The Whole Thing: The Story of the Bible Through Six Images- Jason English
Self-Published 2019. 126 pages
The rain steadily fell as three friends took shelter in a small, local coffee shop. Tucked in an alley between the surrounding brick buildings, our temporary haven was filled with the scent of freshly-ground coffee beans as Morrisey softly crooned from the record player in the corner. The old wooden doors would cry with a gentle squeak when faced with the boisterous, blustery winter wind. Yet, in the warmed midst of friends and familiarity, a budding conversation bloomed between the three of us. One of them, a local pastor in our cozy mountain town, told us that he was thinking about a concept for a teaching series. The plan was bold: to attempt to summarize the entirety of the Christian Scriptures in as few words as possible. We discussed the fickle nature of language, and how even the simplest words can carry complex connotations, forever teeming with meaning as we dug deeper into increasingly fraught definitions and contexts. Finally, looking at the hands in front of me, I asked a simple question: what if we could communicate the story of Scripture through our very body, without the use of language? What if we can find the basic story of the Gospel in the very bodies that we inhabit?
Over the course of the next hour or so, we brainstormed the ways in which the particular divisions of Scripture could be symbolized by the various parts of our body. Some made sense, while others were wholly inadequate. Over the next few weeks, however, my friend Jason was able to create a sermon series on this very concept, as he refined the rough ideas that we had sketched out over that rainy hour in that coffee shop. Over the past few years, Jason has been refining, elaborating, and simplifying these concepts even further, which have ultimately culminated in his new book, The Whole Thing: The Story of the Bible Through Six Images.
Overview:
Throughout the book, Jason deftly takes the reader through the historical, theological, and social contexts of the Christian Scriptures, from the Torah to the New Testament. In the first three chapters, Jason gives a summation of the three main divisions of Old Testament texts: the Torah (Law), Nevi’im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings). Jason argues that the Law can be represented by a finger pointing to the Way, the Prophets are depicted as a hand guiding and correcting the people of God as they tell us to remember and repent, and the Writings are represented as a heart, as they are the artful expression of the invisible (in all their joyous, expectant, and even angst-ridden forms). Chapter Four articulates the basic story of Yeshua of Nazareth (aka. Jesus), paying particular detail to the beginning of his ministry and basic teachings, rather than his crucifixion and death, as he writes “sin, death, darkness, and brokenness are not the point of the story” (75). Instead, the hand of God was pointing to and through Jesus the whole time. Chapter Five gives the context for the book of Acts and Paul’s epistles, as Jason describes the struggle of both Jews and Gentiles to put Jesus’s message of reconciliation into practice within their communities. Finally, Chapter Six synthesizes the totality of the Christian Scriptures, arguing that they point towards an eventual reconciliation of all things. Humanity is created as good in God’s image, and our wholeness, rather than brokenness, is what truly defines us as human subjects in relation to the Divine. When we remember who we are truly created to be, Jason argues, God’s love is made complete in us and we begin to partner with God to restore all things.
Commendations:
First of all, we must consider the audience of this work. Jason is a pastor in a beautiful college town nestled in the Appalachian mountains. He cares deeply for the people in the town, and is always seeking for innovative and refreshing ways to communicate the Gospel. Jason is wholly committed to writing and speaking simply without sacrificing depth (a philosophy that drives his podcast as well), and is endlessly fascinated with the beauty of the world around him. As a pastor, he often realizes that many people who come to church do not have degrees in Biblical Studies and hermeneutics. As such, Jason’s first book is written primarily for an audience who many be relatively unfamiliar with the social and political context of the Bible. The book is self-published and beautifully illustrated by a local artist in Boone, Belle Hissam.
In the same vein as his teaching style, Jason succinctly and adequately distills complex theological concepts into their basic components. The result is an especially readable and accessible book that, in just over 100 pages, summarizes the basic narrative of the Old and New Testaments. He argues that the Bible is ultimately a book that emphasizes wholeness and reconciliation, rather than brokenness and division. It is an incredibly inclusive book and it begins to touch on several interesting theological points without getting too caught up in the weeds. Jason has a gift for communicating many aspects of Jewish religious traditions to a Christian audience who may be unfamiliar with the roots of their faith. He continuously reminds the reader of the Jewish roots of Christianity and breaks down basic Hebrew and Greek grammar in an uncommonly accessible and readable manner.
Chapter Three, in which Jason describes the Old Testament Ketuvim as a heart, is particularly powerful, as he gives a heartfelt and pastoral response to the real issues of loneliness and doubt. Jason is raw in his vulnerability as he expresses his own doubts, and gives us a unique perspective on the power of loneliness and sadness. He argues that these emotions are temporary, while emotions such as joy, trust, and love seem weaker to us now because they are expressions of the eternal, and will remain with us when all else fades, while negative emotions are packed into a finite frame of time, which causes us to experience them more powerfully in our temporal experience. This was one of the highlights of the book for me, as it shows Jason’s deeply pastoral heart for people.
