Levittown: The Unsightly Beginnings of Suburbia (Books to Read No. 9)

In today's WSJ, Fergus Bordewich writes a book review of Levittown by David Kushner. The Levittowns (there were two -- one in New York, the other in Pennsylvania) were suburban communities created by Bill and Albert Levitt and mass-produced and mass-marketed to returning soldiers and their families.

They were designed to be perfect, complete communities. Unfortunately, part and parcel to 1950s suburban perfection, at least in Levittown, was racial segregation. "Buyers of Levittown homes were required to sign a statement that declared, in bold capital letters, that they would 'not permit the premises to be used or occupied by any person other than members of the Caucasian race.'"

It wasn't until 1957 that this racism went challenged. African-Americans Bill and Daisy Myers moved in, supported only by one other (white) couple, Bea and Lew Wechsler. They endured all manner of persecution, eventually vindicated by the state attorney general. From the Myers experience, Bordewich notes "that facing down segregation required from ordinary black men and woman a degree of heroism that few white Americans have ever been asked to exhibit except in war."

I am moving to the suburbs of Houston within the year, so I don't link to this review to condemn suburbia outright. Racism and suburbia are not necessary corrollaries.^[*] Rather, crowds of unregenerate people and systemic sin is the link of note. That said, it is instructive to Christians in surburbia to know the perfection for which you are striving and encouraging others to pursue. Is it one of our own devising or the one presented by Jesus Christ? Don't assume, for wide is the gate that leads to destruction, but narrow is the way to eternal life.

Read the review in full here.

^[*]In fact, to see how the table has turned in the suburban/urban wars, take care to note what "urban renewal movements" often mean in reality -- move all the poor people out of town and replace them with upper middle-class business professionals, i.e., former suburbanites.

Geography Is Destiny (Books to Read No. 6)

Benjamin Schwartz reviews Europe Between the Oceans by Barry Cunliffe in an Atlantic Monthly book review, "Geography Is Destiny." It is a book about archaeology, a subject which I recognize I should be interested in as a student of ancient peoples but have great difficulty enjoying. It was really hard to list this in my "Books to Read" category. I don't think I'm imaginative or patient enough to reap its rewards.

Schwarts acknowledges that most archaeological books are boring. That's why he's surprised to find the Cunliffe's book, "at once compelling and judicious, is an extraordinary book." (In fact, it's one of The Atlantic's top 6 books of 2008!) Basically, Cunliffe profiles Europe's history between 9000 BC and 1000 AD with special attention to the influence of geography and climate. He notes how the interactions of peoples were in some sense dictated by the earth they were given.

This is an unusual lens with which to view history. We are accustomed to historiography which majors on biography. Traditional history follows each era's villains and heroes, directing the world's future like Homer's demigods warring above the Trojan plains. We also read the so-called "People's History," a history of the masses. It's the democratic way to read history.

But Cunliffe offers a history which pays little attention to humans. Schwartz foresees that this will be difficult for most. "Cunliffe’s approach will jar readers accustomed to being informed of the epoch-making quality of every inauguration speech." Not so Cunliffe, who sees today's news as "the events and personalities flitting on the surface."

He summarizes the impact of such a reading:

These books contain hardly anything about the great deeds of Great Men, and none offers much to flatter our images of ourselves. But in their marriage of exactitude and far-reaching vision, they clarify the scale of the human enterprise and remind us that the events that seem so significant today are, as Braudel put it, little more than “surface disturbances, crests of foam that the tides of history carry on their strong backs ... we must learn to distrust them.”

This reading of history brings to mind biblical passages which emphasize God's control over creation. Indeed, the biblical rationale is often, 'God controls creation. Therefore, God controls everything, including you.' Proverbs 21:1 reads, "The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will." Cunliffe's findings help bring these truths home.

Empire, Suffering and Idolatry (Books to Read No. 2, 3, 4)

Not one book, but three to recommend!

Greg Beale is a great bible scholar. He manages to stay thorough and well-argued while pastorally sensitive. Both his The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text (NIGNT) and his seminal study, The Temple and the Church's Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, will change how you read Scripture and how you see your world. So, needless to say, I was excited when I saw that he was writing a biblical theology on idolatry. And the title makes me more excited. We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry is now available from IVP Academic and should be very good.

I have never read anything by Seyoon Kim, but have heard good things about his critique of the New Perspective on Paul. Now, he has a book on the New Testament engagement of Roman Imperialism. Christ and Caesar : The Gospel and the Roman Empire in the Writings of Paul and Luke examines the perspective of Paul and Luke on Roman imperialism. From the publisher's blurb on the back, it seems to stand in criticism of anti-imperialist readings and applications of Christianity. Paul and Luke are not concerned with earthly empires, but are working towards the consummation of an altogether different kingdom. So, with this book and his book on the NPP, I guess we should see Kim as N. T. Wright's academic arch nemesis.

One of the most emotionally difficult, if not intellectually difficult, apologetic challenges faced by Christians is the presence of suffering in a world created by a wholly good God. A resource now available for this challenge is Suffering and the Goodness of God, a collection of essays (view titles here). Don't take my word for it, though: Blurbs are by Jerry Bridges, Bryan Chapell, Stephen Nichols, and Stephen Wellum. Dr. Wellum said, "Chapter by chapter, the authors root and ground their reflections in Scripture, modeling how to move from biblical exposition to a biblical theology. The reflections are not only theoretical and necessary but also practically engaging. There is much wisdom in this work." This book is the first of a series called "Theology in Community." If this is any indication of what's to follow, it will be a series to watch.

Anathem (Books to Read No. 1)

If the publishing industry placed a moratorium on new books, there would in my mind still be an endless number of books worth reading. Yet, time is not endless and other more worthy responsibilities abound.

A more sane man might give up on the endeavor, but I am no sane man. I frequently entertain grand plans to read them all. I think to myself regularly, 'I must remember this title for that spare moment when [insert fantasy].' Unfortunately, the equation of my life renders spare moments equal to something like n + 1, where n stands for some actual time in the future and spare moments are always just beyond reach.

And time is only the first problem faced by my grand schemes. The other is remembering the titles themselves. Left to my own devices, that is becoming increasingly difficult as more and more books are stored in my feeble memory.

That's where this new series of posts come in. As books are recommended to me, I will recommend them to you. In so doing, I have a searchable database of recommended books which (theoretically) will always be available. I have some other nmenonic devices in mind, but this will do until those are in place.

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This first book is a perfect inaugural post for this series. Anathem by Neal Stephenson (William Morrow, 937 pages, $29.95, reviewed more thoroughly here) is a fantasy set on a very earth-like planet with earth-like people in the earth-like future. In the face of an increasingly technologized culture, a group of people form a monastic society which separates itself from modern comforts. They spend all their time reading and studying and learning. Geeky, I know.

Those outside are called slines. Here is how they are described by the narrator Erasmus, "I was struck by their intelligence, their polish, and how much stuff they owned. But there was nothing underneath. They knew many things but had no idea why. And strangely this made them more, rather than less, certain they were right."

Every now then the cult must war, because anti-intellectualism revolts against the monastery and disperses its followers. This story, though, centers around a period when the slines faced a problem so tough they appeal to the monks for help.

After I finished my English undergraduate degree, I almost exclusively read non-fiction. I have such great memories of escaping into a book and would like to try it again. I've often thought I would like fantasy or science fiction books for this reason. Maybe this will be a good start.

Tell me what you think if you pick it up.