(8 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
Loading ...A People’s History of Christianity by Diana Butler Bass
Am I the only one who gets depressed reading church history sometimes? For supposed followers of Jesus, there sure seems to be a lot of killing and ugly attitudes among the faithful through the ages. I was pleased last year to read Saving Paradise by Brock and Parker, and I’m equally thrilled to introduce you to Diana Butler Bass’s latest offering, which I think will transform how emerging and missional Christians see their heritage.
Subtitled A History of the Grassroots Movements in Christianity that Preserved Jesus’ Message of Social Justice for 2,000 Years and Their Impact on the Church Today, Bass’s A People’s History of Christianity is written in the same spirit as Howard Zinn’s radical and groundbreaking work A People’s History of the United States. In this landmark volume, Bass reveals the under-reported movements, personalities, and spiritual practices that continue to inform and ignite contemporary Christian worship, activism, and social justice reforms in the name of Jesus. The book will offer up a much-needed “other side of the story” for missional and emerging Christians, drawing from examples of alternative practices in every period of Christian history, including:
- Care for the environment and celebrating God in nature
- Defining compassion, hospitality, and social justice as integral to the Gospel
- Peace-making as the pervasive Christian response to war
- Highlighting the female attributes of God, and the power of women in the Church
- Celebrating human sexuality as a gift from God
This is the book that “the great emergence” has been waiting for – a deeply researched history of Christianity that sheds new light on the underreported personalities and movements of the faith.
Bass has garnered a groundswell of support for this innovative project, spanning the conventional left/right spiritual divide. Here’s a sampling:
“It would be difficult to imagine anyone reading this book without finding some new insight or inspiration, some new and unexpected testimony to the astonishing breadth of Christianity through the centuries.”
—Philip Jenkins, author of The Next Christendom
“A perfect armchair companion for contemporary Christians. Charmingly written and refreshing to read, yet rich in details and thorough in its mapping of the major themes and events that have shaped the evolution of the Western Church, A People’s History of Christianity is our story re-told with both clear-eyed affection and a scholar’s acumen.”
—Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence
“In this beautifully written history, Diana Butler Bass reveals the living, beating heart of love at the core of Christian faith.”
—Sara Miles, author of Take This Bread
“Intelligent and sassy, honest and redemptive. …a warning that if we don’t remember the blood-stained pages of the past, then we are doomed to repeat them., but also an invitation to participate in the next chapter of what it means to be the Church in this broken world.”
—Shane Claiborne, author of The Irresistible Revolution
“An excellent introduction to grass-roots renewal movements as well as to the various shapes that Christian spirituality has taken through the ages. …necessary reading for any who may have thought that history is irrelevant for present-day living.”
—Justo L. Gonzalez, author of The Story of Christianity
“…this book is so much more than a wonderful overview of Christian history. It is also a joyful apologetic for a ‘new kind of Christianity.’ I already gave away my copy, because I knew it would help salvage the faltering faith of a disillusioned friend.”
—Brian McLaren, author of Everything Must Change and A New Kind of Christian
“Interesting, insightful, illuminating, and remarkably relevant.”
—Marcus Borg, author of The Heart of Christianity
“In a refreshing look at 2,000 years of Christian history from the bottom up, Butler Bass offers unique insights into the spirit has stirred the hearts and minds of faithful people over the centuries and brought renewal to Christianity during periods of upheaval and distress.”
—Christian Science Monitor
“…immediately accessible, helped along by frequent and shrewd linkages to contemporary counterpoints. This presentation includes lots of folk along the way who never made the ‘power lists.’ Readers will resonate with this inclusiveness and be grateful to Bass for making them fellow travelers in the on-going story.”
—Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary
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EnglewoodReview
Here is the link to my review of this book for SOJOURNERS magazine:
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj0904&article=the-unusual-suspects
Chris Smith
Editor
The Englewood Review of Books
http://englewoodreview.org/
Jun 10th, 2009
Greg Carey
Here’s the link to my review on my blog, NTGeeks:
http://ntgeeks.blogspot.com/2009/07/review-diana-butler-bass-peoples.html
Greg Carey
Professor of New Testament
Lancaster Theological Seminary
Jul 24th, 2009
drmikekear
http://christhauntedworld.blogspot.com/2009/07/peoples-history-of-christianity-by.html
Diana Butler Bass does a fine job of writing a history of Christianity in the vein of Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. Instead of focusing on what Butler Bass calls “Big-C Christianity: Christ, Constantine, Christendom, Calvin, and Christian America,” she unfolds the history of the faith through the stories of the little people and the grassroots movements. This provides for a fascinating and extremely refreshing understanding of our past and an illumination of the effects it has had upon our present and possibly our future.
This is the other side of Christian history, or as Paul Harvey might have said, the rest of the story. There are great lessons and cautionary tales herein concerning what it means to radically follow Jesus Christ, especially in the face of opposition from the powers that be, both pagan and hierarchical. Butler Bass provides a cool drink of water for many of us who have found that power, prosperity and aggression are not necessarily signs of God’s grace and favor, in other words, those who oppose the current captivity of the church by American Cultural Religion and the exportation of that demonic malformation to the rest of our planet.
A People’s History is a salve for the hurting. Well written, innovative, redemptive, open and honest; the story of God’s people rather than the hierarchy’s Towers of Babel. I particularly appreciate how Butler Bass tells our story from the perspective of Jesus, ethics and devotion rather than from the perspective of power, dogma and conquest.
“More than anything else,” says Butler Bass, “Christianity is a love song.” That is so evident in her lyrical look at the story. Our story. The story of the “Generative Christians” who live a faith that births new possibilities of God’s love into the world; transformative rather than hierarchical, formative instead of triumphant, gracious rather than merely victorious. This is a book that has found a permanent place on my bookshelf from whence it shall be often retrieved. I highly recommend it to everyone, and particularly to those who follow Christ. The story is still being unfolded!
Jul 28th, 2009
pomotheo
http://www.pomotheo.com/2009/qod/a-peoples-history-of-christianity-diane-butler-bass-review/
….This time around I opted to peruse the latest attempt at summarizing Christian history from a Western perspective taking in Diana Butler Bass’, ‘A People’s History of Christianity. The Other side of the Story’.
How compelling….The ‘Other’ side of the Story. So why is there an other and what is the apparent ‘current’ side of the story?
To understand more about the premise of the book it’s important to understand both the author’s and Western (American) Christianity’s context. Generally the primary voice for Christians in America is the right-wing conservative perspective. That poses huge problems if generation upon generation of Christians believe that right-wring Protestantism is the only form of Christianity yesterday, today, and forever.
