Bold Thinking Christianity by Michael Phillips

Most Christians don’t think critically for themselves, according to Michael Phillips. They accept what they are told without question. Even when it comes to core doctrines, they don’t consider the implications or study to understand why they believe what they do. They often don’t ask God difficult questions in prayer. Those few who want to think outside the box are often shut down or rejected by Christian friends or church leaders.

Bold Thinking Christianity means not being afraid to question and think independently. This book by Michael Phillips aims to challenge readers, encouraging them not to passively accept everything they’re told, but to ask difficult questions and seek honest answers. While Michael Phillips presents many valid points in this book, I also believe he crosses the line into error in a few places.

The core message Michael Phillips shares is that knowledge alone is not enough. We need to discover the Father’s loving heart. Jesus also stated multiple times that we demonstrate our love for Him through obedience to His commands. Jesus was the perfect obedient Son, and if we truly want to know Him, we must learn to walk the path of obedience.

I appreciate the focus on obedience, but I strongly sense that the emphasis is on the spoken words of Jesus - words in red in some Bibles - and the teachings within the Gospels, with the rest of Scripture playing a lesser role. Perhaps I have misunderstood the author, but to me, the entire Bible is the word and command of Jesus from Genesis to Revelation.

I agree with Michael Phillips' assertion that people often fanatically take a “literal” interpretation to the extreme, making some Bible texts nonsensical. As another author has said, to be literal is to understand Scripture in the genre in which it was written. History is interpreted as history. Poetry is read according to the structure of poetry. Prophecy is interpreted following the rules of prophecy. And so on.

Although I have some serious points of disagreement regarding the inspiration of Scripture and contradictions within Scripture, as well as other topics, I would recommend this book as a challenge to start using the brains God gave us and to explore the Father’s heart of love through obedience.

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