"A People's History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story" by Diana Butler Bass

This book was, in a word, Magisterial!

Diana Butler Bass succeeds and them some with her goal of telling the story of Great Command Christianity over and above what she calls "Big-C Christianity." The latter is what she says most people know about the history of Christianity, even if they don't know much, that is; Christ, Constantine, Christendom, Calvin, and Christian America. Big-C Christianity is the version of power and triumph that does not always take into account the life and love that the man Jesus of Nazareth taught. It is not as though Diana Butler Bass thinks there is no validity to Big-C Christianity, it is more that she wants us to hear the voices and wisdom of those who are often overshadowed by the leaders of Big-C Christianity.

On the other hand, or to borrow from the subtitle, Diana Butler Bass tells the other side of the story from the perspective of both men and women who have appeared throughout church history, some names we know and other names that are less familiar. The name for this "other side of the story," that is, Great Command Christianity comes from Luke 10:25-27 where "a lawyer approached Jesus and asked him, 'Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' Jesus responded, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart ... and love your neighbor as yourself.'" Most of "A People's History of Christianity" focuses on those who lived up to the command of loving God and neighbor, even if it meant doing so without being "in power."

The scope of the book runs from the Early Church Fathers and Mothers into Medieval Christianity, Reformation Christianity, Modernity and on down to our contemporary situation. I was able to pick this up at the Twin Falls Library and if you take the time to read these 300 pages you will be awakened to the wonders of Christian Spiritual Practices as well as an appreciation of the length, bredth and depth of the Christian Witness throughout 2000 years of humanity. As I said before, and I'll say it again, this book is impressive and a wonder to behold. I highly recommend that you take the time to read it, especially if you are interested in Church history and more importantly if you are interested in the people who have made the church what it is.

"Journy Into Islam" by Akbar Ahmed, a review

Over the last week or so I have dug deep into a most excellent book that explores how Muslims see the world in which we find ourselves at the beginning of the 21st Century. The author, who is a Muslim born in Pakistan, teaches Islamic Studies at American University. The book contains his (and a small group of his students) observations and reports from questionaires gathered in Muslim countries stretching from the Middle East through Asia into South East Asia during a trip in 2005 & 2006.

The main thrust of the book seeks to dispel the charicature of Islam and Muslims that is usually presented by mainstream American media; that of the nearly always screaming Arab terrorist or cool and collected Arab dictator. What Ahmed replaces this image with is a much richer tapestry of faith and a desire to understand how that faith interacts with an increasingly interconnected globe.

At the beginning of the book and throughout, the author refers to three separate metaphors for how Islam is lived out based on three separate towns in India. First, the Ajmer form of Islam that is a mystic, transcendental faith that sees every person on the planet having an "Inner Light". This more universalistic form of Islam is not much portrayed here in the West, but is nevertheless an active form of Islam globally. The second, more predomidant form of Islam is Deoband which is more typically the fundamentalist stereotype that we think of, though the adherents of the Deoband style of Islam are not all out to "get" America as some in the media portray. The last style is called Aligarh, and this is probably the type of Islam that most of us along with the author hope to see rise throughout the Muslim world. Aligarh is the more modernistic form that seeks to synthesize things like democracy and modernity into its practice of faith. This third model can be seen as just barely hanging on in nations like Turkey.

The author does call into question US foreign policy as being partly responsible for the rise of the Deoband style of Islam, but traces our complicity back through several generations and does not make it overly political. This book is not for the casual reader, but is one that will expand your understanding of Islam as we move further into the twenty-first century.

A Sikh, a Jew, and a Presbyterian Walk Into a Diner

No, despite the very politically incorrect way of starting this blog, there is no punchline. Instead, I wanted to share an observation with all of you. Over the last couple of weeks one of the blogs I follow is examining the issue of pluarlism (a philosophical view holding that reality is composed of various things or states, in contrast to monism, which holds that there is only one underlying reality). Specifically the blogger is exploring what it means for Christians to live in a pluralistic society like 21st Century America.

For some people the whole idea of plualism may sound foreign or a politically correct idea being forced upon them. But quite recently I saw a vivid example of pluralism right here in Twin Falls, Idaho. Kathy, Eric and I went out for lunch at Kelly's and soon, two booths away from us walked in two men, one being interviewed by the other for a job. The interviewer looked pretty typically Southern Idaho in dress and complexion. The interviewee, on the other hand, though dressed mostly in North American attire, had dark skin and was wearing a turban like headdress that made me think he might be a Sikh (an adherent of a monotheistic religion of India founded about 1500 by a Hindu under Islamic influence and marked by rejection of idolatry and caste). Like many others in the restaurant, Kathy and I gave this man a little bit more of a glance than anyone else, and other than that the two men blended in with the rest of the lunch crowd.

A little while later another couple walked in and sat down between the Price family and the two gentlemen from earlier. This couple was composed of a younger woman in her thirties and an older gentleman in his fifties wearing a yarmulke (a skullcap worn by Orthodox and Conservative Jewish men).

