Beauty Will Save the World

A Christian discernment blogger warned that Brian Zahnd would be "the next Rob Bell." While I wasn't a huge fan of Bell and the emergent crowd, something they always did well was deconstructing the hypocrisies of Christendom, which made them a voice worth hearing. After reading "Beauty Will Save the World," I feel much the same way about Brian Zahnd. He doesn't say everything exactly the way I would like, but that's ok. There's much good to be found in his book, and I hope conservative-types will read generously and let Zahnd step on their toes (lovingly, of course).You have to understand where Zahnd is coming from. He's reacting against a less than beautiful expression of Christianity, namely the politicized moralism of the "Religious Right," where nationalism and reactionary politics supplant the mystery of faith. Early in the book, Zahnd relates a bad experience with faith-based politics in which he became one party's tool and the other party's enemy, meaning he could be a prophetic voice to neither. It left him feeling sullied and betrayed. (As someone who falls "right" on the political spectrum, this story hits close to home, but I can't say he's wrong. Close identification with a political party never helped the church.) The main thrust of his book is the search for a more beautiful expression of Christian faith.Alongside Christian apologetics and Christian ethics, Zahnd wants to see the renewal of a Christian aesthetic. "Christianity needs not only to be defended as true," he says. "It also needs to be presented as beautiful. Often where truth cannot convince, beauty can entice." What does he means by beauty? To help you understand, the Eastern Orthodox have a collection of mystical texts called "The Philokalia," which means "love of the beautiful." To them, beauty is to enact a cruciform presence in the world, a life lived in the imitation of Christ. Zahnd (who is not Eastern Orthodox but clearly comes in contact with their writers) thinks along those lines and accordingly tries to inject a healthy dose of mysticism back into evangelical practice--not a hopelessly subjective mysticism divorced from the Word, divorced from the entire history of the church, but a renewed delight in the good, the true, the beautiful, the mystery of Christian faith confessed in the ecumenical creeds (e.g., the Nicene Creed).These things are good. Also commendable are his meditations on beauty as something good in itself, something worth pursuing for its own sake, not for any practical, utilitarian value. This makes him not just a pastor but something of a philosopher--very exciting. What I find troublesome in Zahnd is how he downplays the idea of penal substitution when it comes to the atonement. It's not that he denies it. He doesn't. As I said before, I think he's just reacting to a kind of Christianity, perhaps a sort of Calvinism, that only expresses salvation in juridical terms. From what I gather, Zahnd holds to a multi-faceted view of the gospel concerned with not just the salvation of souls in eternity, but the salvation of whole persons in this life. If you were to ask him whether he affirmed substitutionary atonement, my guess is he'd probably say, "Yeah, but..." These are the kinds of things that drive discernment bloggers nutty, though perhaps they should lighten up. At this point, Brian Zahnd is not the next Rob Bell. He's a different person on a different journey with different intellectual concerns.Overall, I find it a deeply refreshing book. If you have time, do yourself a favor and pick up "Beauty Will Save the World."

Brian Zahnd does an excellent job at extrapolating the many beautiful qualities of the life and message of Christ and examining them in light of how they relate to believers and our interaction with the world in which we live. My favorite chapter was the last one, "A Shelter from the Storm" in which he carefully examines the Beatitudes of Jesus. This chapter, along with the entire book will challenge your faith, especially for those Christians who are caught up in the systems of this world. Zahnd does a great job contrasting the kingdom of God with the kingdoms of this world and shows the huge difference between them. A person can ultimately choose to live contently in the kingdoms of this world and all that it has to offer, or live in the beautiful kingdom of God, void of violence, greed, ugliness, and power. So, what is the beauty that saves the world. The beauty that saves the world is the cross.Some of my favorite quotes from this book are:Instead of angry protesters shaking our fists at a secular culture, we should be joyful singers transforming the secular with the sacred.Christianity as the ongoing expression of the Jesus story lived out in the lives of individuals and in the heart of society is a beauty that can redeem the world.The cross is the beauty of Christianity because it is at the cross that we encounter cosuffering love and costly forgiveness in its most beautiful form.When we lose sight of the subtle beauty of the cruciform we become seduced by the power, prestige, and pragmatism of politics.Christ persuades, not by the force of Caesar, but by the beauty of love.True morality consists in how well we care for one another, not what sort of behaviour we wish to impose on one another.If Christ can transform the Roman instrument of execution into a thing of beauty, there is hope that in Christ all things can be made beautiful.Ultimate truth is not power enforced through violence, but love expressed through forgiveness.The vision of God is always grossly distorted when viewed through the bloody lens of violent pragmatism and vehement nationalism.The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the Father's validation and vindication of His Son.

I will preface my review by telling the reader I haven't read the entire book yet. I absolutely love the premise of this book. I love what I am reading. When I saw it and read the description I ordered it immediately and feel a huge piece of the puzzle of my growing understanding of God and Christianity had been found. Beauty. I love everything I am reading so far - the only source of frustration for me is the book, so far, is aimed at a particular audience that I do not fit into - namely - evangelical conservative Christians. I am learning the lessons and being fed spiritually by this book, no doubt, but I want to read this book written for an audience like me - not an evangelical conservative. It felt like the delicious message of this book was covered in a veil - it expends a great deal of energy appealing to conservative Christians. The message of this book is so right on and brings me to a place of such amazing faith - and yet I have to sift through so much baggage of the conservative church that the message is watered down in a way. I wish I could get feed back on my review - if there is another book out there with the same message but aimed toward someone who is very free thinking, in love with beauty, and has been staying away from churches and Christians for over 10 years because of how insidious the romance with the will to power and insecurity is within. Who is writing for us?

Epic stuff here from Brian Zahnd. Beauty Will Save the World, is incredibly impressive on so many levels. The core ideas are not brought by treatises, statements of doctrine, or argumentation. The book uses stories, and insightful metaphors. It is an invitation to see through a new lens.Zahnd writes with a passion, depth & inspiration. Zahnd calls us back to the beauty of the cruciform through his great use of story both current and historical. This isn't a warm, fuzzy, make you feel good book, but one that is deeply challenging and calls us into a more intimate and real walk with God. It is a breath of fresh air which kindles hope and new imagination. Memorable, moving and compelling stuff.Some of my favourite quotes......"The beauty that saves the world is the cross.""Instead of angry protesters shaking our fists at a secular culture, we should be joyful singers transforming the secular with the sacred.""Christianity as the ongoing expression of the Jesus story lived out in the lives of individuals and in the heart of society is a beauty that can redeem the world.""The cross is the beauty of Christianity because it is at the cross that we encounter co-suffering love and costly forgiveness in its most beautiful form.""When we lose sight of the subtle beauty of the cruciform we become seduced by the power, prestige, and pragmatism of politics.""Christ persuades, not by the force of Caesar, but by the beauty of love.""If Christ can transform the Roman instrument of execution into a thing of beauty, there is hope that in Christ all things can be made beautiful."

It honours the achievement of Christ and focusses on his love. Its gives a way forward without being prescriptive and is full of hope.

The book is about rediscovering the reason why the gospel is so beautiful and an authentic Christianity that can still change the world.

An excellent book, wasnt expecting it to be so easy to read and understand.

The first chapter alone is worth the price of the book. As a farmer I have never thought about beauty in these terms before. The language is slightly above your average 8th grade reading level, but he has well argued and clear points and it is quite accessible for the average reader.