Putting Away Childish Things, by Marcus J. Borg

I finished this book about a week ago and am only now getting around to reviewing it. Putting Away Childish Things: A Tale of Modern Faith, is Marcus Borg's first attempt at fiction. And I'd say, for a professor of religion and long-time nonfiction author, this was a good book.

It is a story of two women facing very different decisions and delimmas. Kate, a professor of New Testament at Wells college and one year away from earning tenure, is offered a one year visiting professorship at a nearby seminary. Kate is now stuck between her strong desire to teach seminarians in an environment where faith actually matters and her comfortable position as a well-liked professor tangibly close to tenure and thus a life time of job and financial security.

Erin, one of Kate's undergraduate students and a member of a two different Christian organizations on campus, is beginning to have a lot of questions about her understanding of Christian faith. One Christian group, The Way, is more conservative and has trouble hearing or honoring Erin's ernest questions, while she wonders if the othe group values the act of faith at all.

Borg uses the scenes in Kate's classes and a few other venues through other characters to insert a fair but not overwhelming amount of didactic material. Through these classes the reader is urged along with Erin to consider what kind of faith is going to be worth while. With an impressive amount of literary finess, Borg is able to inject a number of pertinent theological and social justice issues into the narrative as readers follow the story wondering what each character will do with their difficult decisions. The fact is you can't read Borg without learning something, period.

As always, Borg is a smooth writer with powers of description that made me want to eat the food he likes to describe. It's an easy and quick read. At about 250 pages I didn't even realize when I'd reached the end, and I was a little sad for the story and learning to be over.

If you're just looking for a good story, with intricate plot turns and charcter development, Putting Away Childish Things is probably not for you. However, if reading nonfictional theology causes you to vomit in your mouth a little, but you have an interest in growing and stretching your faith, this would be a good place to start.

I'd say Borg is far gentler in his critique of modern American Christianity than in his nonfiction works, making this book more accessible to most. For those who are practically struggling with theology and not simply struggling comprehensively or cerebrally, this will be among the fist books I recommend.