Jeremiads against the ways of modern society, especially from a Christian perspective, are legion. Some such critiques of our age rise above and are worthy of significant consideration and meditation. You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World (full version read, but did receive a early review edition) by Alan Noble is one such critique.

As Noble well relates, philosophical liberalism has become all ascendant, and thus individualism is the modus operandi of our culture. The premise of our culture, which he explores in great detail, is how “I am my own and I belong to myself”; and he dissects how such individualism is ultimately rather inhuman. None of us can fully bear the burden of ourselves, and our society only offers the simulacrum of connection and joint participation; Noble highlights how pornography well embodies the quest for the appearance of intimacy and satisfaction without any of the substance thereof, and its connections to exploitation. He argues we are all supposed to accomplish the “Responsibility of Self-Belonging” by means of various self-optimizing “techniques” which should lead to ever greater enhancement; in truth, as he relates, we fluctuate between “Affirmation,” in which we feel as if we are able to succeed and expend great energy to become our best self, and “Resignation,” in which we feel not enough and unable to meaningfully change the situation in which we find ourselves. He points out our need to cope with modern life, a form of self-medicating, which indicates what we have going on is less than healthy.

Noble takes comfort from the first question and answer from the Heidelberg Catechism: the principle that we are not our own, but we belong to Christ. Such is well rooted in 1 Corinthians 6:20, and Noble argues persuasively about the importance of entrusting ourselves to God in Christ and finding our confidence in Him, maintaining association in vulnerability with the church and in the family.

Noble does very well at expressing critique of modern society and considering a better rooted Christian alternative without resorting to nostalgia. He does not suggest everything was better in a previous era; he recognizes we are going to live in modern individualism no matter what. Noble also proves sensitive to the issues and challenges attending to abuse, and is willing to grapple with it. He is well read in Kierkegaard but also Ellul and Bauman, among others, and that all enhances his analysis.

Noble also avoids the trap of acting as if the solution is a new kind of technique or program: instead he counsels grace for ourselves and others, a recognition we will continually grapple with and often fall into coping mechanisms and other such things to live in modern society, and yet encourages perseverance in understanding oneself as belonging to Christ, accepted and validated in Him by faith, and manifesting rooted concern in relationships and place.

I would be interested in hearing the response to this work from others beyond white American men and how his analysis and exhortations would be heard by women and people of color. I can appreciate his concern about place, and I certainly agree we desperately need a better theology of place. On the other hand, I do not think he is circumspect enough in his exhortation to remain in the original location in which you find yourself. For many this might be good wisdom; yet for those called to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, “a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown.” Apostolic witness features a peripatetic life for the one proclaiming the Gospel, and it should be commended as the sacrifice one is willing to make in order to make Jesus known.

Nevertheless, Noble is always an excellent read as a perceptive observer and everyone awash in the modern world would do well to consider this work. ( )

It's a pity that the publisher didn't retain a good copy editor work to on this book. The result might have been superb.

As it is, I found that the book had some very good ideas, but the stilted language and ungrammatical sentences made it much harder work than it should have been to appreciate them fully (to say nothing of using "phases" when what was meant was "fazes", which really makes one wonder whether the author's words were subjected to any competent editing at all).

When I closed the book at the end, I was left feeling rather dissatisfied, in that although the author had insisted several times (perhaps not in these exact words, but I think it's what he meant) that this wasn't a kind of Christian self-help book, in fact that's exactly what it seemed like: i.e., more or less, "think of your life this way, and you'll feel much better", which really doesn't do the subject justice, and I'm sure is not what the author intended.

I found a lot to think about in this book, and it was actually very useful, but that was more in spite of than because of itself. Rearranging the material, correcting and clarifying the language, and simply making the whole thing flow more easily could have done wonders for the impact that this book could have had. ( )

Jim read this book and loved it, so he bought it for me while I was at WTI 2-22. Brought it with me to NATIVE FURY 22 in Saudi Arabia. Excellent book that I definitely recommend to others. Takes the best question and answer from the Heidelberg Catechism and develops an excellent book out of it. The author does an excellent job of laying the stage of the book by going into detail about how today's culture and our sinful nature are focused on how we are our own and that we belong to ourselves. By clearly opening up how flawed this is, he hammers home the beauty that we are assuredly not our own and thankfully we belong to God.

Alan Noble writes about a helpful book about the problems which arise in a society of people who own themselves. I particularly enjoyed his reflections on efficiency, pornography, and other self-medicating behaviours.

His approach would have been strengthened with more reflection on the eschatological age we live in—how living in the last days, making disciples of all nations, as we await the coming of Jesus to judge and save—impacts how we live in this moment. For example, at one point Noble downplays the need for more missionaries and pastors in the world. His creational theology overwhelms his redemptive theology. This is disappointing especially in a book that seeks to reframe how Christian’s are to view themselves and their calling in the world.

Notwithstanding this, it was an excellent book which I will be encouraging my church to read.

A final thing: I listened to the audiobook version and found the narration tedious and smug. I would recommend reading not listening. ( )