Book Review #5
Book Review
The Slumber of Christianity: Awakening a Passion for Heaven on Earth
Written by Ted Dekker
This book holds a special place in my heart. I bought this book a long time ago as part of my "I must buy all Ted Dekker books" phase of my life. While that phase has past and I have passed along many of my Ted Dekker books to others, this one is one of the handful I have kept.
The Slumber of Christianity is a dive into a sentiment that a lot of people have expressed about the Christian church in general. The sentiment is shared in different ways, including the common one I've heard: "It just feels like the church does not practice what they preach." It is something I have shared in a few posts recently and is shared by a fair share of my peers that I went to college with. Many times I would have a conversation with peers who used to believe in Christian doctrine, but have fallen out with it. I have now gone down this same path. This path usually leads to one of two general results: either someone will give up on Christian doctrine entirely, or they will search for the Christian doctrine that they think will fit what they need. This book, on the other hand, suggests that the actual problem is rather simple. The Christian church in general fell asleep to the initial and true goal of Christianity. That goal, according to this book, is to live our lives as a foretaste of the eternral bliss of Heaven.
When I initially read this back in the 2010s, I was confused. "Eternal bliss" didn't seem to describe Heaven very well. When I went to Sunday School in my local Lutheran church, our conversations on Heaven were reduced to, "Heaven is heaven. What else is there to know?" which limited my view of what my church was focused. I suspect a lot of people got that same or similar rhetoric, leaving the question of "Then why are we here?" out in the open. This question is a board question with many given answers from different perspective. I thought -as a growing Christian in the Lutheran church- that the church knew the answer. It turns out, they didn't. I still think they don't.
This book answered that question for me, and went into detail about how the Bible -especially the New Testament letters from the apostles- go into great detail about how are focus of our faith should be on the bliss of heaven. Dekker often points out how breathlessly excited the apostles were about the hope we have in Jesus and the bliss that awaited us in heaven. If one were to truly study the Bible and read it as it was written, Dekker points out how all of the Bible points toward the bliss of heaven and God's presence that both God and Jesus have been trying to bring us back to since the initial sin committed by Eve in the garden of Eden.
The book also details the observations Dekker has made about how the Church has drifted from this hope and bliss by instead focusing on things that can affect us on this planet. While he admits that certain things are important, they should not be our focus as Christians. It is true that we should have a good life and enjoy the pleasures given to us, but Dekker reminds his reader that these pleasures and this life should not be our primary focus. In the end, it all points to a place where all of this pales in comparison. Heaven.
In the end...
Would I recommend it?
WITHOUT A DOUBT! This is a regular read for me to remind me of what truly matters. This book pairs so nicely with the Bible as a Christian. If you are not a Christian, I would recommend it still, simply for the fact that it is nice to get a fresh perspective on the faith Christians claim. What would be more fun than to read this and then see the look of confusion on a Christian's face when you start talking about the bliss of Heaven (even Ted Dekker has done this, mostly to see where someone's faith lies)? If you are a Christian, please give this a book a chance to show you what your faith might be missing.