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kellie1851's review
5.0
This book was excellent. It helped to provoke deep thought and meditation on how I view others and extend the love of Christ.
adamrshields's review
4.0
Short Review: This is a book well worth reading. There was some occasional sections that seemed a bit repetitive or pedantic, but most of it is really good and the broader point of the book, that often we treat people with disgust in ways that are just plain inappropriate is good.
I read this with a group. One of the group is a Hebrew/OT prof that really appreciated the purity law sections and he highlighted idea that sin is an offense against God not others.
I also thought the later points about the eucharist as the solution to not valuing others, was a great point. And that baptism is a member initiation ritual that moves a person into an in group regardless of how you feel about them as a person.
My fuller review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/unclean/
I read this with a group. One of the group is a Hebrew/OT prof that really appreciated the purity law sections and he highlighted idea that sin is an offense against God not others.
I also thought the later points about the eucharist as the solution to not valuing others, was a great point. And that baptism is a member initiation ritual that moves a person into an in group regardless of how you feel about them as a person.
My fuller review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/unclean/
gjones19's review
5.0
A fascinating account of the psychological of disgust and how it affects the church. This is a largely undiscussed topic among Christians, but it is fundamental to our witness, church life, and ability to love!
nrt43's review
4.0
Do you remember the green character in the movie "Inside Out?" Unclean is all about her. The author, Richard Beck, delves into the complexities of disgust psychology, specifically how our feelings of disgust affect how we treat those we deem dirty, contaminated or unclean.
His argument focuses on the trouble we find between the priestly and prophetic traditions in the Old Testament. In brief, the priestly tradition was concerned with holiness, purity and sacrifice, while the prophetic tradition centered on mercy, justice, and hospitality. Jesus, when he quotes the prophets, who said, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice," sides with the prophetic tradition. This is vital.
The key for me is to first recognize when our disgust impulse activates, whether that's body odor, the sight of blood or other bodily juices, or the uncomfortable feelings one might have toward homosexuality. Any time this feeling of disgust comes, we want to push away that person, regardless of whether we ought to show hospitality and love to them. Disgust and love run in opposite directions. What is more, our feelings of disgust create dumbfounding - namely we cannot usually express any logical reasoning for our feelings. Therefore, conflicts surrounding disgust are basically impossible to navigate. Beck gave the example of using the word "crap" on Sunday morning from the pulpit at church and the conflict that ensued. Some were offended, saying such a dirty word shouldn't be used in a sacred place, while others said, "It shouldn't bother anyone." Whichever side you lean toward - neither group could give reasons for the argument - it was simply a feeling.
Another aspect of disgust is our desire to deny our mortality. We don't like remembering we are animals that will eventually die. We don't like thinking that Jesus pooped, had sexual urges, and probably stank a bit. Doing so just further separates us from "the other" - those that are sick, dirty, smelly, etc.
Beck's conclusion makes the argument that the Eucharist - the Lord's Supper - is a regulating ritual that keeps purity and holiness in tension with hospitality and biological vulnerability. As we eat Jesus' flesh and drink his blood, we are purified, all the while the Lord's Supper is our time to hospitably invite others in.
Overall, the conclusions and implications of Beck's research are things we hear all the time, namely, "be hospitable; practice the Lord's Supper." However, his approach of understanding the psychology behind it was enlightening. Definitely a thought-provoking read. Recommended to all Christians who like thinking. :) I will never think of disgust the same.
One other concluding thought: Beck includes an insightful discussion of salvation metaphors from the New Testament, where he lists over 20. The purity metaphors tend to dominate our discussion of sin and grace. By ignoring others, particularly ones that are communal, cosmic, and developmental, atonement tends to be individualistic and pietistic. We must widen our view to include them all for a fully, healthier view of sin and grace.
His argument focuses on the trouble we find between the priestly and prophetic traditions in the Old Testament. In brief, the priestly tradition was concerned with holiness, purity and sacrifice, while the prophetic tradition centered on mercy, justice, and hospitality. Jesus, when he quotes the prophets, who said, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice," sides with the prophetic tradition. This is vital.
