Unapologetic by Francis Spufford

The aim of the book is to describe "what Christianity feels like from the inside". The book is entertainingly written and much of what the author describes resonated with me. That said, there were things I liked and things I didn't.

Spufford refers to sin as the HPtFtU 'the human propensity to fuck things up'. This sits much more comfortably with me than the definition we use to prepare children for First Reconciliation "doing things wrong on purpose". I don't like that I do things wrong on purpose but I can look back on my life and clearly see the HPtFtU. His definition of sin comes from an Anglican / Church of England perspective which means as a Catholic I'll be sticking to a definition of sin that makes me less comfortable.

Two things I liked about the book were Spufford's attack on the bus ad pictured below and his attack on the song Imagine by John Lennon (which I've always seen as a call to atheism and a dull one at that). Regarding the bus, he points out that it's the word "enjoy" that sticks in the throat rather than "probably". What about all the people who are unemployed, sick or grieving?

Spufford makes Christianity attractive by emphasising the radical, ridiculous call to love your enemies and love your neighbour as yourself and the transformation that comes about through grace when we try to do this and through the sacraments. He avoids an unchallenging "just be nice" kind of Christianity.

Moving to the things I didn't enjoy, there's a long chapter "Yeshua" which summarises the Gospel. This is entertaining and useful to anyone not familiar with the story, but I skimmed through it. Chapter 7 veers far from Catholic teaching. After explaining the traditional understanding of hell the book states "the majority of us have not believed in it for several years". When it comes to why the church differs from mainstream secular opinion on sex outside of marriage or same-sex marriage Spufford states "the church will reconfigure at snail-like speed, for a new social reality" i.e. the church will get with the programme eventually but it might take some time.