“Deliver Us From Me-Ville” a book by David A. Zimmerman is a book that I will have to read a second time. He says a lot of good things that need to be re-read, thought and prayed about.
The book is about our self-absorption. The writer likes the word superbia which is the Latin word for pride or an inordinate sense of self regard. The book is about ‘escape routes’ for this sense of pride and its subtleties in our life. As the writer says, “Our way out of ourselves will involve Jesus coming to us and displacing us.” He says Jesus enables us to go from, ‘me-ville to thee-ville’
He uses Peter as an example of this self- regard and also quotes alot from Bonhoeffer. Both of which fits good with his points.
He also uses another Latin word, agere contra, which means to “act against”. The self seeks that which is most comfortable and we need to fight against it. I am reminded of one of my fellow students at Bible School, when he stood up in chapel and made the announcement that “he and the Holy Spirit have declared war against self.”
The end of each chapter has some questions and exercises for self-examination. And he closes the book with a discussion guide that could be used with a small group or SS class.
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