desire found me -- a book review

Andre Rabe's Desire Found Me is a unique book.  Steeped in Rene Girard's "Mimetic Theory", it's nothing short of a theological exploration of what it means to confess faith in the trinue God by telling the human and biblical story up to and including the life and death of Jesus in a way that incorporates and makes sense of the groundbreaking insights of Girard.  But it's not a systematic mimetic theology -- not in the least.  Given the broad scope of Desire Found Me, it can't possibly hope to answer all the questions posed by dogmatic theology.  Instead, Desire Found Me provides a deep spiritual theology of what it means to be human and divine, and the relationship between the two.

Rabe's mission is to take these foundational ideas of Girard's and weave them into a Trinitarian theology in a way that makes sense to the casual reader.  I would say he has done that job very well.  The overall thrust of Desire Found Me is described in this subtitle taken from its first page:

Exploring the unconscious movements of desire -- how they form us, connect us, shape our greatest ideas, mold our societies, influence human history and ultimately, how they are unveiled.

Desire Found Me is divided into three parts:  "Reflective Human Nature", "Developing Stories", and "Redefined".  Each part has a number of chapters.  But the book as a whole is not an academic tome.  Rabe keeps his footnotes to a minimum.  Instead, Rabe develops Girard's "mimetic theory" and traces a reading of human history from its vantage point.  But it's the third part that was the most intriguing:  In it, Rabe explores the meaning and significance of Jesus' life, death and resurrection in light of what the reader has already learned about desire and sacrifice in parts one and two.

I confess that I had misgivings when I started Rabe's book.  But Desire Found Me offers a clear biblical vision of trinitarian faith that is deeply engaged with Girard.  And the recommended list of books at the end contains some real gems that new-comers would be well-advised to read further.

In all, Desire Found Me is a good introduction to the exciting contributions that Girard might make to Christian theology, and deserves a wide and close reading.

__________________
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, as part of the Speakeasy book review program, in exchange for my honest review here.