REVIEW: "Unraptured," by Zack Hunt

Mind. Blown. I did not see THAT coming.
5/5 stars for Zack Hunt’s Unraptured: How End Times Theology Gets It Wrong.

Having spent most of my life in a denomination that was founded because of the imminent second coming of Jesus, and which taught against a "secret rapture" and prophesied about an every-eye-shall-see-him event, I had different expectations when I was given the advance copy (ARC) of "Unraptured" to read and review. I carefully read the chapters and highlighted many sentences and paragraphs that resonated with my experience: Jesus is coming soon, the books of Daniel and Revelation are prophecies of future events so we can get ready for heaven and avoid hell (a.k.a. hellfire insurance), the need to live a holy and perfect life to hurry Jesus along, obedience to the gospel commission to teach and convert the world, and the importance of "right beliefs." (And so much more, wow...)

Over the course of my Christian life, I memorized fundamental belief proof texts and got A's in my religion classes at Christian university. I taught Bible classes at church and was ordained as an elder (not a pastor). For funzies, I took a New Testament Greek class from one of my pastors and still own the reference books to prove it. As a professional church musician for many years, I heard two or three sermons every weekend, and made copious notes in my study Bible's margins. I worked or contracted for some denominational institutions (which is why I'm not identifying them). I've spent many happy years volunteering in activities that were sometimes related to church, but more often related to my desire to change the world a little at a time. So yeah, I had all the religious beliefs down, pro and con.

In Zack Hunt's book, I laughed where he wanted readers to laugh, and felt his anguish when his expectations were dashed. I learned more about dispensationalism (not a thing in my churches). I saw glimpses of items he's posted in social media. I had been given a loose deadline to write the review, but I could not skim or hurry to the end of this book--it needed to be chewed and digested. I'm glad I spent the few extra hours, because at about the 50 percent mark, it gets meaty.

I had no idea Hunt would write passionately about the Bible's call to social justice and a religion that *works*. I knew that 1 Corinthians 13 wasn't about wedding vows, but about what godly love for one another should be. But when Hunt connected that passage with Matthew 25 and Revelation, and performing works of love because that will bring the incarnation of God into our lives rather than wait for the second coming to escape this world--mind blown.

As a little child, I was sexually assaulted for years by a relative. When I told my mother, she did everything she knew to make it stop and she protected me, but our church didn't believe in psychological therapy at that time, so I internalized the assaults and told no one else. We know now that such trauma festers and doesn't heal. There were lifelong physical and emotional scars for me, and I've realized in the last four years that I never learned to play, or to love. I confessed to God that I didn't love him the way I saw other Christians love him (yes, I know we shouldn't compare, but who can help it?), but I would honor him with obedience and by helping where I could, in service. That was the best I could do, and I was pretty sure God understood that.

But that's where the shock of "Unraptured" came. I had no idea that the kind of love God is seeking--cooking, feeding, clothing, visiting, helping, advocating with my communications skills, donating stuff and donating blood--is a *preferred* way of loving God and loving his children.

So for all the insights, the laughs where my experiences were similar, and for the validation, this book deserves its five stars and more. Sorry I can't choose just one of the many passages I highlighted. You'll have to do that yourself!

*****

Christy K Robinson is author of these books:

We Shall Be Changed (2010)

Mary Dyer Illuminated Vol. 1 (2013)  

Mary Dyer: For Such a Time as This Vol. 2 (2014)

The Dyers of London, Boston, & Newport Vol. 3 (2014)  

Effigy Hunter (2015)  

Anne Marbury Hutchinson: American Founding Mother (2018)

And of these sites:  

Discovering Love  (inspiration and service)

Rooting for Ancestors  (history and genealogy)

William and Mary Barrett Dyer (17th century culture and history of England and New England)

Editornado [ed•i•tohr•NAY•doh] (Words. Communications. Book reviews. Cartoons.)