Review: Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl

I don’t recall the last time I sprinted to Barnes and Noble to shell out full price for a book. Come to think of it, I can’t remember sprinting for much of anything.

But that’s exactly what I did when I heard N.D. Wilson’s new book had been published early and was stocked in stores earlier than expected. I jumped in the car, drove to the nearest B+N, jogged over to the Christian / Inspiration section, scanned past Osteen’s big smiley cover shot, and down until I found the “W”s. There, out of sight on the floor-level shelf, was the store’s one copy of Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God’s Spoken World (Thomas Nelson 2009). Happy Father’s Day to me!

Wilson is a Fellow of Literature at New Saint Andrews College and the managing editor for Credenda/Agenda magazine. He’s the son of Douglas Wilson. And of all the children’s fiction authors my family reads, Wilson is one of our recent favorites. His books are a gift for families who enjoy reading together (Leepike Ridge and 100 Cupboards). [Although Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl is not for children. I kinda guessed from the table of contents that it wasn’t, and this suspicion was confirmed by one or two vulgarities.]

The framework for the book is mixed metaphor, and Wilson piles on the metaphors with each page. Life is a bit like a carnival, a serious carnival. Or life is like the four seasons. Readers who seek a literary buzz of metaphorical intoxication will find it hard to put this book down, and once they do, may find it impossible to touch their nose with their fingertips.

Notes reads like C.S. Lewis. Like Lewis, Wilson pries our sleepy eyes open to the marvelous work of God all around us—in the snowflakes, leaves, galaxies, laughter, sunshine, ants, thunder. Wilson stops us to appreciate God’s creative handiwork one molecule and one insect at a time.

But like Lewis, Wilson nudges us into deeper waters to discuss the origin of evil, God’s purposes behind personal tragedy, the vanity of human philosophy, and the absurdity of evolution. As I have already shown you on this blog, Wilson is quick to slap philosophers around like Kip Dynamite in a Rex Kwon Do (see the post Nietzsche’s Pity for an example).

Notes is interesting as an autobiographical sketch, capturing the complexity of the inner life in short and clean sentences.

Notes is good as Theology, singing a song of praise to our sovereign God who created the wonder and majesty before our eyes.

Notes is very good as literature, featuring stunning metaphors that pile and build as the book develops.

Notes is a good example of how to develop from general revelation towards the substitutionary death of Jesus for sinners.

Notes is a very good apologetic. It may be, in the words of my friend Justin Taylor, a gospel tract for postmodern times. It will prove valuable when discussing the gospel with skeptics, atheists, or even Christians who are not running barefoot through fields of God’s creative wonder.

But unlike so many contemporary apologetic works, Wilson is careful to preserve God’s active judgment in the condemnation of sinners (see p. 179). Far too often, followers of C.S. Lewis have followed him in his ambiguity here. Wilson is careful and clear.

I suppose if I could suggest one disappointment it would be this. I kept waiting for Wilson to turn his attention to the spectacular, awe-inspiring, work of God’s voice captured in two words spoken over the blood-bought sinner—”Not guilty!” Luther rightly teaches us that justification is God’s spoken declaration. His “Not guilty!” judgment is as real as the phrase “Let there be light!” This God-spoken, reality-making, “legal fiction”-shattering, voice of God over the sinner is one of the most wonderful acts of God. Yet it was a wide-eyed wonder in God’s spoken world that seemed to go missing.

All said, Wilson’s Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl is a rare treasure. Few living writers I’ve read match N.D. Wilson in imagination, creative articulation of orthodox theology, and ability to write in a simple prose style. That his attention has turned—however briefly—to an adult audience has resulted in a wonderfully modern, C.S. Lewis-like treasure.

Enjoy it, but beware. The book’s conclusion may leave a bad taste in your mouth.

(LOL!)

Happy reading.

———–

Title: Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God’s Spoken World
Author: N.D. Wilson
Boards: paper
Pages: 203
Topical index: no
Scriptural index: no
Text: perfect type
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Year: 2009
Price USD: $14.99 / $10.19 from Amazon
ISBN: 9780849920073

N.D. Wilson on Writing

N.D. Wilson on writing:

“This is simplistic, but it is a starting point. Aim for the whole person. Aim for the downy hair between the shoulder blades and the grinding joints. Aim for the throat and the diaphram and the stomach. Make people nervous, breathless, and hungry. Or just mad.”

This quote was published by Wilson in a blog posts on writing. He wrote a 5-part series—“So You Wanna Be a Writer”—that will appeal largely to fiction writers, but I think these are lessons that will benefit the non-fictional writers out there, too. Here’s his series:

So You Wanna Be a Writer, Pt. 1 (Don’ts)

So You Wanna Be a Writer, Pt. 2 (For the Critics, These Pearls . . .)

So You Wanna Be a Writer, Pt. 3 (Prose for Body and Brain)

So You Wanna Be a Writer, Pt. 4 (An Exercise)

So You Wanna Be a Writer, Pt. 5 (Found Dialog)

So You Wanna Be a Writer, Pt. 6 (The Obstacle Course) NEW!