The key for me is to first recognize when our disgust impulse activates, whether that's body odor, the sight of blood or other bodily juices, or the uncomfortable feelings one might have toward homosexuality. Any time this feeling of disgust comes, we want to push away that person, regardless of whether we ought to show hospitality and love to them. Disgust and love run in opposite directions. What is more, our feelings of disgust create dumbfounding - namely we cannot usually express any logical reasoning for our feelings. Therefore, conflicts surrounding disgust are basically impossible to navigate. Beck gave the example of using the word "crap" on Sunday morning from the pulpit at church and the conflict that ensued. Some were offended, saying such a dirty word shouldn't be used in a sacred place, while others said, "It shouldn't bother anyone." Whichever side you lean toward - neither group could give reasons for the argument - it was simply a feeling.
Another aspect of disgust is our desire to deny our mortality. We don't like remembering we are animals that will eventually die. We don't like thinking that Jesus pooped, had sexual urges, and probably stank a bit. Doing so just further separates us from "the other" - those that are sick, dirty, smelly, etc.
Beck's conclusion makes the argument that the Eucharist - the Lord's Supper - is a regulating ritual that keeps purity and holiness in tension with hospitality and biological vulnerability. As we eat Jesus' flesh and drink his blood, we are purified, all the while the Lord's Supper is our time to hospitably invite others in.
Overall, the conclusions and implications of Beck's research are things we hear all the time, namely, "be hospitable; practice the Lord's Supper." However, his approach of understanding the psychology behind it was enlightening. Definitely a thought-provoking read. Recommended to all Christians who like thinking. :) I will never think of disgust the same.
One other concluding thought: Beck includes an insightful discussion of salvation metaphors from the New Testament, where he lists over 20. The purity metaphors tend to dominate our discussion of sin and grace. By ignoring others, particularly ones that are communal, cosmic, and developmental, atonement tends to be individualistic and pietistic. We must widen our view to include them all for a fully, healthier view of sin and grace.
allisonjpmiller's review
4.0
Excellent. Why isn't psychology integrated with theology more often? It's so illuminating. Unclean is one of the best breakdowns of the subconscious Christian life I've read since [b:Insurrection: To Believe Is Human; To Doubt, Divine|11951583|Insurrection To Believe Is Human To Doubt, Divine|Peter Rollins|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1348955778s/11951583.jpg|16913513]. It's essentially a discussion of disgust psychology, and how this universal human impulse regulates nearly every aspect of of our daily lives - affecting how we group and label people in our minds, react to certain behaviors that are alien to us, and become isolated from others without realizing it... all in an effort to protect ourselves from recognizing our own deep needs. The whole book stems from Jesus's words in Matthew 9:13 - "Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice."
Beck backs up his points with insight from various psychological studies, proving that none of his correlations are as loose as we'd like to think. He makes a startling case for how, as Christians, we even sometimes work to avoid recognizing Jesus as fully human, because to be human is to need things - to love at all is to be vulnerable. And we don't want to be vulnerable. We don't want to be needy. (And we certainly don't want God to be that way.)
He uses this discussion to shed further light on the theological case for God as a trinity; if God were a single solitary being, he couldn't possibly know (or be) love. The relationship at the heart of the trinity involves need on the part of God, giving and receiving - an active relationship. This, in turn, is powerfully illustrated in the Incarnation and crucifixion. That's easy for Christians to confess intellectually, but do we really accept it? Do we live it? Are we Gnostics at heart, or do we embrace God in the mundane, the God who "lowered himself" to become a human being, using spit and dirt to change lives as much as his words?
I was also challenged by the statement: "True love should move us into need." If you help someone because it's no sweat off your back, is that really love? Shouldn't we aim to help people in a way that forces us to move beyond our comfort zone(s)? Like the poor woman in Luke 21:1-4 who gave every penny she had, in contrast to the rich man who dumped his surplus into the treasury; true love should give enough that the lover lacks for it. It should affect or change me in some fundamental way. Otherwise, it is an empty gesture made from behind self-imposed boundaries.
Ouch. I love it when books like this shake up my world.
