Christianity's Dangerous Idea

Book Review.
McGrath, Alister. Christianity’s Dangerous Idea. (“A grand narrative of the origins and development of Protestantism.” 461) Harper Collins 2008
A.M.-a historian, biochemist, and Christian theologian. Long-time professor at Oxford holds the Chair in theology, ministry, and education at the University of London.
Comment. Henry.
It has been almost 60 years ago since I have done a course involving the topic of the Protestant Reformation. Having read this resource gives me the feeling that I have actually audited a course. This is a good read on several levels. It is history, a favourite of mine. It is relevant, explaining the Reformation’s long time impact, i.e. Protestantism. It is practical as it addresses the ongoing challenges of biblical interpretations for Christians of today. The “Dangerous Idea”, very simply put is that ‘individuals are competent to understand and apply God’s Word to themselves and their world’.
My apologies for the rather ‘lengthy’ review. It is a lengthy resource, over 550 pages.
“Luther’s radical doctrine of the priesthood of all believers empowered individual believers.” (3) This is dangerous stuff! It made possible a “radical form of Christianity”. (4)
During the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance “the church was the only international agency to posses any significant credibility or influence”. (18) Erasmus’ book “the Handbook of the Christian Soldier” (15030 had a profound impact on educated lay people.. Cisneros had a major role in the reform of the Spanish church in the fifteenth century. There was evidence of pending reform in the rest of Europe. The advent of printing created an important vehicle for ideas of change becoming more wide-spread.
Renaissance humanism was focused on a return to the original texts (especially the N.T.) to determine correct interpretation. There was a “rise of a new conception of humanity (and) its place in the cosmos”. (34) i.e. Manifesto of the Renaissance, 1456.
Luther’s development of his idea of justification by faith became an “intellectual powerhouse” (39) of the Reformation. His attack on indulgences became a trigger for reform, e.g. consubstantiation cf transubstantiation. It was during his ‘stay’ (kidnapping) at Wartburg Castle that he developed many of his reform ideas. For him they were not so much an attack on the Church but rather “a vision of the gospel that provided a comprehensive foundation for the restructuring of Christian belief and practice”.
“The Reformation is best conceived as a series of initially independent reforming movements.” (62) i.e. Protestantism. Zwingli headed up a Swiss alternative in Zurich of the Reformation. Many cities in Germany had their alternatives led by resident reformers. A radical alternative rose up in the form of Anabaptism. Anabaptists were accused of spawning a revolution when they seized Munster and made it their ‘New Jerusalem’.
After Luther’s death Charles V made an unsuccessful attempt to restore Catholicism in Germany. The Religious Peace of Augsburg (1555) gave the ruler of each territory the choice of which religion he would follow. This gave Lutheranism a new identity.
John Calvin became an architect of Protestantism. His book, “the Institutes” became a significant document for the “moulding of reformed Christianity”. (92 Geneva became the centre of Reformed Protestantism, also called Calvinism. We now have three forms of Protestantism, Lutheranism, Anabaptism, and Calvinism.
Protestantism in England took the form of Anglicanism. There were extremes of reformed Catholicism and fanatic Puritanism that were part of this development.
As Protestantism spread the Catholic Church responded with the Counter-Reformation. Its violence unified Protestantism. From the 16th to the 18th centuries England had a vital role in the development of Protestantism. It was a time of “war, peace, and disinterest”. (127)
Protestantism came to the Americas as a Huguenot settlement in Fort Caroline, Florida, in 1562. It did not survive. New England Protestantism was firmly established from 1627 to 1640. It had to weather strong resistance from Roman Catholicism during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Protestantism spread globally in the 19th century through the missionary movement. The development in Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific is traced. Evangelistic efforts among the Native Americans came in part as a result of the Great Awakenings. The “classic era of Protestantism” (196) came to an end with the outbreak of WW1.
