Unapologetic

Why, Despite Everything, Christianity Can Still Make Surprising Emotional Sense

By: Francis Spufford

Narrated by: Francis Spufford

Length: 7 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Francis Spufford's Unapologetic is a wonderfully pugnacious defense of Christianity. Refuting critics such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and the "new atheist" crowd, Spufford, a former atheist and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, argues that Christianity is recognizable, drawing on the deep and deeply ordinary vocabulary of human feeling, satisfying those who believe in it by offering a ruthlessly realistic account of the grown-up dignity of Christian experience.

Fans of C. S. Lewis, N. T. Wright, Marilynne Robinson, Mary Karr, Diana Butler Bass, Rob Bell, and James Martin will appreciate Spufford's crisp, lively, and abashedly defiant thesis.

Unapologetic is an audiobook for believers who are fed up with being patronized, for non-believers curious about how faith can possibly work in the 21st century, and for anyone who feels there is something indefinably wrong, literalistic, anti-imaginative, and intolerant about the way the atheist case is now being made.

©2013 Francis Spufford (P)2020 eChristian

Absolutely awesome

I love this perspective, such a cool book, I plan on reading it more than once!

Thumbs up

Highly informative, current and freeing. I enjoyed hearing the author read his book with its humor and accent. Now I have to buy the book for my bookshelf.

Superb! So helpful.

I am grateful to have come across this marvelous book even so late in my journey. Listening to this was exhilarating and healing for me. I’m a pastor near the end of my long career with plenty of doubts about the value of the church in bringing wholeness and health to the world. At the end of this fascinating book I am greatly encouraged and hopeful.

Interesting Exploration but Severely Lacking in Theological Rigor

I think Spufford did a good job with the first half of the book relaying the emotional handholds that Christianity provides in a world broken. Had he stayed along this path and spoken plainly about the emotional elements of Grace, Mercy, and Salvation, the book would be much richer. As it stands, Spufford strays into complex theological questions of theodicy, soteriology, and ecclesiology without having made any effort to provide anything approaching keen insight. In fact, many of his fallacious assertions and sarcastic jokes are nothing more than the familar, repackaged sneering of unbelievers. Many deconstructions in this book are illogical and are left unexplored by an author who simply assumes his position is the complete and correct answer.

All that said, this book is a worthwhile read for an examination of the emotional weight of Christianity and why, in basic terms, the world cannot get away with dismissing the faith out of hand. Too often we believers lose sight of the emotional element as we are so busy developing the reasoned element of our faith. It is helpful to be told to re-center on the emotional where possible as few if any have been argued into belief. Spufford is entertaining to listen to as the narrator and makes the writing lively and engaging.

In short, I think he gets a lot wrong, but also a lot right and the book is worth a listen to consider a heterodox perspective—however, it should not be construed as a theological apologetic having any rigor. But, I think that’s alright considering we need to listen to each other more anyhow.

Premise collapses on shaky theology

I think I heard of Francis Spufford and this book on Justin Brierley’s new podcast series about the demise of the New Atheism and return of Christianity. I was intrigued enough to buy the book.

But what a disappointment it is. It has a few bright moments, but it ultimately undone by Spufford’s theology which is frankly not Biblical. Nowhere is the Biblical Jesus to be found here. Rather we get Spufford expounding on why Genesis is wrong, why, because Jesus never explicitly talked about homosexuality (or really any sexuality), then we can’t make judgments about it (never mind that Paul speaks about this elsewhere in the New Testament or that there are infinitely many things Jesus never spoke about - say felony home invasion - but we don’t just assume they are condoned on the basis of omission), or how “most” Christians don’t believe in hell. Where does he get these ideas? Jesus certainly seems to believe in hell. And almost every Christian I know does. I can only assume that Spufford, as a liberal Anglican married to an Anglican (woman) priest, has no clue what most Christians actually believe. He seems to believe, as Morpheus told Neo, whatever he wants to believe. There is nothing in here about WHY Jesus went to the cross other than it helps Spufford feel good and that he was probably forgiven for his sins…

…except Spufford doesn’t use the word sin. No. That’s too correct. He has to say, over and over again “HPtFtU” - an initialism he tries to pronounce like an acronym, over and over again. It was painful to listen to. He said it maybe 500 times.

What does “HPtFtU” mean? Human Propensity to F*** things Up.” Oooh. I think sin would have been better. Certainly better to listen to.

Which leads me to my next point: Spufford’s use of curse words is rather grating. It’s like a teenager on TikTok trying to sound edgy. It’s just embarrassing and he does it frequently.

Finally, why listen to a book where the author is a Christian who may or may not believe in God? He emphasizes over and over again how he feels like it is true. But he doesn’t know. And we can’t know. It’s all about the feels I guess. Natural theology is not Spufford’s wheelhouse. I’m sure Moses would have been surprised to know that he can’t really know God exists. I’m sure the disciples who saw the Risen Christ would be surprised to know that Spufford says they are mistaken: it’s impossible to know something like that. Sorry!

I cannot recommend this book. For those who are looking at Christianity, you won’t find it here. For those who are Christians, it’s not worth digging through the trash heap to find a couple of knickknacks. Save your money. And save your time.