Week 8: Chapter 7 — Paste Jewelry and Sawdust Hot Dogs

1.Manning uses the vivid image of 'paste jewelry and sawdust hot dogs' to describe the hollow substitutes for authentic faith — impressive on the outside, empty on the inside. What are some of the spiritual 'paste jewelry' items that Christians commonly mistake for the real thing?

2.Manning argues that the church sometimes produces people who are adept at the language and habits of faith while remaining fundamentally untouched by grace. What does someone who has learned religious performance look like, and how do you tell the difference between that and genuine faith?

3.He is deeply critical of cheap sentimentalism in Christian culture — the kind that makes us feel good without calling us to truth or transformation. Where do you see this in contemporary Christianity? Where do you see it in yourself?