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Apologia Report 13:22
June 5, 2008
Subject: Wright, Farrakhan, and black liberation
In this issue:
CHRISTOLOGY - Christianity's original symbol not a cross, but a vision of paradise?
HINDUISM - questions that stump Christians evangelizing Hindus?
OBAMA, BARACK - the goods on spiritual mentor Jeremiah Wright
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CHRISTOLOGY
Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire, by Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker [3] -- two brief reviews:
Library Journal (May '08, p70) wonders: "The doctrine of the Crucifixion is central to Christianity, but has it always been so? In this controversial new work, feminist theologians Brock and Parker (Starr King Sch. for the Ministry, Graduate Theological Union) argue that Christianity's original symbol was not a cross but a vision of paradise. Building on their earlier book, Proverbs of Ashes [4], in which they contended that Christianity's emphasis on the Crucifixion sanctions violence and abuse, they here assert that the Crucifixion was neither central nor relevant to early Christians' faith. They base this assertion, however, on their interpretation of early Christian art, largely ignoring historical and textual evidence to the contrary. In Part 1, the authors define their vision of paradise as an ethical, of-this-world community; in Part 2, they explore how the violence of the Crusades began to postpone the notion of paradise, transforming it into the doctrine of atonement and later offering it as an escape route from suffering. By reimagining paradise in this way, they attempt to reclaim it and thereby reclaim Christianity. Though the book presents some interesting new ideas, it would have benefited from greater focus on historical/critical scholarship. Recommended only for specialized collections."
The Publishers Weekly review (May 26 '08, p58) reads: "Why are images of the crucified Jesus absent from early Christian art? When Brock and Parker ... investigated representations of Christ in Italy and Turkey's first millennium of public art, they found pictured not death but earthly joy. Descriptions of this art (with sparse b&w photographs), quotes from early Christian writers and strong analyses reveal a powerful 'genealogy of paradise' in this life focusing on the 'ethical grace' at the heart of Jesus' message. Explorations of baptism, the Eucharist, beauty, martyrdom and human divinity (theosis) show an early Christian world where the resurrection had more hold on the imagination than the crucifixion. Brock and Parker locate the paradigmatic shift toward suffering, judgment and atonement in the bloody forced conversion of the Northern European Saxons by Charlemagne. The book's second half describes the harrowing adoption of 'redemptive violence' in medieval Europe and the New World's Eden, built on genocide and slavery. This humane and often beautiful study of faith, loss and hope straddles the boundary between historical discovery and spiritual writing."
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HINDUISM
The May 16 edition of Hindu Press International's daily news feed issued what amounts to a Hindu apologetic in response to Christianity with "Hindu Questions That Stump Proselytizers." The entire text of the brief item follows.
"HPI doesn't know where this website [1] originates [Moses on Missions, an independent blog - RP], but it contains illuminating information on the Christian methods of evangelizing Hindus. It suggests, for one, that Christian learn to 'appreciate what is good in Hinduism' rather than going on the attack.
"For example, 'From the vantage point outside of Hinduism we may see Ganesh, the elephant headed god and see an offensive form. It may be our tendency to right away criticize our friend for participating in the Ganesh festival, which centers on the Ganesh figure. Criticizing our Hindu friend for taking part in the "festival of evil" is more likely to bring them to a position of defensiveness.'
"An interesting part of this blog is a response posted from one I. Srikanth. It offers counter-arguments to proselytization (in slightly stilted English):
"1. In Christianity also there are so many denominations, each with their own way of prayer and belief, some wear ornaments, some don't, some pray in a hall where there is Cross (equivalent to icon), some don't keep this, some pray to Mother Mary, some don't pray her, and there is no compatibility between two main groups of Roman Catholics and Protestants though all refer to the same Bible, unlike ÊHinduism's denominations who respect each other.
"2. The Western World preached so much Christianity, however when it comes to practice their history is ridden with wars and deceiving others for power and money. What happened in practicing patience, showing another cheek, etc.?
"3. I have seen people listing equivalent sayings from Hindu scriptures for each and every biblical saying, trying to give the Bible more credence - but Hindu scriptures are older than Bible."
