5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beyond Viola's Head to his Heart, Sep 19 2009
This review is from: From Eternity To Here: REDISCOVERING THE AGELESS PURPOSE OF GOD (Paperback)
Up front, I expected I would enjoy and appreciate this book even before I opened it. I have read most of Viola's works and I've come to appreciate his very strong cerebral and disciplined approach to ecclesiology (the study of the Church).
I was very pleasantly surprised however in this book that there was something more; Viola's heart. Where Viola in his earlier books has worked to both deconstruct and reconstruct how "church" is viewed, practiced and experienced in the deeply culturally steeped western church, this book takes a decidedly different tack and appeals more to the heart through the use of stories and themes. Make no mistake, there is much in the way of meat for the mind as well, especially in the 3d section of the book which lays out plainly the themes of many New Testament texts.
The key I think is found in the dedication of the book. Viola dedicates this work to the follower of Jesus who knows within their deepest parts that there must be more to the Christian Faith.
Viola is part of a rising vanguard of followers of Jesus who are becoming increasingly disappointed with what passes for "Christianity" in the established institutions that have sadly been presumed and assumed in our culture to be the norm. In this, Viola is shown to be more than someone with a chip on his shoulder. It's not just that the methodology of the Church is not following what was laid out and practiced in earlier times, it's that what is being followed and practiced today is choking out the true faith that was delivered once and for all to the saints. When form is elevated above and replaces function, then something is seriously wrong. Viola shows himself to be in the line of those who throughout the history have sought to bring the attention back to Jesus himself and focus upon spiritual renewal and relationship.
This is a book that I plan to return to and read again several times as a check in my own life to falling into complacency and contentment with my own spiritual walk. I believe many others as well will find it to be so. Many who perhaps have questioned the motives of Viola and those taking up the cry that there must be something more than comfortable cultural and insitutional Christianity, may find as well that with the heart here added to the message, that what is happening is more than revolt .... it is reform, such as has been needed throughout the history of the church universal since the time of Christ's ministry on earth.
5 stars.
Bart Breen
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