Customer Reviews

Things Hidden: Scripture As Spirituality

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Toward the end of his marvelous Things Hidden, Richard Rohr tells an equally marvelous story. Parents bring home a newly-born baby. Their 4-year-old daughter insists on speaking to her new sibling--alone, she insists. The amused parents leave, but stand at the doorway for easy eavesdropping. Their daughter gets close to the infant and urgently whispers: "Quick! Tell me where we came from and why we're here. I'm beginning to forget!"

This little parable is a nice encapsulation of what Rohr has to say about the spirit of scripture. For Rohr, following Rene Girard (whose influence, along with Nouwen's, is all over this book), the bible is a "text in travail," a fluid, living document that is often times messy and meandering, taking one step forward and two steps back. That's why it's important, insists Rohr, to be clear about the bible's trajectory and momentum, so that we won't get lost down a sidetrack and take the inessential as vital (the fundamentalist failing). The trajectory is the working out of the human recognition of God as a loving, nurturing parent who exhibits mercy, grace, faithfulness, forgiveness, and steadfast love; of recognition of ourselves as originally blessed, made in the image of a loving God and hence intrinsically lovable ourselves; and recognition that the bible encourages awakening, remembering, rather than accomplishing. (It's fascinating to reflect on the fact that the Greek word for truth used in the New Testament--aletheia--can be translated as "unforgetting.")

Readers familiar with Rohr's work won't necessarily find a great deal to surprise them in this lovely and wise book. But readers new to Rohr, as well as those (like myself) who have read and profited from him for years, will appreciate the insight and grace with which he puts scripture in a context that moves away from uninspired literalism on the one hand or academic textual crunching on the other. If spiritual knowing (cognition) is really, as Rohr argues, a re-cognition, an unforgetting of the soul, this book is as good a memory-jogger as one is likely to find.

THINGS HIDDEN: Scripture as Spirituality, Richard Rohr (2008).

Franciscan prophet and teacher Richard Rohr is a mystic rather than a systematic theologian: indeed he believes `systematizing' theology runs the risk of doing it violence and missing the point: theology is to be experienced in a life of faith, hope and love, not organized into creeds.

Is he `evangelical'? I would say `yes' though he doesn't use the term of himself: he has an unqualified commitment to Jesus as Lord and God's special revelation of God's character. Is he `progressive'? Yes: for example he likes Marcus Borg and reads the mainline liberal biblical scholars. Is he a dogmatist/ fundamentalist? Definitely not: any exclusionary system which divides humans made in God's image into `our people' and `those [heretics] not like us' is alien to the will of God as experienced in the life and teaching of Jesus.

He writes in the Introduction: `Only when inner and outer authority come together do we have true spiritual wisdom. We have for too long insisted on outer authority alone, without any teaching of prayer, inner journey and maturing consciousness. The results for the world and for religion have been disastrous... I offer these reflections to again unite what should never have been separated: sacred Scripture and Christian spirituality.'

He quotes Eugene Ionesco with approval: `Overexplanation separates us from astonishment.' Example: the humble recipient of God's love in the Eucharist/communion, who gazes at Christ on the cross with awe and wonder and love, is far more likely to `get the point' than a theologian who organizes dogma into theories of the atonement.

Here are some representative quotes:

* `Suffering seems to be the only thing strong enough to destabilize our arrogance and our ignorance. I would define suffering... as "whenever you are not in control".'

* `If you are not trained in a trust of mystery and some degree of tolerance for ambiguity, frankly you will not proceed very far on the spiritual journey. Immature religion creates a high degree of "cognitively rigid" people. If you want to hate somebody... do it for religious reasons... do it thinking you're following some verse from the Bible. It works quite well. Your untouched egocentricity can and will use religion to feel superior and "right".'

