Page 2- Todd Hunter – Our Favorite Sins
The book has the unfortunate subtitle “The Sins We Commit And How You Can Quit” which seems to borrow more from self-help publications than Hunter’s content. Our task is not to “quit” sinning. The obsessive focus on the self is the first barrier to transcend in order to realign our sight on the work of God in the world. The subtitle is not just false advertising, but bad theology and unhelpful to Hunter’s main goals.
The heavy reliance on the Barna Group survey data is also troubling. Christian literature is necessarily written from a community for a community and, from scripture up to the present, is most relevant to a wide readership when it is rooted in a place. Augustine’s Confessions is an ancient example while last year’s The Pastor by Eugene Peterson might be a contemporary one. These books speak universally because rooted experience informs them, not statistical figures. Hunter tries to infuse the research findings with character and life, but the impulse to provide credibility through hard data bears a resemblance to market-driven efficiency rather than the story of Christianity.
Our Favorite Sins has many virtues for new Christians or those uninitiated in the rich traditions of the ancient prayers, practices and sacraments of the church. At the same time, I believe that some of the structure and content of the book, mentioned above, have real and not inconsequential repercussions to the soundness of the text for Christian reflection. Certainly not a reason to avoid it, but rather a reason for churches to engage it critically and with prayerful hearts.
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Seth Forwood lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with his wife, Brooke, and son, Asa. He is an Educator and Beekeeper at Harvest Farm, a free drug and alcohol recovery community and working farm.
C. Christopher Smith is the founding editor of The Englewood Review of Books. He is also author of a number of books, including most recently How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversation in the Church (Brazos Press, 2019). Connect with him online at: C-Christopher-Smith.com
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