Before getting to that, if you haven't read Hunting Magic Eels, the book is a popular introduction, along with my own contributions, to many of the ideas introduced by Charles Taylor in his seminal book A Secular Age along with the work of Andrew Root who has written many books dealing with the impacts of secularity upon the church.
Hunting Magic Eels is about the challenge of "disenchantment," a term coined by Max Weber but popularized by Charles Taylor. Here's how I describe it in Hunting Magic Eels from the chapter "The Slow Death of God":
Five hundred years ago, we lived in an enchanted world. The existence of God was taken for granted. Of course God existed. There was a heaven and there was a hell, and everything you did pointed you toward one destination or the other. Five hundred years ago, in the words of 1 Peter 5, the devil prowled the world like a hungry lion, seeking souls to tempt and devour. If not the devil, then his minions, the hordes of demons that would afflict, injure, trick, tempt, lure, harm, and even possess hapless humans. But the faithful were not defenseless. Angels guarded and protected, along with the saints in heaven. Prayers petitioned divine aid and assistance. Visions and heavenly visitations gave guidance, support, and protection. Miracles were the norm and supernatural wonders abounded. On the edges of Christianity, and bleeding into it in ways that made them impossible to separate, were the enchantments of the pagan world. Life was filled with spells, curses, talismans, potions, magic, and superstitions. There were witches, ghosts, and creatures that haunted the night.
But that’s not our world. Our world is disenchanted. Science has replaced superstition. To be sure, religious belief hasn’t vanished, and the world remains supernatural and spooky in many ways. But people today do regularly doubt the existence of God, and rates of atheism and agnosticism continue to climb. We demand hard facts, data, and evidence. We revel in skepticism. Nothing is true for us until a scientist shows up. And for good reason: the gifts of modern medicine and technology are life giving and awe inspiring. The ancients thought the earth was flat. We’ve put a man on the moon.
As we know, both the Nones and the Nonverts are on the rise, and even the faith of the faithful has been affected. Faith has become fragilized by the pervasive skepticism of an increasingly post-Christian culture. Hunting Magic Eels was written to help with the re-enchantment of faith. And since its publication Hunting Magic Eels has accompanied readers and churches on this journey. I was blessed and honored that my friend Sean Palmer contributed a Forward to the paperback edition of Hunting Magic Eels. As a pastor, Sean shares in his Forward how Hunting Magic Eels helped his faith community:
Christianity has lost its enchantment.
Richard Beck helps us rediscover our lost enchantment. In this book, Richard offers us the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the enchanted Christian faith that has always been with us, lying in wait. In these pages you will find a faith that not merely acknowledges enchantment, but re-centers the enchanted, mystical world God created—a world of wonder and awe as a mechanism for meaning-making, as well as an apologetic for the witness of the church and work of God.
For ten weeks I, and several other voices in my church, walked our community through the powerful and beautiful truths you will discover in these pages. In the process, our community discovered both relief and freedom. Many were relieved by the truth that their experiences of God—experiences they were slow to speak about publicly—were accurate and true, testifying to the reality of God’s work in their lives. Others discovered freedom in embracing the work of God in their lives in ways that might not fit neatly into their inherited categories. In both relief and freedom, they discovered a beautiful, powerful, mysterious God...
Echoing this, the paperback edition of the book also picked up additional endorsements:
“Hunting Magic Eels is a wonderfully practical and deeply insightful book. Tapping into both his training as a psychologist and the treasures within an array of Christian traditions, Richard Beck prescribes a way to begin healing from the ache and skepticism we feel in our disenchanted age. By attending to the wonder, beauty, and mystery of everyday life, Beck calls us to rediscover the enchanted world we find ourselves in and the living God who is calling us home.”
—Joshua Chatraw, The Billy Graham Chair of Evangelism and Cultural Engagement, Beeson Divinity School
“Hunting Magic Eels is a much-needed message of hope for sharing faith in a skeptical and secular age. Beck reminds us of the rich resources in the Christian traditions to reinvigorate not only our churches but our personal journeys of faith. After reading Hunting Magic Eels and his personal stories with the prison Bible study, I am changed forever. It came at just the right time in my faith, giving me language to move from critic of the church and join Beck as a preacher of hope.”
