Primal

My most recent book from Waterbrook Multnomah is Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity by Mark Batterson.  It has taken me a long time to get through this book.  Mainly because it wasn't what I expected, and the introduction put me off a little bit.  While I can't explain why, I have a negative connotation of the word "primal", and I struggled with that through the introduction. 

Yet, because I agreed to review this book, I have forged on through.  And I am very thankful that I did.  This is a book that really caused me to stand back and think.  Really examine myself and my spiritual walk with God.  Batterson's book has caused me to want to give more, to feel more, to spend more time in silent wonder with God.

He has a knack for explaining the basic precepts of Christianity clearly and then peeling back the layers of religiousity and ritual that we have somehow added to make ourselves "better".  When it's all flayed open, Batterson has brought us back to the heart of the matter.  What we think we are doing well as Christians, may not be what God intended for us to be doing at all. 

Batterson has broken the book into four parts:  The Heart of Christianity, the Soul of Christianity, The Mind of Christianity and The Strength of Christianity, based off of Jesus' commandment in Mark 12:30.  He also includes Discussion Questions at the end.  He uses real world examples and experiences to explain each of his ideas and convictions about what primal Christianity should look like. 

Batterson's book is convicting, inspiring and informative. I recommend this book to anyone.  But especially to those who feel like their faith is failing them or to those who really can't figure out what is so great about Christianity in the first place.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the Waterbrook Blogging for Books Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Comments

  1. TangledLouMarch 15, 2012 at 2:55 PM

    This sounds like a very interesting read. I am especially interested in the notion of "peeling back the layers of religiosity and ritual". Thanks for this review!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. NicoleMarch 20, 2012 at 7:03 PM

      You are welcome. I rarely get thank you's for my reviews. This was such a hard one to get done! I am re-reading now to get a better sense of how good it is, so I will keep you posted.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Despicable Shadow Puppets

Image
We watched Despicable Me today.  At the end, when they do the shadow puppets I had an idea.  I remember when I was little that my mom went through this silhouette phase in her artwork and made us kids pose for silhouettes.  I didn't like my own silhouette, even as a child. I also remember loving to do shadow puppets, and the very few times my mom would get out the old projector to show us slides, we would ask to have time with just the light on the sheet so we could play shadow puppets.  So my brilliant idea today, since we use a projector to watch movies instead of having a big, expensive TV taking up space, was to pause on a good spot and let the kids pose.  Here is what we came up with.  Not without a little begging and pleading on my end!  Two bunnies hopping towards a duck   Two ducks quacking at a bunny   Butterfly   Guy with mohawk   First shadow puppet ever...not sure what she is going fo...
Read more

Peanut Butter and Bananas

Growing up, my favorite sandwich in the world (when it came to peanut butter at least), was a peanut butter and brown sugar sandwich.  Crunchy peanut butter made it better.  My best friend's favorite sandwich was peanut butter, banana, and honey. "Gross!" I said. "Gross!" she said.  We both agreed that we wouldn't know until we tried it.  So, one day in her kitchen, we made our favorite sandwiches.  She sliced her bananas as I wrinkled up my nose.  I sprinkled brown sugar as she looked nervously at me from the corner of her eye.  We presented one another with our beloved sandwiches.  We had to try.  To understand one another a little better.  Just one bite... That's all it took.  And we switched right back.  She finished hers, and I finished mine.  Right now, I am sitting on the couch eating a frozen banana with peanut butter drizzled on top.  It is amazing.  Who would have thought that over twent...
Read more

Real Bread. The Second Half.

Image
For the first half of this story, check out this post .  I am following my version of a multigrain bread recipe from Mother Earth News . Whew.  This was way harder than throwing stuff in the bread machine.  So we ended last time with the soakers soaking and the sponges hanging out in the fridge. I took step by step pictures so that I could write less  provide a better visual guideline.  Well, almost step by step.  I couldn't some of the time because my hands were all gooey or had oven mitts or flour on them.  You understand... So, first I took out the sponges and let them get to room temperature.  I matched up my gooier (is that a word?) first sponge with the thicker looking buttermilk soaker.  It took longer than an hour, and I got sidetracked doing other things.  By the time I got around to making bread... they were good and ready. Then, I got everything else I needed out.  Mainly yeast, butter, flour, honey, ...
Read more