The God-Shaped Heart: How Correctly Understanding God's Love Transforms Us by Timothy R. Jennings, MD

In The God-Shaped Heart: How Correctly Understanding God's Love Transforms Us, Timothy R. Jennings poses that "something is wrong in Christianity". He begins the book by listing statistics and examples to prove his case that Christianity, as it stands today, is not realistically more Christ-like than the rest of society.

Timothy then lays out a model for "the seven levels of moral decision making", whereby he explains that "only those operating at level five and above can be trusted." Why? Because the first four levels are based on a self-centered focal point, while the last three levels are based on an other-centered focal point.

His seven levels of moral decision making are as follows:

1 - reward and punishment
2 - marketplace exchange
3 - social conformity
4 - law and order
5 - love for others
6 - principle-based living
7 - understanding friend of god

It's pointed out that in order to mature properly, one must progress through these stages in their natural order, similar to a child being weaned to solid foods. Timothy goes on to talk about spiritual failure to thrive, where he explains that many Christians hold false beliefs which keep them from maturing into the bride of Christ they are meant to become.

A large portion of the book is devoted to explaining, through Biblical and modern-day examples, the differences between viewing God's word from the stance of a loving God stating design law for our well-being (law of gravity) versus an authoritarian God telling us His imposed laws (judicial laws and rules). In contrasting these two drastically opposite views, Timothy states:

"But children (newborn babes in Christ) are easily confused and divided because they operate at level four and below, focus on rules and get stuck on metaphor, and fail to see the reality of design law. They actually think the form of baptism, or dress, or diet, or day of worship is what matters. They fail to realize that it has always been, and always will be, about transformation of the heart!"

Thus, Timothy stresses that we must allow a loving God to change our heart, rather than focusing on what will happen if we don't. Furthermore, he continues to argue against the legalism that is rampant in modern Christianity while urging us to stop arguing over symbols and metaphors within the church as a whole. Timothy sums up this book's purpose very well at the end, when he urges readers to take action in the name of Christ and His healing love:

"What would Christianity look like if the various denominations came together and pooled their resources for one single purpose - to spread the healing love of Christ into the hearts of people on earth - and stopped working to build their institutions by membership drives, often at the expense of other Christian organizations?"

What would happen if Christians sought to mature and develop God-Shaped Hearts in order to influence and change those circumstances and people around them for the better? What if we could band together and truly love one another despite our multitude of differences?

The God-Shaped Heart reads more like a theology text than a self-help book, with key points given at the end of each chapter, and a lack of extra filler. I had a hard time getting through the first couple of chapters due to the heavy leaning on stats and background info, but the rest of the book made up for the slow start. Timothy does a good job at providing a solid basis for his reasoning at every point while giving us lots of things to think about and reassess in our own understanding of God's law and how we view His role in our lives.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who is open-minded enough to read about alternative perspectives and who is tired of thinking of God as a vengeful being that Jesus has to protect us from. Whether you end up changing your view or not, The God-Shaped Heart will definitely give you some things to ponder and help you to reason out and strengthen your own view of God's position in your life. 5/5 stars.

*Disclaimer: I received a complimentary print copy of this book from the publisher, Baker Books, for the purpose of this honest review. All opinions are my own.*

About The Author (copied from book):

Timothy R. Jennings, MD, is a board-certified Christian psychiatrist, certified master psychopharmacologist, Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Life Fellow of the Southern Psychiatric Association, and past president of both the Tennessee and Southern Psychiatric Associations. Dr. Jennings served in the US Army as the division psychiatrist for the 3rd Infantry Division and the chief of psychiatry at Winn Army Hospital. He has spent more than two decades researching the interface between biblical principles and modern brain science and is the founder and president of the not-for-profit Christian ministry Come and Reason Ministries. He is a highly sought after lecturer and international speaker and is the author of The God-Shaped Brain: How Changing Your View of God Transforms Your Life, Could It Be This Simple? A Biblical Model for Healing the Mind, The Journal of the Watcher, and The Remedy: A New Testament Expanded Paraphrase. Many of Dr. Jenning's materials can be found at www.comeandreason.com.

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