David Powlison on Literature

Over at the Sovereign Grace blog, my friend C.J. Mahaney has posted the transcript of his dinnertime conversation with biblical counselor David Powlison. A few weeks back I mentioned this conversation on the blog. C.J.’s posts contain further details.

Dr. Powlison’s literature recommendations included two “pastoral” titles:

• Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

And six “dark realism” titles:

• Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
• The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O’Neill
• Anton Chekhov’s Short Stories
• A short story by Raymond Carver
• Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
• The Plague by Albert Camus

For more background on the pastoral usefulness of these literary works, please read C.J.’s interview posts:

David Powlison on Literature (1)

David Powlison on Literature (2)

Depression, Worldliness, and the Presence of God

Three years ago I was asked to preach Psalm 73 to the precious saints at Omaha Bible Church. This week I was asked to re-post it. Apparently the original audio file had become corrupted.

The original message is titled: “Depression, Worldliness, and the Presence of God.” My point was that our hearts are tempted towards depression when we envy the comforts and excesses of the ungodly (vv. 1-16). To help us out of depression—and protect us from it—we are reminded that God’s eternal judgment is near (vv. 17-23), and His presence is here (vv. 24-28).

It’s a rough message, and much of what I hear makes me wish I could re-preach it with what I now know about preaching. But alas, it is what it is. And for anyone interested, you can download the mp3 (21.7MB) or listen to the message here (47:26):

As always, I would benefit from your feedback.

Sheol

“The noun occurs 66 times in the Old Testament, 58 times in poetry. The frequent prepositions with it show that it is the grave below the earth. The biblical poets use rich and varied figures to depict it. Sheol has a ‘mouth’ (Ps. 141:7), which it ‘enlarges’ (Isa. 5:14), and it is ‘never satisfied’ (Prov. 27:20; 30:16). It is so powerful that none escapes its ‘grip’ (Ps. 89:48; Song 8:6), but some are redeemed from it (Ps. 49:15; Prov. 25:14; Hos. 13:14). It is a like a prison with ‘cords’ (2 Sam. 22:6) and a land that has ‘gates’ (Isa. 38:10) with ‘bars’ (Job 17:16). Here corruption is ‘the father,’ and the worm ‘the mother and sister’ (Job 17:13ff). It is ‘a land’ of no return to this life (Job 7:9); an abode where socioeconomic distinctions cease. Rich and poor (Job 3:18-19), righteous and wicked (3:17) lie together. It is a land of silence (Ps. 94:17), darkness (13:3), weakness, and oblivion (88:11-19). The destructive nature of this realm is intensified by the addition of ‘Abaddon’ (Prov. 15:11; 27:20). One errs in using this figurative language to build a doctrine of the intermediate state. On the other hand, these vivid and powerful figures transform the grave from a six-foot pit to a metaphorical and transcendent realm distinct from life on top of the earth inhabited by living mortals and from heaven inhabited by the immortal God and his court. Those who descend there will never again participate in salvation history or join the holy throng at the earthly temple (Ps. 6:5; Isa. 38:18). Like the Jordan River and Mount Zion, the grave symbolizes eternal realities that transcend their physical space.”

—Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 1—15 (Eerdmans 2004), 1:116.

Pride’s Problem with Evil

“The problem of evil is a genuine problem, an enemy with sharp pointy teeth. But it is not a logical problem. It is an emotional one, an argument from Hamlet’s heartache and from ours. It appeals to our pride and our nerve endings. We do not want to hear an answer that puts us so low. But the answer is this: we are very small.

The apostle Paul: Who are you, O man?

Nothing in the existence of evil implies that God must not be in control. Nothing implies that He does not exist (exactly the opposite—without Him, the category evil does not exist; all is neutral flux and entropy). The struggle comes when we look at ourselves in the mirror, a carnival mirror, a mirror that stretches our worth into the skies. Given my immense personal value, how could a good God ever allow me to feel pain?

Our emotions balk at omni-benevolence.”

—N.D. Wilson, Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God’s Spoken World (Thomas Nelson 2009), pp. 109-110. My full review of this book is forthcoming.

Nietzsche’s Pity

“Nietzsche published The Anti-Christ in 1888. Along with many other things, he had this to say about pity: ‘Pity thwarts the whole law of evolution, which is the law of natural selection. It preserves whatever is ripe for destruction; it fights on the side of those disinherited and condemned by life; by maintaining life in so many of the botched of all kinds, it gives life itself a gloomy and dubious aspect.’

One year later Nietzsche entered into madness. True or false, the story is that he was overcome by the sight of a horse being whipped. Unhinged by pity. He wouldn’t die until 1900. For a decade he was kept alive and maintained through his insanity, strokes, and incapacitating illness. At the age of fifty-five, partially paralyzed, unable to speak or walk, he discovered what life waited for him beyond the grave.

Nietzsche lashed out at his Maker with his tongue, the only notable muscle he had—his greatest gift. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

There was little that Nietzsche loathed more than the heritage of his Lutheran father.

I have never been irritated by Nietzsche, never annoyed. At his most blasphemous, at his most riotously hateful and pompous, I have only ever been able to laugh. But even then, there is something bittersweet about the laughter. I know his story. I know how his bluff was called, how he was broken.