Beck backs up his points with insight from various psychological studies, proving that none of his correlations are as loose as we'd like to think. He makes a startling case for how, as Christians, we even sometimes work to avoid recognizing Jesus as fully human, because to be human is to need things - to love at all is to be vulnerable. And we don't want to be vulnerable. We don't want to be needy. (And we certainly don't want God to be that way.)
He uses this discussion to shed further light on the theological case for God as a trinity; if God were a single solitary being, he couldn't possibly know (or be) love. The relationship at the heart of the trinity involves need on the part of God, giving and receiving - an active relationship. This, in turn, is powerfully illustrated in the Incarnation and crucifixion. That's easy for Christians to confess intellectually, but do we really accept it? Do we live it? Are we Gnostics at heart, or do we embrace God in the mundane, the God who "lowered himself" to become a human being, using spit and dirt to change lives as much as his words?
I was also challenged by the statement: "True love should move us into need." If you help someone because it's no sweat off your back, is that really love? Shouldn't we aim to help people in a way that forces us to move beyond our comfort zone(s)? Like the poor woman in Luke 21:1-4 who gave every penny she had, in contrast to the rich man who dumped his surplus into the treasury; true love should give enough that the lover lacks for it. It should affect or change me in some fundamental way. Otherwise, it is an empty gesture made from behind self-imposed boundaries.
Ouch. I love it when books like this shake up my world.
drbobcornwall's review
5.0
Richard Beck brings his training in psychology together with his deep reading of scripture and theology to unpack the message that God loves mercy not sacrifice. In Unclean, he speaks of how disgust and contempt function as boundary markers and how they can and must be overcome/regulated by love and mercy.
Excellent book, at points conservative and other points liberal, but always informative and challenging!
Excellent book, at points conservative and other points liberal, but always informative and challenging!
davehershey's review
5.0
Would you drink a bottle of wine if there was a drop of urine in it? Why do we tend to assume that a tiny amount of impurity taints a huge amount of purity? Is there a deeper meaning to this "disgust" that we experience? Where does it come from?
These are some of the interesting questions Richard Beck's book touches on. Such questions would be interesting in a book that popularizes psychological research on disgust. Perhaps that could be the idea for Malcolm Gladwell's next book! But it is not Beck's goal simply to educate us on disgust, intriguing as this is. I mean, we've all been disgusted. Cleaning out the food that catches in the kitchen sink drain or cleaning rotten leftovers from the fridge leads to disgust. I never really thought about it, experiencing it for a few brief moments is enough, but apparently psychologists have thought long and studied deeply into the phenomena of disgust.
Beck brings these psychological insights to bear on theology. Specifically, he reflects on Jesus' words "I desire mercy, not sacrifice". Humans tend to build up walls, to divide into tribes. From this we in one tribe see ourselves as pure in contrast to other tribes who are impure. This phenomena ends up being a large and scary trait of religion in our society. Throughout the book disgust relates to religion in a variety of ways. One particularly disturbing point was studies on the relationship of physical cleansing with spiritual cleansing. Sin makes us want to take a shower. Conversely, being physically cleansed creates moral purity (the Macbeth Effect). If we think we are cleansed while others are dirty, we are going to keep the tribal walls up, remaning separated from everyone who, if they come in contact with us, could corrupt us. All of this is despite the fact that Jesus calls for inclusivism. Beck shows that it is this disgust psychology creates this boundary making in the church, a fear of contamination from those on the outside and scapegoating (a la Rene Girard).
Jesus' call for mercy is a call to break down boundaries. Yet we are unable to eliminate disgust, we can only hope to regulate it. Beck offers the Eucharist as the practice that can show us the mercy we ought to do but that keeps the sacrifice we desire.
My brief review, these few words, do not do this book justice. It was simply amazing, one of the best books I've read in a while. I've enjoyed reading Beck's blog and I plan to read his other books. I often feel like it is the books I like most that I have the most trouble reviewing. I want to write more, to better explain what I liked. Maybe that is the challenge. The books I like most defy a simple description. Instead they demand a rereading. They defy summary because they demand continued thinking and reflection. I finished this book a week ago but I am still thinking on its themes and trying to figure out how I can bring the lessons to bear in my life and ministry.