Most of that paradigm can be attributed to ignorance–people are simple unaware of rich forms of Christian traditions apart from their own.
Bass looks to combat what she labels as, “Big C Christianity,” that tells a historical story that follows this seemingly exclusive story:
As a Canadian focused missional blog the ideas in this book aren’t directly pointed to Canada, but definitely the conservative brand of Christianity which relies heavily on American conservatism, will benefit from her historical analysis that extends beyond the Big C’s. Americans will undoubtedly, assuming they bother to pick up the book, develop new questions about their history after reading.
Essentially Bass sees an issue that pegs Protestanism as the only form of Christianity. It seems self-explanatory, even common sense, that this would be one of many traditions in our faith. But since I don’t live in her context I’m going to assume (not hard to agree) there are in fact people who exclusively believe in ‘Big C Christianity’.
The book itself is outlined in Five primary sections: The Way (100-500); The Cathedral (500-1450); The Word (1450-1650); The Quest (1650-1945); The River (1945-Present).
This isn’t a traditional history book on Christianity, and as the title suggests, it is a ‘people’s history’, meaning the stories of select individuals who are largely forgotten in many historical summaries are included. These individuals stretch across traditional boundaries and include mystics, desert fathers and mothers, aesthetics, monks, martyrs, and more.
Despite the attempt to stretch beyond Protestantism, which was accomplished, I still felt that there a blank when it came to Eastern expressions of Christianity. Perhaps the book was a reflection of the diversity in Western Christian history, but it neglected the vast forms of Eastern expressions and people. Since it’s a history of Christianity it would make sense to include those connected into Christendom and not just Western Christendom….then again that would have extended the book into a two volume expression. I digress.
Dare I say it, the primary method of communicating her primary ideas if very post-modern. Well I peg it as such at least. Being a ‘People’s history’ there are stories of people. In fact each section and chapter are introduced with narratives of people past and present. This form changed what could have been a boring account of systematic dates and events, into an interesting conversation with characters and stories.
That in itself makes the book far more accessible offering the reader to, as mentioned, in the very least, ask different questions about the different impressions and contributions that make up North American Christianity what it is today.
http://www.pomotheo.com/2009/qod/a-peoples-history-of-christianity-diane-butler-bass-review/
Jul 30th, 2009
mhasty
There has been a rise in recent years for people to return to their roots; to understand the inner workings of who their ancestors were discover their heritage. In the author’s spiritual walk with Christ and her own study of Christian history she kept having conversations with her friends that ended up with statements like “I don’t have trouble with Jesus. It’s all the stuff that happened after Jesus that makes me mad.” (pg.1) It is this sense of discontentment and question that caused Diana Butler Bass to write A People’s History Of Christianity.
I have also expressed some discouragement, along with many of my friends, over the state of the evangelical church in the present day. There are times when we just stand back with mouths agape and eyes wide thinking out loud “How did we get to here?” It’s this very question that Bass hopes to answer through A People’s History Of Christianity.
A People’s History of Christianity divides Christian history into five time periods: The Way (Early Christianity, 100-500); The Cathedral (Medieval Christianity, 500-1450); The Word (Reformation Christianity, (1450-1650); The Quest (Modern Christianity, 1650-1945); and The River (Contemporary Christianity, 1945-Now) and traces the social history of Christianity through those five periods. Within these periods Bass tends to highlight persons and principles that served as catalysts for movements of Christianity.
During “The Way” (Early Christianity, 100-500) “people understood Christianity primarily as a way of life in the present, not as a doctrinal system esoteric belief, or promise of eternal salvation.” (pg.27) Those centuries closest to the ascension of Christ were filled with people living out Jesus’ call to “come and die” on a day-to-day basis in figurative and sometimes literal ways. It would appear that this “way of life” mindset is making resurgence among many Christ-followers in the present day.
“The Cathedral” age brought about with it the rise of higher devotion to Jesus and a distancing from the institutional church. Monasticism came to a rise and more and more people were seeking true community to follow Jesus rather than the institutional church, which had become nothing more than a tyrannical theocracy. “In an age when people claim to be “spiritual but not religious,” it is fashionable to downplay institutions in favor of a direct experience of the divine.” (Pg.90)
“The Word” refers to the period of time in which the Guttenberg Press printed the first Bible ever. With the Word being printed and passed around this put the Word of God into the hands of the people in their own language. It made the Bible common place for society.
“The Quest” or the period of Modernity was the time in which it seemed that many were searching for truth and believed they could find it. This is a large shift into postmodern thinking in which searching is more important than finding and truth is what you make of it.
“The River” is a name given to this time period that describes the fluidity of Christianity. In our contemporary era of postmodern though truth has become what we make it. Christianity flows up and down and can fit into whatever mold I pour it into. This is all done for the purpose of ideas like the “ecumenical movement” in which people of all races, genders, denomination, sexual orientation, or creed can gather together and worship the same God all at once. Let me say this. I think that sounds like a beautiful thing. I really do. However there when it comes to some issues of theology and doctrine and biblical truth I don’t budge for the sake of loving everyone. The best way for me to love someone is to sometimes confront him or her, in a loving and compassionate manner, with the hard truth of a wrong path they are traveling.
Bass effectively traces this social history of Christianity by stringing together some of her own personal encounters with each section as she herself studied Christian History in college. Some of her college experience took place in conservative theological seminaries while her PhD comes from Duke University in North Carolina. This liberal influence in her PhD work seeps through here and there in her writing as it seems throughout the book that conservative outlook is frowned upon or seen as close minded while “emerging Christianity” and “spiritual progressives” those with a more liberal view seem to shine through a bit brighter.
Bass’ end desire is for Christians to understand their roots. She wants those who claim to follow Christ to know how we got to here… wherever “here” ends up being in the next few years. She longs for the readers to see an importance in knowing history and then to go and make history. (Pg. 310) Bass tends to push the reader toward a thought process that ends up on the liberal, or spiritually progressive, end of the drawing board however she does a good job of trying to stay balanced in her communicating of the topic.
http://thegreatrescue.blogspot.com/2009/07/peoples-history-of-christianity-book.html
Jul 30th, 2009
bkjohn
A People’s History of Christianity by Diana Butler Bass looks at the history of the church from the view of those we have never or seldom hear about. In her words she wants to look at the other side of history, the side that differs from the usual side of church history that we know about. She calls the familiar side the “Big-C” of Christianity: Christ, Constantine, Christendom, Calvin and Christian America.
The book is divided into 5 phases of history: Early, Medieval, Reformation, Modern and Contemporary Christianity. Each section talking about events and people that made that time period what it was and is.