Again from The Anti-Christ: ‘The weak and the botched shall perish: first principle of our charity. And one should help them to it.’ Spake the paralytic. The man fed with a spoon by those who loved him.

‘What is more harmful than any vice—Practical sympathy for the botched and the weak—Christianity….’

And yet, because I see the world through my eyes and not his, I have sympathy for Nietzsche himself. Bodies and minds are not all that can be botched in a man. Souls can be hollow, twisted, thrashing, more bitter than pi**.”

—N.D. Wilson, Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God’s Spoken World (Thomas Nelson 2009), pp. 124-125. My review is forthcoming.

Get behind me, Satan!

What’s behind Jesus’ stinging rebuke of Peter in Matthew 16:23 and Mark 8:33?

Satan must have been conscious that the approaching cross would become the moment of his personal defeat. In his public ministry, Jesus clearly connected the cross and the defeat of Satan (John 12:31-33). This explains why Satan worked diligently to entice Jesus off the road to Calvary in the desert temptations (see Matt 4:1-11). These temptations were Satan’s attempt to block Jesus’ path to the cross, to hinder Jesus’ victory over evil. Satan could smell his own defeat.

So as Jesus spoke to the disciples of His impending death upon the cross, Peter rebuked him for the idea (Matt 16:21-22). Yet Peter’s rebuke—no doubt conceived and motivated by Satan himself—became yet another roadblock, one last attempt by Satan to knock Jesus off the path that led to the cross. Inadvertently, Peter was now acting in tandem with the intentions of Satan, seeking to distract Jesus from his ultimate purposes in the cross.

[For more on this see John Piper, Spectacular Sins (Crossway, 2008), pp. 100-101. Download the book for free here.]

Resolved 2009 Highlights

Each year I anticipate a trio of college conferences—the 20/20 Collegiate Conference (Wake Forest, NC), New Attitude/NEXT (Louisville/Baltimore), and Resolved (Palm Springs, CA). Tuesday I returned from Resolved where about 4,000 students assembled to hear from Rick Holland, Steve Lawson, John MacArthur, John Piper, and C.J. Mahaney. Here are a few highlights from the trip.

Highlight #1: Sunday night in the hotel watching Steve Lawson and John MacArthur start up new Kindles they received for speaking at the conference and listening in as C.J. provided the technical support. These three guys are more comfortable with a fountain pen than an iPod, so this communion of technological discovery was too funny! How I wish I had video! [BTW, upon starting up the Kindle, the first book automatically suggested on the screen to Dr. MacArthur was The Third Jesus by Deepak Chopra. No sale.]

Highlight #2: Hearing Rick lead an impromptu interview with Steve Lawson on church history.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Highlight #3: Hearing Rick’s introduction before C.J. spoke for the first time. His intro was moving because of its accuracy. When Rick asked how many students at the conference had never heard C.J. preach live, I would guess somewhere between 1-in-4 to 1-in-3 raised their hands. And they were in for a treat. On the final evening of the conference, C.J.’s version of his Psalm 42 message (“The Troubled Soul”) was one of the best messages I’ve heard him deliver. But back to the intro, very nicely done!

Highlight #4: To close the conference, Dr. Piper delivered a message “How Sin Serves the Glory of Christ.” It was a clear and concise presentation of the cross-centeredness of biblical history and now ranks in my top-10 favorite Piper messages. Both of his conference messages were pulled from his book, Spectacular Sins (Crossway, 2008).

Highlight #5: Message “A Biblical Strategy For Fighting Sexual Sin” by Rick Holland. Outstanding message!

Highlight #6: Morning devotions on the hotel patio overlooking the empty pool, the palm trees, and the San Jacinto Mountains.

It was a great trip, with comfortable highs in the low-90s (last year it topped out at 117°), and plenty of time to hang out with friends (old and new). But it’s always nice to be home again.

The Practical Value of Revelation

“…the churches are to read and reread the book in their assembly so that they may continually be reminded of God’s real, new world, which stands in opposition to the old, fallen system in which they presently live. Such a continual reminder will cause them to realize that their home is not in this old world but in the new world portrayed parabolically in the heavenly visions. Continued reading of the book will encourage genuine saints to realize that what they believe is not strange and odd, but truly normal from God’s perspective. They will not be discouraged by outside worldliness, including what has crept into the churches, which is always making godly standards appear odd and sinful values seem normal. John refers to true unbelievers in the book as ‘earth-dwellers’ because their ultimate home is on this transient earth. They cannot trust in anything except what their eyes see and their physical senses perceive; they are permanently earthbound, trusting only in earthly security, and will perish with this old order at the end of time when the corrupted cosmos finally is judged and passes away. On the other hand, Christians are like pilgrims passing through this world. As such they are to commit themselves to the revelation of God in the new order so as progressively to reflect and imitate his image and increasingly live according to the values of the new world, not being conformed to the fallen system, its idolatrous images, and associated values (cf. Rom. 12:2).”

—G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation (NIGTC), p. 175.