Some Thoughts on Rob Bell's "Love Wins"

I've just finished reading Rob Bell's most recent book Love Wins. While I'm not going to actually review the book here (There are plenty of decent, balanced reviews out there) I would like to offer a few thoughts on reading in general and Bell's book in particular. I think it's safe to say that Bell's book has stirred up a bit of a hornets nest in certain parts of the Christian world. I've scanned some reviews and discussion forums addressing the content of Love Wins and have to the following conclusion: Too many of us are afraid of what we read. Or to be more specific, we are afraid of reading anything that challenges our current thinking and belief system. We're afraid of reading anything that takes us out of our comfort zones.

This fear of what we read may explain some of the extreme response to Bell's book and this is really unfortunate. Without going into too much detail I found Love Wins quite interesting and engaging. As a United Church of Canada minister I disagree with some of the things he says but I find his overall approach decent and healthy. His questions and insights are challenging and thought provoking. He comes across as an extremely intelligent person who doesn't seem to be afraid of butchering some sacred cows. He may offer some strong opinions on more traditional beliefs but I don't think he crosses any lines in doing so.

Through the years I've promised myself that I would never be afraid of what I've read and I've been able to keep that promise for the most part. It's because of this promise that I have been able to read some strong and scary things. But in reading those books and articles I've always reserved the right to agree and disagree with the content. I've also reserved the right to either incorporate an idea into my current thinking and beliefs or let it go so that I can move on to something else.

I've read entire books and tossed them aside because I couldn't find anything that would help me grow or learn. I've read a lot I couldn't agree with. But even in these situations I have been thankful for the opportunity read the book and make up my own mind accordingly. We have a responsibility to read the works of people we do not always agree with. We also have a responsibility to think about what they have to say. This is how we learn and grow. This is how we mature as both Christians and thinking citizens living in a democracy.

In Love Wins Rob Bell has written an interesting and eye opening book. He's thrown his ideas into the public forum for our consideration and debate. While we can come to our own conclusions about what he writes we cannot be afraid of any of it. There's no need to be afraid of anything we read.

Read wisely. Mike Jones

When Do We Pull the Plug?

In the time I've been living here in Calgary several United Church congregations have either closed completely or amalgamated with other congregations. What's interesting about these closures is that they've happened during an extremely intense boom time. In recent years Calgary has grown to roughly one million people. During this same period of time, the church shrank. For me, this points to a rather troubling reality: the United Church of Canada is dying and it's dying a sad, tragic, unnecessary, and completely self-inflicted death.

In Reginald Bibby's new book, entitled Beyond the Gods and Back (Project Canada Books, 2011), two important numbers make an important statement about the past and present predicament of the United Church. In the mid 1960's membership peaked at just over one million (p. 11). Bibby also states that during this same period of time the United Church built roughly 1500 new church buildings and halls. This was a time of incredible growth.

In recent decades everything has changed and we live in a new reality. For me one simple figure says it all about where the United Church stands in our present day and it also hints at what things will look like in the near future. According to Bibby's numbers, 1% of today's Canadian teens identify themselves as being somehow connected with the United Church (p. 32). In comparison, up to 32% of Canadian teens claim to have no religious connections at all.

Things don't look good at all.

So why is the United Church dying? For me, one of the main reasons is a profound loss of faith among many of the denomination's clergy and lay leaders. In the recent February issue of the United Church Observer Sarah Boesveld introduces readers to something called "Post Theistic Worship" currently being offered in many United Church congregations. These are services where the Bible is barely seen or read from and prayers are no longer addressed to God. In one congregation, Christmas Eve service was cancelled and replaced by a Longest Night - type service on December 21st. This theological drift, if you will, is one of those things that has set the United Church apart from other traditions.

Bibby predicts that if the current trends continue, the United Church will be "on life support" in a matter of years (p. 4). While I think this prediction is a little generous I agree with the overall sentiment of his prediction. At some point leaders and parishioners are going to have to make the heart breaking decision to pull the plug. If the denomination's decline continues at the current pace this may happen sooner rather than later.