I was moved by the early church’s concern for justice and mercy as seen in their hospitality and forbearance in the midst of sickness and persecution. There was a epidemic in the 2nd century known as the Plague of Galen in which hundreds of thousands died in the streets. While most people were fleeing the city the Christians remained behind to help. We modern/contemporary Christians seem to be more concerned about self preservation than about loving and taking care of our neighbor. A couple years ago in our neighborhood there was a rumor going about that a certain individual had TB so some from the Christian community became panicky and began worrying about weather they may have caught it from the person and making sure they did not go near him. Somewhat a different reaction from the early church (by the way they found out the guy did not have TB-panic for nothing)
The early church took the command “love your neighbor as yourself” seriously. The writer makes this statement, “While contemporary Christians tend to equate morality with sexual ethics, our ancestors defined morality as welcoming the stranger.” I wonder what would happen in our churches that instead of expecting and telling a new convert that he must now quit smoking, drinking, cussing and begin attending church and tell them that they must now open their houses to the homeless, take care of the sick and feed the hungry.
The writer makes the point that people did not convert to Christianity because of the churches doctrine but because it worked- it was seen and experienced in real life.
Another part of the book that I found interesting was the emphasis upon prayer during the reformation. Prayers, not necessarily those of the reformers, but of the Catholic lay people. Many catholics who did not leave their faith began a renewing process and part of that was a revival of prayer. The prayer beads were brought in and the laity began to pray and to organize communities around the rosary. One of the results of this was the slowing down of the Protestant advance in France.
The writer characterizes the modern period (1650-1945) as a quest for truth. With summaries of people such as Albert Schweitzer, Jonathon Edwards, George Fox, Elizabeth Hooton, Juana Ines de la Cruz, John Wesley and others in their pursuit of divine truth
In Contemporary Christianity (1945 to the present) she sums up all the periods including the contemporary period as saying,
“In each period of Christian history particular images or orientations seem to capture the spirit of the faith. Through time Christianity could be described as the way, a cathedral, the word, or a quest. Some scholars want to depict contemporary Christian faith as a quarrel . But I prefer to think of it as a river, water rising and overflowing its banks. A fluid faith.” p.292
This is a 5 star book. I highly recommend it. Easy reading, interesting stories without getting all bogged down with dates etc., informational and good for both laymen and pastors.
http://www.intercessioncity.blogspot.com
Aug 3rd, 2009
Jonathan Stegall
Normally, I wouldn’t write such a long review, but with this one I ended up writing a weird 2,000 words or so. So, it brought up a lot of thoughts in my mind. Here is an intro, and a link is below:
http://jonathanstegall.com/2009/08/05/thoughts-on-a-peoples-history-of-christianity/
Aug 6th, 2009
lucasland
My über-critical review of a book I should have loved will be up on Wednesday: http://wwje.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/a-peoples-history-of-christianity/
Before Wednesday you can just browse around and read all of my fascinating insights and anecdotes. You don’t have anything else to do. Do you?
Lucas Land
What Would Jesus Eat?
http://wwje.wordpress.com
Aug 10th, 2009
TgotK
“A People’s History of Christianity,” is a concise retelling of Christian history, what the cover calls “the other side of the story.” Instead of focusing on stories we all know from Christianity’s 2,000 year story, Dr. Diana Butler Bass hopes to focus on stories that–frankly–coincide with a more emergent or progressive view of Christianity.
Dr. Bass manages to write clearly and accurately. The book highlights encouraging stories about our faith, but she is also honest about Christanity’s shortcomings.
This book is not for graduate-level reading, however. It is very much a beginning-level history, so if you are very familiar with Christian history, don’t expect a lot of surprises.
Although Dr. Bass admits that she has an agenda in the prologue, I did wish for a slightly more objective take on Christian history. It was obvious throughout that she had a point to get across. Sometimes history read as more anecdotal than historical.
Overall, this book should be recommended for those new to Christianity or Christian history. Like I said, the book has few surprises, but it accomplishes the goal it sets out to accomplish, and for that it can be commended.
Aug 12th, 2009
catholicanarchy
The title of Diana Butler Bass‘ new book immediately grabbed my attention, as I am a pretty big fan of Howard Zinn. Indeed, Bass’ book is billed as an attempt to write church history “in the same spirit” as Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. With this kind of title and marketing strategy, Bass is likely to attract a lot of readers. The difficult part, though, of modeling a book after such a classic work is that readers and reviewers have no choice but to evaluate the book in light of the original.
Read the rest of my review
here : http://catholicanarchy.org/?p=1013
or here : http://vox-nova.com/2009/08/14/book-review-a-peoples-history-of-christianity/
Aug 14th, 2009
derek
As others have written on this page, A Peoples History is a Christian history for the underdog. Like Howard Zinns’ A Peoples History series, this is history for the underdog.
History is written by the winners of wars, the rich, the powerful and the amazingly successful, so any attempt to highlight a minority report through the ages can seem a bit like revisionist history and in Diana Bass’ case, she seems to be re-writing the undercurrent of history to appeal to a modern, emergent reader.
I find it troubling that this book doesn’t much talk about ‘both sides’ of the relegated Christian movements.
Bass’ discusses at length any and all ideas developed in history that can be appealing to a modern, progressive Christian, but where are the many other fringe movements and ideas of history? the ‘heresies’ and books that don’t fit so nicely into an emergent reevaluation of the past?
definitely worth the read, but only if you have already read a great overview of the ‘Big C’ Christian histories so you have a background on which ‘A people’s history’ can build. without it you get a very one sided view that over represents its importance to history.
I recommend Brian Shelley’s “Church History in Plain Language” first, then pick up a copy of ‘A People’s History of Christianity”.
Aug 15th, 2009
youtharerevolting
A People’s History of Christianity (PHC) is a good book, with flaws, but still worthy of being bought and read if one were to see it on sell somewhere.
Bass writes PHC trying to incorporate some of the lesser heard voices of history, she does so to an adequate level, but as others have noted, she tends to hear only from one “side” of the unheard: those voices that seem to mirror her progressive and Christianity. Voices of those from the past of history that are slightly more conservative? They seem to go unheard.
In my estimation Bass accurately represents the voices of the past she decided to include, but did a lousy job of hearing the vast span of voices from the past, ones she may not perhaps agree with.
In the end, this history is more of Bass’ interpretation and reflection on the past, which is wonderful because she is a cheerful and lovely writer, but if readers are looking for an accurate picture of Christianities past, look elsewhere.
Aug 15th, 2009
ian.eastman
The older I get, the more interested I am in my family history. I remember snippets of stories that I heard as a young person about the immigration of my great-grandparents and what life was like for my aunts and uncles in the 1920s and 30s, but regret not paying better attention (or writing anything down). I guess that my day-to-day life in the 1980s seemed much more interesting and relevant than those old-time stories.