In a similar vein, Jason emphasizes our need to be engaged with the Other. In Chapter Five, after elaborating the way in which we’ve been invited to reconciliation, Jason writes, “Reconciliation, then, is an exchange of yourself for the other. It’s a movement toward the other” (88). The emphasis on wholeness and reconciliation is indeed a beautiful message and much needed for those who have suffered spiritual abuse within more Western evangelical spaces. Jason brings a fresh and much-needed perspective to a sacred text that many may disregard as outdated or oppressive.
Finally, many bold ideas, especially in terms of form, are taken throughout the book, such as including an entire page written backwards, requiring a mirror to decipher. These artistic choices engage the reader in a deeper way, making us an active participant along with Jason in this work. This makes the book dynamic and innovative, and would serve as a great addition to a weekly study group for discussion and contemplation.
Critique:
In the book, Jason’s main goal is to communicate the main narrative of the Gospel as simply as possible. That simplification, however, can occasionally lead to an oversimplification and glossing over of key concepts, although these omissions are all readily admitted by the author from the outset. In the opening pages of the book, Jason writes, “I’m not trying to explain everything. I’m trying to explain the whole thing” (6). Yet, some of the chapters leave the reader wishing that some concepts that he introduced in the book would be explored in greater detail. Also, it takes a few minutes to become accustomed to the tone of the book, which is incredibly conversational (think Rob Bell), but that only takes a few moments before it becomes natural as a reader. To much his credit, at just over 100 pages, Jason does a phenomenal job in condensing so much historical and theological context into such a readable, brief, and comforting book.
When it comes to theological works, I always hesitate to quibble over theological differences between an author and I, as I find that most reviews that do so are rather boring and seek to tear down others for the sake of defending one’s own ideological system. For example, while there’s no doubt that my vision of Christianity contains a fundamental rupture, or traumatic core in which our system of meaning is split open and broken, Jason would probably push back against such a vision to emphasize the message of wholeness offered by the Gospel. Whereas I might say that the core of a constructive, radical Christianity is found by embracing the gaps and inconsistencies within our self-identity, learning to live within and enjoy the contradiction and angst, Jason might find the kernel of Christianity to be the central motif of redemption and completion as we remember who we are created to be (aka. as reflections of the Divine). In the end, such theological quibbles are ultimately minor in the wide-encompassing tent of Christian belief, and regardless of these distinctions, Jason’s emphasis on wholeness and completeness is without a doubt a beautiful and much-needed corrective for the ways in which Christianity has been used for oppression and control in modern fundamentalist spaces.
This highlights a central tension between our two theological projects: Jason is deeply pastoral and committed to the health of his spiritual community, whereas, as an academic in religious studies, I am much more theory-driven and do not have such obligations as a spiritual leader. Furthermore, Jason is primarily addressing and giving an alternate vision to those who may have grown up in theologically conservative/evangelical communities, while my writings typically engage (and often challenge) theologically progressive communities. To reiterate, these minor differences between Jason and I are not mutually exclusive, however, and I believe that Jason’s retelling of the Christian narrative is intimate, beautiful, and wholly worth believing in. We both are committed to the Kierkegaardian “leap to faith,” and I look forward to many robust conversations with him over coffee or a pint of Booneshine in the near future.
In short, rather than focus on any perceived minor theological differences, I find it much more fruitful to judge Christian theological works on their own terms: how well does it represent the Gospel, and how effective was it in communication? Aside from taking a moment to adjust to a few stylistic choices, there is little to find fault with this work. Although, selfishly, I wish it had gone into a few more details in some sections, I fully recognize that I am not the book’s primary intended audience. As such, in it’s own goals to communicate the Gospel in a simple and memorable way (6), Jason accomplishes this beautifully in this short volume.
Conclusion:
Jason is a gifted communicator and in this work, he brings his unique and wholesome perspective to tell the basic story of the Gospel. It is filled with wisdom and insight from a pastor whose tender heart overflows from these pages. This book is especially helpful for those who may be attempting to reconstruct their Christian faith after deconstruction, or who may yearn to see the story of the Bible with fresh, awe-inspired eyes. For those who grew up with an oppressive view of the Bible, or if it just doesn’t seem to make any sense and seems irrelevant, this book might just give you a new appreciation for the beauty of the Chrisitan narrative.
Where to buy:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Whole-Thing-Story-Through-Images/dp/057849244X