Ed Dobson

It took me a while to get around to reading this. I had read A.J. Jacobs brilliant and hilarious The Year of Living Biblically and found it an interesting look at how an otherwise secular Jew could approach the Bible, in part to debunk biblical literalism and in part spiritual exploration (and of course to sell books and entertain). I wasn't sure I wanted to read the Christian spin off version. But I like Ed Dobson and have respected the way he left a public position in the Moral Majority to show more pursue a pastoral vocation which connected with people on the margins (before every other Evangelical was talking about this). So I read and was pleasantly surprised by this.

The tone of this book is different than A.J. Jacobs. Dobson has long been a follower of Jesus, so he embarks on this journey as a religious insider. He also is not as stringent as Jacobs was in how he lives out his biblical year. Dobson keeps kosher, but not well. He practices the Sabbath, but not every week and not a total Sabbath in the Jewish sense. He commits to reading through the four gospels every week and fails. Some of his adjustments are do to the fact that Ed Dobson suffers from ALS (Lou Gerig's disease) and thus could not embark on as radical a change as the younger, spryer Jacobs could. But he may not have had the follow though Jacobs did anyway, I don't know.

But there are some interesting surprises here. Dobson's year like Jesus happened in the last election year (2008) and he found himself voting for a Democrat for the first time in his life because he saw Obama's views cohered with Jesus' teaching more than the other candidates (despite the fact that Dobson is staunchly pro-life). He also began drinking (after being a teetotaler) because being like Jesus meant eating and drinking with sinners. So he drank light beer and went to bars and talked to people about God. He also explores the prayer traditions of other Christians which focus on the Biblical Jesus. As an evangelical, for the first time in his life he begins praying the rosary (despite initial angst about praying 'to' Mary), the Jesus prayer and using the Orthodox prayer rope, and Episcopalian prayer beads.

Dobson learned a lot about how Jesus had a heart to reach those who wouldn't come to a church and got in some great conversations. He also identified with Jesus when some of his choices 'to live like Jesus' were misunderstood by Christian friends and religious insiders.

This is quick thought provoking read and I liked it a lot. Jacob's book is more entertaining but this is a little deeper and Dobson has a warm, easy way about him.

One small detail I particularly enjoyed was Dobson's appropriation of the Jesus prayer for intercession. Never finding it easy to pray for healing, Dobson began praying the Jesus prayer for people saying, "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on _______." Kind of a short, easy way to pray, when words escape you. Good stuff. show less

This is one of the books that influenced my political worldview as it formed in my late teens and early twenties, especially regarding the proper relation of my Christianity to my politics.

ORIGINAL REVIEW
In Blinded by Might, authors Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson--both of whom worked in Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority organization in the eighties--argue very convincingly that organized Christian political action, with the goal of electing godly politicians and getting Christian or show more Christian-friendly legislation passed, didn't work very well and was doomed to failure. They believe Christians need to concentrate more on living godly lives themselves and giving good witness. If you believed the now-defunct Moral Majority and its also-defunct successor, the Christian Coalition, must have been great things, please read this book. Really, read it anyway. Cal Thomas is my favorite conservative, because he is calm, rational and polite; and if Ed Dobson pastored a church in my area, I'd want to attend. (I was sorry to hear that he now has Lou Gehrig's Disease.) Their book has greatly influenced me.

This book doesn't say much about Pat Robertson, one of the leaders of the "Christian right," until he appears in the interviews section; so I get the impression that Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson just haven't dealt as much with Robertson as with some other Christian political figures. The Christian leader whom this book depicts in a bad light is Dr. James Dobson (no relation to Ed Dobson) of Focus on the Family: Dobson's behavior in disagreeing with Thomas makes him look stupid and churlish.
According to Thomas, what happened vis-a-vis Dr. Dobson is this: sometime before the writing of this book, Thomas wrote a column saying that Dobson "was putting too much faith in the Republican Party to bring revival to America," and Dr. Dobson claimed Thomas misinterpreted his views. Later, Thomas invited Dobson to clear the air by being interviewed for this book. Dobson sent a response which, besides being crudely scribbled on Thomas's typewritten letter, had some embarrassing grammatical errors. "Dear Cal, this kind note took me back [he meant "aback"] a bit. After attacking me nationally, misrepresenting my views, and trying to make it look like I think revival can come from the Republican party--it seems wierd [sic] for you to ask me to help write your book... It's a strange request." Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, and the liberal icon Norman Lear, all agreed to be interviewed. show less

Seeing through the Fog is a very encouraging book for anyone facing challenges, particularly those of a medical nature. Ed Dobson shares his journey through ALS with great honesty and humility. He doesn't offer any panaceas or pat answers to the hard questions of life, instead he simply invites the reader into his own story, sharing his heartaches, his doubts and his hopes.

NCLA Review - This is the often bizarre, albeit fascinating, story of a devout Christian who chose to spend a year living like Jesus, much as a small boy might mimic his daddy. Ed Dobson’s conservative church background influenced the way he did it, but his childhood in Ireland and freethinking personality occasionally ruptured his literalist crust. He daily steeped himself in the gospels and prayer. He consulted a rabbi for Jewish perspective, and participated in Jewish holy days. His show more long untrimmed beard and his quest provided opportunity to talk about Jesus with nonbelievers. Sometimes his literalist bent irritated me; sometimes I cackled with laughter. I share his desire to live more like Jesus, and his experiences broadened my vision of how that goal can play out in our day. I also appreciate his openness, his candor and his humility. It was a yearlong experiment, and he was glad to stop trying to live like a Jew of Bible times. Dobson concluded that living like Jesus is difficult. He also showed that we can make it harder than it really is. Rating: 4 —DKW show less