A Time to Laugh: The Religion of Humor - Hardcover

--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 "

Humour has a place in religion and religion itself is impoverished when it fails to reveal and develop this aspect of itself. Humour is a part of the tough tissue of religion that binds our hearts together in love, worship, or fellowship/community. Often, however, humour is negatively affected by religion, or religious people are allergic to humour. Capps tries in this book to show the ways in which humour 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 humour itself. His chapters deal with topics ranging from humour as an expression of intimacy to humour as the maintenance of the soul.