Similarly, I think my faith may be lacking because of neglecting history. As a young Pentecostal, church history started with the New Testament and then jumped to the Azuza Street Revival. When I attended a Calvary Chapel, we substituted the Jesus Movement for Azuza. When I later got involved with The Salvation Army, it was about William Booth. There is a lot more to the family history than any one story.
Diana Butler Bass has written a wonderful book called A People’s History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story. It is not a guide to institutions, but an eminently readable collection of stories about ordinary people who loved God and others down through the ages. My faith was enriched to learn more about these people who are often minor footnotes in other books, if mentioned at all. I put down the book encouraged (in the words of the author) to “go make church history” myself.
Aug 25th, 2009
Steven Burleson
In Diana Butler Bass’ newest book, “A People’s History of Christianity,” Bass offers up savory tidbits of Church History from the People’s perspective. Unlike other books on Church History, Bass tends to shy away from the largely negative issues generally represented in most books on the subject and brings “balance to the force” by re-creating beautiful portraits that tell the stories of the “little man” and the “underdog.” Christianity has long awaited an introduction to Church History that was positive while admitting mistakes and reverent to those smaller narratives in which one seemingly-insignificant person or group of people started something that changed the course of history. This Story of Stories sojourns through the desert fathers and mothers up to the present day, all the while staying on the fringes; never comfortable with the elite telling the story that belongs to the common people. “A People’s History…” is truly remarkable at every turn, never boring, and always provides space for the imagination to dream for the Present Age.
http://treehousemonastic.com/2009/08/26/a-peoples-history-of-christianty-the-review/
Aug 26th, 2009
BLePort
Often when I read books by church historians I get a sense that the important events are those related to the spread of the faith, doctrinal debates, and atrocities in the name of Christ. Diana Butler Bass has written a book that fills in the gaps. She goes to great lengths to show how Christians–some with little recognition in most circles–have done all they can to honor the Great Commandment of Christ to love God and our neighbor as ourselves.
If you or someone you know dismisses Christianity because of the crusades, or the inquisition, or bad popes, this may be a book that should be read. The author divides church history into five parts:
1.The Way: Early Christianity, 100-500
2. The Catherdral: Medieval Christianity, 500-1450\
3. The Word: Reformation Christianity, 1450-1650
4. The Quest: Modern Christianity, 1650-1945
5. The River: Contemporary Christianity, 1945-Now
In each section she details the grassroots movements that sought to live the faith absent of a struggle for power and recognition. She shows how average Christians struggled to work for the Kingdom. And she shows how the more recognizable names–like Augustine of Hippo, Francis of Assisi, Martin Luther, John Wesley, and others–sought to live for Christ in there era.
While I would not say, at all, that Diana Butler Bass ignores the importance of Christian doctrine, I do think the only weakness may be that some of the erroneous thought of people throughout church history is given a bit too much credence without a critical evaluation. On the other hand, she does not make very many critical evaluations, so this is understandable. Also, I wonder why Pentecostalism was never acknowledged. I think it is an important part of church history.
I recommend this book. I think it is a great read. It is informative. It is uplifting. It brings hope. Even where you may disagree with the author, or dislike the direction she seems to be going, you do see her point and her reasoning. Again, I think this is the ideal book on church history for those who have become disenchanted with the church because of our history.
See original post at: http://nearemmaus.blogspot.com/2009/08/book-review-diana-butler-bass-peoples.html
Aug 27th, 2009
Scotty Miller
http://noisyragamuffin.squarespace.com/journal/2009/8/27/a-peoples-history-of-christianity.html
Aug 30th, 2009
BigCreekBill
When you think of church history, what thoughts or images come to mind? Boring? The Crusades. A lot of names and dates you know you’ll never remember? Schisms?
Too often we view church history, according to author Diana Butler Bass, as “Big-C” Christianity – Christ, Constantine, Christendom, Calvin and Christian America.
This narrow, “Big-C” view ends up portraying our historic faith as merely militant or meaningless to our modern setting.
Diana Butler Bass, in her new book, A People’s History of Christianity, brings the history of the church alive by illustrating and illuminating it’s living tradition, and the community of people who practiced love and mercy throughout the centuries.
Throughout the book, Bass shares our history of faith as being less of a magisterial narrative and more like a collection of campfire tales, that is, discrete stories that embody Christian character, virtue, suffering and a commitment to justice and mercy. In A People’s History of Christianity, it divides church history into it’s major sweeping epochs and then within each of them Bass artfully illustrates the devotional and ethical challenges and transformation by the people of God.
Read the rest at Provocative Church:
http://www.provocativechurch.com/2009/09/when-you-think-of-church-history-what.html
Sep 1st, 2009
wickdsmaht
Better a little late than never, eh?
Here’s a link to my complete review: http://c2rcc.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/57-a-peoples-history-of-christianity-by-diana-butler-bass/
A clip from my review: I haven’t read Howard Zinn’s bestselling novel A People’s History of the United States, although it is on my to-read list (along with 487 other books — I’d better get crackin’). I really like the idea, however, of re-telling history through the eyes of the people who lived it — both those who were powerful, and those who stood up to the powerful. A lot of times contemporary Christians want to throw out all of church history, labeling it old-fashioned and irrelevant. Butler Bass makes the wonderful point that there is so much to learn from the people who came before us, and throwing out this history is detrimental to Christians in 2009.
Sep 8th, 2009
smh00a
I somehow avoided taking a Christian history class during my graduate studies, instead opting for the much narrower (though still fascinating) Restoration History option. Looking back, I’m sure I missed out. One must first look back before moving forward, because it is in looking back that we identify the great human capacity for good — and for evil.
I was fortunate enough to take a history of mission course, however, which surveyed quite comprehensively the high points of the propagation of our faith since Adam. It occurred to me then, and even more so after having read A People’s History of Christianity, that the history I received was one marked by conquest – many times of ideas and too often of the sword. Sadly, this has been the prevailing history of our faith passed down through the ages: one that favors the powerful, reinforces institutional religion in all cases, and plays down (or ignores altogether) our more embarrassing moments.
