(New York: Seabury, 2008). Of course, it is always encouraging to find others drawing the same conclusions and making the same points as oneself. For instance, Brown makes the same point I made not long ago on this blog, namely that the fundamentalist denial of the obvious diversity in the Bible renders its position unbiblical (pp.17,19; see also pp.23-24). Brown seeks to plot a balanced course between the extremes of conservativism and liberalism (for he distinguishes between ‘liberal’ and ‘progressive’): “To pretend that our past histories are absolute or inerrant is a mistake, but to ignore the power of our fallible traditions to transform the present is also a grave mistake” (p.14).
Brown explains that the Bible itself provides a model for us. In the Bible we find authors who disagree with other authors whose works are also part of Scripture. This should encourage us to follow their example and dare to disagree with Biblical authors in the same sort of way, while remaining in constructive dialogue with them (pp.24-25). In connection with this, Brown’s reading of the Tower of Babel story as about God intervening when a drive towards uniformity got out of hand is intriguing and challenging (p.65). Diversity is viewed as essential to keep us from ever simply equating our views and assumptions with the unquestionable, obvious truth.
If I may sum up his points on these matters with a bold way of putting it of my own, the Biblical thing to do is to disagree with some of the things we find in the Bible.
Brown covers many topics, including images of God, but perhaps writes most powerfully when he defines sin as the violation of the two most important commandments according to the teaching of Jesus: Love for God and neighbor. On this basis, Brown condemns as sinful many common facets of American morality, from extolling love as a virtue unless it is between people of the same gender, to having a salary 300 times the average of one’s employees. It has been common for liberals and progressives to avoid the language of “sin”. But if progressive Christians wish to speak with the power of the Christian witness against injustice and various forms of evil, the basis is rightly identified in the principle of love, which historically has been applied in varied ways in varied contexts.
There is much that is thought provoking about theology and about politics in this rather short book of a mere 124 pages. For those interested in exploring a vision of Christianity (not the only vision by any means) that differs from what one tends to encounter among conservatives, this book offers a great opportunity to do so.
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