What's in the Middle of a Book?

Is there anything special about the midpoint of a book, examined at the midpoint of this year? Does the concept of "middle" have any theological implications?

How does the Middle of a Book Relate to its Message?

As a reader partial to paper copies of books, I find a certain satisfaction when I'm at or just past the middle of a book. There's a sense of accomplishment along with the motivation to progress more quickly through the second half than through the first half. Dopamine (usually) yields momentum!

Besides the physical aspect of holding equal portions of the book in right and left hands, is there anything about the message or purpose of the book that occurs in the middle, consistently across different types of books? The next subsection is about where I am in each book I'm currently reading. Let's see if there are any patterns.

Examples From My Current Reading

At this time, I am making my way through six books . . .

Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings that Formed the Movement (eds. K. Crenshaw, N. Gotanda, G. Peller, K. Thomas)

• Past the middle? Not quite, but I'm close!
• What's in the middle? The "cultural meaning" test as to how unconscious racism may be identified in specific cases. This test did not exist at the time of the writing (pre-1995).
• What's the point of the book? Critical race theory as envisioned and enacted today has historical context, starting in the legal literature around the 1960s. This book seeks to provide some of the most influential writings in chronological order. I appreciate the detailed end notes even though the endnote style is irritating (I'm an AMA girl).
• What is the significance of the middle content? Unconscious racism as an idea/theme had not been developed in the book up to this point. It is one of the commonly repeated ideas of CRT, and this essay is where that idea is developed as a purported problem to address.

Christian Apologetics (D. Groothius)

• Past the middle? Not quite, but I'm very close!
• What's in the middle? A discussion of Pascal's definition of human existence, in a chapter on his anthropological argument for God/theism.
• What's the point of the book? To engage with major and moderately-major topics relevant to Christian apologetics and making the case for a biblical faith. Douglas Groothius is Anglican, which I was stoked to find out, but writes from more of a Reformed perspective. Also, he jokes that the book is thick enough to be used in cases where a brick might otherwise be used.
• What is the significance of the middle content? The chapter in which the middle occurs is in a section on various arguments for and against Christianity and theism in general. I'm not familiar with the anthropological argument, so that will be a learning opportunity.

The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations (ed. M. W. Holmes)

• Past the middle? No, although I'm jumping around per Husband's recommendation of the best order in which to read the writings.
• What's in the middle? A portion of The Epistle of Barnabas, pointing out water and cross together through Old Testament examples. Its theme was that Christians were God's intended covenantal heirs (one-covenant theology).
• What's the point of the book? Much of biblical interpretation is informed by how the earliest Christians and Christian leaders interpreted what the Old Testament said and what Jesus had said and done. These Christians functioned in the historical context of first-century second-Temple Judaism as it related to the surrounding Greek and Roman cultures. If we ignore those things and instead read our own presuppositions and historical understandings back into the text, we risk falling into error.
• What is the significance of the middle content? Because the book isn't quite arranged chronologically, not much. However, all the sources were written in the first 2ish generations of Christianity during and after the lives of the New Testament authors.

The Flirtation Experiment (L. Jacobson and P. Masonheimer)

• Past the middle? No, but I'm close!
• What's in the middle? "Your Flirtation Experiment" assignment related to the idea of nurturing the friendship between you and your spouse. What activities used to build the friendship in your early days and years?
• What's the point of the book? The authors have been married for the longer and shorter ends of the marriage spectrum, and wanted to team up to suggest ways for wives to resume the flirtation they did premaritally, in order to revive their marital dynamics as desired. This is actually a very family-friendly book, more so than I was expecting.
• What is the significance of the middle content? There are a month's worth of ideas in the book, to try one per day (e.g., resuming a hobby previously enjoyed); the organization is roughly according to the order in which the authors came up with the "experiments" in real life.

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (P. Scazzero)

• Past the middle? Yes! (I finished the book early, and Husband is working through it by chapter in concert with a book study we're involved in.)
• What's in the middle? Advice for moving "through" emotional walls one encounters in one's life.
• What's the point of the book? Peter Scazzero seems to be telling the story, interspersed with recommendations, of how he grew more aware of his emotions and adopted Daily Office (non-Anglican) practices as the founding pastor of a nondenominational community church. The core information could have been stated in 30 pages or fewer, as is the case with many self-help books. Theological and psychological problems aside (he recommends therapy in an offhand way and does not seem to have gotten any himself for his severely dysfunctional early marriage), it's an easy read.
• What is the significance of the middle content? The emotional wall concept is about halfway through Scazzero's journey, so it involves introspecting a bit more deeply with one's interpretation of Scripture as a guide.

