[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: the ring of truth (was This Week's Recommended Reading)
>secondly, i didn't like 'stealing jesus' (as he so
>piously puts it) at all. i felt tricked by the book.
>it said it was about one thing on the back and became
>about quite another upon the reading.
The back of the book is made of blurbs by reviewers... did you feel
tricked by "A groundbreaking book." - Library Journal ? :)
Seriously, I'd be interested to know how/in what way you felt
tricked, and beyond that, what you thought were the weaknesses is
Bawer's arguments. What did the back promise, and what did it then
become that frustrated you? Did it not "expose the great danger posed
to Christianity today by fundamentalism?" Did it not "laud liberal
Christianity as the essence of the Gospel?"
Having grown up in Fundamentalism, I found myself nodding a lot
while reading, and I was grateful for the history Bawer provided,
because I grew up being taught that fundamentalists, and their
more-politely-named theological bedmates, evangelicals, were the
last remnant of historical Christianity. Learning that fundamentalism
and evangelicalism (in its current form) are 20th century reactionary
ideologies was valuable for me.
I didn't mind the title, because if you look at the division between
fundamentalism and liberal Christinaity, much of it centers on Jesus,
and whichever group gets the right to define who Jesus is to the
public is the group who will control discourse about Christianity.
Right now, when people discuss Christinaity, they tend to be
referring to fundamentalism, which, according to Bawer, is how they
"stole" Jesus. They didn't 'steal' him literally, but they co-opted
discourse about him.
I haven't yet read Karen Armstrong's book on fundamentalism, but I
hear good things about it.
> a MUCH better
>book along those lines is 'sinners in the hands of an
>angry church' by dean merrill.
I am off to Amazon now to have a looksee.
-John
np Sting 'The Soul Cages'
--
+++++++++++++++++++++
"Those on their way are almost invisible
to those who are not. A man or woman
recognizes God and starts out. The others
say he, or she, is losing faith."
-Jelaluddin Rumi
+++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.geocities.com/eustacescrubb
---------------
Unsubscribe by going to http://www.actwin.com/MediaNation/OtR/
Follow-Ups:
References: