Customer Reviews

New Way to Be Human: A Provocative Look at What It Means to Follow Jesus

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

My elder sister gave me this book recently, after having just seen Charlie Peacock give a reading from "New Way to be Human." Peacock sets out his beliefs for what it means to be a Christian, and truly follow Christ, in today's world. For so long, many people have argued that art can have no role in religion. Peacock argues otherwise, saying that our words and our works are connected, and that art is essential to faith. As a long-time singer/song-writer, Peacock ought to know.

The introductory chapters to the book are slightly weighed down as Peacock seems to struggle for where to begin. "New Way to be Human" really doesn't hit its stride until Peacock takes his theories and applies them to our everyday lives, showing how our faith affects every area of our lives. He shows just how interconnected we remain to what Christ did for us. What he is saying isn't necessarily revolutionary; many within various Christian circles and communities have believed this for a long time. (One example: "Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L'Engle, first published in 1980) Yet it is a message that needs to be repeated, if not shouted, in order for it to resonante with the vast majority. Perhaps Peacock's book will do the trick.

I really enjoyed this book, and apreciated his attempt to explain the Christian life in a creative way. Though not always successfull, the attempt is noble and there are many chapters that are thougroughly successful.

He spends the most time on marriage and I think does his best work with this topic. In a chapter titled Passionate Realism, he says that "Marriage is a covenant of two people agreeing to recover together, each in different ways at different paces, both under the tutelage of the Teacher Jesus." and "Marriages are little films showing the kingdom lifestyle of forgiveness". In another chapter he says that "A good marriage should be the Art of God in the world pointing to his existance, care and excellence." Inspiring words indeed.

Other good passages are found on the topics of work ("The goal of work is faithfulness to God, people and place") and creativity ("The Creator made us to be little creators with the responsibility of meaningful work and purpose in the world.")

All in all a very good read and an inspiration to follow Jesus with greater honesty and passion. Keep on writing Charlie!

I am deeply interested in what it means to follow Jesus so I was excited to find this offering by Charlie Peacock, a songwriter and artist for whom I have great respect.

I agree with so much of the content of this book, but was turned off by the rambling, dusty way he covered some of the material that's been covered to many, so many, many times before.

However, I found many of the insights and suggestions in the later chapters stunningly on-target. So, if I could recommend to you chapters 11-19 as incredibly good, and suggest you skim the first half of the book I would. This book would have benefited from some judicious editing. By only eliminating 40% of the content it would be a 5 out of 5.

Charlie Peacock's book is a very fresh call for diciples of Jesus to live "seamless" lives, which means that everyday living beyond the places of worship is a matter of our words and work cannot be separated. Charlie writes primarily out of his own life as a musician, performer, song writer and producer. His grasp of this call is also bibilically and theologically sound. His understanding of our culture is also a major contributing factor in the credibility of NEW WAY TO BE HUMAN.

Essentially Peacock takes core theology and presents it in a fresh, relevent way. This is a book that doesn't get caught up on all the hang ups, whether it by jargon or whatever. But that is not to say that the ideas expressed aren't thought provoking. But if you're looking for any new wisdom, you might be disappointed. I read this for an undergraduate course in Christian ministry, and basically only another guy and I thought it was great. The others were expecting some new ideas. Peacock isn't about peddling any fancy new ways of thinking. No, by "new" way to be human, it is more of the Godly sense: an old thing presented freshly, like seeing it for the first time. It ends up being both inspiring and challenging in ways that really count. We don't need new truths, we need to learn how to apply the ones we've already got.

I think this book will excite you and give you a desire to live life the way it should be. But decide for yourself.

Rush out today and grab this book.
Savor every word. Digest every sentence.
Wrestle with every concept and as a result become a new human!
Peacock incites a revolution within in the pages of this book. When you thought everything has been said about following Jesus along comes this musician/producer and tilts the envelope just a little.
You won't be disappointed. Changed maybe. Not disappointed!

Charlie used to be a great songwriter. Listen to his first five albums if you don't believe me.

But who told him he should write books? His theologibabble (for some reason he rejects terms like "Christian," "disciple," or "believer" in favor of "student-follower of Jesus") is annoying, and his tedious way of developing his points tends to weaken rather than strengthen them. He spends a lot of ink rhapsodizing about the importance of story and very little actually telling stories. My advice, seriously: read chapter 1 and then skip chapters 2 through 7 ... they're not worth your trouble. The rest of the book has a few interesting spots, but on the whole it just doesn't hold my attention. Heck, I just finished a 400-page book about a volcano that was more engaging than New Way to Be Human.