Time to Laugh: The Religion of Humor

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0826416411 ISBN 13: 9780826416414

Publisher: Continuum, 2005

Humor has a place in religion and religion itself is impoverished when if fails to reveal and develop this aspect of itself. Humor is a part of the tough tissue of religion that binds our hearts together in love, worship, or fellowship/community. Often, however, humor is negatively affected by religion, or religious people are allergic to humor. Capps, who is the Dean of Studies in Religion and Psychology in the United States, tries in this book to show the ways in which humor can be recovered for religion. He argues that religion is diminished when it fails to understand and embrace its own historical connection—much of it dating to biblical days—to humor itself. His chapters deal with topics ranging from humor as an expression of intimacy to humor as the maintenance of the soul.

About the Author:

Donald Capps is Professor of Pastoral Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary. His books include Jesus: A Psychological Biography, Freud and Freudians on Religion, Men, Religion, and Melancholia, and Social Phobia: Alleviating Anxiety in an Age of Self-promotion. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Review:

"This is an exceptionally good-natured book, likely to persuade you that religion and humor have more affinity for one another than you'd imagined. The author's affable style carries a formidable learning which is never intrusive." -Ted Cohen, professor of philosophy, University of Chicago, and author of Jokes: Philosophical Thoughts on Joking Matters (Ted Cohen)

"Capps (Princeton) attempts to analyze humor, particularly in the form of jokes...In five chapters he presents the five ways he believes humor impacts people: its saves psychic resources, acts as a stimulus to identity creation, helps express and create intimacy, helps in the process of soul maintenance, and can be used in psychotherapy to reframe a client's perspective. Capps's work is thought provoking, even though humor is a surprisingly difficult subject to understand. Fortunately, Capps includes many jokes to illustrate his ideas. Summing Up: Recommended." - Choice, January 2006 (M. Matheny CHOICE)

'..it stimulated my own thinking on the complex relationship between religion and humour.' (Steven Tompkins Church Times)
(Theological Best Books- mentioning (Fall/ Winter 2005))

"This is an exceptionally good-natured book, likely to persuade you that religion and humor have more affinity for one another than you'd imagined. The author's affable style carries a formidable learning which is never intrusive." -Ted Cohen, professor of philosophy, University of Chicago, and author of Jokes: Philosophical Thoughts on Joking Matters (,)

"Capps (Princeton) attempts to analyze humor, particularly in the form of jokes...In five chapters he presents the five ways he believes humor impacts people: its saves psychic resources, acts as a stimulus to identity creation, helps express and create intimacy, helps in the process of soul maintenance, and can be used in psychotherapy to reframe a client's perspective. Capps's work is thought provoking, even though humor is a surprisingly difficult subject to understand. Fortunately, Capps includes many jokes to illustrate his ideas. Summing Up: Recommended." - Choice, January 2006 (, CHOICE)

'..it stimulated my own thinking on the complex relationship between religion and humour.' (, Church Times)
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