“The Bible has a special place in the Christian life on an account of its witness to Jesus Christ rather than its specific identity as a text.” (199) this principle is expressed by to subsidiary ideas, “sufficiency of scripture and clarity of scripture”. (203) The Apocrypha were no included in the Protestant Bible. The correct interpretation of the Bible is an ongoing challenge for Protestants. Tradition became a strong appeal for some consistency in interpretation.
Interpretation has indeed become a thorny issue in such matters as infallibility, inerrancy, heresy, orthodoxy, etc. Commands, especially in the O.T. may be distinguished as “moral and/or cultic”. (222) Creeds, confessions, and persons of influence (preachers and theologians) will with some represent authority. Justification by faith is a distinctive belief of Protestantism. “The preaching of the word of God and the proper administration of the sacraments” (253) became the responsibility of the church according to the early reformers. There have been many debates around the meaning and practice of sacraments. Protestantism is quite divided on issues such as predestination and events of the last times.
Protestant church organizations come in many forms, “Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Congregational”. (218) The World Council of Churches was an attempt to encourage ecumenicalism and denominational mergers. Worship has gone through some significant changes in Protestantism. The pulpit (preaching) replaced the altar (sacraments). There was controversy when hymnody and music became prominent in worship even though it added a level of involvement of the congregation.
There are five models that represent Protestantism and its interaction with culture. “1. Christ Against Culture, e.g. the Amish. 2. The Christ of Culture, e.g. liberal Protestantism. 3.Christ Above Culture, Paul Tillich. 4. Christ and Culture in Paradox. 5. Christ the Transformer of Culture- culture’s conversion to Christ.” (314-318) Social engagement was practiced in a variety of ways by Protestantism. “The birth of Protestantism coincided with the beginning of the end of Christendom.” (326) The spirit of capitalism, the work ethic, the value of education, and the place (status) of the woman were some of the results of Protestantism.
In its early stages Protestantism was an enemy of the arts and natural sciences. Modern Christian thought was very opposed to Darwinism. Four explanations of creation were part of modern American evangelicalism; “Young Earth Creationism, Old Earth Creationism, Intelligent Design, and Evolutionary Theism.” (383-385)
The twentieth century brought changes such as fundamentalism. “Fundamentalism in any context takes form when members of already conservative or traditional movements experience threat.” Martin Marty. After WW2 there was a development of evangelicalism that was committed to “a positive engagement with culture”, (395) e.g. Billy Graham. Carl Henry, Fuller Theological Seminary. The period, 1960-1990, has been described as “a new reformation?- revisionist Protestantism”. (397) In the U.S. denominationalism has experienced a steady decline in the second half of the 20th century.
“Pentecostalism in its various forms is now the largest single Christian group apart from Catholicism and outnumbers the sum total of all other forms of Protestantism.” (415) In America it began in the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles. There is an emerging scholarly understanding of Pentecostalism that places its historical origins in many other countries. ‘Tongues’, a distinctive of Pentecostalism, gives it an egalitarian appeal. “It is an oral religion.” (428) A theology that is devoid of experience produces “text oriented believers”. (430)
“The numerical centre of Christianity is now predominantly in the global South.” (439) This is the result of missionaries realizing “the need to express and embody the gospel in a manner appropriate to a local culture rather than imposing a certain (western) vision of the gospel upon that culture.” (442) The gospel has gone through an “indigenization”. (441) This has happened in Africa and South Korea and is happening in Latin American countries. Pentecostalism has given its flavour to this form of Protestantism.
The word ‘mutation’ is used to help understand the continual changes that have taken place in Protestantism. “Pentecostalism represents the outcome of a seemingly small change in how Protestantism reads the Bible.” (462) This change concept is captured by the great Puritan theologian as he gave his farewell sermon to those who embarked on the Mayflower; “I am verily persuaded the Lord hath more truth yet to be break forth out of His Holy Word.” “When did diversity degenerate into deviation?” (468) Religion needs to be recognized as a legitimate force.
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