Deodorant Christianity (by JW Boggs)

(Amazon UK link)

I like to browse the Christian section of Kindle books from time to time. I will download almost anything that’s free, if it looks interesting. ‘Deodorant Christianity’ had good ratings, and the title intrigued me; moreover, it was on special offer free a few months ago. I had never heard of JW Boggs, and can find nothing about him online, although it's evident from this book that he lives in the United States.

The author talks, in his introduction, about how most people apply deodorant to cover up the smell of their sweat. He points out that this is different in purpose from anti-perspirant, which actually stops the sweat from forming. He makes the analogy that too many Christians try to cover up their inner selves with a pleasant mask rather than tackling the root of the problem. 

This is undoubtedly true, although I felt it was a bit of a dubious analogy. Sweat is a natural, healthy process, and anti-perspirants are not generally recommended. But I got the point. 

I started reading it in mid-June and liked the style, although I thought the writing a tad long-winded at first. Despite the strange analogy, the content is good, looking at different ways in which followers of Jesus can be selfish and unloving. The writing is fairly light-hearted with some anecdotes from the author’s experience, and there are several Scripture quotations, relevant to the theme.

The final chapter looks at the ‘fruits of the Spirit’. The author unpacks the concepts a little to fit in with the idea of inner health.

There's nothing radical or new, and I had to remind myself to keep reading. But overall it was interesting, and a book which I would recommend in a low-key way to Christian teens or indeed new believers of any age.

No longer free for the Kindle, but relatively inexpensive. The link above is to the paperback edition of this book. 

Review copyright 2014 Sue's Book Reviews