Judging Books by Their Covers

The saying "You can't judge a book by its cover" is definitely true of a recently released book entitled Jesus Beyond Christianity: The Classic Texts (Oxford University Press, 2010). Edited by Gregory Barker and Stephen Gregg, Jesus Beyond Christianity is a collection of literary works from different world religions that mention something about the person, life, and work of Jesus Christ.

The subtitle claims that the book deals with "The Classic Texts". While we can busy ourselves splitting hairs about precise definitions, the word "classic" often deals with anything pertaining to the ancient Greek or Roman world. Perhaps "ancient" is the key word here. Or to be generous we can settle on the word "old".

When a writer or editor claims to be dealing with "classic texts" I, at the very least, expect to find documents dating back to the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans. I want to read old things. When I opened Jesus Beyond Christianity what I found was a mix of new and old literature. Among the new documents were selections from 20th century writers such as Muslim scholar Ghulam Ahmad Parwez and the current Dalai Lama. Selections by Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist scholars were written some time within the past two hundred years.

If the editors of Jesus Beyond Christianity really want to consult classic texts they could have focused on ancient writers such as Tacitus and Suetonius. They could have consulted the Babylonian Talmud. There are scores of possibilities they could have used.

Barker and Gregg have edited a very interesting book but it doesn't hold its focus on the so-called classic texts. If they were true to the content of their collection they could have used a phrase like "Historic Texts" in the book's subtitle.

So we have to be careful when purchasing or borrowing a book. There is sometimes a difference between what's written on the cover and what's found inside. The difference between the two can be significant.

Read wisely,
Mike Jones

Hobsbawm on Nations and Nationalism

After really enjoying Eric Hobsbawm’s Interesting Times (2002), I discovered one of his older books in my collection on nationalism which I had never read. So I began reading his Nations and Nationalism Since 1789 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990) which is a very intelligent account of modern nationalism.

Although very clearly written from a Marxist perspective many of Hobsbawm’s points are equally valid for Christians who feel uncomfortable with nationalism. Further, he makes it clear that the death of nationalism is an illusion even though he feels that eventually the appeal of nationalism will decline.

In particular I liked his analysis of the failures of the Versailles Treaty, which he rightly calls the “Versailles peace settlement,” and the misguided policies of President Wilson in promoting “the principle of nationality” after the end of World War I (Hobsbawm 1990:32; 122-133).

Overall this is a useful book even though his Marxism intrudes at times and has been overtaken by later events. Still, it is hard to find a Christian writer with such a clear sense of the idolotary of modern nationalism.

Interesting Times

Eric Hobsbawm’s (b. 1917) autobiography Interesting Times: A Twentieth-Century Life (London: Allen Lane, 2002), ought to be on the “must read” list of every thinking Christian. It would also make a great text for theological colleges like Fuller in the States and Regent College in Canada. Well known as an unrepentant Jewish Communist and excellent historian Hobsbawn casts his critical eye over the turbulent history of the twentieth century with shrewd and insightful comments.

Unimpressed by the sexual revolution of the 1960’s he reminds his readers that in the past “rulers kept slaves and the poor quiet by encouraging sexual freedom among them and, I might have added, remembering Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, drugs (Hobsbawm, 2002:250). Similarly, he was equally unimpressed by “left-wing academic fashions” (Hobsbawm, 2002: 303).

What I particularly liked about his book was his comments on his own academic career which he reminded his readers got off to a late start. He writes “I had begun to publish books only in my forties, and by the time I could actually call myself ‘Professor’ in Britain, I was in my middle fifties.” Encouragingly, he adds “when most professionals have got as far as they, and the world, expects them to get in their career …” (Hobsbawm, 2002:f302).

