Stanley Fish on the Drama of Redemption<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a moving and surprisingly orthodox (even evangelical) piece on the downturn called "Faith and Deficits,"\u00a0 literary theorist and anti-foundationalist\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtlife\/2009\/03\/stanley-fish-on-the-drama-of-redemption\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stanley Fish on the Drama of Redemption\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a moving and surprisingly orthodox (even evangelical) piece on the downturn called "Faith and Deficits,"\u00a0 literary theorist and anti-foundationalist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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{"id":1436,"date":"2009-03-02T23:06:13","date_gmt":"2009-03-02T23:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owenstrachan.com\/?p=1436"},"modified":"2009-03-02T23:06:13","modified_gmt":"2009-03-02T23:06:13","slug":"stanley-fish-on-the-drama-of-redemption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtlife\/2009\/03\/stanley-fish-on-the-drama-of-redemption\/","title":{"rendered":"Stanley Fish on the Drama of Redemption"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"stanley_fish\"$ In a moving and surprisingly orthodox (even evangelical) piece on the downturn called \u201cFaith and Deficits,<\/a>\u201d\u00a0 literary theorist and anti-foundationalist Stanley Fish of Florida International University<\/a> offers the following words on debt and forgiveness:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe same message, of debts forgiven before you ask, is delivered (with less cheer) by George Herbert\u2019s great poem, \u201cRedemption,\u201d<\/a> a word that means the payment of an obligation. Herbert\u2019s speaker finds himself in a situation many would recognize today: he has been \u201ca tenant long to a rich Lord,\u201d but discovers that what he owes far exceeds his assets, and he wants to renegotiate: \u201cI resolved to be bold,\/And make a suit unto him, to afford\/A new small-rented lease and cancel th\u2019old.\u201d<\/p>\n

But first he has to find him, and he looks in the places where a really important person might be expected to be hanging out \u2014 \u201cIn great resorts\/In cities, theaters, gardens , parks and courts.\u201d Either he\u2019s just left or he hasn\u2019t been seen, but then, unexpectedly and in the most unlikely circumstances, he turns up: \u201cAt length I heard a ragged noise and mirth\/Of thieves and murderers: there I him espied.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before he or his reader can ask \u201cwhat on earth are you doing here?\u201d, the final line provides an answer with a compact swiftness that is literally breathtaking: \u201cWho straight, \u2018Your suit is granted\u2019, said, and died.\u201d (\u201dStraight\u201d here means \u201cimmediately and without detour\u201d and describes the movement and pace of the line it introduces.) The rich Lord has made himself low and wiped away the sinner\u2019s ever-growing debt with his blood, a gift that is efficacious as long as the sinner has faith in him and in nothing else.<\/p>\n

This economy, in which funds depleted are endlessly replenished, is underwritten by a power so great and beneficent that it turns failures into treasures. Some economists identify that power as the market and ask us to have faith in it. God might be a better candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Correct me if I\u2019m wrong here, but Stanley Fish offers a pretty solid summary of the logic and effect of the atonement.\u00a0 His last paragraph strikes at the heart of the drama of the Christian story.\u00a0 In conversion, God takes the bankrupt and makes them rich.\u00a0 He is, as Fish suggests, the \u201cpower\u201d in which we must have faith.\u00a0 Dead-on.<\/p>\n

Others may know more about Fish\u2019s approach to religion than I do, but I had not known him to advocate for the orthodox Christian perspective on matters.\u00a0 He\u2019s criticized the New Atheism sharply<\/a>, yes, but this seems another matter entirely.<\/p>\n

Whatever the cause, I\u2019m thankful for this reminder of God\u2019s sovereign, redeeming work in our world.\u00a0 For Him, there is no downturn, no sapping of resources.\u00a0 That we are reminded of this truth in a) the New York Times and b) by Stanley Fish shows us just how surprising God\u2019s providence can be.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"