A fine calling to look to the Augsburg Confession for the church's future, but while providing breadth lacks some in depth.
My newest read courtesy of the generosity of the folks at 1517 Publishing is Magnus Persson's book Reclaiming the Reformation: Christ for You in Community translated by Bror Erickson, who as usual does well to bring the work into a smooth, working English such that one is not thinking about it being a translation. As per usual you can also expect the product quality to be quite fine, with the nice matte covers that one comes to expect from 1517 now. You also get the pure faith alone theology that one would expect from them as well.
Persson's book is essentially a desire to understand and shape the church according to the Augsburg Confession, especially article VII "[The Church] is the assembly of all believers among whom the gospel is purely preached and the holy sacraments are administered according to the gospel". To return to this vision he follows Luther's marks of the church from his work "On the Councils and the Church". Each chapter explores these marks such as baptism, the Word, communion, the office of ministry, etc. He essentially is making a case that this is what the church needs to reform itself around instead of trends, entertainment, numbers, popularity, or relevance. The basic concept of the book is one I totally agree with and felt made a nice backbone.
The book had three distinct gifts. First, covering a decent amount in a relatively small book (just under 200 pages). He really does have a lot to say on each topic and covers a pretty expansive breadth of angles around each theological topic. Additionally he writes in a pretty accessible style. I would think this book, while it may be too much for someone new to the faith, would be perfectly accessible to a lay person who wanted to go deeper in his/her studies. And that reader would probably be pretty satisfied with what was covered. Lastly, Persson is good at gathering scripture passages to root each section and teaching firmly according to the biblical witness.
The book did have a few downsides as well though. For one, while I agreed with by large with what he wrote, I did not find much pleasure of the read. I found myself often checking to see when the chapter ended and so forth as I was trying to do a chapter a day. And for me, I think the issue was not an objection to the content or even the writing style (he does have some nice quotable moments), but rather the waters felt just a foot too shallow for me. That's why I kind of temper it as saying this book is probably good for the experienced lay person, or early theology student, but not so much for the more theologically immersed. For a guy who professed in the beginning the central role Giertz had on his own theology, this is where he was inferior to Giertz, who was perhaps more accessible and profound. Persson's work did not hit with the same profound ability of articulation.
Also interesting is his own personal story, which one gets hints at within the book. His journey includes a charismatic background (which he still identifies as, though not a "fanatic" as he puts it) and a rather large and popular church in Sweden (all the more an accomplishment to have such over there). His journey, and his work a bit remind me of Tullian Tchividjian, though Tchividjian could be a bit more accessible and a bit deeper in his theology. But their overall style has some similarities and accessibilities.
In all, I found it a hard book to grade because of how much I agreed with and was impressed by it and yet how I felt like the water was up to my sternum the whole time, hence why I felt it was important to note that there is a specific level of person this book is intended for. I should also note that he mentions that he sees this book as a first in a series of books he plans to write, with each successive one covering a single mark of the church. If so, that may be the next level of depth that I wanted. Nevertheless, this one is a good call to shape ourselves according to our understanding of what the church really is, and to see past the glamor or the struggles to embrace her according to these marks and the gospel they proclaim.
Armchair Grade: C+/B-
[*Additional note: This is not a despairing C, as this overall review should make clear. This book is good for what it is, but what it is is not what I give my high grades for.]
If this sounds like a good book for you, order your copy here.
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