Unleashing Courageous Faith (Book Review)
Unleashing Courageous Faith: The Hidden Power of a Man's Soul by Paul Coughlin.
I became a big fan of Paul Coughlin after reading No More Christian Nice Guy. I've had the privilege of reading his latest book, and I really enjoyed it.
I don't want to do a long, drawn-out book review, so let me just give you a quick summary of this one. Much of this book's content is dedicated to the concept of thumos. I have to admit, I don't think I've ever heard of it before (or I've long-since forgotten it before reading this book).
What is thumos? It was an important concept to the Greeks in understanding the human psyche--it could be described as "passion" or "spiritedness." Logos (from which we get the word "logic") was the word used to describe man's rational capacity. Eros (from which we get the word "erotic") was used to describe romantic/sentimental love. Thumos, however, was more associated with bravery and courage--a man's passion to act upon or fight for something.
Thumos, Coughlin argues, is one of the gifts of manhood--a gift which must be exercised in order to live what Christ has called us to: lives of courage and valor. This type of passion, if properly focused, will drive us to defend the helpless, fight injustice, and stop settling for the status quo.
Here's a quote from one of the final chapters:
The main purpose of this book has been to help us do our part to forge and then unfetter a more courageous faith--which frees and empowers us to get to the good deeds the apostle James and others exhort us to complete--and to extol greater depth, strength, and staying power through this virtue that underpins all others.
This book seemed to be the next logical step from No More Christian Nice Guy. I found it both challenging and empowering. Nice work, Paul!
Sounds like a book every man and woman should read. Very encouraging indeed.