Blog on the Lillypad
Thursday, July 15, 2004
 | Got Hubris?
The latest memoir of life in an IFB school, Hubris, by Jeffrey Smith, (which is a pen name, I believe) is on the web. It's definitely worth a read. In his FAQ, Smith makes clear that his work is slightly fictionalized, and he is not specifying the real church/IFB school he attended. |
HUBRIS is more brief, certainly, than TALES FROM THE TEMPLE by James Spurgeon and my own SECRET RADIO. Its brevity and episodic quality make it a lighter, faster read than its predecessors. (Great lunchtime reading at work, BTW, if you have a computer.)
Jeffrey Smith's pen is light and quick, and he tells his tale deftly. The few details he presents are stark and vivid, creating a slightly blurred but full color picture of the rulers of the small Baptist world he once inhabited. His tale lacks doctrinal reflection and---at one point---moral reflection. By the end of the "Busty" chapter, I definitely thought that Jeff was letting himself off the hook too easily, but his goal is to present a case about the cult-like leadership too common and unchallenged in IFB churches. In this purpose, he succeeds. [NOTE: Jeff told me he plans to update this section to further clarify the tone.]
His story rings with authenticity, and there is a plainness and simplicity in the straightforward telling that certainly makes HUBRIS a necessary newcomer to the small world of post-IFB memoirs and exposes.