These are some of the interesting questions Richard Beck's book touches on. Such questions would be interesting in a book that popularizes psychological research on disgust. Perhaps that could be the idea for Malcolm Gladwell's next book! But it is not Beck's goal simply to educate us on disgust, intriguing as this is. I mean, we've all been disgusted. Cleaning out the food that catches in the kitchen sink drain or cleaning rotten leftovers from the fridge leads to disgust. I never really thought about it, experiencing it for a few brief moments is enough, but apparently psychologists have thought long and studied deeply into the phenomena of disgust.
Beck brings these psychological insights to bear on theology. Specifically, he reflects on Jesus' words "I desire mercy, not sacrifice". Humans tend to build up walls, to divide into tribes. From this we in one tribe see ourselves as pure in contrast to other tribes who are impure. This phenomena ends up being a large and scary trait of religion in our society. Throughout the book disgust relates to religion in a variety of ways. One particularly disturbing point was studies on the relationship of physical cleansing with spiritual cleansing. Sin makes us want to take a shower. Conversely, being physically cleansed creates moral purity (the Macbeth Effect). If we think we are cleansed while others are dirty, we are going to keep the tribal walls up, remaning separated from everyone who, if they come in contact with us, could corrupt us. All of this is despite the fact that Jesus calls for inclusivism. Beck shows that it is this disgust psychology creates this boundary making in the church, a fear of contamination from those on the outside and scapegoating (a la Rene Girard).
Jesus' call for mercy is a call to break down boundaries. Yet we are unable to eliminate disgust, we can only hope to regulate it. Beck offers the Eucharist as the practice that can show us the mercy we ought to do but that keeps the sacrifice we desire.
My brief review, these few words, do not do this book justice. It was simply amazing, one of the best books I've read in a while. I've enjoyed reading Beck's blog and I plan to read his other books. I often feel like it is the books I like most that I have the most trouble reviewing. I want to write more, to better explain what I liked. Maybe that is the challenge. The books I like most defy a simple description. Instead they demand a rereading. They defy summary because they demand continued thinking and reflection. I finished this book a week ago but I am still thinking on its themes and trying to figure out how I can bring the lessons to bear in my life and ministry.
jtisreading's review
5.0
Richard Beck is one of the best writers on the cusp of Christianity and Psychology. I've said that with my other reviews of his books- Hunting Magic Eels, Stranger God, and The Slavery of Death. If you want to hear how excellent Beck is as well, read those. This book UNCLEAN, I have to talk about on a whole other level. First, let me just say Beck is in conversation with Jonathan Haidt's The Righteous Mind, which if you read my review of that book, you'll know I thought there were some great things in that text (most not original to Haidt) but also a lot I was mehhhhhhh. about. However, if you get turned off by Haidt's book, do not fear Unclean. Beck takes the Moral Foundation Theory and makes it much more useful by creating ana venue for exploration into the psychology of disgust. This volume develops psychology and theology of thinking about disgust, purity, and holiness in a way that elevates social justice and the sanctity and beauty of wonder. Beck manages to always go to the next level of thinking, and I have learned so much from this man and, in particular, this book. I swoon the very name of Richard these days within Christian writing, thanks to BECK and ROHR.
So let me end by saying this: If you struggled and hurt your way growing up in purity culture, especially within the Christian context, this book will massively help. And where I still understood and didn't want to leave all moral identity behind simply, Unclean works through this process beautifully and importantly.
So let me end by saying this: If you struggled and hurt your way growing up in purity culture, especially within the Christian context, this book will massively help. And where I still understood and didn't want to leave all moral identity behind simply, Unclean works through this process beautifully and importantly.
mistylloyd's review
1.0
You know, as long as I keep reading books that liken homosexuality to incest, I think I will keep raging at the world.
I'm sure this book had a couple of decent sentences in it, but I absolutely could not process anything beyond the two different times I had to read that.
I'm sure this book had a couple of decent sentences in it, but I absolutely could not process anything beyond the two different times I had to read that.