Diana Butler Bass (former New York Times columnist and author of Christianity for the Rest of Us) writes A People’s History in direct challenge to this more popular version of Christian history, which she calls “Big-C Christianity.” According to Bass, a survey of popular understanding of church history reveals that the high points for most Christians are as follows: Christ, Constantine, Christendom, Calvin, and Christian America. This version of Christianity is militant, Bass asserts, a characteristic that runs tragically counter to the values of peace, justice and hospitality that have been the centerpieces of the faith since Jesus. As her subtitle suggests, Bass is setting out to tell “the other side of the story,” one that refuses to serve “as a nostalgia trip to some halcyon faith-filled days of old when the church got it right,” but rather as
… a history of hope – that regular people often “get it” better than the rich, the famous, and the powerful. (310)
Bass’s work will immediately draw comparisons to that of historian Howard Zinn, whose 1980 book A People’s History of the United States made waves with its review and (in many cases) revision of popular American history to offer a less power-centric perspective. Bass’s and Zinn’s common overarching goal about their respective subjects is where the similarities end, however. For one, Bass has about four times the number of years to work with than Zinn, who stretches 500 years of U.S. history into nearly 700 pages of exhaustive content. Bass covers her subject in just over 300 pages, a marvelous feat considering its vastness. Second (and this is a credit to Bass), A People’s History of Christianity is more of a celebration of the streams of our faith that have “worked” than a deconstruction of that which hasn’t. As important as Zinn’s work is for this nation’s public discourse, one cannot say the same about A People’s History of the United States. What’s more, lest the reader think Bass’s book is another installment in the “A People’s History…” franchise, it isn’t. As far as I can tell, there is no connection, and Bass is merely borrowing the title with the hope that her telling of Christian history will do for Christians what Zinn’s version of American history has done for discerning Americans.
In this reviewer’s opinion, it just may. Bass’s work is highly accessible, refusing to labor through murky theological topics and opting instead for the kinds of universally appreciated stories of Christians actually living like Christ. The layout of her book is not linear, but more topical, breaking down Christian history into five parts: The Way (Early Christianity); The Cathedral (Medieval Christianity); The Word (Reformation Christianity); The Quest (Modern Christianity); and The River (Contemporary Christianity). Furthermore, she breaks each section (except the last) out into three sections: an introduction to the issues of the time, a section describing the nature of Christians’ personal faith (Devotion), and a section describing the nature of Christians’ outwardly practiced faith (Ethics). In each section, Bass takes her narrative beyond the hot-button issues of the day to the movements and conversations bubbling right under the surface. She skips over St. Patrick, for instance, opting instead for Celtic pilgrim Brendan. Her section on medieval philosopher Peter Abelard and his lover Heloise (a nun who was also Abelard’s niece) is also not a story one reads in most popular church history texts, but Bass uses their stories to illustrate how “doubt and love merged into spiritual passion.” Provocative indeed.
Lest the reader miss the proverbial forest because of a tree or two, Bass comes back time and again to a few resounding themes consistent throughout Christian history, around which we can surely unite: love, charity, hospitality, and justice.
On charity:
Charity, a word that comprises love and justice, may well be the most sublime of all Christian virtues. Of all of Jesus’s teachings and works, his compassion toward the poor, suffering, and outcast claims the admiration of those even vaguely acquainted with the Christian religion. Oddly enough, however, ministry among the meek often provokes the ire of the established church. And those who serve the poor are often misunderstood and persecuted. (141)
This passage follows Bass’s telling of a story about a minister friend of hers in Memphis who attempted to serve the poor inside the church building, only to face fierce opposition from congregants. We all know of contemporary “radicals” who are met with similar ire because of their unconventional or “messy” methods, so one then reads of the controversial Medieval sect, the Beguines, differently in light of present-day experience. In her interweaving of more recent national or personal examples into her historical narrative, Bass really is at her best. Though not in the least preachy, Bass does not shy away from offering her perspective on the way certain pieces of history ought to be applied, a practice that is very much needed in the conversation but will undoubtedly get her in trouble in certain circles.
For one, Bass is unabashedly high-church (Episcopalian), and her liturgical leanings show themselves throughout A People’s History. She is quite affirming, for instance, of the medieval church’s emphasis on architecture as a primary way of experiencing the Divine. She cannot and should not apologize for her religious heritage, but she could lose a reader or two from the more Evangelical camp as a result.
Another small question I have about Bass’s work is regarding her use of so many virtually unknown figures in Christian history. In her attempt to find those people and movements that we haven’t heard of, might Bass be taking liberties with various parts of history? Might she be undeservedly elevating a few characters to an unrealistic position in order to make her points? I am not familiar enough with Christian history to know for sure, though several of her vignettes did cause me to question. One thing’s for sure: Bass did her homework, consulting the very best previous scholarship had to offer. The proof is in her nearly 25 pages of references at the end of the book. Furthermore, the endorsements of noted Christian historian Philip Jenkins and theologian Walter Brueggemann have to count for something.
For those who wonder how reading Christian history applies to our world today, Bass has an answer in her final section on the contemporary church (1945-present). She passes over a clear opportunity to preach to us her predictions of how the postmodern church will shake out, instead choosing to “interview” a few ordinary Christians for their thoughts. This method is consistent with her aim throughout: to tell inspiring stories rather than resort to the world of dusty facts and propositions.
As one who attempts to live out my faith with a few friends outside the formal religious institution, I was moved to greater devotion and action by the stories of Christian history’s micro-movements of love, many of which flew under the radar screen until now. Bass’s telling of them has a campfire feel, and I found myself leaning into every word. A People’s History of Christianity is not simply one of the most readable and relevant works of Christian history in the last 20 years, it ought to be required reading for all Western Christians. My guess is that even a non-religious person would come away from Bass’s work with a significantly different perspective on the diverse and passionate people that follow a loving and undomesticated Messiah.
- Steve Holt
Sep 11th, 2009
blakehuggins
Here’s a link to my review: http://blakehuggins.com/2009/08/26/a-peoples-history-of-christianity-2/
Sep 11th, 2009
Ewright523
I wish I had received this book earlier in the year…I could have referenced it during a church history class I was teaching. Though for introductory, academic study of Church history I still recommend Justo Gonzalez’s two-part series on Church History. This book would be a great supplemental text.
Diana begins the book by telling the story of her having dinner with a friend who expressed some consternation at Diana’s ability to hold on to her faith. Her friend says, “I don’t have any trouble with Jesus. It’s all the stuff that happened after Jesus that makes me mad.” This same question rattles around the minds of many both within and without the church.
The answer for me (and for Diana) is that the true history of the Christian faith does not lay in the official history of its structures and theology. “Big C” Christianity as Diana calls it. The true history of the faith lays in the people who have faithfully lived out the message of Jesus in their everyday life. It is like a current flowing through the center of a large river. One only needs to look at the lives of various individuals throughout history to see genuine faith in practice…more often than not they are not the ones leading the Church…Big “C.”
For many, the inability to answer the tough questions of Church history (i.e. how can the church do the things it has done and still call itself Christian?) has caused many to neglect and reject history. This too has led to many problems because it creates an amnesia in the church that causes it to repeat many of the mistakes, heresies, and sinful actions of its past. Diana states, “Thus we inhabit a posttraditional world-a world of broken memory-in which some tell history badly, others do not know it at all, and still others use history to manipulate society to their own ends.”