No, I didn't approach either one and ask them their theological perspectives on life or what it is like to live in Southern Idaho and be so readily identified as "different", but it did make me think about how amazing and wonderful and challenging it is to live in 21st Century America. On the one hand it is amazing and wonderful that three monotheistic adherents could gather in three adjoining booths at Kelly's in downtown Twin Falls. On the other hand, with so much xenophobia and religious chauvinism, will our future be as diverse? Perhaps I'm just engaging in hyperbole, but if even Twin Falls can show so much diversity in one lunch hour, what will that mean for those of us who authentically want to show the love of God effectively in such a community?

God's Tapestry, by W. Eugene March: Chapter 4 "Hearing with Our Hearts"

With March's fourth chapter we move from Part One A New Context: Opening Our Eyes into Part Two A New World: Opening Our Ears and in particular in his fourth chapter we consider anew what it means to hear what God is saying to us through the Bible with our Hearts. I think one thing that March wants us to do is move beyond the preconceived notions we have of the Bible; preconceived notions that are largely the result of what others have told us what to believe about the Bible and not really digging in and letting God speak to us today and tomorrow.

He accomplishes this by reminding us in the first words of this chapter "The Bible, in many places, is shocking!" Now, if you are tempted to say, "Well, yes the Bible is difficult to understand" then you don't quite get the gist of what he's saying hear. It's not that the Bible is difficult, it is that it is shocking, as in, it makes you do a double take. Take for instance Isaiah 29:9-10

Stupefy yourselves and be in a stupor,
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk, but not from wine,
stagger, but nor from strong drink!
For the LORD has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep;
He has closed your eyes, you prophets,
and covered your heads, you seers.

March goes on to point out that this is not a very complimentary passage, especially when you take it at face value: the religious establishment and the people, including the leaders of the people are without vision or the ability to see? But I think March's deeper point is that for too long this passage and others like it have not been applied to us, but have been used by the religious establishment and political leaders to talk about others, those who may be different from us.

And it is from that perspective that he outlines three new ways to begin to "Hear with Our Hearts" what the Bible is saying to us:

1. What does the Bible say to me versus how do I think the Bible applies to you? This changes things pretty drastically doesn't it? Taking Isaiah 29 for example in what ways am I missing the point? How, as part of the religious establishment, have I misrepresented the Gospel or God's intentions?

2. We need to remember that God always sought to keep hope alive rather than our old standby of leaning on despair or incomplete memories of the past. When considering the Bible and Isaiah 29 in particular: what new thing is God bringing about in this increasingly diverse world we live in? How does God want us to respond to the richness that is spreading across the globe?

3. In the midst of difficulty we are to seek discernment we are to ask God to help us open our eyes. That is, just as God originally spoke the words of the Bible to a particular people in a particular time and place, how do these words speak to us in our time and place? In what ways do difficult passages convict us once more?

God's Tapestry, by W. Eugene March: Chapter 3 "No Longer Number One"

When did North America lose it's hold on being the center of Christianity? Did you even know that we were no longer "Number One" in terms of Global Christianity? Sure, we are a very religious country, even while some claim the more specific "Christian Nation" title; but globally speaking the center of Christianity has shifted South, to South & Central America, Africa, and South East Asia. In March's third chapter he says:

Since 1900 the Christian population of Africa has grown from an estimated 9 million to some 380 million in 2000. In 1900 about 80% of the Christians in the world lived in Europe and North American. In 2000 some 60% of the Christians lived in the global South or East.

Sure, we still have some of the most "famous" pastors and mega-churches and publishing houses and Christian media empires, but as March points out of one billion Christians worldwide "there are approximately three times as many who live outside North America as within it.

So why does it matter that we are no longer "Number One" in Global Christianity? One big reason is that we no longer have the final say in how to interpret the Bible. For the last thousand years the key theologians and Biblical scholars of the faith have come from either Europe or North America. In this next thousand years of Christianity it is just as likely that profound theological thought and Biblical interpretation will be generated in Africa or India and with the wonder of the world wide web, blogs, and other digital forms of communication that our faith will be shaped by someone whose ancestry, culture, worldview and therefore interpretation of the Bible is far different from our own. Or as March says in chapter three:

We as the "forebears," if no longer the "directors," of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world have a responsibility to do some serious thinking about how we are all to live in this world of such enormous religious diversity.

How will we respond to this new shift in the center of Christianity? Will we petulantly pound our fists on the floor and yearn for the past? Or will we embrace an opening up of what our faith will be and broadening our perspective of who we are as children of God?

God's Tapestry, by W. Eugene March: Chapter 2 "The Diversity Matrix"

In chapter one Eugene March laid out some pretty extensive statistics and demographics to show how diverse the world in which we live today and American in particular are. And as I have noted, just one road in Twin Falls shows off a pretty diverse set of churches, not to mention the little Iranian girl in my son's kindergarten class and his Jewish art teacher from a few summers back.

