Posted by Andrew Butcher on March 2nd, 2008
Apologies to vegetarians and animal rights activists, but I confess there was a time when I felt a craving for all the theology I tried to devour to be thick and meaty; something into which one might sink one’s teeth. I still try to avoid thin soup - it has little taste and it does not nourish. Yet, there is a genre of theological reflection that is, in its own way, robust but it doesn’t threaten mental indigestion and theological constipation. Walking the Emmaus Journey is an example of that sort of book.
Indeed, clarity and accessibility have always been a mark of sustaining theology. By displaying those virtues while writing within the theological enterprise, Andrew Butcher is in good company. For example, Calvin wrote as a pastor, and Tom Wright, today’s consummate thick tome-writer, can also serve up offerings that are hearty without being full of footnotes. So can Pannenburg. Indeed the great Barth - another pastorally concerned theologian - wrote both the huge Church Dogmatics and the superb little book, The Humanity of God. Of course, Butcher’s aspirations lean much more in the direction of emulating Adrian Plass than Wolfhart Pannenburg! But Butcher shows a keen appreciation [of] profound theology. Hence, the book often provides insights that make a significant contribution to one’s food for the journey.
Walking the Emmaus Journey is a series of twenty-six short reflections in three sections: The Journey Begins; Who We Meet on the Journey; With Others on the Journey - each loosely derived from an aspect of Luke 24:13-35.
Butcher finds the profound in the mundane and writes about the light that may yet be discerned in the shadows. For Butcher, the mundane and even the painful aren’t merely to be endured, they can be occasions for celebration - not celebrated in themselves, but noted in thankful mode inasmuch as they point us to resurrection hope.
Of course, this life-is-a-journey metaphor is far from original. But Butcher isn’t seeking to be original, simply faithful. He writes because he wants to say again - albeit out of his unique experience - what has been said before. He writes to affirm the gospel handed on by the apostles and to bear witness to the way the good news of God, in Jesus Christ, sustains his life. As such, the book is an invitation to travel with Butcher as he seeks to journey with Jesus.
One of the most memorable ideas in the book is in the reflection “Ode to Joy” in which Butcher muses upon his participation in rehearsing the singing (and one point quacking like a duck!) of Beethoven’s choral symphony. “Music can be heard in the rests. The power of the music is when something is not being played, when there’s a pause, a breath, a moment of grace.” How true! Maranatha! With Butcher we await the appearing of the Lord of the Sabbath - we may expect to meet him in Walking the Emmaus Journey.
Reviewed by Gavin Drew in Stimulus: The New Zealand Journal of Christian Thought and Practice, Vol 16, Issue 1, Feb 2008.
Walking the Emmaus Journey is available from University Bookshop, Dunedin - use the ordering facility at www.unibooks.co.nz
Book reviews, Christian writing, Other, Published Writing | 1 Comment »