On the next page he reminds his readers that as a Communist he was part of a cultural ghetto. Then, surprisingly, he identifies himself with “another characteristic twentieth-century cultural ghetto, the Roman Catholic community in Britain.” If anyone doubts this he tells them to reflect on “G. K Chesterton, the dimension of whose talent have been concealed from non-Catholics by the very closeness of his association with the Church.” To prove his point he notes that the Italian journalist and well known novelist, Italo Calviono (1923-1985), “once said it was his ambition to become ‘the Chesterton of the Communists.’” (Hobsbawm, 2002:303).

This is a fascinating book that offers numerous timely insights into twentieth century history, intellectual currents, cultural fads and ordinary life. It also reveals another side of Hobsbawm that of the jazz enthusiast and music critic. No doubt Theodor Adorno (1903 - 1969) must have turned in his grave at the publication of this down to earth book.

Forbidden Faith: The Gnostic Legacy

Forbidden Faith: The Gnostic Legacy From the Gospels to the Da Vinci Code
By Richard Smoley
HarperSanFranciso, 2006. 256 pp. $15.95 paperback.

A while ago I went to my local library to pick up a couple of books on the changes in American spirituality from that associated with institutionalism and a sense of rootedness in place to that of a personal quest orientation. As I was leaving, the library display of books caught my eye. It was a collection of books associated with The Da Vinci Code, but a book on Gnosticism engaged my curiosity. I ended up checking out Richard Smoley's Forbidden Faith: The Gnostic Legacy From the Gospels to the Da Vinci Code in order to explore it further. Smoley is the editor of Gnosis magazine, and co-author of or author of several books on esotericism and “inner Christianity.”

Smoley writes in popular fashion and provides an overview of the history and varieties of Gnostic thought. He looks not only at ancient forms of Gnosticism but also traces it to more recent times in what he calls the “Gnostic Revival.” This chapter, along with Gnosis and Modernity, and The Future of Gnosis, represent some of the more interesting treatments as he traces neo-Gnostic elements in various facets of American culture, including pop culture as exemplified by The Matrix trilogy of films and The Da Vinci Code.

It should come as no surprise to either orthodox Christians or those supportive of various forms of neo-Gnosticism that I disagreed with portions of his book, particularly his discussion of the canonical Gospels and his claim that none of them were written by eyewitnesses. His perspective on the written sources for Jesus’s life go further in that he speculates that the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas might indeed be dated earlier than the second century due to its alleged resemblances to the hypothetical Q document, and therefore it might be the first gospel and represent some of the earliest expressions of the faith of the early Christian communities. A book review is not the place to rehash these debates, but suffice it to say a good case can be made from conservative scholarship that runs counter to Smoley's claims ...

The remainder of this review by John Morehead can be read at:
http://people.ucalgary.ca/~cbr/

The Fabricated Luther: Refuting Nazi Connections and other Modern Myths

Siemon-Netto, Uwe, The Fabricated Luther: Refuting Nazi Connections and other Modern Myths, 2007, Second Edition. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House. Review by Karla Poewe, Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta.

In a world ripe with propaganda it is refreshing to find a book dissecting a cliché that was used for just such purposes by people as far apart as Josef Goebbels and Alan Dershowitz, namely, that Luther was the “spiritual predecessor of Adolf Hitler” (p. 23). Siemon-Netto’s book traces the origin of the cliché that “linked Luther to Hitler“ back to the liberal theologian Troeltsch who passed it on to the writer Thomas Mann who, in turn, shared it with the author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich William L. Shirer (p.24).

From there it was picked up by the Germanophobic propagandist Lord Vansittart as well as by archbishops and priests of the Church of England. It was also popular among America’s Union Theological Seminary faculty in the early thirties and is used by U.S. historians like Robert Michael and Lucy Dawidowicz, among many others, today (p. 23).

In fact, those who were primarily responsible for the Holocaust and generally for the brutality on the Eastern Front of World War II were men who had not only left Christianity but were intent on destroying the entire Judeo-Christian tradition because it was unGerman. To show the ludicrous nature of the cliché that blamed the Holocaust on the line of descent from the Protestant Luther, Siemon- Netto points out that many perpetrators were born into homes and countries (Austria and Poland, for example) that were formerly or nominally Roman Catholic. He raises this point only, however, to emphasize “the absurdity of the charge that one Christian denomination’s theology paved the way for genocide“ (p. 66). Holocausts were also perpetrated by Turkish Muslims, Orthodox Russians, and Cambodian Buddhists, yet these religions are not linked with their crimes (p.66).

