Loading ...Who Goes There
Rebecca Janney
Pendulum swings – we find them in history and faith; shifts in sensibility from one extreme to another. I’ve noticed this in Christian interest in ‘the afterlife.’ For the past several years, folks in the emergent/missional conversation have been more interested in the Gospel dimensions of the ‘here’ than they have the ‘hereafter.’ Sometimes, a friendly – and knowledgeable – voice comes along to challenge pendulum swings in an attempt to bring balance. Rebecca Price Janney is one such voice, reminding us why heaven & hell are such big deals in historical Christian faith.
Princess Diana, John Ritter, Saddam Hussein, Mother Teresa, Chris Farley… Does it seem reasonable to guess where each of these people ended up after they died? While it’s comforting to suppose that everyone who’s “good” goes to a better place when they die, and everyone who’s “bad” doesn’t, what on heaven & earth is such hope based?
To adequately understand how these thoughts influence us today, Rebecca Price Janney goes back to the colonization and founding of the United States. From the Great Awakening to the American Revolution, through the tumultuous 19th century, and all the way past two world wars and a technological revolution, Who Goes There? Pieces together a thoughtful narrative of American beliefs about the afterlife.
We have, for the most part, attempted to loosen ourselves from the beliefs of the past when it comes to the afterlife. We have found the leftovers appetizing, picking and choosing whatever parts of whatever paths suit our needs. But how do our beliefs about heaven and hell square with Scripture and history? This is the lively discussion Who Goes There? invites.
DR. REBECCA PRICE JANNEY is a theologically trained historian and the author of 16 books including Who Goes There: A Cultural History of Heaven and Hell, Great Women in American History, Great Stories in American History, Harriet Tubman, and two young adult series as well as hundreds of articles in magazines and newspapers. A graduate of Lafayette College, and Princeton Seminary, Rebecca received her doctorate from Biblical Seminary. She resides with her husband and son in suburban Philadelphia.
knowtown
Rebecca Price Janney has written a great book about heaven and hell creatively titled, Who Goes There?: A Cultural History of Heaven and Hell.
Janney is described on the book cover as “a theologically trained historian” and this book is a perfect example of what that means. The book begins with a quick overview of how our contemporary popular culture seems to think about the afterlife and then asks some important and critical questions. Just what are our thoughts about heaven and hell – and more importantly who goes there – based on? With this question on the table, Janney begins an historical overview of how Americans have viewed this subject from the founding of our country to the present.
There are fascinating nuggets of theological, ecclesiastical, cultural, academic, and sociological factors that have shaped and changed our views of the afterlife. How did the various wars shape our thinking? What about immigration? Did technology play any role? All of these questions and more are approached in a clear, easy to read narrative that shows how a nation that once viewed all people as “sinners in the hands of an angry God” has transformed into a kinder, gentler people who believes that all, or at least most, people go to heaven and “are looking down on us from up there.” But the question is still the same, Just what are these beliefs based on?
While Janney subtly argues throughout the book that we need to resist the “feel good” conclusions of universalism the book is not preachy or apologetic in tone. Rather, it is a call for all of us (whether we are pastors or computer technicians) to think theologically about this important issue. At one point she says:
“When people think of the 1930s, images usually arise of unemployment and bread lines, hobos bumming cigarettes and train rides, and the Dust Bowl. It was also the age when secular mass media began to dominate American life. For example, as strapped for cash as they were, by the end of the decade some 80 percent of Americans owned radios, and seventy-five million went to the movies weekly. Radio, movies, and newspapers both reflected and helped shape the culture of that time, supplanting the church as the keeper of the keys to the American way of life. What Americans listened to and watched were aimed for the lowest common denominator in terms of intellectual content, good taste, and morals, and their influence was enormous.”
Based on the currently popular views of heaven and hell it seems that many of us have aimed for the lowest common denominator in terms of intellectual content on this subject and Janney’s book is a timely call to rethink things more carefully and theologically. Depending on how we answer the important question, “who goes there?” our thoughts on this topic shape everything else about how we live out our faith.
