Unapologetic: Francis Spufford

Apologetics does not reduce to simply rational arguments. You cannot rationally argue people to belief in Christ. St. John Cardinal Newman analyzed human decision making in his complicated book, The Grammar of Assent. He called the process of decision making the illiative sense. The illiative sense is the intermingling of reason and feeling resulting in an emotional and rational experience of satisfaction in the truth. Even atheists, strangely, find disbelief satisfying in some odd way.  Francis Spufford, a British author, explores the emotional dimension of belief in a very satisfying read.

Unapologetic: Why, Despite Everything, Christianity Can Still Make Surprising Emotional Sense (2013) is a book of apologetics by Francis Spufford [i], a British author and professor at Goldsmiths College, London, England. A surprising background for a Christian apologist given the irreligiosity of British society. ( Listen to his video on the bottom of the page for his explanation.) He comments on his purpose for writing this book.

“My daughter has just turned six. Sometime over the next year or so, she will discover that her parents are weird. We’re weird because we go to church.” Spufford, Francis. Unapologetic (p. 1). HarperOne. Kindle Edition.

Spufford’s wife is as Church of England cleric.  He tells his own conversion story in this book and it informs his faith. In a culture where believers are encouraged not to talk about their faith in public, Spufford is determined to tell his. He entitles his memoir, “ Unaplogetic” because he doesn’t want others to think he is shy about his faith. His motivation for writing this book is the rise of the New Atheists who seem ignorant of basic religious ideas and arrogantly intolerant of any rival world views to their own. Spufford is a formidable opponent to the rise of aggressive anti-religion in England. Here are some of his insights into irreligion in England.
The failure of Christian words

Case in point: the word “sin,” that well-known contemporary brand name for ice cream. And high-end chocolate truffles. And lingerie in which the color red predominates…. Everybody knows, then, that “sin” basically means “indulgence” or “enjoyable naughtiness.” If you were worried, you’d use a different word or phrase. You’d talk about “eating disorders” or “addictions”; you’d go to another vocabulary cloud altogether. Spufford, Francis. Unapologetic (p. 28). HarperOne. Kindle Edition.

Spufford, not a foreigner to vulgar, yet descriptive language, points out the universal human “propensity” to destroy [ii] relationships and to undermine the good in human family and community. His own recognition of the reality of sin in his life fits into his description the corrosive power of evil:

“Our appointment with realization often comes at one of the classic moments of adult failure: when a marriage ends, when a career stalls or crumbles, when a relationship fades away with a child seen only on Saturdays, when the supposedly recreational coke habit turns out to be exercising veto powers over every other hope and dream.  Spufford, Francis. Unapologetic (p. 27). HarperOne. Kindle Edition.

How did Jesus save him? His conversion experience began during the frustrating breakup of his first marriage. His recognition of his own failures that brought about that catastrophe. He experienced his need for mercy while listening to Mozart’s clarinet concerto in a coffee shop. He describes his eventual recognition of his need for Christ, in a very moving account. He describes, in his own understanding, Jesus’ preaching, teaching and healing ministry.

He (Christ) can’t mend the world’s sorrows this way—weep though he does, berate himself though he does, say yes though he does to every request. The healing of damaged bodies can only be a sign of what he’s truly come to do. Spufford, Francis. Unapologetic (p. 134). HarperOne. Kindle Edition.

 He describes the crucifixion,

This is mine now, he (Christ) is saying; and he embraces it with all that is left in him, each dark act, each dripping memory, as if it were something precious, as if it were itself the loved child tottering homeward on the road. But there is so much of it. So many injured children; so many locked rooms; so much lonely anger; so many bombs in public places; so much vicious zeal; so many bored teenagers at roadblocks; so many drunk girls at parties someone thought they could have a little fun with; so many jokes that go too far; so much ruining greed; so much sick ingenuity; so much burned skin. The world he claims, claims him. It burns and stings, it splinters and gouges, it locks him round and drags him down. Spufford, Francis. Unapologetic (p. 146). HarperOne. Kindle Edition.

 The agony of being abandoned.

He (Christ) is so deep down now in the geology of woe, so buried beneath the mountains’ weight of it, that the pressure is squeezing out his feeling for the light. There’s nothing left of it for him but a speck, a pinpoint the world grinds in on itself, a dot dimming as the strata of the dark are piled heavier and heavier on it. And then it goes out. Of course it does. Love can’t repair death. Death is stronger than love. We all know that. But Yeshua didn’t, until now. Spufford, Francis. Unapologetic (pp. 146-147). HarperOne. Kindle Edition.

 Then his account of the Resurrection.

Early Sunday morning, one of the friends comes back with rags and a jug of water and a box of the grave spices that are supposed to cut down on the smell. She’s braced for the task. But when she comes to the grave she finds that the linen’s been thrown into the corner and the body is gone. Evidently anonymous burial isn’t quite anonymous enough, after all. She sits outside in the sun. The insects have woken up, here at the edge of the desert, and a bee is nosing about in a lily like silk thinly tucked over itself, but much more perishable. It won’t last long. She takes no notice of the feet that appear at the edge of her vision. That’s enough now, she thinks. That’s more than enough. Don’t be afraid, says Yeshua. Far more can be mended than you know. She is weeping. The executee helps her to stand up. Spufford, Francis. Unapologetic (p. 148). HarperOne. Kindle Edition.

 Spufford’s ability to capture the emotional power of Jesus, his death and resurrection is surprisingly moving. I have heard the story since I was a child but I loved his retelling.

There is much to love about this book. There are some things to be cautious about. He does use profanity. He explains that the people he is talking to in the book use profanity and might not take him seriously otherwise. He is talking, of course, about a culture long dead to Christian sensibility, advanced beyond our own in this discouraging process. He also likes to refer to ‘popery,’ reminiscent of long English anti-Catholic attitudes. There doesn't seem to be any hostility there, but still it is grating. The chapters on morality are inadequate and careless. So, I very much liked the book, but a qualified thumbs up to those who can read with care.
 
The most important part of apologetics is the capacity to make Jesus loved. That is why I recommend Spufford’s book. His heart is in it. He said he wrote the book typing at a table in a Cambridge coffee shop. Other apologetic books I have recommended make logical arguments consistent with faith. None that I recommend connect as well emotionally as does this book. By the way, the book is free if you use Kindle Unlimited!