Diana does a great job of finding some of Church history’s least noticed people (and some its most noticed people) and looking beyond the “official” history. She helps us see them as real people with real struggles, but also a real faith. She also reminds us of the importance of knowing our history…knowing OUR story.
Check out the video of Diana Butler Bass’s interview here.
By Eric Wright
I blog at themergeblog.
Sep 11th, 2009
UMJeremy
http://blog.hackingchristianity.net/2009/09/peoples-history-of-christianity-review.html
I recently finished Diane Butler Bass’s A People’s History of Christianity. Much like BU Professor Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, Bass focuses on the undercurrents of tradition alongside the established story that “everyone knows” about Christianity.
In doing so, she makes two distinctions from the outset. First, there are at least two different stories of Christianity to be told.
* The first is Big-C Christianity, full of all the triumphilism and conquest and Jesus that we know from history and Sunday School.
* The second is Great-C Christianity, for “Great Commandment”, that traces the stories of people who followed the Greatest Commandment in various ways without subscribing to Christendom.
Bass claims neither is better; she articulates that Triumphilist Christendom understands devotional life better and Great Commandment Christianity understands justice and ethics better. Both are necessary for the Christian life, and thus it is good that both are studied and learned from.
However, Bass is writing a Progressive Christian history, one that understands Tradition not as ways and philosophies that dominate one another, but rather tradition as “making connections though time.” She traces the times and instances, the backstories, the little powerful figures such as Teresa of Avila, the soft side of Augustine, and Abelard’s lover’s tragedy that rarely gets mentioned.
In particular, the latter example of Abelard drew back the curtain a bit more on my favorite Atonement theorist. The extended biography of his secret love, their hidden wedding, and the resulting castration of Abelard by his lover’s family was shocking and Bass’s connection of his experience of ‘rough justice’ and his rejection of violent atonement theories was very interesting. There are many such segments that trace a little-known side of a figure and use it to point towards the subversive history of Great Commandment Christianity.
Here’s a video interview that explains it a bit more: The Ooze TV (or on Youtube)
Personally, while I enjoyed the book, I know why. It seemed more to me like a “Pastor’s History of Christianity” with little nuggets of information that are woven together with lessons…much like a sermon. It’s goal is to persuade that since the beginning there’s been an undercurrent of Progressive Christianity that has only recently begun to rear it head. Since I do identify as Progressive…and I’m a pastor…then obviously it worked for me. But that’s not to say it will be acceptable to everyone.
All in all, I got a lot out of the book, but if you regularly pick apart your pastor’s sermons for factual accuracy and relevant historical lessons…you may want to pass on A People’s History.
Sep 11th, 2009
aconard1
You can find a review of this book at – http://wp.me/p2VFJ-uz
I recently read A People’s History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story, the latest book from Diana Butler Bass. Bass takes the reader on a jaunt through the history of the church from the first century right up to today dividing the years into: early, medieval, reformation, modern and contemporary Christianity. In each of these eras Bass examines the particularities of devotion and ethics that characterized the believers of that time. These are each illustrated through stories of Bass’ own life journey and through characters of history – some well known and others less known.
While I am familiar with some of the general themes of church history from my courses in seminary, I found this to be a quality refresher. Addressing devotion and ethics was a somewhat tedious, yet predominantly helpful, mechanism to move through thousands of years of history in one book. I particularly appreciated the attention to particular characters throughout time that sought to love God and their neighbor in their time and place.
I recommend this book to someone that is looking for an introduction to church history and is willing to engage in the stories of individuals. Bass is a quality church historian and writer.
Sep 13th, 2009
emergingmummy
Originally posted at: http://www.emergingmummy.com/2009/09/in-which-i-review-peoples-history-of.html
It took me a while to get to this book. It seemed that whenever I had a moment, I would be distracted by another book. I think I was gearing myself up for a tough slog of a read.
After all, unlike most people reviewing this book, I am not a pastor nor a theologian nor do I play one on TV (or Internets). I am one of those “peoples” that Diana Butler Bass’ book attempts to record, far from the power play of Christendom. I just work part time for a non-profit helping women in crisis. I raise my tinies, trying to change the world one life at a time. Sure, my husband is a former pastor and may be one again. Sure, we love to wrangle theology and politics like other couples like to watch So You Think You Can Dance, Canada? But really, I’m just one of those regular folks without the glossy seminary degree or the famous friends or a passing acquaintance with Kierkegaard or the Pope myself. But I follow Jesus because, you see, he changed my life.
But now that I’ve read it? Oh, my. It is for us.
She’s telling our stories. She’s not telling the stories about institutional control or orthodoxy. She’s telling the narratives of our lives throughout history. Christianity is, after all, more than doctrinal wrangles, creeds and violence. It’s also passionate and compassionate, beautiful and inclusive stories.
I think it’s accessible, interesting and, frankly, a good read. I’d love to have read through it with a book group to discuss.
Thanks,
Sarah @ Emerging Mummy
Sep 14th, 2009
ashlove
It’s never really been much of a secret that I love books. In fact, I like books so much that given the choice between books and a bed, I’d go with books, without giving it a second thought. Can I explain my love for reading? Not really. And my sister’s the same way. My brothers, on the other hand? Well, they’re a whole different story.
Being unemployed for 10 months meant a lot of different things. Aside from the obvious concerns of housing and food, I had to sacrifice buying books. Books, for most, are a luxury, especially outside of the more developed nations, but an Asher without a book is like… well… a morose sunshine, it simply doesn’t do. I borrowed books to make do- a begger cannot be a chooser, after all. But there’s simply something magical about owning a book, in my world. I can write in it; underlining, commenting, connecting the dots. And so, like any true addict, I found a way to feed my addiction. It turns out there are these sites spotted throughout the web that offer bloggers a selection of books to choose from and review, and then, in exchange for their review, the blogger gets to keep the book. SCORE!
A while ago, a bit longer than 30 days ago, I’m sure, I recieved a copy of Diana Butler-Bass’ A People’s History of Christianity in the mail. I was skeptical at first; I love history but loathe the way most history is presented: dry and boring and devoid of any true inspiration. Most history books, even those about the Christian tradition, give lost in facts and dates and reporting and lose the most important part of an account: the soul. They forget that the reason these facts are important in the first place is because of the people’s lives that wove them together. Bass’ account of the Christian story is encouraging and allows us all to take a sense of dignity in our ancestors. Where most only remember the great downfalls of our story, this book takes us in to meet little known but amazing heros of the Christian tradition. Her accounts kept me reading and gave me a more positive understanding of our heritage.
http://ashlovinit.blogspot.com/2009/09/addict-finds-way.html
Sep 15th, 2009
Gotthammer
Here’s a link to my review of “A People’s Hisotry of Christianity by Diana Butler Bass” at my blog:
http://gotthammer.blogspot.com/2009/09/peoples-history-of-christianity.html
Sep 17th, 2009
Warren Wade
The original reason that I requested this book was its obvious allusion to Zinn; however, much to my initial dismay, I found the book was nothing like that.
