Storming the Intellectual Ramparts, Part 2

Spirituality Column #194
July 27, 2010
Current in Carmel - Current in Westfield - Current in Noblesville
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

Storming the Intellectual Ramparts, Part 2
By Bob Walters

We’re talking about Mark Noll’s 1994 book “Scandal of the Evangelical Mind,” and his very learned observations regarding the state of Evangelical intellect.

In this four-part series I want to talk a bit more about the book this week, comment in part 3 why I think this topic is critical, and will finish up with some information from Noll regarding his new book on Christian intellectual life, “Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind,” that is due out in a few months.

Some weeks ago in this column I recounted how my Wednesday night Bible study had recently wandered into a minefield of conflicting theological perceptions regarding whether Adam and Eve would have been immortal had they not sinned.

After the column I received reader comments of both agreement and dissent at the suggestion. Class discussion had been lively, to say the least, and what calmed the storm in the class was the assertion that before jumping combatively to opinion-based conclusions, it’s important to broaden what we really know about theology.
Noll’s book was suggested.

Noll tracks Christian intellectual life of the Great Awakening (Jonathan Edwards, et al, 1740ish), the formation of the United States (1750-1790), the Second Great Awakening (roughly 1790-1840), and then discusses the enormous education and cultural changes from after the Civil War through the 20th century.

At the nation’s founding, the freedom of the political system, the urgency of new thinking in the society and the insistence on results in the economy supercharged a religious system – Evangelicalism – that was all about freedom and urgency and results. This was the explosion of Christian Spiritual Revival, camp meetings, and salvation right now. Amen!

Ivory tower philosophy, monastic theology, and careful denominational construct …who had time? When the Holy Spirit moves … get saved, and get on with it! That was the glorious firestorm of Evangelicalism.

“Evangelicalism,” Noll notes, has never been a tightly defined “ism,” or formal church. It’s a belief in the truth of the Gospel centered on conversion (to Christ), the Bible (God’s Word), sharing faith (evangelizing) and Christ’s redeeming work on the Cross. Denominational organization isn’t a central aim; having a heart for Christ is.

One can argue whether Christian intellectualism is important – I would argue that it is critical – but it’s hard to find fault with Noll’s insistence on the importance of the mind in understanding God’s purposes.

Walters (www.believerbob.blogspot.com, email rlwcom@aol.com) hopes we never confuse theology, the study, with Jesus Christ, the truth.

Storming the Intellectual Ramparts, Part 1

Spirituality Column #193
July 20, 2010
Current in Carmel - Current in Westfield - Current in Noblesville
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

Storming the Intellectual Ramparts, Part 1
By Bob Walters

Some weeks back I mentioned Mark Noll’s classic book “Scandal of the Evangelical Mind,” promising to read it and get back to you.

OK … I have, and here we go.

Written in 1994, “Scandal” surveys Christian Evangelical intellectual development over the past few hundred years and the news, to say the least, is not great.

The dominant points I got from the thoroughly researched and citation-laden book are that 1. Jesus Christ plainly tells us in the Gospels to “Love the Lord your God” with all our heart, soul, strength and mind (Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27), and 2. (… ouch …) Evangelicalism so far has largely failed at the “mind” part.

Shocking as that may seem, Noll is in a position to make such an observation.

A prolific and noted author, Noll taught for 27 years at robustly biblical Wheaton College outside Chicago as Professor of Christian Thought. He was a Wheaton undergrad, has a Masters in Theology from Trinity Evangelical Seminary, and a PhD in Church History from Vanderbilt.

Noll received a National Humanities Medal in 2004 from President George W. Bush, and in 2005 was listed among Time Magazine’s 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America. In 2006 Noll was named Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame, a Catholic School.

Note the diversity of plaudits and affiliations; he’s respected in many camps.

Noll is renowned especially for his scholarship in the Christian religious history of the United States, and has written extensively addressing the complexity of the question of whether America is a Christian nation. Look him up if you want to know more.

"Scandal” is a worthy read in order to understand how Evangelical Christianity developed at first toward, and then away from, intellectual pursuits. One of my favorite statistics in the book is that in 1839, 51 of America’s 54 college presidents were clergymen, and mostly evangelicals. By the late 1800s, college attendance had exploded and college academics became focused on technology and science.

Theology, once the crown of the Academy (the educational establishment), by the 1900s steadily retreated from the main stage of America’s collegiate administrations and course offerings, becoming the purview mainly of Bible colleges and seminaries.

American scholarship took a track toward the materialistic, and the Bible became Evangelicalism’s intellectual ramparts.

