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Searching for God Knows What

2 stars (Uh... yes I will, actually) - One of the soundbite reviews on the back cover of SFGKW claims, 'For fans of 'Blue Like Jazz,' I doubt you will be disappointed.' Well, squelch that doubt, soundbite-reviewer man, for I was most certainly disappointed with this offering by Don Miller. Let me say, for the record, that I LOVED 'Blue Like Jazz.' That book, to me, did an amazing job of reflecting not only a relaxed writing style, but also a relaxed theology, less encumbered by Evangelicalism's general desire to fit God into its 'understandable box.' Miller is a great storyteller, and he allows his stories to communicate his ideas about spirituality. It works gangbusters. Yo. SFGKW, admittedly, addresses a subject which would be difficult to communicate wholly through narrative. But I found myself wishing that Miller would at least try! Any time he would begin to tell stories, I was hooked... and then the writing would spin out into a very orthodox version of evangelistic theology. Miller, again and again, criticizes the 'formulaic theology' so prevalent in the still-Modernistic American church. But one gets the sense that the author is not (yet?) willing to embrace a theology divorced from categorizing, step-outlining, and bullet point divisions. While Miller's loose style FEELS different, it represents seemingly little more than a stream-of-consciousness veneer on a familiar set of principled beliefs. The book does have some good things to say, by the way. Miller's lifeboat analogy, in which he describes our culture's obsession with the popularity/success cult, is helpful. His critique of misplaced energy in the chapter on 'Morality' charged me up for fighting the right battles (rather than the tired ones against homosexual marriage or abortion). But overall, I don't know that there's much new here. Perhaps the free-flowing format would appeal to new believers (and that may be Miller's intended audience), but, for longer-time progressives in the Church, 'Blue ...
Nelson Books :: Religion & Spirituality :: United States :: Spirituality - General :: Religion - Prayer & Spirituality :: Religion :: Miscellanea :: Miller :: Donald :: :: Devotional :: :: Searching for God Knows What