Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Exclusion & Embace

Book Review.
Volf, Miraslav. Exclusion & Embrace. A theological exploration of identity, otherness, and reconciliation. Abingdon Press. 1996.
M.V.- professor of theology- Yale University Divinity School. (Native Croation.)
Comment. Henry.
For me the reading of this book provided much relevant information that I found very personal. Rather than trying to explain how that impacted me I will opt for some endorsement quotes that I resonate with to explain what this book is all about.
“Otherness, the simple fact of being different in some way, has come to be defined as in of itself evil. Christian theology must find ways of speaking that address the hatred of the other. There is no better theology of the present-day context of life and death.” Jurgen Moltman.
“He (Volf) finds hope in the challenge revealed at the heart of the gospel; the wounded yet healing embrace of the suffering Jesus.” Luke Timothy Johnson.
“Exclusion and Embrace is a stunningly brilliant analysis of the toughest Christian challenge of our time. It is a magnificent blend of insightful theology, historical vision, and human insight, one that is enriched by the author’s own multinational identity.” Lewis Smedes.

The cities of Sarajevo, Los Angeles, and Berlin are “connected by a history of vicious, cultural, ethnic and racial strife”, (14) and thus become “symbols of today’s world’, (15) of “identity and otherness”. (16) Central to what these cities represent is the Cross, the self, and the other.
“The vey birth of modernity entailed an exclusion of colossal proportions.” (59) Exclusion manifests itself in many forms, “elimination, assimilation, abandonment”, (87) etc. To resist evil becomes a trap that destroys innocence. The story of Cain and Abel illustrates “the anatomy, dynamics, and power of exclusion”. (92)
The ‘journey’ from exclusion to embrace focuses on four “central sections: repentance, forgiveness, making space in oneself for the other, and healing of memory”. (100) Ours is an age of “oppression/liberation”. (104) Emancipation as a grand narrative is disappearing.
A pure heart is a prerequisite to the action of embrace. When we sin or are sinned against there is suffering. This calls for repentance, by both victims and perpetrators. Revenge and retaliation are overcome by forgiveness. “Forgiveness implies an affirmation of justice.” (124) Without forgiveness justice does not result in reconciliation. “Only those who are willing ultimately to forget will remember rightly.” (132) The story of the ‘prodigal son’ illustrates embrace.
Regarding gender identity, “the ontologization of gender would ill serve both the notion of God and the understanding of gender”. (173) “The relations between the Trinitarian persons serve as a model for how the content of ‘masculinity’ and ‘femininity’ ought to be negotiated in the social process.” (181) Gender identity involves a duality that reflects equality but not sameness.
The concept of justice varies from culture to culture and unless there is willingness for some movement towards embrace there will be no agreement on the meaning of justice. There is great lack of agreement between God’s justice and man’s justice. “To know God means to do justice.” (213) There is a profound “injustice about God. It is called grace.” (221) Pentecost is portrayed as an example of justice and embrace.
For an accurate description of an event, memory is not a reliable authority. “We remember what we want to remember. We do with our memories what we want to do with them.” (239)
Modernity has prided itself about knowing but “the agenda of modernity has overreached itself”. (243) The conflict between “the power of truth and the truth of power” (249) presents a formidable challenge.
“The sword intended to root out violence ends up fostering it.” (277) The introduction of the “civilizing process” through reason, during the Enlightenment is a myth that some still subscribe to. Religion and violence work together to sow desolation.
“The Cross breaks the cycle of violence.” (291) “The violence of the Rider on the white horse (Revelation) is the symbol portrayed of the final exclusion of everything that refuses to be redeemed by God’s suffering love.” (299)
henrydirksen.blogspot.com

