Review: Ploductivity, by WIlson

Ploductivity: A Practical Theology of Tools & WealthPloductivity: A Practical Theology of Tools & Wealth by Douglas Wilson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“My optimism about tools and technology is, at bottom, an optimism about the future history of the world. And that, in its turn, is an optimism that is grounded on the fact that at the darkest point of human history, God in the flesh was crucified by arrogant sinners, by all the important people. Three days after that, the Lord came back from the dead. That means the old world has been overthrown. How could that world not be overthrown? That world is dead because its only power was death, and we serve a Lord who went into death’s maw, and then came out again. That is the ultimate plot turn. That is the central fact of all human history.” (Pg 103)

I’m exceedingly inclined toward the technophobia that Wilson rails against in this book. This was a helpful counterweight to my inclinations, and I’m thankful for it. It’s Wilson, so the style is breezy and a blast to read. It was written in a plodding manner, and occasionally that shows up in chapters that feel a little disjointed - like maybe they were written 100 words at a time…

On the whole, this is a book that I highly recommend. Wilson will say the whole thing hangs in his eschatology, which I don’t buy. But it does hang on the real and present Lordship of Christ over all things, and as Wilson helpfully reminds the reader, Jesus is Lord. Like, right now. So chill out, and enjoy, with glad suspicion, the wealth He has given.

View all my reviews

Comments

Post a Comment

Subscribe to the Stopping to Think newsletter:

Popular posts from this blog

A quick thought on Christian thought.

Okay, so it's late, so I'm gonna keep this short.  But I'm gonna ask you a few questions and ask you to think through them critically, because I believe your answers to them will radically affect your beliefs...let me rephrase, they do  radically affect your beliefs, this will simply aid us in identifying this circumstance.  When we read the Bible we often come up with questions.  This is good, and healthy.  Questions encourage thought and when we question and subsequently find answers our thoughts are more firmly established, faith is built, etc.  But there are times when we come to Scripture and are troubled by what we find.  Times when God exercises speedy justice and we question His fairness.  Times when we see something go unpunished and question His justice.  Times when we come up against a doctrine (eg, predestination) that seems to contradict our view of who God is and/or how He operates.  In times like these it is of extreme importance to keep in mind that things s
Read more

Confederate flags and loving our brother

I open with a question: Is it inconsistent to call for the removal of Confederate flags (from state-owned properties, as well as Christians dissociating themselves from this flag voluntarily), while not calling for similar treatment of Old Glory? This question has been raised all over my Twitter feed, and perhaps most prominently in a blog post by Douglas Wilson . The US flag does, after all, stand for a number of reprehensible things itself. In our past we have the horrors of slavery...quite the same ones as the Confederacy, come to think of it. We have the massive injustices of murder, land theft, and more of the Native peoples of North America. Currently we murder our babies in the millions. And of course I'm just hitting the lowest of the low notes. So, is there a difference? I believe the answer is, most definitely, yes. First of all, as Wilson labors in his post, flags mean a lot of things, including what a nation should  be. We might say, aspires to be. All men
Read more

Why Christians don't understand the same-sex marriage debate-and thus are losing it.

I want to make a few brief comments on marriage, and the debate over whether or not homosexual marriage should be created by our government. I use the word "created" very intentionally. Note: none of my thoughts or ideas here are original, and most are being expressed by some in this ongoing national debate. However, they are certainly the minority, and so I have decided to add my small voice to the choir. It seems to me that, while not universally, the general slogan of those opposed to same-sex marriage (from here on "SSM") is that they "support traditional marriage and traditional values." Less frequently I hear of a support for "Judeo-Christian" values. Here is my rub with both of these terms, especially the former-they utterly miss the root of this entire issue. The question is not whether marriage should conform to what is traditional. If it were, of course marriage could change into whatever we would like it to. This is because traditi
Read more