Painting Fakes

Reading Leo Tolstoy's religious writings earlier this year made me want to have another go at reading Jacques Ellul's The Subversion of Christianity.   I began to read this book some years ago, only to find that the copy in my hands was a misprint and half the text was missing.  Life intervened, and it took Tolstoy to remind me of it. In some ways, Ellul was a French equivalent to the Englishman CS Lewis.  Like Lewis he was a prominent Christian intellectual of more or less orthodox Protestant views.  Like Lewis, he had a depth of theological knowledge but was mostly self-taught (although Ellul did complete most of a theology degree before the Second World War intervened) while pursuing an academic career in a different discipline (Ellul in sociology, Lewis in literature). Of course there are also differences.  Lewis wrote for a popular audience and much of his writing is highly accessible.  Ellul was far more "intellectual" and his writing can be dens...

So, after years of discussion we are to have not merely a Royal Commission into the Catholic Church's response to sexual abuse in its ranks, but into abuse in all institutions.  Poor Nicola Roxon gets the unenviable task of designing a set of terms of reference for this behemoth. An Irish judicial inquiry into the same issue took 9 years.  We can expect a lot more on this story before it is over and a lot more people will end up with red faces. I don't envy Roxon her task.  Our society includes a lot of institutions.  The Catholic Church has been in the news a lot recently and there are many harrowing tales of abuse by priests.  Still the government is right, this is not only a Catholic problem.  Only a few years ago, claims of abuse in the Anglican church in Brisbane revealed similar horror stories, and similar lack of comprehension by senior church leaders.  Former Archbishop Peter Hollingworth lost his job as Governor-General as a result...

I used to think that Richard Dawkins , Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett all had a bit of a grudge against religion.  Then I read Michel Onfray's The Atheist Manifesto and changed my mind.  Dawkins and Harris are mere pussycats compared to Onfray. Michel Onfray is a French philosopher, and I have to admit he's a random pick on my journeys in atheism.  His book has been staring at me from my library shelf since it reopened in May, so finally I brought it home and read it.  I'm not sure how our better known Anglo-American atheists view him.  He shares with them a negative, jaundiced view of religion, especially the major monotheistic religions which are the focus of this book.  On the other hand, whereas the core of their critique is scientific, grounded in the works of Charles Darwin, his is almost wholly philosophical, grounded particularly in the works of Neitzsche and Freud. Onfray claims to have made a close study of Judaism, Chri...

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...

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 ...

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...

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...