Finished One

Okay, I finished the Miller book. Pretty interesting. I think his style is intriguing and he certainly brings a different viewpoint to Christian writing. While I find him to be interesting and think that he's something of an intellectual, there seems to be a lack of depth to the work. Miller says, "I think loving Jesus is something you feel."

In the same chapter he describes Jesus as someone that would interact with Miller around a campfire,

"He would ask me to sit down, and He would ask me my story. He would take the time to listen to my ramblings or my anger until I could calm down, and then He would look me in the eye, and He would speak to me; He would tell me the truth, and I would sense in His voice and the lines on His face that he liked me. He would rebuke me, too, and he would tell me that I have prejudices against very religious people and that I need to deal with that; He would tell me that there are poor people in the world and I need to feed them and that somehow this will make me more happy. I think He would tell me what my gifts are and why I have them, and He would give me ideas on how to use them. I think He would explain to me why my father left, and He would point out very clearly all the ways God has taken care of me through the years, all the stuff God protected me from."

When I read this passage I decided that Miller was creating a Jesus that he wanted to exist. I've ended up rather suspect of Mr. Miller. Just a few pages before, Miller admits that when he read through the 4 Gospels, Jesus left him confused.

"And I read through Matthew and Mark, then Luke and John. I read those books in a week or so, and Jesus was very confusing, and I didn't know if I liked Him very much, and I was certainly tired of Him by the second day."

He does go on to say that he ends up loving Jesus in the process, but I still suspect that Mr. Miller may be inventing a Jesus that he can understand and to whom he can relate. I even started to suspect that Mr. Miller was actually trying to manipulate me in some fashion. However, I'm not certain he's so much trying to manipulate me as he is working out his own faith through his writing. In the end, it is intriguing watching him work it out, but it isn't necessarily much of a guide for others. I do find some of his thoughts on the human condition to be very interesting and enlightening, but his understanding of Jesus seems to be wishful thinking. I'm not sure I could offer a better description of an evening with Jesus, but then again, I'm not certain that I would want to do so.