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A review by winkattheduck
Learning to Speak God from Scratch: Why Sacred Words Are Vanishing-and How We Can Revive Them by Jonathan Merritt, Shauna Niequist
5.0
Words change over time. Years ago, the definition of the word "Literally" changed from not just meaning "In a literal sense or manner" or "With exact equivalence", but to also mean "an exaggerated way to emphasize a statement or description that is not literally true or possible." This doesn't mean to word itself changed, but that it's usage did. People didn't "literally walk a thousand miles." They just say it to emphasize how hard walking is.
Jonathan Merritt has noticed how sacred language has changed, and wants to reclaim words that have taken harsh connotations and redeem them, as well as bring new life to words used by many Christian's.
Learning To Speak God From Scratch is sectioned into two parts, with a short introduction.
The first part Merritt dives into research on Sacred Words; mainly what they are, how they are used, and where they are going. He argues for the evolution of the sacred words and their use in every day conversation, while showing the decline of their use, and how this effects culture. He doesn't shy away from the baggage sacred words bring, but uses their abuses to argue for an ever evolving language in Christianity.
The second part is an exploration of some words that Merritt wants us to rethink. With a mixture of research and storytelling, Merritt shows how these words have changed for him and the new life they bring. Reading this section had me all over the place emotionally. Chapters had me shouting "Yes!", laughing out loud, and crying in my car on my lunch break from work. But they also required me to put down the book and digest what I've just read. This is the part where Merritt shines as a writer, not only putting these new ideas out, but making them easy to understand without losing complexity.
Afterwards, Merritt invites us to not only be readers of this idea of Speaking God from Scratch, but to participate in relearning scared words. Using his examples and method, he encourages us to make our own list of words, unload the baggage, and reclaim language previously excluded to the in-crowd of Christianese.
I read Merritt's last book [b:Jesus Is Better than You Imagined|18296142|Jesus Is Better than You Imagined|Jonathan Merritt|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1379901134s/18296142.jpg|25779032] during a spiritually difficult chapter of my life. After leaving a church I had called family for years and seeing the dirty and abusive side of church (again), I was about to give up on any form of Church. JIBTYI reminded me of what the Church can be, and how the faith I belong to is more than the politics. So when I saw the opportunity to get an advanced copy his newest book, I jumped at the chance to read it. Having not read what is was about, I didn't realize how much this book would speak to where I was again, and the lasting effect it would have on me. Having read this already, I'm already planning on rereading it when I buy the final copy.
Jonathan Merritt has noticed how sacred language has changed, and wants to reclaim words that have taken harsh connotations and redeem them, as well as bring new life to words used by many Christian's.
Learning To Speak God From Scratch is sectioned into two parts, with a short introduction.
The first part Merritt dives into research on Sacred Words; mainly what they are, how they are used, and where they are going. He argues for the evolution of the sacred words and their use in every day conversation, while showing the decline of their use, and how this effects culture. He doesn't shy away from the baggage sacred words bring, but uses their abuses to argue for an ever evolving language in Christianity.
The second part is an exploration of some words that Merritt wants us to rethink. With a mixture of research and storytelling, Merritt shows how these words have changed for him and the new life they bring. Reading this section had me all over the place emotionally. Chapters had me shouting "Yes!", laughing out loud, and crying in my car on my lunch break from work. But they also required me to put down the book and digest what I've just read. This is the part where Merritt shines as a writer, not only putting these new ideas out, but making them easy to understand without losing complexity.
Afterwards, Merritt invites us to not only be readers of this idea of Speaking God from Scratch, but to participate in relearning scared words. Using his examples and method, he encourages us to make our own list of words, unload the baggage, and reclaim language previously excluded to the in-crowd of Christianese.
I read Merritt's last book [b:Jesus Is Better than You Imagined|18296142|Jesus Is Better than You Imagined|Jonathan Merritt|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1379901134s/18296142.jpg|25779032] during a spiritually difficult chapter of my life. After leaving a church I had called family for years and seeing the dirty and abusive side of church (again), I was about to give up on any form of Church. JIBTYI reminded me of what the Church can be, and how the faith I belong to is more than the politics. So when I saw the opportunity to get an advanced copy his newest book, I jumped at the chance to read it. Having not read what is was about, I didn't realize how much this book would speak to where I was again, and the lasting effect it would have on me. Having read this already, I'm already planning on rereading it when I buy the final copy.