A Review of Kelly M. Kapic’s You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design And Why That’s Good News

Abstract

I was captivated by a podcast host’s effusive praise for an app he was using on his phone, which he claimed had brought needed clarity and focus to his life. It sounded to me like an introduction to a new productivity app. But no, the app is called WeCroak, and its sole purpose is to send you notices five times a day, which say, “Don’t forget, you’re going to die.” The clarity of mind he received from these reminders came as he grew in recognizing his finitude. The value of seeing our limits as part of God’s good creation is the throughline in Kelly Kapic’s You’re Only Human. Kapic could well be seen as standing in the tradition of Tom Oden, who wrote, “The only promise I intend to make, however inadequately carried out, is that of unoriginality.” Kapic’s scholarship is current, and he does not dodge challenging contemporary issues, but he brings the perspective of time-tested orthodox theology to bear on these vexing issues. He mines the great tradition of Christian spirituality to provide us with a wise and pastoral treatment of the reality of our human finitude. The subtitle captures the essence of this book quite well, “How your limits reflect God’s design and why that is good news.” The term finitude is semantically neutral, conveying the notion of “being subject to limitations.” And the ordinary events of life show us our limits daily (the inability to fly, limits to our endurance and focus, and the presence of suffering and disease). As Kapic tells us, “Finitude is an unavoidable aspect