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Wade 1 year, 5 months ago.
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Booksbooks books.
Any theologian has them. Lots of them. With their shiny (male) names on the cover and verbose writing styles, each encouraging whatever theology one believes in whilst quietly refuting others… right?
I’ve read quite a few christian books about christian things, and non-christian things (then I decided I found the christian perspective too narrow and decided to widen my reading circle) but for a time, that’s what I read because I had been taught to understand it as being more relevant, and more truthful. I’m glad, personally, that I went away from this but I’ve been thinking about the nature of theological books, why they’re needed, what purpose they serve, and how much they can be trusted.
Recently my dad bought the book “What every Christian needs to know abou the Qur’an” By James R White which is by a christian who doesn’t have any degrees in history or anything that I could see. I was skeptical because, well, Islam from a non-intellectual Christian perspective, that’s going to end well, and said to dad that to understand the religion a more objective view might be helpful. He immediately got defensive and said that everyone’s view is bias, and his primary responsibility is as a christian, so that’s what he must read. Why this intense distrust of anything “un-christian”? But then I’ve grown a distrust for most things christian and I’m starting to question if that’s actually constructive when I’m pretty much open to anything else.I went to find reviews of this book, but I couldn’t find anything that wasn’t also written by a christian. (So if you know anything about it, that’d be cool.)
So I guess my questions are generally about theology and intellectualism. List;
-Has being well-read become this coveted trait of pastors, whereby it’s possibly more important than their spiritual life?
-Could christian-specific reading be faux-intellectualism?
-Do you think there’s a good reason to read a lot of literature from a particular perspective?
-Do you find christian books helpful, or enlightening at all? If so, how do you choose your authors?
I too was deluded into this idea that every perspective had to be Christian-based and thus most of the books I read (though I didn’t read that many) were from a Christian perspective. As far as I am concerned, the only way you are going to get a fair reflection on something like an entire religion is from an objective, historical point of view with evidence driving it forward. I read a book during my history studies called A Global History of Christianity by David Chidester, and its the best analysis of the religion I have read, that coming from a non-Christian, who respected the religion and the faith as it was and truly got to grips with what it was all about and it worked, and its general and broad history over a millennium. I just think for a lot of Christians, they fear a differing interpretation on a given topic, or this ‘bias’ they talk about, so if everything is biased then it might as well be Christian bias right?
And in answer to the questions from my point of view at least:
– I couldn’t say whether being well-read is more important than one’s spiritual life being that I haven’t been a pastor haha, but I get this impression that whenever a topic comes up that may challenge Christianity in someway, be it Evolution or what have you, a lot of Christians will immediately seek out books on the topic, written by Christians of course, and then will preach a sermon on it or talk about it to others, claiming that they know now it all and science has it wrong. I know that at least because its what I did for a time…
– Which kinda of leads onto the second point, it is misguided intellectualism. Far too often you will find a book on something, a critique of evolution perhaps, and a person will point out all the credentials and science degrees that this one person has and because of this, everything they say is completely true, the bonus is that they are a Christian and they fighting for their side. I think anything that avoids the objective and the evidence is doomed to fail at being truly intellectual.
– Well from a Christian perspective, there is reason enough to read everything from one perspective because they are afraid of differing opinions and interpretations. But really I see there being no benefit at all from just seeing everything from one narrow perception, the only way we are going to grow and understand each other better is if we explore differing view points. But in the case of history like with the Qu’ran, you simply must leave all world views behind if you want a proper analysis of it.
– I’ve personally found some Christian books helpful definitely, but I just think you need to read stuff from varying world views to get the full story sort of speak. If I’m reading a book on a scientific topic then I will look at the authors education perhaps, not whether or not they follow a particular belief, and then I will check out the reviews and see if proper scientific blocks have reviewed it and deemed it worthy. It depends what the book is about.
Oooo I love these questions! I can’t wait to hear other peoples perspecives! Yay! Thanks for asking.
1. In my experience of many pastors it is indeed become a coveted trait of pastors to be “well-read.” In my experience this speaks to an “intellectual” gospel that keeps them/us from having to look bravely at the dark spaces within. This is not true of all pastors but many.
2. Yes of course christian specific reading can be faux intellectualism. There are whole schools and colleges like this. Why does anything need to be labeled “christian.” I find the label itself narrow.
3. Yes it’s good to read a lot of literature from a particular perspective. But tempering it with other influences will certainly broaden one’s perspective and give one a better view and better understanding.
4. Some christian books are helpful and enlightening. But some would call the books I call christian, not christian at all. I choose my authors by recommendations from people I know such as David or folks here at TLS or other people that I think are interesting and alive and present to life. I follow the New York Times book reviews and folks like Dr. Tanya Luhrmann, or books that Anne Lamott suggests, or simply something that I’m interested in knowing about and I want several perspectives.
AnonymousWow, I like the way you think, or perhaps I should say, I like that you think. I’m right there with you. Just this morning I was thinking that sometimes we should employ the two year old system of inquiry, “but why?” Push back against the faux-intellect.