* `It is painful but necessary to be critical of your own system, whatever it is. But do know it will never make you popular. As you know the prophets are always rejected by their own (see Luke 12:50-51)... Until you are excluded from any system, you are not able to recognize the idolatries, lies or shadow side of that system. It is the privileged "knowledge of the victim". Insiders are by nature dualistic, because they divide themselves from the so-called outsiders.'

* `Law is the thesis; it lays the ground against which the Prophets develop a positive antithesis... the Wisdom books are a synthesis and integration of the first two. Transcendance to higher levels of consciousness always means inclusion of the previous levels. Walter Brueggeman finds [a similar progression] in the Psalms: Psalms of Orientation (confirming Tradition), Psalms of Disorientation (the prophetic recognition of things not working or not being true) and Psalms of Reorientation (the Wisdom level of a new faith-synthesis). All three levels are affirmed in the Psalms, and unlike today, one or the other level is not called heretical or faithless. (Although people trapped at stage one will normally call people at the other two levels "sinners" or "heretics", which is what we see happening in the Gospels.) True transcendence always includes the previous stages and does not dismiss them.'

* `True orthodoxy ("right ideas") is important, but in the Bible orthodoxy is never defined as something that happens only in the head... Jesus consistently declares people to be saved or healed who are in right relationship with him, and he never grills them on their belief or belonging systems... I observe that the people who find God are usually people who are very serious about their quest and their questions, more so than being absolutely certain about their answers.'

* `Prayer and suffering are the two primary paths of transformation. Only people who have first lived and loved, suffered and failed, and lived and loved again, are in a position to read the Scriptures in a humble, needy, inclusive and finally fruitful way.'

* `My lifetime of studying Jesus would lead me to summarize all of his teaching inside of two prime ideas: forgiveness and inclusion.'

It's the best book I've read for a couple of years. And it's best read devotionally, in small doses...

Rowland Croucher
April 2008

Lucid, profound insights into what passages of scripture really contribute to our understanding of spiritual growth. A remarkable treatise from one of the leading retreat leaders of the church.

"The amazing wonder of biblical revelation that I hope to make clear in this book is that God is much different than we thought, and also much better than we feared," promises Richard Rohr in the first chapter of Things Hidden. The book is based on the author's earlier talks on great themes of scripture. Two key themes he stresses are "Divine, unmerited generosity" is offered unconditionally, and the Spirit promised by Jesus is available to all.

In the Bible, writes Rohr, any time God or an angel breaks into human life, the event is prefaced by "Do not be afraid." God's entering the scene was considered bad news. "Even today most feel that God's love and attention must be earned and then we deeply resent the process." The earliest Hebrews saw God as punitive and petty, demanding of blood sacrifices. By the time of Abraham the sacrificial instinct "matured a bit," Rohr tells us, and animals became the sacrifice of choice "to please this fearsome God." When we get to the Risen Jesus, there is nothing to be afraid of in God.

The author uses numerous examples to show the gradual enlightenment. Of the Adam and Eve story, he suggests that seeking knowledge may seem more like virtue than sin. However, it isn't knowledge that God is trying to keep us from, but "lust for certitude, explanation, resolution and answers." He sees Noah's Ark as an image of how God liberates us, embodying "the contradictions, the opposites, the tensions and the paradoxes of humanity." And in Mary, he finds God's total gift of grace. She asks how the angel's proposition will come about without wondering why she is chosen or protesting her unworthiness "It takes all of the Bible to work up to one perfect vessel that knows how to say an unquestioning yes to an utterly free gift."

Father Rohr is a "friend" since his early Charismatic days in the mid - 1970's by way of cassette tapes. It is greatly affirming and comforting for me that his journey, though clearly more elevated than my own, never the less unfolds within the same general landscape. This is another wonderful book by Father Rohr.

This book was one of the best I have read. It lead me on a spiritual journey while it educated me in scripture. It was engaging and thought provoking. Although not an easy read it continued to draw me in a paragraph, a page and a chapter at a time. Highly recommend.

