{"id":3124,"date":"2014-09-15T10:51:20","date_gmt":"2014-09-15T16:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/philfoxrose\/?p=3124"},"modified":"2014-10-14T09:24:50","modified_gmt":"2014-10-14T15:24:50","slug":"benjamin-coreys-undiluted-calls-fundamentalists-to-return-to-fundamentals-of-love-and-openness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philfoxrose\/2014\/09\/benjamin-coreys-undiluted-calls-fundamentalists-to-return-to-fundamentals-of-love-and-openness\/","title":{"rendered":"Benjamin Corey’s “Undiluted” Calls Fundamentalists to Return to Fundamentals of Love and Openness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"undiluted\"<\/a>Fundamentalism is associated with right-wing movements that say the true path is one of harshness, judgement and tribalism. But there have always been waves of reform in religions calling for a return to other types of fundamentals; they sometimes (rarely) say that the old ways to which we should return are more gentle, open and loving. For the last few generations, conservative fundamentalists have defined Christianity in the public sphere. But this has been crumbling in recent years as their children and grandchildren find their own path. Many are struck by the disconnect between the teachings of Jesus upon which they\u2019re told their religion is based, and the politics and behavior of the Christianity in which they\u2019re raised. The core teachings of Jesus are so focused on love, mercy and non-aggression that it takes a deliberate ignoring of those teachings to maintain a Christianity which is angry, unmerciful and materialistic. <\/p>\n

Fundamentalist reformers by definition believe they are bringing the faith back to its roots; this usually goes hand-in-hand with extreme judgment of the current state of the faith, which they see as watered down, tainted by outside influences. Benjamin Corey begins Undiluted: Rediscovering the Radical Message of Jesus<\/i><\/a>\"\" by talking about how fundamentalists have used the term \u201cwatering down the message\u201d as a criticism of liberal Christianity, suggesting that the purer version of Christianity is theirs, which is rooted in Old Testament law. Corey says, no, the undiluted Christianity is one grounded in the words and person of Jesus. In this way, Corey is no different from other fundamentalists; it\u2019s just that the fundamentals he seeks to return to are based on the teachings of Jesus rather than the book of Leviticus. Undiluted<\/i><\/a>\"\" is more a personal testimonial than a theological treatise. It follows Corey as he encounters the authentic Jesus and struggles to follow Him, learning that this means changing his worldview from the black-and-white one his fundamentalist upbringing gave him.<\/p>\n

A favorite observation of mine by Richard Rohr about the Christian contemplative path could be applied equally well to reorienting one\u2019s life to follow the teachings of Jesus (because those amount to the same thing): It will ruin you for cocktail party conversation. Your views will no longer fit into neat predefined partisan little boxes, and you\u2019ll be unwilling to share in the demonizing of those with whom you disagree; you might even argue for a better understanding of what might be right in their views. It also changes your priorities. You will care a lot less about what you have and what others think of you, and a lot more about your relationships with other people and whether they are grounded in love (leading to the revelation that many of your current relationships are not grounded in love.)<\/p>\n

In some ways Undiluted<\/i><\/a>\"\"\u2018s strongest message is also its limitation. Echoing the Jesus movement which was one part of the roots of modern evangelicalism, Corey says again and again: it\u2019s all about Jesus. I bristle whenever I hear this litmus test.\u00a0After many years as a Quaker, shunning ritual, tradition and church authority, more recently I\u2019ve come to find tremendous Truth and spiritual beauty in them. Yes, it should all be consistent with Jesus, but I don\u2019t think it all<\/i> has to be about Jesus. For example, the Jesus test comes up with my Christian meditation practice. Every once in a while, I\u2019ll meet someone who says that if Jesus is not central in the practice then it is dangerous \u2014 open to the demonic or something. No. It\u2019s just a spiritual practice that\u2019s not all about Jesus. The fact that Jesus isn\u2019t central doesn\u2019t mean the Devil is. It just means it\u2019s about something else. (In this case, about developing a less self-focused, thought-driven posture towards life, which will indirectly leave far more room for Jesus, and seeing every person as your neighbor.)<\/p>\n

So in some ways, Corey has set up a new Them, perpetuating the us\/them dichotomy. The new Them is the conservative Christian leaders. He equates them to the Pharisees of Jesus\u2019 time, and suggests these tradition- and law-oriented bureaucrats are the opposition. But the Pharisees weren\u2019t Jesus\u2019 enemies. As Amy-Jill Levine has pointed out, the Pharisees were simply religious leaders of that time; Jesus debated with them, some helped him, some followed him, some opposed him; one was Paul. Most were not hypocrites then, nor are most church leaders hypocrites today.<\/p>\n

Obviously there\u2019s immeasurable importance in returning regularly to the words of Jesus. For Corey\u2019s own journey, this seems to be what was necessary to break free of the fundamentalism in which he was raised. Undiluted<\/i><\/a>\"\" offers those from a fundamentalist tradition a way out of the political quagmire their movement has descended into. It is a reminder that the center of Christianity is Jesus Christ; that if an article of dogma or political posture is in contradiction to the teachings of Jesus, then it cannot and should not be a part of their faith.\u00a0While I agree with much of what Corey says, I prefer a posture that is less combative and negative; one that simply speaks to the way Christianity could be. But I\u2019m not a former fundamentalist. I was not raised in that culture and so I am not reacting against it.\u00a0This book is an impassioned and provocative book, and will be most valuable to ex-fundamentalists who are on a path similar to Corey\u2019s. And also, as Kurt Willems observes<\/a>, for them to hand to their fundamentalist friends who are worried about them.<\/p>\n

\n

Undiluted: Rediscovering the Radical Message of Jesus<\/i><\/a>\"\" is a selection of the Patheos Book Club. \u00a0For other posts about the book, samples, more information or to join the conversation, click here<\/a>. And join a live chat on Undiluted<\/em> with Ben Corey and some other popular Patheos bloggers \u2014 Zach Hoag, Reba Riley, David Henson and Matthew Paul Turner \u2014 on Wednesday, September 17 at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. The link for that is on the book club page too.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Undiluted” is more a personal testimonial than a theological treatise. It follows Corey as he encounters the authentic Jesus and struggles to follow Him, learning that this means changing his worldview from the black-and-white one his fundamentalist upbringing gave him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1139,"featured_media":3125,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[42],"class_list":["post-3124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith-spirituality","tag-books"],"yoast_head":"\nBenjamin Corey's "Undiluted" Calls Fundamentalists to Return to Fundamentals of Love and Openness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""Undiluted" is more a personal testimonial than a theological treatise. 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