Book review: Wearing God

by Lauren F. Winner

★★★★

How we talk about God matters.

When we call God our “friend,” it invites a new perspective. Or take a cue from several Biblical passages and try thinking of God in female terms. Calling God “She” can feel uncomfortable, especially if we have old-fashioned ideas about God, but breaking old molds may help us grow.

Winner’s book is not post-modern. It’s respectful, creative, a bit fanciful (though I’m not sure it means to be). The title, Wearing God, stems from thinking about God as clothing. Huh? Yes, it’s Biblical–this image comes from Galatians 3: “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ.” With further chapters about God as smell, as bread and vine, as a laboring woman, laughter, and as flame, Winner opens our mind to an all-pervading God, one who is in and around us in all things.

Wait, did I say “smell?” Yes … God smells, in both senses of the word. God smells our offerings, and He is himself a fragrance. He gave himself on the cross as a “sweet-smelling savour” (KJV).

I think this is a comforting and appropriate book for Christians of all persuasions.

HarperCollins, © 2015, 286 pages

ISBN: 978-0-06-176812-5