The Last Word: Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture.
ECA (my evangelical high school) dedicated a fair portion of their curriculum to biblical studies. Not only that, but they were fairly in-depth (more so than my required bible survey courses in college). But for the most part they were so out of date that they were bordering on ridiculous and obsolete in many areas. In the 90's we were using books written in the 70s and 80s that still represented the theology of the 50s. Very conservative theology of the 50s. As a result, when many of us left the high school, were faced with the real world and with up to date ways of thinking, we found our faith floundering. To a great degree, I think that many of the frustrations and doubts that former ECAers have with Christianity aren't doubts about the religion itself but with the image of it that we grew up with. The more I research and study theology, the more pluralistic it seems, and the more freedom that brings. N.T. Wright represents what I wish we had been taught in high school; not necessarily a representative of what I believe, but of what and how I wish we had been taught. He still represents a traditional view of the Bible and of Christianity, but he is up to date, openminded, and very well educated. If describing someone as traditional but not conservative makes any sense, that is what he is. Representative of this fact is the book I am currently reading The Meaning of Jesus, in which he dialogues with his friend Marcus Borg, prominent member of the Jesus Seminar, about the different historical and theological views on Jesus (I'll review this when I am done). Now, "The Last Word" was a short book (about 150 pages) and it tried to address a lot of things: different views on the bible, errors of the enlightenment and postmodernism, errors of fundamentalism, the importance of historical context, the Bible as a narrative view of the divine/human struggle, etc. Of course, the book is too short to really address any of these things properly and really falls short in the postmodern sections. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable overview of this man's theology and made me want to read more of his stuff. In a way it was comforting simply to hear someone discuss these issues in an intelligent manner, which in turn made me feel less like a fool for being so preoccupied with them. Did it change the way I think about anything? Not much. Did it encourage me to continue with my questions? Definitely.
7 comments:
OMG, your description of ECA and their Biblical teaching is spot on. It bothered me about the school from the very first Bible class that I ever took. It is no wonder I couldn't handle it.
In my experience, questioning is a very, very good thing. When you finally find an answer that you can live with, you own it and that is infinitely better than having answers shoved down your throat.
that meaning of jesus one sounds good, looking forward to the review.
I actually don't remember much about Bible class at ECA. I guess that shows how much I was paying attention. I do remember the dude in the lederhosen though, that was funny.
Though, now that I think about it, I do remember always getting into arguments because my ideas were a bit "off".
It wasn't that your ideas were off, its that they would always twist your words around against you. The classic example was when you were trying to point out that other religions also have bits of truth, such as the fact that muslims are also monotheists. Somehow, 5 minutes later you were being stoned to death for saying that muslims were saved and islam was a valid way to heaven.
I've always been grateful to have not gone to a Christian school, high school and, especially, University. Now I'm enrolling in a very conservative Theological Seminary, and I find myself much more prepared for questioning than many other students. Pretty cool.
Ryan, I haven't read too much real Theology (surely I'll have a chance in the next three years), but there two other characters you might enjoy reading to understand what leads up to N.T. Wright. Karl Barth and Hans Küng (he has to be cool because the Vatican tells us not to listen to him). I'm probably recommending stuff that I wouldn't fully agree with, but from what I understand these guys are the big fish of current theology (Barth is a bit older, but was, according to many, "the last great theologian", now they say N.T. Wright is taking that position...).
As soon as I start reading these books, I'll write some reviews too.
Kenny, there is no doubt that Barth was probably the greatest theologian in the 20th century, or at least in the neo-orthodox tradition, I don't know who his liberal equivalent would be.
I haven't read any of his stuff first hand, but I hear him quoted frequently.
Also, though I think going to a Christian college definitely had its downsides, I don't think of it at all as I do of ECA. I believe most of what I got from Gordon was fairly positive. It was an openminded, seeker-friendly place, though we pretty much ignored each other during my years of crisis. So I can't say I hold it responsible for many negative longterm effects on my spirituality.
Yes, I completely agree, Christian environments, especially when they are open and allow for intellectual curiosity, are great, often better than any other place. That's why I've enrolled in Trinity (vs. Harvard or Princeton, for example). But you kind of need to probe stuff out before, after or during with other people. Otherwise it's like the ECA experience, one feels forced into believing without having been given a chance to explore.
Don't get me wrong, though, I'm not blaming Christians. The Public School system (at least in Spain, I don't know a lot about other systems) does EXACTLY the same thing, but the other way around. You are forced to believe all kinds of crazy theories just because it's in the curriculum. There's no room for discussion which, frankly, makes it hard to be an orthodox Christian. But that's the fun (at least for me), bringing a whole different set of beliefs, premises and ideas to the table and challenging the teachers, the class and the system. The difference for me was that I was encouraged to challenge from parents and church (because the big bad school system is evil) whereas when you are going to a "Christian" school, you are discouraged from everyone you trust (parents, pastors, leaders, teachers, even friends normally) to challenge. That sucks.
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