At issue is rather the thing that Luther warned against with his “two realms“ doctrine, namely, the danger that comes with blurring state and church or politics and religion. When blurring occurs secular “isms“ are quick to follow. Politicized Christianity, like that of the German Christians, for example, was easily absorbed by the political religion of National Socialism (pp. 74-76). By contrast, Luther’s two realms doctrine “de-ideologizes politics” and “de-idolizes” the state (p.77).

Far from confirming a line from Luther to Hitler, Siemon-Netto shows the role that Lutheranism played in the resistance against the Hitler regime. The author is particularly strong in his analysis of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Carl Goerdeler. Bonhoeffer understood “two realms” to refer to the fact that Lutherans live before God and with God in a world without God, that is, in a secular world. He could therefore easily co-operate with secular conspirators to kill Hitler. Bonhoeffer also accepted the teaching “that all who take up the sword will perish by the sword.” He knew it to refer to him and his circle. It is in this spirit too that he could say “I pray for the defeat of my country, for I think this is the only possibility of paying for all the suffering that my country has caused in the world” (p. 101).

According to Siemon-Netto, Goerdeler, the mayor of Leipzig who was executed by the Nazis, was rooted in nineteenth-century Protestant liberalism (p. 111) but he internalized the “ethos and attitude” of Lutheranism (p. 112). As his daughter Marianne Meyer-Krahmer confirmed when Siemon-Netto interviewed her, Goerdeler warned all and sundry against the danger of Hitler. Her father valued and stood up for Leipzig’s Jewish heritage and citizens and saw as clearly as his other close Lutheran colleagues in the resistance that Hitler was determined to destroy three enemies: the Jews first, then the Christians, and finally capitalism (p. 106, 116). It is a sad chapter in human history that brave men like Goerdeler too were defeated by men who could not understand his subtle Lutheran distinctions and the necessity of thinking on two levels. Goerdeler’s sense, on the one hand, that a moral catastrophe had befallen Germany that would be a danger to the world and his political point, on the other, that National Socialism was largely the result of the injustice of Versailles was seen as deception by Vansittart (p. 145).

In response, Vansittart soon used a race-based “militarism” cliché that fired the hate of the British for a war that could possibly have been averted in 1938 had Goerdeler’s plan of action been debated in British parliament (p. 120, 126, 130). Instead, revenge against and punishment of the Germans lasted until 1949 and beyond (p. 136, 142), and it came from the top: the Roosevelts (p. 134-139), Vansittart (p.126), Churchill (p.128), and the British Bomber Command (p.129).

But Luther was vindicated. Luther’s “two realms” doctrine as it was applied in the German Democratic Republic, which German humor says was neither German, nor Democratic, nor a Republic, was one of the most powerful tools to defeat the Stalin made dictatorship peacefully. The two realms doctrine simply enabled the Christian “to be guided by natural reason while operating in the secular realm without losing his citizenship in the spiritual realm” (p.173).

More than vindicating Luther, it shows how Germany’s resistance of the Nazi regime, the core of it based on Lutheranism, might have toppled Hitler’s government given time and external moral support. That did not happen, and so Siemon-Netto, a son of the city of Leipzig, tells how the “anti-Nazi Confessing Church, having learned from the past, carried on as a brotherhood within the Landeskirche” after the Second World War, supplying the church with “the theological ammunition in its dealing with the Communist state” (p161). Its theologians compared Christianity and Marxism-Leninism and concluded, “Marxism-Leninism is an anti-Christian doctrine of salvation” (p.161). Churches open to the secular world, Christians listening to their secular compatriots, prayers and candles did the rest.

Karla Poewe