Learning to Speak God From Scratch

Author: Jonathan Merritt

One-sentence summary: The author takes a look at our God-language and Christian-speak through the lens of non-Christians to see how they hold up, how they serve us, and how they hinder us.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 7

Our favorite thing about it: We liked thinking about this issue/idea some more.

Our least favorite thing about it: The formatting and length.

Main Topics of Discussion: Theory vs. Practice, Words (obviously)

Our favorite quote: “We are word-shaped beings who live word-shaped lives within word-shaped communities.”

Notes: Well, we wanted to (and expected to) like this book more than we actually did. Not that we didn’t like it at all, or didn’t glean any valuable information from it. But the format of the book and the length really got in the way of our enjoyment. Other thoughts:

1. We thought this book could have conveyed the main idea in a long-ish essay rather than being parlayed into an entire book. It seemed really drawn out and repetitive.

2. Along the same lines as #1, we felt like the whole first part of the book – the theory part – was way too long. We wanted much more of the practical discussion of actual ways we talk about God and Christianity. We felt that would have been more helpful.

3. We universally hated the formatting. Specifically, placing large block quotes in the middle of a page was distracting and unnecessary. We felt like that’s something you see in a magazine article, not a book. We don’t need or want that when we’re reading a book.

4. We loved the ideas that words really do matter and that they’re what make humans unique from other living things.

5. We also loved how Jonathan drew the connection between us being image bearers of God and our ability to create. That creativity is one way that we show how we are made in the image of God.

6. We thought it was interesting how he pushed back on vulnerability a little bit. It’s in vogue now, and we think for good reason. We had mixed feelings about this, but it made for a good discussion!

Memorable Meeting Moments: We met at Burger Island near Lindsay’s house for dinner and then went back to her place for dessert and (more) discussion. This was also Dara’s birthday month!

What We Ate: Burgers! And our favorite amazing fried green beans. For Dara’s birthday dessert – pumpkin chocolate brookies.