I’ve also been thinking and reading (atheist/science types) about how the brain works, about how we decide what is worth embracing (truth) and what should be ignored or rejected. It’s quite a simple process and not really very reliable. We simply compare. If that’s true, and this agrees, then it must be true too. As very young children the system works quite well because there are fewer prejudices. However, we quickly learn that we should value information (without prejudice) that comes from our tribe, and the value should relate to the power structure (authority). This of course is an extreme prejudice. By the time we’re teen’s we begin to see cracks in the structure.
My experience has been that I kept on patching the cracks with the same old, and now finally in my 50’s the cracks are proving too much for the same old. I’m now reading outside the structure, deconstructing, and although it’s disturbing, I am feeling better.
Good for you for wrestling with it now. And, great questions.
Well I have two bookshelves downstairs, one full of “Christian” books, one full of “other” books. My division between these is not rigorous. I will draw from both of these sets equally, if I am looking for a real perspective on an issue.
The “Christian” books are important to get a view from the inside on an area of theology, the range of insights, the academic theological insights, the ideas that a poopularist is discussing. They are important to read, because others are reading them, so to understand and debate with others, I need to be able to discuss on a level playing field – ish.
The “other” collection contains a whole range of deep and intriguing work, for reference, for insight into my writing (did I mention I have written a story….) for enjoyment etc. The important thing is that, if I want considered opinion on a subject, I will probably draw from both sides. I don’t particularly distinguish, and I find that people like Richard Bach can help me thing as well as Jurgen Moltmann. They both – and many others, less academic – give insights into truth and reality, and that is what I am interested in. I only separate them in the way I do because that provides a useful way of organising them – and there are times that I don’t know where a particular book should belong.
Now then, what were your questions? Oh yes. I think pastors should be well read. But that means they should be read across a wide range of styles and ideas. Ideally, they should have read at least 2 of the top 10 Christian books of the year, 2 of the top 10 fiction books, and at least 1 of the top 10 factual books. That would be just about enough to keep on top of where thinking and ideas are in the world and within Christian circles.
Faux-intellectualism? well yes, although not entire faux. For my PhD, I have to read a lot of material from a particular perspective. That is part of what I have to do to achieve the level of understanding that I need for this level of study. There is a sense among some pastors that if they keep up with the trendy books in Christian circles they can be considered an expert in matters of faith and doctrine. Which is, of course, crap, because you need to read and engage with something far wider to manage this. And, I should point out, my PhD thesis contains references from both sides of my collection, from academic texts and easy-reading material. To understand my subject – which is partly about people – I need to understand the whole realm, insights from a range of people. Otherwise I am just an academic snob, and actually know nothing.
Choosing authors – mainly by recommendation. Currently reading Becky Garrison, because she came up as someone who might be able to give me some useful insights and assistance in my quest to understand faith without the church. The real challenge is to read with a critical eye, to understand in the wider context what a person is writing about. that means you need to be well read to read well. I tend to read what others around me suggest, with some restrictions, of course, because that is where I can best relate to myself and to others.
The problem nowadays @mxmagpie is that for a Christian author to get published they have to write within certain theological parameters that are popular or they won’t get published. Actually, I think Anne Rice, the famous author of the vampire novels as well as others, said that if you wanted to get published you had to sleep with someone in the publishing business. So I am very suspect of “Christian” books now. I seldom seldom seldom come across a good one. I find myself reading more philosophy now than anything. They seem to be asking the right questions that matter. Like Zizek.
@David – I think it is even worse, that people who might have something to say don;t even write, because they cannot fit into the required form. So you don;t even get self-pub work that is good. Self-pub should be a good option, but so much Christian material there is extremist or crazy.
It is a pity, because there there is a market – not huge, but important – for thoughtful, challenging but not slick or systematic.
David – how did you get your material published?
I’ve also started finding “Christian” literature limiting.
An example: I heard some interesting assertions about the apostle Paul from a BBC documentary about the Bible. Enough to make me think again about how my church’s teaching normally approaches him. I went initially exploring through Wikipedia (there are clearly people interested in keeping topics like that up-to-date and impartial), and then went looking in my local Christian book store. I was searching for a work or study guide for looking at Paul’s writings in the order he wrote his letters. Found one that seemed good. Bought it. Started reading it. It had a great opportunity to look at the history of Paul alongside the letters we still have. It didn’t take it. It also used a fairly flimsy reason to disagree with some serious scholarship about which letter was likely first.
By contrast, the book “Pagan Christianity” from George Barna and Frank Viola was potentially disruptive enough that the publisher (Tyndale) put a foreword in the front of the book to say that they didn’t quite agree with it, but thought it was a topic worth discussing. I’ve never seen a publisher’s foreword before.
I want to see more books by Christians from Christian publishers who feel they need to defend their decision to publish it with a publisher’s foreword.
Wade.
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