The Lost Dragon of Wessex (G. Bowers)

• Past the middle? Yes!
• What's in the middle? Scene in the king's hall where a wanderer is telling his story. This lights the imagination of Wulf, the main character, who uses the rest of the book to go on a small but significant adventure.
• What's the point of the book? This surprisingly short novel was recently recorded by Smidgen Press and should be available here in about a month. The story is of a Saxon boy becoming a young man after journeying to be of service to the king.
• What is the significance of the middle content? The story is just starting to move along at this point, so the remainder has more momentum.

Patterns of Middle Content

In books intended to have a "story" flow, the middle served as a pivot point in my list. In books organized topically or chronologically, the middle content didn't serve a predictable purpose. Have you found this to be the case with the middles of the books that you've been reading lately?

Theological Implications of "Middle"

Despite the polarization of many aspects of worldview and society these days, I find comfort in being a conservative moderate in many areas (politics, theology, etc.). I wanted to explore more areas in which "middle" has value and implications in this post, but time got away from me.

Polar Opposites

The phrase "middle way" most commonly refers to Buddhism, in a context of world religions. In a specifically Christian context, adopters of the concept of "the middle way" (Latin via media) have historically been Anglicans, most commonly. Their "middle" was between Reformed and Roman Catholic theology and practice. As a side note, although Lutheranism was an obvious product of the Reformation, in more recent times it has grown closer to certain aspects of Anglicanism. More on that shortly. As another side note, I refer specifically to Roman Catholics in order to distinguish from the ACNA's use of big-C Catholic to refer to the universal church. (In my priest's words: "We're not small-c Christians. Why would we be small-c Catholics?")

On the one end, common principles adopted by most Reformed denominations include

• Centering theology on God's glory or sovereignty
• Applying logic to the Biblical texts (typically in English translation, checking back to the Greek/Hebrew/Aramaic originals as needed)
• Systematically comparing (translated) Scripture with itself
• Using the Westminster Confession and others written within a few centuries of that ("historical" pointing back to the Reformation era of the 1500s)
• Affirming four of the early church councils' doctrines on the Trinity and two natures of Christ (Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon)
• Clarifying the central role of Jesus Christ as the mediator between us and the Father
• Expanding beyond five-point (TULIP) Calvinism to speaking to other points of worldview
• Prioritizing practical application over systematics at times
• Promoting evangelism and missions (common to all Christian denominations)
• Hearkening back to a strong Puritan influence

On the other end, common principles adopted by most Roman Catholic churches include

• Branding itself as representing all of Christianity
• Canonizing certain Christians who perform miracles as saints through a lengthy process
• Specifying interdependence of nature (created things) and God's grace (e.g., baptismal regeneration which is not unique to Roman Catholicism)
• Identifying the Church with Christ Himself (something N. T. Wright cautions against)
• Depending on Scripture-plus-tradition, sometimes weighting tradition above Scripture
• Teaching specific dogmas about Mary, Jesus' mother (e.g., perpetual virginity, super-veneration as distinguished from worship, etc.)
• Advising penance for for moral (vs. venial) sin
• Roughly equally weighting seven sacraments
• Combining justification and sanctification

Anglicanism's Via Media

How, then, is Anglicanism a "middle way" between these two poles? Here's the spectrum of Anglican denominations, from most liberal to most conservative in doctrine, and explaining a little bit about the ACNA somewhere on the conservative side of the middle.

• On the most liberal side is the Church of England, specifically the diocese of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The principal liberal stances relate to holy orders (bishop, priest, deacon) intersecting with non-celibate non-heterosexual people.
• Roughly in the same position is the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA).
• In the middle is most of the Anglican Communion, including the Anglican Church in Canada, Australia, and South India (more ecumenical).
• In the conservative/middle side are the ACNA and various individual streams (high church/traditionalist/Anglo-Catholic, low church/evangelical, and charismatic).
• On the more conservative side are Continuing Anglicans and the Anglican Church in America.

The ACNA and Anglican Church in Canada split from the part of the Anglican Communion that accepted non-heterosexual ordination as noted above. Anglicanism being somewhat of a mixed pot in terms of non-essential doctrines, there are core beliefs held by all members in terms of (1) major doctrines, (2) one's approach to doctrine (i.e., apostolic succession and an episcopal governance model), (3) holy orders (i.e., the offices of the ministry), and (4) worship life. Daily Prayer and weekly Eucharist are cornerstones of Anglican worship.