And with the end of party season in sight, a warning about crashing and burning in the afterglow of Christmas: April is the cruelest month, at least according to T. S. Eliot. When he wrote that line in ‘The Wasteland,’ of course, he had not experienced the seasonal doldrums that mark the month of January now that we have merged Thanksgiving and Christmas into one month-long party. After almost five weeks of parties, preparing for them, recovering from them, and... Read more
I sure hope readers haven’t been sneaking Christmas carols into Advent. That might be like wearing a hijab during Advent (why don’t those identifying with Muslims this season worry about offending the high church followers of the liturgical calendar?). Here are a few reasons for not singing Christmas carols until Christmas (duh). To the logic that people are in mood because of the weather, here’s how to respond: Apart from the obvious pandering to society’s commercialized view of the Christmas... Read more
In light of the recent discussions of Muslim-Christian relations, let me add to doubts surrounding relations among monotheistic faiths by asking why Christians let Jewish-American write the best Christmas songs. Most of the best songs that American shoppers hear while in stores and malls during the commercial season that Advent is supposed to turn into a form of devotion come from Jewish-American composers. And most of those songs have nothing to do with Christmas or Jesus. Think of “Let It... Read more
I-told-you-so alert: about a decade ago I wrote a book about evangelical Protestantism that claimed evangelicalism was wax nose on the face of Christianity which allowed born-again believers to fashion their own identity whenever they darn well pleased. Instead of recognizing it as a conservative expression of historic Christianity, evangelicalism was and is simply the construction of leaders, some with good intentions, to create a movement, carve out a ministry, or in some cases sell a product. In other words,... Read more
The Roman Catholic liturgy that Dwight Longenecker advocates is further proof of the Protestant understanding of sola scriptura — the idea that the final authority in the church is Scripture, not the bishops: Some time ago, a friend of mine compared the amount of the Scripture used at Mass to that used in an Evangelical Protestant service. The Catholic Mass was almost 30 percent Scripture. When my friend checked the content of his local Bible-based Evangelical church, he was surprised... Read more
Two-kingdom theology is a set of reflections on Christian life that distinguishes between the secular and the religious spheres — for starters — with implications for believers not too closely identifying the cause of Christ with partisan politics. Its roots are in Christ’s instructions about rendering to Caesar (Matt 22:21). But it also draws on Pauline notions about what is temporary and passing away vs. what is eternal and of lasting consequence: So we do not lose heart. Though our... Read more
Not if it means another Jimmy Carter, puhleeze! But John-Clark Levin wants more of the self-righteousness that drove voters like me nuts: As a presidential candidate, Carter tapped into common Christian themes that unite Americans across race, class and geography. He spoke often of love and charity, brotherhood and compassion, framing his campaign through moral imperatives as much as political ones. Although he entered the race as a little-known outsider, this message resonated with an electorate disheartened by recession, Watergate... Read more
While evangelicals debate the biblical imperative to receive refugees from Syria, the logic of admitting people fleeing the war requires a strong administrative state. That necessity makes me wonder if appeals to the Bible are legitimate. World Relief has launched a campaign — We Welcome Refugees — to motive evangelicals and other Americans to back proposals for taking in more Syrian refugees. On the one hand, they appeal to the Bible: The Bible has a lot to say about how... Read more
Tracy McKenzie has done some great work in constructing the appropriation of the Pilgrims for national identity and the place of Thanksgiving in that narrative. Probably the most bizarre aspect of this historical reconstruction is turning sectarian, utopian English Calvinists into whatever political cause seems most pressing: . . . for most of the last century Americans learned in grade school that “America started” with the Pilgrims. Although they rarely studied the First Thanksgiving after grade school, this early exposure... Read more
The latest poll confirms a definition of evangelicalism that many people find congenial: The NAE/LifeWay Research definition includes four statements to which respondents would strongly agree in order to be categorized as evangelical: — The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe. — It is very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior. — Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my... Read more
Putting the Protest in Protestant
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