God and the Art of Happiness

This book stands midway between Universalism and secular Humanism. I enjoyed the book (which is why I could not give it only one star!), but found the theology of it highly objectionable.From the outset, Charry raises very valid points that 1.)Christians have underplayed temporal happiness in favor of eschatological happiness. We have sought treasures in heaven, forgetting that there may be treasures on earth as well, in other words, and 2.)theology in general, usually having to defend itself as being a legitimate scholarly discipline, has focused on systematization and logical rigor at the expense of practicality. In other words, if you pick up your average systematic theology, you're unlikely to find a section on "temporal happiness."I couldn't agree more with these observations and rather enjoyed the first half of the book where Charry offers a short look at several Christian and psuedo-Christian thinkers and their thoughts on happiness. She has done well to identify this problem (although I suppose John Piper has been writing the same for 30 years). In the second half of the book, Charry seeks to fill this gap with "asherism", essentially laying out a doctrine of temporal happiness. Here the book flounders on nearly every level. It is philosophically shallow and theologically speaking, it accepts 5% of the Bible at the expense of the other 95%.She says "Asherism teaches that happiness is an enjoyable obedient life. As Aquinas and Butler point out, this begins with being ourselves ...Happiness is an effect both of forms of self-love which Aquinas and Butler might agree are of a piece in living according to nature."(p 163)She verbally acknowledge the fall of man, and says that man has less of a propensity toward obedience, but in the end the "fall of man" in the truly Christian sense is rejected. If we just "be ourselves" and act "according to nature" we'll be fine. We can pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and be obedient to God unassisted. Grace, if there is any, is presumably just something that everyone carries around with them naturally.God has established commands, and while some might be difficult to understand the exact purpose of, all tend toward our good and so we should follow them. What then about commands that seem counter-intuitive or detrimental to society? Remember when God commanded Joshua to wipe out the inhabitants of the promised land, how they were indiscriminately to kill every man, woman, child, and animal? First, Charry puts the blame on Moses (p 189), implying it might not have been God's order, but then when the text is very clear that God gave the command, she says, "As difficult as it is to swallow, the author(s) and editor(s) of the biblical text present these holy wars as obedience to divine commands that they trust are for the sake of God's plan for the establishment of his holy nation. Perhaps this is a point at which one should confront God, as Abraham did at Sodom, where God did not finally relent, and as Moses did at Sinai, where God did relent."(p 190)In other words, God should have first consulted with Charry before he looked to the counsel of his own will. Charry rejects that what Yahweh does is good regardless of the human perception or reception of it, and instead holds God to an invisible moral standard over and above God. Back there behind the Almighty is Plato's "GOOD" to which God must answer, and to which we must hold him to account.Charry rejects, implicitly, the doctrine of the atonement. She doesn't talk at all about sin in fact. Sin doesn't fit I guess since it's unhappy business! She talks (in passing) of Paul's strong distinction between the law of death and grace through faith as a later abberation or development. (intimating, obviously, a very low view of Scripture) She offers works-righteousness in it's stead, not only to Christians, but seemingly also to everyone, as she suggests that eternal punishment and retribution on the part of God may not be correct.Jesus Christ was not the satisfaction of God's wrath upon man for his sin, as understood by Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Knox, Owen, Edwards, not to mention the Hodges' and Warfield (i.e. the Princeton Theologians who submitted to God's word rather than forcing it to submit to them), but rather a jolly good role model to follow.The God of the Bible and the God of the Quran (Koran) will each work just as well for the task; they each follow "God". She writes "Initiation is an awesome undertaking, for through it one is consecrated to God's way. The nonreligious can own their identity. However, Jews, Christians, and Muslims renounce the freedom to define themselves apart from God." (p 265)Charry has not learned that true Christian joy follows from feeling the weight of sin, repenting from works-righteousness, and placing our sin upon Christ, through faith, and upon faith in him alone. She has not understood James: "Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." (James 4:9-10)If you are a Christian, seeking happiness, you're better to start here:http://www.amazon.com/Desiring-God-Meditations-Christian-Hedonist/dp/B001TKQWGG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1339873695&sr=8-3&keywords=john+piper+desiring+god

Professor Ellen Charry has traced and reclaimed theChristian roots of the biblical concept of happiness hat arises out of the love of God for Man and Man for God. She calls this happiness Asherism, or the blessings that come from God. This much needed book will be a great resource for pastors and pastoral counselors offering comfort and encouragement to those who have suffered trauma and tragedy.  Healing Hope for Bruised Souls

The reader who gave this book 2 stars doesn't know the first thing about reading. Apparently reading is only to confirm what we already think, not to challenge and expand our minds. He has grossly misrepresented Charry's book, which does not set out to deny sin or hold God accountable to human standards, but to ask why God made us at all, what we are to do with the lives given us, what final felicity holds for us, and how we begin the process of getting from here to there now. Even after we have repented of our sins, we have lives to live! Charry presents a beautiful vision of the good (defined by God's own purposes in creation and redemption) toward which we strive, out of our sin of God- and neighbor-hating patterns. God does not only declare us forgiven now but also starts the process of healing us, through His own love outpoured and His wisdom taught through Scripture. Happiness and blessedness are not enemies. This is a good book if you have had trouble understanding how to reconcile them.

Ellen Charry has a story to tell about happiness in Christian theology, and a constructive proposal for improving on how that story has been told thus far. If you want to think seriously about what happiness means for a follower in Jesus Christ, and are not satisfied with conclusions that relegate happiness to heaven or emphasize only humanity's sinful wretchedness, this is a book for you. Read a more lengthy review / introduction on my blog: "Der Evangelische Theologe"

Ellen Charry excellent as ever.