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Free iOf Charge

Book Review.
Volf, Miroslav. Free Of Charge. Giving and forgiving in a culture stripped of grace. Zondervan. 2005.
M.V.- professor of theology at Yale Divinity School and Director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture.
Comment. Henry
In 2006 Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, declared this book as his Lent Book. He says of this book, it “offers us a unique interweaving of intense reflection, vivid and painful personal stories and sheer celebration of the giving God... I cannot remember having read a better account of what it means to say that Jesus suffered for us in our place”.
With profound insights and challenging standards of morality Miroslav takes us on a journey of how to give to and forgive those people who are such an important part of our lives. These topics are so simple and yet so very profound. John Ortberg evaluates this book as “Honest...compassionate...deeply informed.” I would describe this book as a ‘theological how to manual’ on giving and forgiving.
“No life worth living is possible without generosity.” (20) We need to evaluate our ‘image of God’. He is neither a negotiator nor a Santa Claus. Creation and redemption are evidence of God the giver. God’s gifts place us under the obligation of “faith and gratitude” (42, 45) This obligation requires availability and participation. “When a gift is given, life becomes extraordinary because God’s own gift giving flows through the giver.” (54)
We ‘should’ give because we have benefitted as receivers. We become God’s channels of giving. By giving we add enjoyment to the gifts we have received. To refuse to give blocks God’s flow of gifts. We must become God imitators in our giving. Our motives are important. Wrong motives destroy the value of giving. The ability to give is itself a gift from God for which we should be thankful.
Wrongdoings may be “neutralized” (128) by forgiving. Naming the wrongdoing and condemning it is part of forgiveness. To insist on punishment for wrongdoing creates a very dark picture for us all. God’s forgiveness is consistent with his justice. “God forgives because Christ paid what we owed.” (144)
“Revenge multiplies evil.” (161) we need to forgive as God forgave- in Jesus Christ. By forgiving we become instruments of God’s forgiveness. “To forgive is to name and condemn the misdeed.” (166) Forgetting makes forgiving complete. Reconciliation is a ‘fruit’ of forgiveness.
“We forgive by making God’s forgiveness our own.” (196) “Forgiving the unrepentant is the heart of the Christian way of life.” (209)

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Following in The Footsteps Of Christ

Book Review.
Following In The Footsteps Of Christ. The Anabaptist traditions. C. Arnold Snyder. Darton-Longman + Todd 2004.
A.S.- professor of history, Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo, Kitchener, Ont. Managing editor of Pandora Press.
Comment. Henry.
The ‘Anabaptist Tradition’ presented here is a historical overview of Anabaptism in its beginnings in the sixteenth century. Like so many beginnings of spiritual movements Anabaptism experienced severe persecution from its critics (the Roman Catholic and Reformation authorities). Such persecution attracted only serious, committed followers and also contributed to the spread of Anabaptism in the world. The movement has gone through many changes in the last four centuries. Evidences of Anabaptism in our post- Christian world may be labels such a Mennonite, Amish, Hutterite, and even Baptist but Anabaptist tradition(s) as it first developed, is more a memory than an actual identifiable characteristic of today’s ‘Anabaptist’ churches.
This book is one of a series of books entitled, “Traditions of Christian Spirituality Series”.
“An Anabaptist was anyone in the sixteenth century who practiced the baptism of adult believers.” (16) (A simple definition.) Anabaptism began as a “spontaneous, decentralized, grassroots, underground movement.” (17) It developed in Switzerland, Austria, and the Netherlands. Each area had its own distinctive. To insist on adult believer baptism and reject infant baptism put Anabaptists in ‘life-threatening’ conflict with both Roman Catholics and Protestant Reformers. In the Netherlands they became known as Mennonites, i.e. followers of Menno Simons. In Austria John Hutter became the leader of “the communitarian Hutterites”. (21) Anabaptist traditions developed in all three areas of Europe.
Fundamental to Anabaptist belief was the truth about the fear of God and the truth that God was no respecter of person. There could be no salvation without genuine “repentance and righteous living”. (39) “The remedy for sin lies in learning obedience, learning to will what God wills”. (40) This was quite different from the Protestant theologians who taught that salvation was ‘by faith alone’. This contrast was serious enough for Reform authorities to bring incriminating charges and martyrdom against the Anabaptists.
Anabaptists declared that there was no Scriptural teaching that justified infant baptism. The baptism that was taught was a “threefold baptism of spirit, water and blood”. (69)
The Anabaptist church (Body of Christ), community of faith, was shaped by “four biblical commands; to believe and be baptized, to observe ‘fraternal admonition’ (church discipline), to celebrate the Lord’s Supper of remembrance, and to wash one another’s feet”. (86)
“Anabaptists quite commonly framed their asceticism in terms of spirit and flesh, language thy found in the New Testament.” (113) Records of prison interrogations revealed that Anabaptists were very consistent in their biblical responses to their accusers.
Communal worship was central to their communal life-style. Some meetings were out of doors and could last all through the night. They were people of prayer and song. Their song book was the “Ausbund”. (139)
With the exception of some Swiss Brethren, Anabaptists made no provision for worldly possessions and ownership of private property. They were strongly committed to non-violence (passivism).
Many Anabaptists, “between 2000 and 2500” (160), became martyrs experiencing the “baptism of blood”. (159) It was “the ultimate test of personal Gelassenheit (yieldedness).” (164) Suffering was accepted as part of discipleship and was endured with great inner spiritual strength.
The topic of “Anabaptism Today” (184) is the heading of the last chapter. There does not seem to a strong presence of Anabaptist tradition in the churches of North America whose heritage is in the sixteenth century spiritual movement.
henrydirksen.blogspot.com