There’s no better book on the planet than the Bible but, Noll asserts, Evangelical thought narrowed.

Walters (www.believerbob.blogspot.com, email rlwcom@aol.com) knows some of this is painful, but believes Noll speaks an important truth. More next week.

Whose Crown is it, Anyway?

Spirituality Column #192
July 13, 2010
Current in Carmel - Current in Westfield - Current in Noblesville
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

Whose Crown Is It, Anyway?
By Bob Walters

“And on his head are many crowns … ” Revelation 19:12

Just before Satan “gets it” in chapter 20 of Revelation, the Bible’s final book, the resurrected and heavenly Jesus Christ is dramatically described in Revelation 19 as an avenging conqueror called “Faithful and True” that nobody in their right mind would “mess with” (obviously my words, not the Bible's).  Of Christ is written …

The “roar of a great multitude” shouted “Hallelujah!” to Christ.  Twice.

“With justice he judges and makes war.”

“His eyes are like blazing fire.”

His robe is “dipped in blood.”

“Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.”

He will rule with “an iron scepter.”

“He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.”

His name is “the Word of God.”

His name is also “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”

And in the middle of all this we learn that “on his head are many crowns.”

This … is our loving, gentle and humble savior? The Lamb of God?

You bet.   He is also the righteous warrior who defeats sin, releases the world from death, and seals our eternal salvation by throwing the “beast,” the “false prophet,” and Satan into the lake of burning sulfur to be “tormented day and night” for all eternity.

I want to be on the Conqueror’s side. I want to glorify Him. I want His righteousness and power to battle Satan when I sin, and I desperately want His forgiveness to intercede with God the Father on my behalf when final, eternal, “lake of burning sulfur” judgment is handed down on my soul.

Not that there’s, uh, anything to worry about.

Serious business, this salvation. Yes it is. And that “sword” coming out of the Conquering Christ’s mouth? We can be sure that sword is “Truth.”

In this life we are pretty much on a death march if Christ is absent from the picture. That’s not to impugn any other religion; it’s just that eternal salvation by faith is an utterly unique aspect of the truth of Christ. No other theology teaches that.

The many crowns of Christ aren’t the vanquished; they are the believers who humbly and faithfully follow Him, and accept His gift of salvation.

And if you are working hard to get your own Christian crown … you’re missing the point; the crowns go on the head of the Conqueror.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) loves the hymn, “Crown Him with Many Crowns.” It’s great advice ... crown "Him," not "me."

Gimme that Old Time Religion, Part 3

Spirituality Column #191
July 6, 2010
Current in Carmel - Current in Westfield - Current in Noblesville
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

Gimme that Old Time Religion, Part 3
By Bob Walters

Gimme that old time religion, Gimme that old time religion,
Gimme that old time religion, It’s good enough for me.

This is not a song I learned in my traditional church as a kid, but often pops up in American culture (movies and TV) so I sure know the tune. It was adapted from an African-American spiritual by Charles Tillman and was first heard, the story goes, at an 1889 Christian revival camp meeting in South Carolina.

The five tripled verses are:
It was good for our mothers …
Makes me love everybody …
It has saved our fathers …
It will do when I am dying …
It will take us all to heaven …
… and it’s good enough for me.

A simple song for simpler times?

Maybe. But I am not sure there have ever been truly “simpler times” when it comes to trying to express the Christian faith. Jesus Christ has always been a tough sell despite the seeming simplicity of His message: Love God, and love each other.

Certainly not every era of the Christian faith has been great. Early on there were the Christians and lions as Roman entertainment. Then came the heresies of the early church. Then there were the Muslim marauders, the Christian Crusades, the Great Schism, the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials and the several TV-inflated maladies of modern times – insincere preachers, church scandals, self-serving doctrine.

It seems someone is always either trying to kill the Christians, or the Christians are trying to kill each other. What’s been nice about the American experiment in democracy and religious freedom is that, with a few notable exceptions, the Christians here have only had to worry about fighting each other.

The Second Great Awakening in America’s early 1800s invited God to the far-flung camp-meeting party by celebrating independence with the Bible, and Jesus.

Christianity has thrived here in the USA over the years. But when I hear “Old Time Religion” it brings to mind a cultural default position that accepts the existence of God, believes Jesus Christ is His Son, and invites the Holy Spirit into America’s collective heart to seek truth and justice with faith, hope, love … and peace.

“Old Time Religion” is a Gospel song that’s extra light on theology, but assumes a widely shared belief in the goodness of God. Gimme some of that this Fourth of July.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) recommends authors Mark Noll, George Marsden and Nathan Hatch for U.S. religious history.