Monday, February 23, 2015

Watch for the Light from Plough Publishing House

Watch for the Light:  Readings for Advent and Christmas from Plough Publishing House is a devotion book meant for the Advent and Christmas season.  Included are enough days to last from November 24th to January 7th.  Readings collected from various sources, mostly historic, are used for each day's reading.  The readings are a few pages each, perhaps a 10 minute read.

While I like many of the authors of the pieces included here, I have to say I don't care for this devotion book as a whole.  For one, readers need to be aware that not everything for each day is of sacred nature.  One day's reading is a poem by Sylvia Plath.  Also, the reading from Meister Eckhart centers around a verse from Wisdom of Solomon, one of the books of biblical apocrypha.  More upsetting to me, though, are the readings that appear to be scriptural, but that have dubious theology.  Having grown up Roman Catholic, the tone of many of the readings, while none mention Catholicism, reminds me very much of the tone I remember from Catholicism, which I find unnecessarily grim, especially considering the meaning of the season.  I don't mean to bash Catholicism, but I do want to alert the reader to what they may encounter.  It may not bother some Protestants, but others may find it off putting.

Overall, I found little value in this book and I would not recommend it to others looking for a Christian devotional.  Much better pieces could have been included in place of the secular one's and the book's theological bent should be more prominently displayed on the book.

I was given this book free of charge by Plough Publishing House in return for my honest opinion.

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