Book Review: Credulous by Andrea L. Lingle
This is an honest book.
“Church and I have come to an impasse,” writes Andrea Lingle as she describes her wrestling with modern Christianity. “Something is missing,” she declares, “Things seem hollow.” Walking away from church would be easier, but this millennial lay theologian, author and mom takes a reconciling look at the body of Christ through the lens of the church bulletin. What she offers is fresh, insightful and raw with integrity.
This is a book of evocative, often provocative, questions.
So many questions! Here are a few, but really, it is her curiosity leading into the question and her willingness to go new places with her wondering that make each section a labyrinth of discovery and revelation.
- “If the church embraced the rigors of diversity in our systems through intentionally seeking out dialogue with those from other traditions, how would that ripple out into our communities?”
- If we could see each other in the light of infinite abundance, what would we do?
- Could it mean that until we become willing to claim the right of being loved while being imperfect we cannot enter the kingdom of God?
This is book is heartening.
Lingle articulates her struggles and anguish with clarity and deep perception. What I loved was her ability to redeem what she could live with. She writes: “I have a difficult relationship with scripture right now. I am crushed by the smallness with which it is used… but I am filled with peace by the words of the doxologies.”
I will forever see doxology in a new way.
I will forever appreciate the “blood of Jesus” in a fresh incarnational way.
This is a book for meditation as much as for reading. As the bulletin guides a congregation, this book would be great read and discussed in community as a book study or small group resource.
I really liked it.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. #Credulous
