Painting Fakes

After my possibly over-long catalogue of quotes in which people give the church a caning, here's something more positive to warm your heart.  It comes from one of Australia's most celebrated alcoholics and writers, Henry Lawson . Several of the stories in his collection Joe Wilson's Mates feature the outback parson and missionary Peter M'Laughlan.  This is how he is introduced in "Shall We Gather at the River". I once heard a woman say that he had a beard like you see in some pictures of Christ. Peter M’Laughlan seldom smiled; there was something in his big dark brown eyes that was scarcely misery, not yet sadness – a sort of haunted sympathy…. Towards the end of his life if he went into a “rough” shed or shanty west of the Darling River- and some of them were rough – there would be a rest in the language and drinking, even a fight would be interrupted, and there would be more than one who would lift their hats to Peter M’Laughlan. A bushman very rare...

As a teenager I read and loved Lloyd Douglas's books about Jesus, The Robe and The Big Fisherman.   When I say these books are about Jesus I mean they were set in Jesus' day, and he appears in them.  The Robe centres on the commander of the soldiers who are on duty at his crucifixion, while The Big Fisherman takes its title from the apostle Peter who is its main character.  Douglas, a devout Christian, did not attempt to portray Jesus in much detail.  Even in the story of Peter he is a distant, mysterious figure, unimpressive at first sight but profoundly affecting on closer encounter.  What motivates Jesus, what his inner thoughts are, what struggles he undergoes, remain a mystery.  Jesus in these stories is not a person, he is a presence, known almost exclusively by his influence on others. Jim Crace, whose other novels have been mentioned in this blog before, has no such reserve.  As far as I know he doesn't follow any Christian...

Following on from my little catalogue of reasons why people might hate Christians, here's an interesting thought from Jackson Browne .  "The Rebel Jesus" was recorded with The Chieftains for a Christmas album.  I don't know how much theology Browne knows, but he's managed, by accident or design, to write a fabulous liberation theology Christmas carol.  After describing a happy Northern Hemisphere Christmas, he moves on to the person it's all about. Well they call him by 'the Prince of Peace' And they call him by 'the Savior' And they pray to him upon the seas And in every bold endeavor And they fill his churches with their pride and gold While their faith in him increases But they've turned the nature that I worship in From a temple to a robber's den In the words of the rebel Jesus Well we guard our world with locks and guns And we guard our fine possessions And once a year when Christmas comes We give to our relations ...

I've finally got around to reading Erich Maria Remarque's classic novel of World War 1, All Quiet on the Western Front.   Among other things, I learnt that its German title, Im Westen nichts Neues, properly translates as "Nothing New on the Western Front".  A piece of irony completely in tune with the book itself, and a direct quote from the final page of the book: ...a day so still and quiet along the entire front line that the army dispatches restricted themselves to the single sentence: that there was nothing new to report on the western front. The English title, so thoroughly embedded in our vernacular that it would be impossible for any publisher to change, carries a different kind of irony.  The novel reverberates with the sound of artillery and gunfire.  It has one of the best openings of any book I've read: a scene of satiety, the company recently relieved from the front line, their bellies full after a huge feast.  And on top of...

This is the last of these reasons and perhaps you're sighing with relief that there's an end in sight for all this negativity.  The good news will follow!  In the meantime, I've saved the biggie for last - joylessness , hypocrisy and shallowness pale into insignificance. I thought of this one (not for the first time by a long shot) while listening to The World Turned Upside Down, a much-covered song by Leon Rosselson made famous by Billy Bragg .  It celebrates a 17th century act of rebellion by a group called "the Diggers" who set up a commune on land owned by wealthy landowners (guilty of "the sin of property") with predictable results.  Their thoughts on the Church: They make the laws To chain us well The clergy dazzle us with heaven Or they damn us into hell We will not worship The God they serve The God of greed who feeds the rich While poor folk starve There's more than a little of Mr Brocklehurst in this, but there's so much...

After joylessness and hypocrisy  this one is a little out of the box, and it's not really hate, more just contempt.  It comes from Tom Waits 1999 album Mule Variations and it's called " Chocolate Jesus ". Don't go to church on Sunday, don't get down on my knees and pray Don't memorise the books of the bible, got my own special way I know Jesus loves me, maybe just a little bit more I get down on my knees every Sunday, at Zarelda Lee's candy store Got to be a Chocolate Jesus, make me feel so good inside Got to be a Chocolate Jesus, keep me satisfied Don't want no Yabba Zabba, don't want no Almond Joy There ain't nothin better suitable for this boy Well its the only thing that can pick me up, b etter than a cup of gold See only a Chocolate Jesus, can satisfy my soul When the weather gets rough and its whisky in the shade Best to wrap your saviour up in cellophane He flows like The Big Muddy, but that's okay Pour him ov...

To continue with the subject of why people might be hostile towards Christians .... A second reason is a strong feeling that the Christian church is riddled with hypocrisy. My text for today is from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.  Early in the story Jane's aunt introduces her to the principal of the boarding school to which she is to be banished, Mr Brocklehurst. …I looked up at – a black pillar! – such, at least, appeared to me, at first sight, the straight, narrow, sable-clad shape standing erect on the rug: the grim face at the top was like a carved mask… There is no mistaking the fact that this man is a vicar, or that he is forbidding.  He then humiliates her with a series of questions about her religious practice, and explains to her aunt Humility is a Christian grace, and one particularly appropriate to the pupils of Lowood; I therefore direct that especial care shall be bestowed on its cultivation among them. I have studied how best to mortify in them th...

Speaking of Richard Beck, he also posted recently on the art found in his local Christian bookshop.  Most of it looks something like this. He comments on why Christians feel they need to put words (in particular, Bible verses) on their artwork.  Many of his commenters wonder why all the art is so kitchy. I thought of this because the winners of the Australian Blake Prize for religious art have just been announced.  Lo and behold, the winner of the Prize for Human Justice, Age 36 by Fiona White, has its own accompanying text. Not quite a bible verse, and unlike the horse poster it can be taken a number of ways.  On the surface, the man in the picture is the victim of a human rights abuse.  But is that a halo around him?  Or the fire of the Spirit?  Or is he just getting burnt? Other entries somehow managed to be religious without an accompanying verse, Biblical or otherwise.  Like the winner of the overall award, If you p...

For those of you who haven't yet found Richard Beck's "Experimental Theology" blog, his latest post is a good place to get acquainted.  He suggests that a hypothetical church, struggling with the issue of gay marriage, might commission those of its members who are passionate about the issue to found a daughter church in which gay unions are treated identically with heterosexual unions.  This would be taking a great risk and they could be making a mistake.  But they are acting out of love and out of a passionate belief that this is what God wants them to do.  He then suggests what God might say to them about it when they finally face him and are called to account for what they did.  It's thoughtful and thought-provoking.  Check it out.

Christians are often surprised to find that there are many people in the world with a passionate hatred of Christianity, and that these are often people who have a past connection with the church.  It surprises us because most of us spend a fair amount of time with other Christians and we know they are no better or worse than other people.  While this is disappointing - surely the followers of the God who is Love should be at least a little better than average - it hardly seems a reason for active animosity. I've been noticing that in our culture there is a strong thread of critique of the church, and if we listen carefully we can understand the animosity a little better.  So I'm going to give you some examples.  They're not scientific or representative, but they illustrate what many people feel. My first is one of my favourite poems of all time, William Blake’s “The Garden of Love” from Songs of Experience. I went to the garden of love And saw what...