Did not have the opportunity to finish, unfortunately. I do thank you for the opportunity and hope that many others have enjoyed this book.

Great book on how to communicate the Biblical way. Very easy and inspiring to read. I thought was going to be full of facts and written as such but was pleasantly surprised by how conversational it was .

"Redeeming How We Talk explores what the Bible has to say about that central aspect of life and relationships—conversation. The Scriptures show us that words have remarkable power—to create, to bless, to encourage, to forgive. Imagine how we, as Christians, could spark change in our families, churches, and communities if we learned to use words like Jesus did."

This book completely lives up the title.
Recommended for those of who realize we have to change, not only our thoughts, but also the words resulting from those thoughts. .

Words are important. They are powerful. An essential question, then, is how does God want us to use words?

The authors aim to help us reclaim the holiness of human speech. Most of the book is theological in nature. The authors explore the conversational ethics of the Bible. The book is more about developing a theology of of speech rather than providing practical ways to have our speech fulfill God's purposes. The authors look at topics of communicating in general like propaganda, advertising and marketing, connecting in the digital age, misinformation, etc.

There were a few topics I found enlightening. One was tapping that “like” button on Facebook. Pretty soon the algorithm will show us only those kinds of posts we like. This confirmation bias reinforces our opinion, helping us to falsely assume we are right. (Loc 310/2163) It points out the larger problem of not seeing or appreciating other viewpoints. The authors lament, “...we are losing our ability to interact with diverse opinions and critically think.” (Loc 316/2163) We tend to stick with our own tribe and do not interact with people who have viewpoints differing from our own.

The authors seem to go off on a tangent on occasion. For example, they have quite a lengthy section on how Christians treated Native American Indians. (Loc 782-809/2163) They also have a long section on church discipline.

There is some practical teaching included. I like their admonition to someone who just needs to get something off their chest. “We don't speak merely because we will feel better for doing it but because it is beetter for others.” (Loc 1027/2163) They also encourage us to be self-aware and Christ oriented before we let words out of our mouths. (Loc 1177/2163)

This book is a bit academic in nature as the authors quote from many sources. I think the book is geared more toward pastors and theological professionals rather than the general layperson. I do recommend this book to readers who are looking to explore the development of a theology of words and speech. Those looking to just redeem their own language may not find what they are looking for here.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

An exploration of the use of language in life and relationships.

The authors look at communication in light of Jesus as the Word made flesh and the life-giving power in the Word of God. They explore the corruption of language in propaganda. They look at how information has been communicated throughout time, and the challenges which come from communicating. They also spend much time discussing how to effectively use language in light of what Jesus has done for us by exploring Jesus' use of language, the relationship between language and wisdom, the value and importance of hearing, the need for unity among the Lord's people, speaking words of comfort, and communicating more effectively and empathetically.

Highly recommended.

What a great perspective! While words are often carelessly thrown about, the fervent notion of this book is that there is a better way. Starting from the very beginning, where God uses a word to speak creating in to being, Wytsma and Swobody carefully handle one topic after another, leaving behind a challenge to being more mindful of what we say, considering those to whom we speak, and taking more consideration with how we relate. It's far more than a diatribe on nice words, it's a recasting of the whole idea of communication and the way our communities are knit together. This will challenge Christ followers, and I believe there is a wealth of vision for those who stay away from churches as well.

Redeeming How We Talk is a necessary and timely book. Words matter. Poor words matter. Good words matter too. In fact, as the authors make clear at the beginning of the final chapter through the words of Samuel Beckett, “words are all we have.” Our very existence has been spoken into existence. Unfortunately, we live in a time of carelessness when it comes to words. We can spew our vitriol to the masses, all the while remaining anonymous. More than ever before, it is easier to surround ourselves with like-minded people, never allowing ourselves to engage in thoughtful and challenging conversation. (Read about “confirmation bias" in ch. 2). Instead, we choose rhetoric and propaganda (ch. 2). “We communicate, but we do not always converse” as the authors say. Civil discourse has become a thing of the past, generally speaking. It has not always been so. The authors speak of the famous gathering known as The Inklings. C.S. Lewis’ brother Warren said of The Inklings, “We were no mutual admiration society. . . . To read to the Inklings was a formidable ordeal.” But this is how we are shaped, through challenging yet hospitable conversation.

In this book, the authors move through various topics and employ various disciplines to point to the necessity of the redemption of our speech. They also note that this redemption will, by necessity, be rooted in silence. “There is a posture of the heart that allows for real conversational connection. If we cannot practice it by ourselves, and in the presence of God, then we won’t be able to practice it in the stress and conflict of our social relationships. This is our challenge: to find ways back to being fully human. Without this, we cannot redeem how we talk.” The wonderful contrast between cold silence and warm silence in chapter 7 is fantastic. Isn’t this understanding necessary? Not only our silence before our Creator but also the formation of the heart for true communication are rooted in the presence of God. The authors point out many of the obstacles that currently stand in our way to hospitable conversation but point towards a proper understanding of “godly speech” (ch. 7). Even our theology, they note, can be godly or ungodly (ch. 8). Part of the solution to redeeming how we talk, particularly in a digital age, is a robust theology of incarnation and imago Dei (ch. 3). This book is a wonderful place to start in reclaiming both.

