Rich Wyld. Theologygrams: Theology Explained in Diagrams. IVP Books, 2017. See here to buy the book.
Theologygrams is a book that has charts, graphs, and
illustrations explaining key concepts in the Old Testament, New
Testament, and Christian theology. It is based on the author’s popular
blog of the same name. The bio of the author states: “Rich Wyld is an
Anglican priest and has a PhD from Durham University in theology. The
blog came into being during some of the more tedious days of study.”
There were times when I rolled my eyes in reading some of the charts,
graphs, and illustrations because the jokes were corny or cheesy. The
book also would have done better with less self-deprecation. It just
makes me uncomfortable, maybe because I would like to be the sort of
person who puts people at ease rather than making them overly defensive
or apologetic. (People may read that last line and think, “Then get
more of a sense of humor,” or “Stop being so nitpicky!” Fair point.
Now I’m being self-deprecating!) But there were times when I chuckled
after reading a chart, graph, or illustration and thought, “That’s
cute.” The pie chart, “Marks of Mission,” comes to mind: there are
small slivers with lofty marks of mission, but over three-fourths of the
pie chart is devoted to “Anxiety about talking to other people.” Got
that right! Another illustration catering to introverts was about how
much time introverts spend at fellowship hour before they’re out the
door! One cute pie chart, based on I Corinthians 2:2, dealt with what
Paul knew when he came to Corinth. The vast majority of the pie was for
“Jesus Christ, crucified,” but a very small sliver was for “Directions
to Corinth”! There was another illustration that was both cute and
informative, as it illustrated the challenges of finding a middle ground
of translation between literal and free, using John 20:17 as an
example.
At times, the charts, graphs, and illustrations were pretty obvious.
There was a chart about Jesus’ Parable of the Sower, and its point was
that the good soil produced good fruit (Matthew 13). Another chart
showed that God’s ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9). Pretty
straightforward! At some points, I hoped for a little more exegesis of
the biblical text. Jesus’ Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-20) has
long troubled me, since the master seems so hard on the unprofitable
servant who buried his talent, sending him to hell (or some horrible
place). Wyld offers the helpful insight that “My own view is that
Jesus is not talking about failure through fear or weakness, but about
complacency.” But the unprofitable servant in the parable seems to
express fear and weakness! How would Wyld account for that? Plus, the
discussion was somewhat spoiled by “But I’m getting too preachy so I’ll
shut up.” No, please go on!
There were charts, graphs, and illustrations that taught me
something. One was about Jesus’ parable in Matthew 7:24-27 about
building one’s house on rock versus building one’s house on sand, and
Wyld referred to some scholars who want to flip Jesus’ imagery around
because there were areas in which building one’s house on sand was
better. Another one was about the Venerable Bede and his attitudes
towards certain Christians, based on their spiritual character, their
haircuts, and whether they kept the right date for Easter. Some of
these Christians got two out of three right, in Bede’s eyes!
While some charts, graphs, and illustrations were obvious, others
required more thought. It took me some time to get used to the
overlapping circles, but they eventually made more sense. There was one
chart that was a “Just War Checklist.” It listed traditional Christian
criteria for a just war and graded Star Wars, Dr. Who, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Independence Day
according to them. That would require some thought: “Does the battle
in this movie or book follow that criterion, or not?” I am a little
confused by the “Apocalyptic Chess Puzzle.” John the Revelator is a
pawn, and the only place he can move is one block forward. There are
knights around, but John is out of their range, anyway, so what
difference does his movement make? Is the point that he’s safe because
God is in control?
Some charts, graphs, and illustrations were particularly helpful
because they clearly and simply explained a theological concept that I
have encountered more than once, but I may not know it well enough to
explain it at a dinner party. Wyld’s charts on Barthian dialectic,
models of ethics (i.e., deontological, utilitarian, etc.), and
revelation-based vs. natural law-based ethics come to mind. That last
one was both educational and cute, as it showed how complex making
ethical decisions can be!
Some of the commentary was spiritually edifying or challenging. At
one point, Wyld referred to a friend who said that many theologians can
get caught up in talking about who others say Jesus is, but they should
not forget the question, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew
16:13-20) On page 132, Wyld offers this edifying comment: “If theology
seems like a very detached and academic discipline, Jeremiah might
remind us that in a world of great suffering there is an urgent need to
seek God for the sake of the world.”
Overall, this was a light yet informative and edifying read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. My review is honest!