In chapter two March reminds us of something we all probably knew, but have forgotten. That is, from the time of Christ through the fourth century the Christian movement was a decidedly minority group within Judaism, not to mention the very diverse and pluralistic nature of the vast Roman Empire. He reminds us of this little bit of history as a way of reminding us that how we read and interpret the Bible is influenced not only by the culture in which we find ourselves, but also within the original context of the culture and cultures in which the Bible was written.

His main argument in the second chapter seems to be that in remembering that the early Christian movement was not only a minority but also was highly fractured into many different groups following many different leaders and schools of thought and yet the Christian movement grew in this "diversity matrix" should be good news for us.

I want to highlight this line of thought from March, because all too often contemporary Christians who remember the heydays of the 1950s and 1960s lament the loss of status and growth of the church-of-empire and can't really see any good in smaller less influential churches. But as March points out, perhaps this diversity and lack of status will help us focus again on who matters most; that is Jesus Christ, Son of God.

Is this indeed a time of new growth for the church?

Is this a time when we can really grab hold of who God created us to be?

Can we get past stories of the pews being filled and instead be filled with the Holy Spirit and led into the world with the good news that God so loves the world?

Are we ready to face the new realities in which we find ourselves?

How will God bless us now that we are less concerned with maintaining the status quo and more concerned about discerning God's path for us?

God's Tapestry, by W. Eugene March: Chapter 1 "A New Game"

Diversity & Pluralism; in the past decade these words have become "code" for political correctness and as a result of been voiced with sneers and ridiculed by many. But the reality of our world is more than just a rhetorical device of the political left; the facts are just too overwhelming. Whether you live in a major metropolitan area or in a small city like Twin Falls, Idaho the diversity of religion, politics, ethnic make-up, etc. is sometimes hard to believe. And for some their disbelief manifests itself in lashing out and wanting to block out anyone else who is different or who is perceived as being "other". Why do we do so? Perhaps because we have so distorted the Bible and our Faith and turned these great things into something that they were not created to be.

In Eugene March's first chapter he lays out some of the statistics of the nation and world in which we live. While the global numbers are amazing, his question about how diverse "your" local community is can be seen just by driving down one road in Twin Falls, Idaho. Take a drive on Eastland Avenue starting at Pole Line and you'll be treated to a smorgasbord of Christianity (an LDS Temple, two Baptist churches, an Episcopalian church, and a non-denominational congregation that has bought out a "superstore"). And it isn't just our various Christian sects in Twin Falls, but there is the Iranian girl in my son's Kindergarten class, and his art teacher a few two summers ago was Jewish. And then there are the many different peoples who enrich our valley through the College of Southern Idaho's Refugee Center.

So it isn't just the big cities and coastal population centers that are exploding with diversity and pluralism, but also, a small city like Twin Falls in the Reddest of Red states in America. So what are we going to do about it? How are we going to respond? Does scripture encourage us to "circle the wagons" or extend a hand of welcome and hospitality to those who are other?

March ends his opening chapter with the following words from Psalm 22:27 "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; And all the families of the nations shall worship before him." As you will come to see, these words of the Lord are meant to inspire us to look at our neighbors in new ways and not necessarily to force them against the sword of conversion.

God's Tapesty, by W. Eugene March: Preface

For those of you who have been following my blog, mostly my friends at FPC, Twin Falls; you know that Kathy has returned from her trip to San Antonio where she attended the annual event of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators (APCE) and while she didn't bring me back a T-shirt, she did bring home an excellent little book that is chock full of some interesting ideas about our world today.

While she was at APCE she went to one of the booksellers in the conference's marketplace and asked "What do you have that is really new?" and the representative shared W. Eugene March's new book, that it was new and that the author was also at the conference, meaning that Kathy could get him to sign it was good enough reason for her to purchase it and give it to me on her return home. So what did I think of this gift, especially in comparison to Eric's gift of a futuristic ray-gun that makes all sorts of noise and a Texas Ranger badge with his name on it? Well, I couldn't hardly put it down and finished it within a few days. So over the next few weeks I want to share some of the ideas from the book with you.

In March's preface he starts with a story about a phone call from his mother expressing concern over a Presbyterian publication referencing God in feminine language. In response he pointed his mother to passages such as Isaiah 42:14, 49:15 and 66:10-13. His mother, a long-standing and very active member of a Presbyterian church was somewhat astonished at feminine images of God in the Bible and wondered why no one had ever informed her of such things.

From that anecdote March felt propmpted to address the concept of Diversity as so much more than simply a politically correct buzz word. He sets out fromt he beginning, from his story of his mother's phone call, to make it his goal to lay out how the Bible itself embraces diversity from it's very core. So why don't we see the Bible that way, well March suggests it is all up to how we interpret the Bible and it is time to reexamine our interpretive models, especially in light of the world in which we find ourselves.

I hope like me, that you come to see the insights addressed in this book as very wise and important for the world and even a place like Twin Falls, Idaho that has become startlingly diverse. How we see the words laid down in scripture may very well change how we see our place in the world in which God has placed us where we are to love God and our neighbor whomever she might be.