Honest to God

This book must be read about 5 times to get a lot out of it. Not only is it a excellent book in its own right, and just as pertinent today as when it was written (if not more so), it is also a great introduction to 3 of the most influential Christian thinkers of this century: Tillich, Bonhoeffer, and Bultmann. Robinson has been criticized for not including Barth, and perhaps rightly so, but even without his influence, the book is substantial, especially for one of such brevity. Every chapter is full of insightful observations and important questions which demand to be grappled with. This author does a brilliant job tackling them, inviting the reader to honestly think through them with him. A MUST READ!!!

In Honest to God, John A.T. Robinson sets forth a short volume to explain in detailed but non-obscure terms the tenets of his form of liberal Christianity. He sets out to take the ideas of 20th Century theologians, and explain them in an accessible but not patronizing tone. In so doing, he manages to avoid the pitfall of many works of modern theology, in that Robinson writes a book about faith for people of faith and people without faith, rather than a mere academic exercise for other theologians. In its day, Honest to God was considered quite controversial, as Robinson directly addressed his view of the non-literal nature of the Bible, his interpretation of the supernatural aspects of the Christian faith, and a muted but not hidden view that social mores have evolved from the days of earliest Christianity. Although the book is now decades old, the book arguably deserves readers more today than it did upon its release in an era of liberal Christian works. Robinson does not shy from the complexities of modern theologians, but he uses the direct, workable language of the popular religious writer to show the reader that "liberal Christianity" is not merely a set of complex theories and redefinitions, but instead a real-world attempt to make sense of both the legacy of faith and the evolution of thinking brought on by science. If you've always associated Christianity with the charismatic theology of televangelists, this book is an excellent read to understand a different, vital form of the faith. Although Robinson in his day Robinson attracted critics and controversy, this book is nothing more (nor less) than a short, good read about a way of experiencing the Christian faith. This was a watershed work of popular theology when it first appeared, and remains important today, when people mistake "liberal religion" for "liberal politics" and imagine that theologians are all trapped in the ivory tower. Honest to God is a simple, good read, about ultimate things. It may not "convert" you, but its refreshing candor makes it worth the read.

The "Smoke and mirrors" reviewer misses the whole point of this marvelous book, that Christ himself got beyond the strictures of rules and law and admonishes all of us to do the same. Bishop Robinson reminds us that Jesus' message is love, not ritual, and that by loving all and everything we do not OBEY God, we express Him profoundly in the world and EXPERIENCE Him by living His essence (God is love).I was so amazed to discover a Christian Bishop encouraging us to go beyond being Christian, Jew, or whatever, beckoning to an end of "theism" simply by living lives of love----be we monk, mogul, or movie star. It is so liberating and fulfilling to love; how odd that some of us could not want this fulfillment, hungering instead for strictures of do's and don'ts, for ecclesiastical structures of power and authority, for form over substance. As the Bishop understands so well, love integrates, enlarging and completing anyone who will love. On the other hand, hatred, and the divisiveness of sect, cult, nationalism, and every other sort of "ism" isolate one into smaller and smaller corners of reality. We cannot fully know God or His creation if we are not willing to extend love to every person, indeed everything our life presents to us.Thank you Bishop Robinson for so eloquent and loving a book.

I first read this book in the mid-70s after a few semesters at Bob Jones University and it confirmed the rightness of my decision to move on from fundamentalist and conventional Christianity, including the parochial Catholicism I grew up with. Robinson's book helped me in the personal journey from Sunday school and catechism piety to an authentic adult spirituality. Adults everywhere have been making the same move over the past thirty years and it is helping our religions to grow up as well. Read this book and join the movement from the pious pablum of traditional religion to the savory sustenance of adult spirituality

I read this book thirty years ago, and ran across it the other day and decided to reread it. It remains as "honest and refreshingly revealing" today as it did thirty years ago. I was hoping to pick up several copies for friends but have discovered much to my dismay that the publisher is out of stock. Please publish it again, and soon. Robinson, who was Bishop of Woolwich, England in 1963 at the time of first publication, explores his personal faith concepts and convictions about God, the supernatureal, religion, prayer and the like. He draws on the writings of such men as Paul Tillich and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. At the time of first publication it was deemed very controversial by clerics as well as lay people. I suspect that controvery would still exist. However, it demands to be read and reread, as the issues of God, and the presence of God, remain provoking to both believers and non-believers. To quote Robinson, in his Preface, ..."I suspect that we stand on the brink of a period in which it is going to become increasingly difficult to know what the true defence of Christian truth requires...I believe we are being called, over the years ahead, to far more than a restating of traditional orthodoxy in modern terms. Indeed, if our defence of the Faith is limited to this, we shall find in all likelihood that we have lost out to all but a tiny religious remnant...I am convinced that there is a growing gulf between the traditional orthodox suspernaturalism in which our Faith has been framed and the categories which the 'lay' world finds meaningful today. And by that I do not mean there is an increasing gap between Christianity and pagan society...but...many who are Christians find themselves on the same side as those who are not. And among one's intelligent non-Christian friends one discovers many who are far nearer to the Kindom of heaven than they themselves can credit...What dismays me is the vehemence--and at bottom the insecurity--of those who feel that the Faith can only be defended by branding as enemies within the camp those who do not. (find the traditional framework of metaphysics and morals entirely acceptable)."