Most Christian inspirational writing is simply an affirmation of mutually accepted beliefs. Much of it offers little new insight. At best, it’s semi-poetic reinterpretation of old Christian cliches; at worst, it’s painful restatements of the obvious.

Take this passage from Speechless, by Steven Curtis Chapman and Scotty Smith:

Jesus has taken away our punishment on the cross. There he defeated our great enemy, Satan. God’s loudest singing and his most passionate delight is expressed in the gospel of his grace. Through the gospel God is with us. By the gospel he saves us In the gospel he delights in us. Through the speechless gospel he quiets us with his love. In the gospel we hear him rejoice over us with singing! Does your heart allow you to imagine God himself serenading you with his love songs?

What does this really say? Nothing that Christians don’t profess on a weekly, daily, or even hourly basis, depending on their level of personal piety: God loves us, and Jesus died for us.

“Jesus has taken away our punishment on the cross.” Heard it a thousand times. Nothing new there. It’s about like saying, “Mayonaise is made from eggs.”

“There he defeated our great enemy, Satan.” And hamburgers generally have meat in them.

“God’s loudest singing and his most passionate delight is expressed in the gospel of his grace.” This is a semi-original way of saying, “God’s happy when someone is saved.” What Protestant church doesn’t ring with those words at least once a week?

“Through the gospel God is with us. By the gospel he saves us.” Shoes generally have an element on the bottom known as soles.

“In the gospel he delights in us.” God loves you — that’s at least one being in the universe that loves you.

“Through the speechless gospel he quiets us with his love.” Really, God loves you.

“In the gospel we hear him rejoice over us with singing!” I’m not joking — God loves you.

“Does your heart allow you to imagine God himself serenading you with his love songs?” I’m only going to say this once: God loves you.

It’s like contemporary Christian music: what sense of satisifaction can someone get saying/singing the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over? There seems to be so little intellectual content. All emotion, all the time.

Even Schleiermacher would be distressed…