I loved this book!
Mar 27th, 2009
chrisostrander
Rebecca Price Janney’s new book entitled, Who Goes There: A Cultural History of Heaven and Hell, sets out to trace the history of American beliefs concerning the afterlife. The problem I found with this book, however, is that I continually had to remind myself that this is what the author was supposed to be doing. Because while much of the book is a history lesson, the author is simultaneously arguing a theological position, which I think she does unsuccessfully.
In the first chapter, Janney argues that Americans have a wishy-washy view of the afterlife believing most people go to heaven, while only the most wicked go to hell. She then says that this is dangerous because only Jesus can provide assurance of heaven. From there, Janney goes on a whirlwind tour through American history chronicling various Christian movements. During this portion of the book– which is pretty much all of it– I sensed in Janney’s tone the notion that America was once a godly, Christian nation, and it has slowly descended into liberal unorthodoxy (prior to the 1960′s people didn’t have sex outside of marriage?? p. 179). In the epilogue,Janney argues that in the good (bad?) old days when life expectancy was like 30, people took comfort in the thought of heaven and lived by biblical principles because they feared hell. But now with modern medicine, the media, and technology, Americans do what they please without the fear of death. She then says that this ground is sinking sand, because the Christian hope of heaven and horror of hell are real and appropriate (p. 211).
My question to her is why? How have you shown this? Because what I just read basically says that when life was short and fragile, and when people were considerably more ignorant then they are today, they found comfort in the belief that they were going to heaven. I think Janney unintentionally argues is that Christian beliefs in the afterlife function as a comforting mechanism to those facing death. It’s comforting to believe your loved one is in heaven, or that murderers are being punished. That was a comforting thought then, and it is a comforting thought now. Yet, she never gives any compelling reason to believe that faith in Jesus is the only way to heaven, which is what I believe her intention is.
But maybe this book was written only for believers, and the author assumes the reader already believes in Jesus. That’s fine, but I still had other problems. In the epilogue, Janney says that Americans historically have believed and acted upon the literal belief of heaven and hell, and that this is what “tenacious” souls continue to accept as true (p.211). But right after she say this she quotes C.S. Lewis, who had beliefs concerning heaven and hell that would make literalists cringe. On page 214, she describes a 700 Club episode that featured a man who had a near death experience where he “went to hell.” Not surprisingly, 1,200 (I’m assuming terrified) callers phoned in to get saved. I couldn’t help but remember how Janney discusses NDE in a previous chapter. In this chapter, people who had NDE described a place of love and light where they were told sin wasn’t a problem and that all religions lead to God. So the NDE guy on the 700 Club had a valid experience, but the NDE’s from the previous chapter didn’t? Concerning this, Janney says, “people will respond to God’s truth when the Holy Spirit convicts them (p. 214).”
I really tried to keep an open mind when reading this. I have to disagree with the previous reviewer about Janney not being “preachy.” I did find her preachy, and also confusing. But I will agree that she asks good questions, and I enjoyed the history lesson.
Chris Ostrander
Apr 2nd, 2009
camelbo
When reviewing a book, there are many questions that I ask whilst reading. Some examples:
What is the author’s thesis?
Does the author effectively work from/towards that thesis?
For what audience is the book best suited?
What are the negatives and positives about the work?
And what/how does this book add to the ongoing dialog of the Christian faith?
In Rebecca Price Janney’s Who Goes there: A Cultural History of Heaven and Hell, I felt that her premise was 2 fold. One, to explore the attitudes of Heaven and Hell during different time periods in our nation; and two, to explore WHY the attitudes and theologies have changed over time. I have mixed opinions about whether she achieved these objectives or not. I think that she began this book with those two premises in mind, but quickly lets it give way to concluding that most people simply have poor theology on Heaven and Hell, and it has been that way for a while!