My expectation was that this book would be a detailed narrative of the history of “Christianity” as it has unfolded throughout the millennia told from the perspective of those that were victimized by “Christian” history, much like Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States” documented the lives and experiences of those who suffered through America’s “manifest destiny.” I often feel like sometimes that component of the church’s collective history is down-played or ignored or considered part of the “manifest destiny” of the church by those within the church or it is the only thing associated with Christian history by those who see (sometimes justifiably) not a lot of good in “Christian” history when they look at the past two millennia. To that extent, I was initially disappointed.
However, what I found was that this book is written about groups of people similarly overlooked, ignored or castigated. They faced similar persecutions by members of their own creed, were discriminated against due to ethnic differences or were martyred annihilated for their spiritual differences. They have been left out by those both who have strong-armed Christianity today and by those outside of the faith in their hold. Their stories must be told in order to gain a more perfect understanding of the History of Christianity.
(I am not suggesting that some of the atrocities perpetuated by “Christian” leaders throughout the ages against their own kind carry nearly the same gravitas nor am I suggesting that those atrocities that were executed internal to the faith have the same global and trans-era ramifications. It is clear that those external expressions of religious contempt and persecution by those under the moniker of Christianity to those outside have negatively altered the state of the world and the world’s perception of Christians and, thus, Christ.)
If, at any point in your life, you have found some irregularities in the branding of Christianity today and what you have observed of the life of Christ and have known on some intrinsic spiritual level, this book is for you. This book is a reflection of and on communities that have enacted the spiritual life of Christ to the world by way of charity, love, hospitality, goodness and care for the poor. They have lived in small and large towns, monasteries and cathedrals. And, while the wounds inflicted by Christians throughout the ages have left scars on this planet and its people, the works and lives of the subjects in this book provide the healing and comfort necessary to introduce a sick world to the goodness, grace, mercy, peace and reconciliation of God.
Sep 22nd, 2009
astatum
http://www.astatum.net/2009/09/book-review-peoples-history-of.html
“At the present juncture of history, Western Christianity is suffering from a bad case of spiritual amnesia.” It is with this premise
that Diana Butler Bass begins A People’s History of Christianity. Her contention is that plenty of people – both in the mainstream
and within academia – have told the story of Christianity’s triumphal spread throughout the Western world. The problem is that,
far too often, that’s the only story that people hear.
She calls this “mainstream” story the “Big-C” story. Because of our spiritual memory loss, Bass explains, we now inhabit “a [post
-traditional] world of broken memories – in which some tell history badly, others do not know it at all, and still others use history
to manipulate society to their own ends” (7). And, of course, all of us – evangelicals, mainliners, Roman Catholics, conservatives,
moderates, liberals and everyone in between – are guilty of too much “forgetting” these days.
At the core of Bass’ concern for helping us recover our lost history is the threat that spiritual amnesia will become permanent: “At
the center of the attempt to remember stands a startling question: Is spiritual amnesia a precursor to religious Alzheimer’s, a fatal
loss of memory for which there is no cure?” A People’s History tells both smaller stories of faithful Christians that the “Big-C”
story has forgotten and it re-tells and re-thinks the traditional narratives of more well-known followers of Christ in the hopes that
readers can discover the “generative” Christianity behind the “Big-C” story of Christian triumphalism.
What I like about this book is that it helps readers to see that the stories we all know about Christian history are not always the
whole story. A People’s History presents vignette after vignette on topics and people – both familiar and not-so-familiar – that
helped me to appreciate the new life that can be found in what so many people consider to be “old and dead” Church history.
From the stories of early Christian martyrdom and nonviolence to the new spin on reformation hymns, Bass does a good job of
retelling the stories of church history in a way that helps folks to see the “good” of Christian history instead of the “bad.”
Of course, that’s also – in hindsight – my main concern about this book. In an attempt to showcase the ways that Christians have
lived like Christians, Bass runs the risk of painting a too rosy picture of our past. Her rationale, it seems, is that if we can just focus
on the good things that Christians have done in the past, maybe we can follow their lead and do good things now and in the future.
The problem with this is that it leaves out something that Bass is (in the introduction) very concerned with namely, memory.
Focusing on the positive aspects of Christian history which point to the radical, “way of life” Christianity of which we ought to be
aware (and which we ought to be living) doesn’t excuse us from a knowledge of the many places Christians haven’t gotten it right
(something of which “triumphalist” Western Christianity is also forgetful). Our knowledge of ourselves and the story from which
we emerge cannot be fruitful if we are only given a picture of how we once got things right.
Moreover, the “remembering” that Bass does in this book focuses far too much (for my taste) on Western Christianity to truly be
a “People’s History.” Granted, she acknowledges this limitation of her focus in the introduction but it seems that if she wanted to
write an honest history as told by those outside the common narrative – one from which the people of modern Western
Christianity would really benefit – she would have included stories of Christians in Latin America, Russia or other “non-Western”
regions. Again, this springs from my belief that our “remembering” must be both honest and comprehensive and A People’s
History, though encouraging, leaves much to be desired in this regard.
Aside from these criticisms, I did enjoy reading the stories of those who did “get it right” in our past – and I was surprised at some
of the stories of major figures of which I was not previously aware. Bass’ book is well-written and will be useful for students of
church history so long as it is not read in isolation.
Sep 23rd, 2009
astatum
http://www.astatum.net/2009/09/book-review-peoples-history-of.html
“At the present juncture of history, Western Christianity is suffering from a bad case of spiritual amnesia.” It is with this premise that Diana Butler Bass begins A People’s History of Christianity. Her contention is that plenty of people – both in the mainstream and within academia – have told the story of Christianity’s triumphal spread throughout the Western world. The problem is that, far too often, that’s the only story that people hear.
She calls this “mainstream” story the “Big-C” story. Because of our spiritual memory loss, Bass explains, we now inhabit “a [post-traditional] world of broken memories – in which some tell history badly, others do not know it at all, and still others use history to manipulate society to their own ends” (7). And, of course, all of us – evangelicals, mainliners, Roman Catholics, conservatives, moderates, liberals and everyone in between – are guilty of too much “forgetting” these days.
