Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 2-181 (Book Review)

CHRISTANITY A SCOURGE?

by Glenn Penner, reviewing “Christianity on Trial – Arguments Against Anti-Religious Bigotry” by Vincent Carroll and David Shiflett

An article in Canada’s largest newspaper The Toronto Star by theologian Tom Harpur only confirmed yet again the elasticity which with the term “Christian” is being used in Western society today. Harpur claims to be a Christian, yet denies Christ’s divinity, His exclusive claims to be the only way to God, the authority of Scripture, and the list continues on and on. One wonders how he can even honestly call himself a Christian, since he denies the very foundation of the Christian faith.

His heterodox beliefs aside, Harpur seems to relish destroying the reputation of Christianity at every turn. This was evident in the statement he made in his Sunday’s column when he wrote, “Reading, as I have been lately, detailed and careful historical accounts of the cruelty, violence and general mayhem committed over the past 2,000 years by the Church alone, in the name of God and of Jesus Christ, is to be completely stunned and horrified. The supposed ‘remedy’ for Earth’s ills has repeatedly proved itself at times to be a worse scourge than the reputedly ‘pagan’ forces in its way.”

I don’t know about you, but I am sick and tired of the bigoted rhetoric being directed at Christianity so often by the media, in educational institutions, and other public forums. I’m tired of Christianity being accused of historically supporting slavery, of being anti-Semitic and refusing to prevent or protest the Holocaust; of Christianity being opposed to reason and obstructing the growth of science; of Christianity resisting democracy, religious tolerance, equality, individuality, and almost every other value intrinsic to Western culture. I’m tired of the ecologists saying that Christian teaching is responsible for the world’s present ecological troubles. I am tired of hearing critics accusing Christians of persecuting other faiths as much or more than they, themselves, are persecuted. I’m tired of feminists saying that Christianity is misogynist and has suppressed women for centuries.

I’m especially tired of hearing these things coming from other Christians who mistakenly think that they are doing the world (and the Church) a big favour by “coming clean” concerning Christianity’s so-called sins of the past. I am tired of these things not so much because I deny that Christians have made mistakes in the past. We have made many mistakes and we continue to not live up to the teachings of our Lord. This is reality of life in a fallen world. But to label Christianity as being repeatedly “a worse scourge than the reputedly ‘pagan’ forces in its way” is blatantly inaccurate and must be challenged.

This is why I was so pleased to have discovered lately a recently published book entitled “Christianity on Trial – Arguments Against Anti-Religious Bigotry” by Vincent Carroll and David Shiflett. The authors do not write as Christians, nor are they writing for Christians. It is a book written about Christians and to set forth an accurate picture of Christianity’s true nature, in the face of much present day anti-Christian bigotry.

Carroll and Shiflett argue that Christianity has had a profoundly positive effect on the world, and especially the West. They demonstrate that Christianity has been responsible for injecting morality into our political order, softening brutal societal practices, confining superstitions, laying a foundation for intellectual inquiry that is largely responsible for much of today’s scientific knowledge and been responsible for most of the charitable programs that we enjoy today and the relief work being done in many underdeveloped societies. They do not deny that Christians and churches have committed genuine wrongdoings in the past, but they seek to balance the wrongs with the much larger record of what Christians and churches have done right.

I highly recommend the book as a valuable resource for those who encounter the anti-Christian rhetoric that has become so prevalent in our society and for those of us who, perhaps, had begun to believe it. You can order the book from almost any bookstore.

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Glenn Penner is a leader in The Voice of the Martyrs, Canada.

Website: http://www.persecution.net