I read this book in one sitting, on a rainy evening at home, and found it deeply moving in a life-changing kind of way. As a regular listener of the Mockingcast, a podcast on finding grace (and its absence) in everyday life, I had been anticipating this deeper dive into this novel concept (a term coined by the author’s father!) of low anthropology.
Low Anthropology is brilliantly researched and written while also, somehow, being accessible to those of us who are not religious scholars. Every section is broken down and illustrated with relatable and memorable examples that run the gamut from The Muppets to Augustine of Hippo to baking cookies. You get the sense that Zahl has spent a lot of time thinking about this new (old) way of thinking, applying it to a wide variety of real life situations and, most refreshingly, to his own life which he thankfully doesn’t seem to have all figured out either.
I found the sections on limitation, doubleness (another new term!), and self-centeredness both fascinating and discomforting. I say discomforting because there are parts of this book that made me feel seen, and uncomfortably so. I’d be reading along about self-centeredness, wondering if I’ve ever really acted that way…until getting hit square between the eyes with a line like, “For instance, instead of really loving someone, we use them to make us feel better about ourselves. We start to care less about them as a person and more about what they can do for us. Before we know it, we’ve remade that other person into our personal vending machine of validation.” It hurts because it’s true. No one gets out alive.
Fortunately, for every harsh reality, Zahl manages to show us that flower growing in the middle of a cracked sidewalk. Some of my favorite parts were in the chapter on the Fruit of Low Anthropology. As someone who came to faith in the wake of a tragedy that sharply exposed my human limitations, I found the anecdotes on the Craigslist Confessions and “Back Row of America” particularly moving. I believe what Zahl says to be true that, “Faith in God begins where faith in oneself ends.”
Perhaps there’s a reason why this book didn’t exist before now. As mentioned above, it is at times a tough read, not for its prose or syntax, but for its willingness to pull back the veil on the finely edited and selectively remembered narratives we’ve held dear about the world, others, and especially ourselves. It is a brave book that does not shy away from sensitive topics like cognitive bias, racism, and politics. When election season comes around again, I will remind myself that, “The real drivers in politics are not numbers, statistics, and reason but fear, hope, love, and belonging.”
Low Anthropology made me cringe, laugh, and marvel at the counterintuitive nature of grace. Safe to say, it is unlike any book of nonfiction I have ever read. It made me wish I had known about it sooner, even if the knowledge would have spared me none of the suffering. I think it deserves a bookshelf of all its own.
As for me, I’ll be recommending this book to all my fellow disasters in crime and referring to it often. That is, right after I pick up the pieces of myself from stepping on the land mines of my own making (yet again). Gratefully, I’m not ultimately in charge of putting myself back together again.
Frequently bought together
- +
- +
Total Price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
Top reviews from other countries
emmylou
Breaks the 4th Wall of Grace
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 13 September 2022Verified Purchase
Andrew Shank
Accessible, hopeful, pastoral
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 13 September 2022Verified Purchase
Ed Nugent
Tiger moms will hate this book. But burned out, anxious, tiger kids will call David Zahl blessed!
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 13 September 2022Verified Purchase
J. Odde
Zahl doesn't disregard our sin or embrace it; he levels the playing field with compassion
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 14 September 2022Verified Purchase
Justin Pitcock
A friend on the bench
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 14 September 2022Verified Purchase
