From Eternity to Here Blog Tour

Frank Viola is promoting his latest book, From Eternity to Here: Rediscovering the Ageless Purpose of God, on a multitude of blogs today. I have chosen to review the book, but others are featuring guest posts or posting an interview with Frank. To see a full list, scroll to the bottom of this post.

Frank Viola started rocking the boat with his book Pagan Christianity, which explores the pagan roots of many of todays accepted church practices. He followed that book up with Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity which, as the title suggests, seeks to deinstitutionalize the church and foster organic communities of faith. I have never read any of Viola’s previous books, but have only read about them (they were on my “to read list” but I never got around to them).

Viola says that From Eternity to Here is a much different kind of book:

Out of all of the books I have penned, this volume embodies the central burden of my life and ministry. My other volumes on radical church restoration… are dedicated to the practical outworking of the timeless insights contained in these pages. Consequently, this volume can rightly be regarded as my flagship book and a primer for all my previous works. (14)

The book is billed as being three volumes in one, but in reality none of the “volumes” stands to well on its own. To really understand the thrust of Viola’s argument you need to take the book together as a cohesive whole. Each section of the book develops a particular metaphor of the church, the first being the church as the “bride of Christ.” In this section Viola used romantic imagery, perhaps excessively so, to tell a cohesive story of romance as God pursues his Bride from Genesis to Revelation. In section two, the theme of the “house of God” is addressed. Drawing from Old Testament imagery of the temple as God’s dwelling place, Viola contends that the current dwelling place of God is in his church. This makes the church more than just a collection of individuals:

What the Father was to Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is to His church (John 6:57, 20:21, etc.). The church is the habitation of God in the Spirit. This lifts the church out of “the mutual admiration society” up to the level of being the very body of Christ. The church has never been nor will it ever be a human institution. (163)

The final image that is explored is the church as the “body of Christ” and the “family of God.” The angle that Viola takes is to speak of the church as a “new species” of human beings, an alternative community, a peculiar people. This community is central to being a Christian, not an optional activity:

I cannot fully know Christ on my own. Neither can you. I must know Him through His body. I must know Him through my sisters and brothers. And so must you. But in order for us to know Christ through the members of His body, we have to get close to them. Christian community is God’s answer to that requirement. (264)

From Eternity to Here is a book that I desperately wanted to like. If you know me and my deep interest in ecclesiology and the nature of the church, all of this sounds right up my alley, and it is. In fact, most of the conclusions that Viola draws are spot-on in line with my ecclesiology. I loved how he was not afraid to put the level of emphasis on the church that he did. Many might shy away from saying some of the radical things that he does, but I think he is right in most places.

Unfortunately, there was simply something that left a bad taste in my mouth when it was all over. I did not much care for the way the book was written and his arguments were constructed. The first section outlining the bride of Christ went a bit too far in my estimation. He used overly romantic language and imagery where, in my opinion, it was not warranted. There was a mishmash of scripture translations quoted, something that always raises my eyebrows because it suggests that the translation that best makes the author’s point was used.

In places Viola was a bit sloppy theologically. He would say things like, “through [Christ’s] death and resurrection, He became a life-giving Spirit” (161). In other places he affirmed the Trinity, but such quotes seemed to contradict that. As I said, he was not heretical, but I think places like this are simply sloppy and could mislead people to the real point that he is trying to make.

I could go on, as there were lots of little places as I read that I scribbled a question mark out in the margins because I questioned his exegesis, theology, or method of argument. While the conclusions that he draws are right on, wading through the rest of the book to get there is cumbersome. I’m afraid to say it, but there are really better books with which to spend your time on this topic.

OTHER BLOGS PARTICIPATING IN THE “FROM ETERNITY TO HERE” BLOG CIRCUIT

Today (June 9th), the following blogs are discussing Frank Viola’s new bestselling book “From Eternity to Here” (David C. Cook, 2009). The book just hit the May CBA Bestseller List. Some are posting Q & A with Frank; others are posting full reviews of the book. To read more reviews and order a copy at a 33% discount, go to Amazon.com. If you live in the USA, you can also visit your local Family Christian Store to grab a copy. They are having a special promotion this week.

For more resources, such as downloadable audios, the free Discussion Guide, the Facebook Group page, etc. go to the official website: http://www.FromEternitytoHere.org

Enjoy the reviews and the Q and A:

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Out of Ur – http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2009/05/viola.html

Shapevine – www.Shapevine.com (June newsletter)

Brian Berly – http://www.brianeberly.com

DashHouse.com – http://www.DashHouse.com/

Greg Boyd – http://www.gregboyd.org/blog/

Vision Advance – http://vision2advance.blogspot.com/

David Flowers – http://ddflowers.wordpress.com

Kingdom Grace – http://kingdomgrace.wordpress.com

Captain’s Blog – http://www.captainestes.blogspot.com/

Christine Sine – http://godspace.wordpress.com