomes caught up in religious fervor and even the late-night talk show hosts have stopped laughing and started to believe, finding the truth might cause more trouble than Del can handle. This novel is neither pro nor anti-religion, and will appeal to fans of contemporary YA novels that explore deep themes with an element of humor. The voice and characters are funny, strong, and full of heart. This is a book for anyone who loved Saved!

(272 pages)

I waffled on this one.

I almost didn't agree to review Cheesus Was Here because I worried it would be offensive to me as a Christian. The teaser promised it was "neither pro nor anti-religion," though, so my curiosity won out and I got the book. I agree that it doesn't wind up siding firmly with one side of the argument of the other, though there are some interesting points made along the way. In many ways, I almost thought it was a little biased toward religion.

Don't get me wrong–as I said, I'm a Christian myself. But I find it rather disturbing that the entire town of Clemency believes in the miracles except for Delaney, and that everyone (including characters who are considered by the author to be voices of reason!) constantly tells Delaney that her only reason for trying to disprove the miracles is some sort of bitter, slightly immature vendetta against God for her sister's death.

I mean, I don't know about you, but if people started worshipping a hunk of Babybel cheese I'd definitely be skeptical and start investigating. You can be religious without being gullible, and you can roll your eyes at some baby-shaped cheese just because you think it's stupid (and not because you're angry at the universe). Granted, Del's particular reasoning may have had something to do with her sister's death, too, but it would have been good to see some other viewpoints.

Besides that, though, I thought the book's take on everything was really good. The crazed way people start worshipping the hunk of cheese (and then later a window and a board that appear to be similarly marked by God) is frustrating but realistic, and Del's emotional turmoil and cynicism after her sister's death by cancer the year before rings crushingly true. There's a little bit of language and some references to mature topics (including sex and homosexuality), but nothing horrible to turn people away.

Basically, Cheesus Was Here is a really interesting book that raises some fascinating questions about religion and death and mourning. I really enjoyed it, much more than I thought I would.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.