I’ll begin with premise #1. Janney gives an American snapshot of the trend in our history to change our opinions on the subjects of the afterlife. She is very unbiased towards the fact that there was once a time when the majority (and I question her use of the word “majority”) had “solid theology” on the subjects of Heaven and Hell. When was this time? Well it was none other than The First Great Awakening. Known for such tent/traveling preachers as Wesley, Whitefield, and Edwards, this was a booming time of what has become known as “Hell-fire and Brimstone Preaching”. These preachers would come into town, set up shop, and people would flock to these events and buy whatever was being sold. I say that tongue-in-cheek, but let’s think a little about the lifestyle of that time period.
Moral was low, the death-rate was high, all day was spent working (usually manual labor), and money was scarce among the masses. Who can blame people for flocking to an invitation given by one of these great orators that either 1) played on their already present fears, or 2) gave them a beacon of hope. People were wooed by these educated preachers because education was also poor in America at this time. It’s not that dumb people fall for these messages, in fact I think it is that these average people longed for better understanding and education and “learned” from these people these doctrines they were pandering. Who would blame them? It makes complete sense that people thought more about Heaven and Hell at this point in time than any other since.
But for Janney, those were the “good old days”. Americans have produced nothing but poor views on the subjects since. She chastises those who’s understanding of Heaven is that “everyone good gets to go, except child-molesters and Hitler.” I started thinking about this and I have to say, in all my years involved with churches and my time in ministry, I have NEVER once even heard a preacher say at a funeral, “well, Clive was a good guy, but since he never accepted Christ…. well, Clive’s off to Hell now.” It’s not just the American populace and laity that think that people deserve to go to Heaven, even some of the most conservative ministers deep down do not act this out practically. Only when it is a concept from behind a pulpit, when we don’t put faces to the concepts (except Hitler?!) is this taught with the utmost certainty.
But Janney doesn’t mention this. And because she fails to accurately discover why most people’s theology on the afterlife have changed, I feel that this book is truly not worth the read. Please understand, it has nothing to do with whether or not I agree with her theology on the subject! I don’t recommend this book to anyone because she doesn’t stay on her thesis, she is completely biased to the fact that any theology but her own is poor, and she truly misses out on a fantastic opportunity presented by this book. That opportunity comes with my last question I ask of a work:
What or how does this add to the ongoing conversation in our Christian faith?
I think that there are 2 thoughts that I conceived from this book.
1) There is a trend by many Christians, especially postmodern Christians, to NOT talk about the afterlife. I don’t think its fair to say that theology has gotten weak, in fact, there has been some great theological thoughts on Salvation and the afterlife (both new and reclaimed) that has come out of this shift. But since the Heaven/Hell theology has been forced down many people’s throats at the expense of equally important messages of Christ, there is a tendency to shy away from talking about or tackling the questions that people still have about the afterlife. We must focus on a holistic view of following Christ, and that means not ignoring any of these issues about which the Bible speaks. Janney, sort-of leads the reader to this conclusion, but sacrifices the calmer message for that of denouncing any theory of the afterlife except for the single one to which she herself adheres.
2) I think this is the more important question that Janney totally misses her opportunity on. When you have billions of people in the world, (Janney never really looks past the American geographical boundaries, but the phenomenon of which she speaks is world-wide) and over the past 100 years (or more) this idea of a different Heaven has emerged and held tight: the idea that it isn’t about accepting Christ, but something bigger. That Heaven is a place that people deserve after the hell of this life, or because they are good people, or the myriad of the other beliefs out there. When are we going to let these theological concepts (and yes they can be considered theology, that one branch of Christianity does not have a patent on thinking about Heaven and Hell) dialog with more “traditional” ideas of the afterlife? If we believe that God is still at work and revealing himself…if we believe that theology is as Daniel Migliore defines it: “Faith seeking understanding,” then we owe it to our own beliefs and certainties to face these challenging thoughts and questions. Who knows where it will lead us? I think we would find that these thoughts are far from “poor theology”, and in fact, be shocked to find how well thought out and developed these ideas are.
When we push people and thoughts like this aside for our own “certainty”, we miss out on many opportunities. I think this sums up Janney’s book…a missed opportunity!
Apr 15th, 2009
for “Who Goes There”
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