I have read most of Richard Rohr's books as well as listened to many of his tapes. I continue to be amazed at how timely is his writing. He manages to "hit the nail on its head" each time. I found this book very helpful in seizing the spirit of Lent in our busy world. I have studied scripture and find his insights both novel and "edifying" (building up).
I have ordered extra copies already to give to friends. I had marked my copy such that it would be most distracting to someone else trying to read my copy.

Richard makes many excellent points and has a way of espressing spiritual realities in new and interesting ways. The main message is clear. This is God's world, trust. I enjoyed the ideas of sin, friendship and relationship with God. The presentation of law, prophets and wisdom was insightful. Power, law, bondage, Spirit and freedom was good. Evil and grace are presented. The wisdom of the cross and the indwelling of God are presented. It's not what Richard covers but his style. He'll often say something, then go right on without opening the thought further. His scripture quotes are welcomed but often are used out of context to further a point he is making. Too often I find profound realities expressed in what I would call spiritual mumbo jumbo. If it is that difficult to express, how can anybody catch it. I thought the book had beautiful thoughts and original expressions but poorly written and presented. And finally, Richard, judge not even the Dominicans much less St. Thomas who indicated before the cross that his work was as so much staw in comparison to the reality of God. I enjoyed the book and would give it 3 to 4 stars.

Highly recommended. An approach to scripture and spirituality that differs from anything I have previously read or heard in any church. This is the complete opposite of "hellfire and brimstone" preaching, and quite a refreshing change from what you may have become accustomed to hearing preached in church, regardless of your denomination. I purchased extra copies to give to family and friends.

As historians study history they rarely seem to have a personal curiosity as to why history continues to repeat itself with violence, hatred and war.
However, along comes modern day anthropologist, Rene Gerard, who reveals so well this mystery. Rene Gerard believes the answer is found in the human ego that is compelled to destructive action by continuing to scapegoat others. Gerard's conclusion is that the human ego can only be overcome with personal transformation.
Franciscan Father Richard Rohr points out the similarity of Rene Gerard findings to "things hidden" in scripture that reveals how Christ had the perfect non-egoic, non-dualistic mind. Fr. Rohr further concludes that Christ primarily came on earth to teach that love and forgiveness is the true foundation for personal transformation and that this is the only viable path to overcome violence, hatred and war.
Richard Rohr emphasizes that Christ on the Cross was the most perfect scapegoat in human history. He also points out that the human ego is such a powerful force that it actually unites nations, particularly those nations bent on war, economic domination and empire.
Allow me to quote what I believe are some of the most powerful paragraphs in THINGS HIDDEN.
"In forgiveness, it is precisely my ego self that has to die, my need to be right, to be in control, to be superior. Very few want to go there, but that is exactly what Jesus emphasized and taught" (page 193).
"As long as you can deal with evil by some other means than forgiveness, you will never experience the real meaning of evil and sin. You will keep projecting it over there, fearing it over there and attacking it over there, instead of "gazing" on it within and "weaping" over it within all of us" (page 194).
"Jesus took away the sin of the world, by exposing it first of all as different than we imagined, and letting us know that our pattern of ignorant killing, attacking and blaming is in fact history's primary illusion, its primary lie..............We all had to face the embarrassing truth that we ourselves are our primary problem. Our greatest temptation is to try to change other people instead of ourselves. Jesus allowed himself to be transformed and thus transformed others!" (page 195)
Richard Rohr points out brilliantly how Christ came to change the direction of human history by changing the way we think. Richard Rohr has unlocked the perfect non-dualistic mind of Christ from the confusion and contradictions of Holy Scripture. What Richard Rohr is trying to do is to influence the return of Catholicism to the early mysticism of the Church with a more prophetic and contemplative faith.
Christ was humanity's scapegoat on the Cross. Forgiveness through universal love is the path humankind must take for the survival of the human species. It is a change in the way humankind must think. The teachings of Christ are all about a radical change in human consciousness that is the only path to a more mature and higher human species in union with the cosmic Christ.