—Lars Coburn, director of University Relations, Bushnell University
“As a pastor, I found Hunting Magic Eels to be an important and creative resource for our faith community as we spent time engaging the ‘enchantments’ Richard Beck describes. In a skeptical, critical, and divided age, the book gave language that united the longings of our faith community and engaged those longings in real and tangible ways.”
—Molly Conaway, lead pastor, Crossings faith community, Knoxville, Tennessee
“Like so many others, I’ve been reading and learning from Richard Beck for going on two decades. How many can claim to have mastered a discipline outside one’s formal training? This psychologist is the best theologian on our shared campus. Whether he’s in the classroom, in Sunday school, in a prison, or on the page, Beck is the same: curious, open-minded, open-hearted, wise, insightful, and weird. His truth-seeking and truth-telling are always aslant. This book is no different. In it we discover, or rediscover, a creation charged with the glory of Jesus Christ. Conservatives read Beck because he calls them away from dead letters into the life of the Spirit; liberals read him because he calls them away from disenchantment into the living word and world of God. Whatever you call yourself, you should read him too. You will not be disappointed. You will be surprised.”
—Brad East, associate professor of theology, Abilene Christian University, and the author of The Church’s Book and The Doctrine of Scripture
“Drawing on his deep insight into the human condition, and years of teaching and pastoring, Richard Beck, in Hunting Magic Eels, offers an essential guide to a life of faith in a world dominated by skepticism and scientism. Beck equips the reader to understand the pattern of our disenchanted age, to grasp the faith commitments of secularity, and to reinvigorate Christian faith in a way that is both confident and gracious. The book is a call to pay attention to the God who created our enchanted world and so to live in awareness of the magical life that surrounds us.”
—Dr. Joel D. Lawrence, executive director, Center for Pastor Theologians
“We’ve grown deeply dissatisfied with disenchantment, whether we know it or not. We lack the ability to face failure, pain, and setback, but don’t realize how this is connected to our loss of God. In Hunting Magic Eels Richard Beck points us to a faith that provides meaning in these adversities, helping us overcome our blindness to what’s right in front of us. Here is a book about a faith that can re-enchant you to the God who is all around you.”
—Luke Norsworthy, pastor, author, and host of the Newsworthy with Norsworthy podcast
“Rarely do I find myself moved by the mind of another. Call it intellectual exhaustion. When you read a lot, you secretly long for those works that can wake you up from your slumber. Look no further: Hunting Magic Eels is a tonic for the soul and a salve for the heart. Richard Beck masterfully invites us to, once again, gaze at our world in wonder and look skeptically at the hollow ideologies that rob transcendence from our minds. I can’t recommend Beck and his mind enough. Nor can I recommend this book more joyfully. This book makes me see the world as a Christian again.
—A.J. Swoboda, associate professor of Bible, theology, and World Christianity, Bushnell University, and author of After Doubt
“When I sit with folks in spiritual direction and invite their souls into speech, they slowly begin to whisper of mysterious, intimate encounters with the Divine— experiences that don’t square with the hyperrational faith nor the evidence-based scientific model we’ve been given. And yet, Spirit keeps showing up in wildly surprising, mystical ways. Richard Beck articulates a thoughtful, compelling path for moving through life with eyes and heart open to whatever truth and beauty may emerge, allowing ourselves to once again be enchanted by the Divine.”
—Mallory Wyckoffff, writer, spiritual director, and peacemaker
If you are struggling with your faith, or love someone who is struggling, you may find Hunting Magic Eels to be a welcome encouragement, companion, and guide. If you're a pastor or church leader, Hunting Magic Eels has blessed many churches, through sermons, classes and book clubs.
And if you've already read Hunting Magic Eels, or feel the need to revisit these topics, personally or with your church, the paperback edition has four new chapters. The new chapters are entitled: "Why Good People Need God," "Live Your Beautiful Life," "The Primacy of the Invisible," and "Hexing the Taliban."
In the posts to come I'll share a taste of what is in each of the new chapters.
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