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OBAMA, BARACK
While various media outlets have made much of Obama's minister, Jeremiah Wright, substantial documentation of Wright's bizarre teachings has been lacking. In "Jeremiah Wright's 'Trumpet,'" Stanley Kurtz supplies the conclusion of having studied "a year's worth of Trumpet Newsmagazine [2], Wright's glossy national 'lifestyle magazine for the socially conscious.'" Many have now learned that The Trumpet's special November/December 2007 double issue included the "Empowerment Award" bestowed upon Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan by Wright along with Wright's praise of Farrakhan as a 20th- and 21st-century "giant." This rhetoric drew Kurtz into taking a long look at the magazine's 2006 back issues.
Kurtz reports that "the larger context is more illuminating - and more disturbing - than any single shock-quotation. Trumpet provides a rounded picture of Wright's views, and what it shows unmistakably is that the now-infamous YouTube snippets from Wright's sermons are authentic reflections of his core political and theological beliefs. It leaves no doubt that his religion is political, his attitude toward America is bitterly hostile, and he has fundamental problems with capitalism, white people, and 'assimilationist' blacks. ...
"Back in May 2007, the liberal, Chicago-based Christian Century published an extended study - really a defense - of Wright's church. Attempting to inoculate Wright (and Obama) from critics like Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, Christian Century dismissed the notion that Wright's Trinity church 'is a political organization constantly advocating for social change.' Yet in Trumpet, Wright and his fellow columnists show themselves to be exactly that.
"Wright is the foremost acolyte of James Cone's 'black liberation theology,' which puts politics at the center of religion." Further, Kurtz's study demonstrates that "Wright is up to speed on local, national, and international politics, and it's tough to imagine him missing an opportunity to confer with Obama on his wide array of legislative crusades. ...
"While the majority of Trumpet's articles weave radical politics into a religious framework, some are purely political." Kurtz observes that "According to Wright, America's alleged genocide in Africa, as well as its treatment of 'Africans in the Western diaspora,' both leads to and flows from a single underlying truth: 'White supremacy is the bed rock of the philosophical, ideological and theological foundations of this country.' ...
"Is Wright an anti-white racist? He would certainly deny it. In When Black Men Stand Up for God [5] (a book he coauthored, in praise of Louis Farrakhan's Million Man March), Wright says, 'The enemy is not white people. The enemy is white supremacy.' ...
"Wright, however, rejects the notion that 'black racism' is even possible. That is why he prefers the term 'white supremacy' to 'racism.' 'Racism,' says Wright, is a 'slippery' and 'nebulous' term, precisely because it seems potentially applicable to blacks and whites alike. The term 'white supremacy' solves this problem, and Wright deploys it at every opportunity."
Kurtz concludes: "In their first meeting, Wright warned Obama that many considered him too politically radical, and it is simply inconceivable that in 20 years' time someone as sharp as Obama did not grasp the intensely political themes repeated in so much of what Wright says and does. Radical politics is no sideline for Wright, but the very core of his theology and practice." Weekly Standard, May 19 '08, n.p. <http://www.weeklystandard.com/check.asp?idArticle=15082&r=ktdyi>
Wright is also author of From One Brother To Another, in two volumes [6].
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Sources, Digital:
1 - <http://tinyurl.com/5hulxr>
2 - <http://tinyurl.com/6bcagd>
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Sources, Monographs:
3 - Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire, by Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker (Beacon, July 2008, hardcover, 592 pages) <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0807067504/apologiareport>
4 - Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and the Search for What Saves Us, by Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker (Beacon, 2002, paperback, 272 pages)
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0807067970/apologiareport>
5 - When Black Men Stand Up for God: Reflections on the Million Man March, by Frank Madison Reid, Jr. III, Jeremiah Wright, and Colleen Birchett (African American Images, 1997, paperback, 226 pages) <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0913543489/apologiareport>
6a - From One Brother to Another: Voices of African American Men, by William J. Key, Robert Johnson Smith, Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., and Robert Johnson-Smith (Judson, 1996, paperback, 242 pages) <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0817012508/apologiareport>
6b - From One Brother To Another, Volume 2: Voices of African American Men by Jeremiah A. Wright Jr, (Judson, 2003, paperback 160 pages) <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0817013628/apologiareport>
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