At the core of Bass’ concern for helping us recover our lost history is the threat that spiritual amnesia will become permanent: “At the center of the attempt to remember stands a startling question: Is spiritual amnesia a precursor to religious Alzheimer’s, a fatal loss of memory for which there is no cure?” A People’s History tells both smaller stories of faithful Christians that the “Big-C” story has forgotten and it re-tells and re-thinks the traditional narratives of more well-known followers of Christ in the hopes that readers can discover the “generative” Christianity behind the “Big-C” story of Christian triumphalism.
What I like about this book is that it helps readers to see that the stories we all know about Christian history are not always the whole story. A People’s History presents vignette after vignette on topics and people – both familiar and not-so-familiar – that helped me to appreciate the new life that can be found in what so many people consider to be “old and dead” Church history. From the stories of early Christian martyrdom and nonviolence to the new spin on reformation hymns, Bass does a good job of retelling the stories of church history in a way that helps folks to see the “good” of Christian history instead of the “bad.”
Of course, that’s also – in hindsight – my main concern about this book. In an attempt to showcase the ways that Christians have lived like Christians, Bass runs the risk of painting a too rosy picture of our past. Her rationale, it seems, is that if we can just focus on the good things that Christians have done in the past, maybe we can follow their lead and do good things now and in the future. The problem with this is that it leaves out something that Bass is (in the introduction) very concerned with namely, memory. Focusing on the positive aspects of Christian history which point to the radical, “way of life” Christianity of which we ought to be aware (and which we ought to be living) doesn’t excuse us from a knowledge of the many places Christians haven’t gotten it right (something of which “triumphalist” Western Christianity is also forgetful). Our knowledge of ourselves and the story from which we emerge cannot be fruitful if we are only given a picture of how we once got things right.
Moreover, the “remembering” that Bass does in this book focuses far too much (for my taste) on Western Christianity to truly be a “People’s History.” Granted, she acknowledges this limitation of her focus in the introduction but it seems that if she wanted to write an honest history as told by those outside the common narrative – one from which the people of modern Western Christianity would really benefit – she would have included stories of Christians in Latin America, Russia or other “non-Western” regions. Again, this springs from my belief that our “remembering” must be both honest and comprehensive and A People’s History, though encouraging, leaves much to be desired in this regard.
Aside from these criticisms, I did enjoy reading the stories of those who did “get it right” in our past – and I was surprised at some of the stories of major figures of which I was not previously aware. Bass’ book is well-written and will be useful for students of church history so long as it is not read in isolation.
Sep 23rd, 2009
PadreWarren
This weekend I finished reading Diana Butler Bass’ latest book A People’s History or Christianity: The Other Side of the Story. The long and the short of it is, I really liked this book. I found the writing style to be just as accessible as her other offerings.
Butler Bass is a church historian with a knack of communicating text and context of the events that have helped to shape Christianity over the centuries. In addition to an friendly and comfortable writing style the format of the book was also appealing.
She breaks down different historical eras of Church history in to broad categories located within history (The Way, The Cathedral, The Word, The Quest and The River). She then talks about the nature of Christianity as it was understood in the historical context and then for each of these areas and then talks about the devotional and ethical practices that characterize the various eras she discusses.
I would recommend this book as a terrific study book for congregations and people who are interested in knowing more about where the Church has been and done while also suggesting where God might be calling it go and do.
I found the theological basis of the book solid (and not just because she’s an Episcopalian like me) and her understanding of the various streams of the church to be grounded in solid scholarship, faithful observance and broad experience.
Take the time to read this, you won’t be disappointed. I suspect this will be one I’ll refer to again and again.
Sep 24th, 2009
Courtney
Here is a link for my review:
http://lifeisafastsong.blogspot.com/2009/09/diana-butler-bass-review.html
Courtney Clark
Sep 24th, 2009
addowns
I really liked the book, especially when paired with its very different (and good) cousin, Phyllis Tickle’s _The Great Emergence_.
Most engaging, ambitious, and demonstrative of a Christian identity that is broad, rich, and vibrant, is how Butler Bass weaves the stories of history, tying events from the far past with events from the near-recent past. She also weaves stories she learned from books with stories she is telling from her own experience, as well as stories from school: where the story is her learning about another’s story. This exciting backdrop for the study of the material grounds her understanding of how the church does AND OUGHT to relate to its own history. The subtle message implied here is that a church that is out of touch with its history is certainly out of touch with the Holy Spirit. She ends the book with a series of testimonies that show ways in which such an honest faith is one that is living.
My other review is here:
http://uncollusion.wordpress.com/2009/09/28/a-peoples-history-it-is/
Sep 28th, 2009
David
I read A People’s History of Christianity back during the summer. I had intended to remark on it here at the time but then all aspects of my life sort of shattered at once. Blogging was one thing that just had to stop while recovery happened. The resulting expanse of time that bridges July to October means that I get to reopen Diana’s book and rediscover all the notes I wrote as I read – a pastime that I love. But even more than that, this is a book whose stories, once begun, are hard to pull away from. When a talented author begins a paragraph with a name and a place and a time I am hooked. (For example: “At the height of the Liberation theology movement in the 1980s, my friend Brad lived in Latin America, where he participated in a base community, a kind of radical Bible study group in an impoverished village.”[1. Diana Butler Bass, A People's History of Christianity, 162])
Fact: I will never interpret the text as a woman.
If a faith community is not voiced in balance by both men and women then it is not healthy. From a certain point of view it is easy to see the history of Christianity as being a long line of white-bearded men telling the world how to live and killing everyone who dissents. While we have certainly had our asshole moments, Diana explores some dusty corners and rereads the main bits again to find that the Christian history has in fact been largely a healthy, balanced conversation lead by men and women in community with each other and in faithful dialogue with the Spirit of God.
Sometimes we forget to listen to the full story. We like to listen to the powerful and the male[2. To be clear, I do not wish to demonize those who are putting together the Verge Conference. What these men have done to assist the church to see and live the mission of God is beyond anything I have ever accomplished. But the utter absence of vision to see what is missing from their conference just astounds me.] but often not to the full history of God in this world.
Reading the stories of Vibia Perpetua, Hildegard of Bingen, a fresh telling of Martin Luther’s ministry, and countless others who have either been caricatured or forgotten by history helps us to see how “Christian history tethers contemporary faith to ancient wisdom.”[2. From the introduction to A People's History of Christianity] This book is about helping a very forgetful people to remember. Just as Israel lived their faith in God through remembering his deeds of the past, we need to be better storytellers of the church’s history. It is that remembering (but not trying to get back to a better time) that will connect us with the God of our present.
Oct 26th, 2009
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