The relief people need

I hadn’t heard of David Zahl before I read a review, in the March 2023 issue of the Century, of his 2022 book Low Anthropology: The Unlikely Key to a Gracious View of Others (and Yourself). My first reaction was irritation; that was the book I had long wanted to write myself, and this cretin had the audacity to beat me to it. My second reaction was to buy the book and devour it three times, first on my own and then with groups of church members. Low Anthropology was my gateway to Mockingbird Ministries, where Zahl is director and editor in chief. Now I’m hooked on multiple podcasts, a print magazine, and weekly newsletters. I suppose it’s only a matter of time before I get on an airplane to attend one of the Mockingbird conferences.

What’s so compelling about Zahl and the ministries he helms? The pastors and writers in his network are, by and large, mainline Protestants perpetuating a gospel that is unapologetically about the grace of God. They’re smart but not overly academic, relevant but not in the wearisome try-hard way of eager evangelicals. They spend precious little time criticizing fellow mainline Christians. Neither do they spend much energy bemoaning mainline decline. Rather, they focus their attention on sharing a generous, theologically centrist vision of Christianity that feels infused with the weight of truth and goodness and beauty.

Still, I am not an uncritical fan. When I heard that Zahl’s new book, subtitled The Urgency of Grace for a Worn-Out World, would be titled The Big Relief, I thought it was irredeemably hokey. Grace as relief might be worthy of a paragraph. Maybe even a chapter. But could that association really carry an entire book?