A book about our current communication crisis could be doom and gloom. This is not that. I found a lot of hope here, even as the authors painted a truthful picture. This, of course, is the way of hope – truth spoken (or written) leading, sometimes painfully, to redemption. My hope is that this book is not only widely read, but also put into practice in our homes, communities, and even digital spaces. 

*The advance copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and releases June 5th, 2018.

[Note:  This book was provided free of charge by Moody Publishers/Net Gallery.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.]

This book is a bit frustrating as a missed opportunity, and that missed opportunity is largely the fault of the authors and their attempt to be relevant and to speak to many of the divides within contemporary mainstream Christianity.  As I am familiar with the writing of at least one of the authors [1], I came in knowing his perspective and the fact that he was a representative of a left-wing false Gospel known commonly as the social gospel approach by which leftwing political views are given a light sprinkling of Christian terms and selective biblical citations and aspects of personal morality that leftists fall short on are ignored and marginalized as being unworthy of discussion or enforcement.  Unfortunately, even if the message the authors deliver is a serious one about communication and our difficulties with this in our lives and in our times [2], the perspective and bias of the authors themselves makes this message difficult to take.  This is a case where the message of the book would be far more welcome if the messengers were not so unacceptable.

This book of about 200 pages or so is divided into two parts.  The first part of the book examines the world of words and examines such topics as the creative power of the world (1), the origin and development of propaganda (2), the challenge of connecting with other people in the digital age (3), a brief history of information (4), and a discussion of the unexplored places and blank spaces on maps and in relationships where there be dragons (5).  The remaining seven chapters of the book look at the author's view of the words of God, including such topics as Jesus' speaking (6), what godly speech is (7), a discussion on the relationship between wisdom and words (8), the mechanics within the brain of speaking with each other (9), the unity of the church despite the diversity of its members (10), the art of winning people (back) to God (11), and some closing advise on how to speak better words (12).  One wonders the extent to which the authors are aware that their past history, especially Wytsma's, works against a sympathetic hearing to the message of this book.  One thinks that the authors should have been aware that their own previous words are held against them when it comes to examining and evaluating this particular word even by those who would be sympathetic to the position of this book without the greater context of the authors' political bias.

This book is at its best when the authors talk about the importance of communication and hearing others with respect, when they share a love for books and authors that I greatly appreciate, and when they talk about abstract concerns that are applicable in all times and in all situations with all people.  This book is at its worst when the authors talk about their own political views and make false equivalences between different parties and different sides or when they show themselves as wannabe prophets who have not first gained the goodwill of their reading audience before bloviating about concerns as if they were knowledgeable experts about communicating well and behaving justly and fairly.  Whether or not the best or worst parts of this book predominate depends on the reader.  Those readers who are far more sympathetic to the authors' political worldview than I am are likely to consider this book to be a good one, and perhaps to give themselves attaboys the way the authors appear to do frequently.  Those readers who are hostile to the authors' political biases are likely to find this book more than a little bit hypocritical and self-serving, but they would be wise to, insofar as it is possible, separate their distaste for the authors and their politics from the sound biblical wisdom of treating others with respect and love regardless of our feelings about them and our sharp differences of opinion.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015/02/06/book-review-the-grand-paradox/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014/07/22/book-review-pursuing-justice/

[2] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017/11/13/book-review-a-spiritual-heritage/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017/09/12/book-review-before-you-hit-send/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017/09/07/book-review-how-to-listen-so-people-will-talk/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017/08/08/book-review-progress-in-the-pulpit/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017/06/26/book-review-dealing-with-people-you-cant-stand/

I'm not sure this book is necessary. There have been some good works out there on embodied communication that do a more comprehensive and better job of addressing this subject.

While the authors do a decent job explaining the importance of words and communication, as well as give some more practical principles to embody in our communication in the last chapter, they also engage in some strawman argumentation and do some poor exegesis when they engage the biblical topic of discipline.

Their point that love should be the distinguishing mark of a healthy church is good. Their point that the reason why excommunication is a mark of a healthy church is due to the Belgian confession and a misunderstanding of Matthew 18 is misleading. I have no doubt that the authors are familiar with the actual passage that is central to church discipline and excommunication, which is 1 Cor 5, in which Paul cites not just the sexual immorality sin that was the topic at hand, but a myriad of other sins as well, in order to build on the point that excommunication is done with the hope of restoring the person, but also with regard to maintaining the church's purity. This passage refutes the author's opinion on what the role of excommunication is in church discipline.

Probably the most interesting things in the book were the stories and statistics, so I think an article would suffice to present the information that the authors intended to develop in this book.