Today I have the pleasure of reviewing Michael Camp’s book Confessions of a Bible Thumper: My Homebrewed Quest for a Reasoned Faith, published in 2012.
Full disclosure: the author very kindly sent me a copy of his book on the understanding that I would review it once I’d read it. I’ve tried not to let that bias my review at all. (In other words, the only bias you should see here is my own, not influenced by the fact that I received this book for free.)
In short, Confessions of a Bible Thumper is a fairly detailed account of how the author journeyed from being a fairly typical 1970s fundamentalist evangelical to being what might nowadays be called a more progressive believer, by which I mean one who is more focused on love and freedom in Christ than on the letter of doctrine.
There’s only one thing I didn’t care for too much about the book, and it’s really a minor point and more a matter of personal preference than anything else, so let’s get that out of the way first. The book narrates a series of semi-fictional theological conversations the author has with friends over food and drinks one evening. I say semi-fictional because I assume these conversations are stitched together from a patchwork of actual conversations that took place over a period of time. While this provides a useful framework on which to hang the very large amount of theological material that’s covered, I perrsonally found this way of presenting the material a little artificial; my own preference would have been simply to see the author either lay out his theological arguments on their own or to narrate his personal journey of spiritual and theological growth without situating it in a semi-fictional conversation. However, I recognise that I’m speaking here from my own preferred learning style. Those who find it easier to absorb information in a more narrative style may well find Michael’s approach here works very well for them.
As to the content, I can only really highlight something I already alluded to above: this book covers a huge amount of theological ground. The topics explored range from the authority of scripture to sex and homosexuality, from the nature of salvation to eschatology, not forgetting such subjects as morality, eschatology and human origins. Each chapter addresses broadly one topic (though there is understandably a fair bit of overlap), and each succeeds in presenting the range of available views on that topic very fairly and comprehensively. The author pulls off the by no means simple task of clearly stating the position he has arrived at on each issue without coming over as at all argumentative or dogmatic. Thus, for anyone interested in looking beyond the bog standard evangelical stance on any given theological topic, this is a worthwhile read.
I should also add that the book is extensively footnoted, with references to a wealth of both popular and scholarly works for those wanting to explore further.
I think I can best summarise Confessions of a Bible Thumper like this: it provides a robust defence of more progressive Christian belief in a way that is thorough and thoughtful as well as being very accessible and easy to read. As such, those of a more intellectual bent should be able to read and benefit from it without feeling that it’s too dumbed down, while those who prefer their theology in more easily digestible form should not find it so complex as to be out of their reach. I found myself nodding enthusiastically in some places and raising my eyebrows questioningly in others, but never did I feel either condemned or outraged.
Those who are searching for a way to maintain Christian belief beyond the narrow confines of ardent evangelicalism are likely to find hope and light here. At the same time, those who are keen to simply understand theological positions other than their own on “hot button” issues may well find useful material too. In any case, I applaud the author for his success in covering a broad swathe of potentially highly controversial subject matter in such a winsome and generous-spirited way.
Confessions of a Bible Thumper is available from Amazon UK and Amazon US.
