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Apologia Report 14:41
November 4, 2009
Subject: Understanding the New Age, 2012 apocalypticism
In this issue:
CHURCH HISTORY - "New History of Early Christianity" rejects orthodoxy, tells a different story
HOMOSEXUALITY - Robert Gagnon reviews A Time to Embrace by William Stacy Johnson
NEW AGE MOVEMENT - a concise new pop synthesis and an authoritative 2012 debunker
NEW TESTAMENT CRITICISM - liberal scholar comes up with an original argument: "Paul Was Not a Christian"
ORIGINS - Darwinius Masillae, the latest fraudulent "missing link"
POP PROPHECY - SCP weighs in on the 2012 doomsday controversy
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CHURCH HISTORY
A New History of Early Christianity, by Charles Freeman [1] -- reviewer Bryce Christensen writes: "A skeptic, Freeman views Christianity as a human phenomenon: nothing divine or miraculous figures in his account of the religion's origins. The resurrection of Jesus, on his telling, likely involves a complicated theft of Jesus' body - and perhaps some delusional visions among sleep-deprived disciples. Yet even if readers must look elsewhere for theological insight into miracles foundational to Christian orthodoxy, Freeman can offer acute analyses of the human dynamics of an evolving religious movement that struggled to define that orthodoxy. He surveys a surprisingly diverse range of early Christian communities, differing from one another in doctrine, devotional observances, and attitudes toward pagan philosophy. But in the narrative that he presses most insistently, Freeman recounts how small and politically marginal bands of Christians - subject to savage persecution - transformed into an imperially powerful church serving Roman emperors (notably, Constantine and Theodosius) and persecuting heretics unwilling to embrace the creeds those emperors helped to hammer out. The devout will dispute Freeman's metaphysics, but students of history will learn much about ecclesiastical politics." Booklist, Oct 1 '09, p7. [7]
Steve Young's review in Library Journal (Sep 15 '09, n.p.) notes Freeman’s allegation that "the ancient Christian movement's great diversity and how what would come to count as heretical or orthodox was fluid, contested at every step, and profoundly linked to imperial politics. Freeman spins a 'decline and fall' narrative - he writes that 'imperial Christianity created an ethos in which free discussion was next to impossible' and a dogmatic creedal Christianity was imposed on Western and Byzantine Europe. Verdict: Freeman has a gift for crafting a compelling story out of the messy details of history, painting nuanced portraits of key figures through compelling quotations and precise historical observation." [8]
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HOMOSEXUALITY
A Time to Embrace: Same-Gender Relationships in Religion, Law and Politics, by William Stacy Johnson [2] -- two reviews with rejoinders by Johnson. First (pp53-60), John Whitte, Jr., lauds Johnson's "detailed and helpful typology of seven positions on same-sex relationships at work in American churches. These range from the 'non-affirming' positions of (1) prohibition, (2) toleration and (3) accommodation, to the 'affirming' positions of (4) legitimation, (5) celebration, (6) liberation, and (7) consecration."
Next (pp61-80), Robert A.J. Gagnon, author of The Bible and Sexual Practice [3], responds: "I wish I could commend [the book] as a rigorous and fair assessment of Christianity and homosexuality from a homosexualist perspective. Unfortunately, Johnson so regularly violates scholarly standards for honesty and accuracy in representing secondary literature, conceals from readers the most important counter-arguments to his position and shows gaps in logic, that I cannot...."
Johnson's response to Whitte's favor (pp81-82) is predictable, as one might say his reply is to Gagnon (pp82-90) in which a segment is subtitled, "Reading the Bible with progressive eyes." Scottish Journal of Theology, 62:1 - 2009. [11]
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NEW AGE MOVEMENT
"New Age in America: What It Means" -- cover lines from the Sep 28 '09 issue of Publishers Weekly. The main feature, "New Age: The Politics of Promise" by Kimberly Winston (pp32-35), is an interview with Mitch Horowitz - sparked by his new book, Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped America" [4]. While it confirms what anyone who has followed the movement for long would expect to find, Horowitz provides a concise new pop synthesis of the meaning of the term: "New Age, put simply, is therapeutic spirituality."
In his effort to read the New Age into the widest possible cross-section of Western culture, Horowitz points out that "the most popular evangelist in America today is Joel Osteen. Every Sunday, his talks and homilies are about the power of positive thought, and when he does that, he is standing directly on the shoulders of the occult and New Age movements, which are founded on the belief that our minds can shape outer circumstances."
The sidebar, "What's New in New Age," lauds the 2012 "phenomenon" as a great "New Age moneymaker.... As December 21, 2012 nears, publishers are turning out more and more material focused on the alleged impending apocalypse. Even Columbia Pictures is hoping to cash in on the topic: in November the studio will premiere its $200 million '2012,' with a starry cast.... According to Tarcher editor-in-chief Mitch Horowitz, Myan scholar John Major Jenkins has been dubbed 'the founding pioneer of the 2012 subgenre.' Jenkins's The 2012 Story: The Myths, Fallacies, and Truth Behind the Most Intriguing Date in History [5] claims to offer historical perspective and a clear path through the confusion surrounding the mythology. 'John Major Jenkins is perhaps the only widely published 2012 theorist today who probes the meaning and philosophy that the ancient Maya themselves brought to the question of 2012,' says Horowitz, who claims that Jenkins's book debunks the doomsday prophesizing."
On a related theme, see "2012 doomsday sayers predict profits" by Douglas Brown, Denver Post, Nov. 3 '09, n.p.
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NEW TESTAMENT CRITICISM
Paul Was Not a Christian: The Original Message of a Misunderstood Apostle, by Pamela Eisenbaum [6] -- Brian C. Greene begins his review: "A noted Jewish scholar teaching the New Testament at a Christian seminary, Eisenbaum ... presents readers with a distinctive approach to interpreting Paul. In contrast to the most common reading of Paul as a zealous Jew who abandoned his devotion to Pharisaic Judaism following his conversion to Christianity, Eisenbaum portrays Paul as a Jew who lives among Gentiles in a decidedly non-Jewish world and wrestles with the practical issue of how to lead a Jewish lifestyle in the midst of a non-Jewish society. Her interpretation of Paul's struggle to maintain the particularity of his own ethnic and religious identity without denying the validity of others' identities has much to teach our modern world about religious pluralism and the acceptance of human difference. VERDICT In this well-researched and carefully constructed work, Eisenbaum offers a new portrait of a controversial figure that is both plausible and engaging. Jews and Christians seeking a new approach to interfaith dialog may find this a welcome addition. Highly recommended for scholars - this book is sure to inspire discussion." Library Journal, Sep 15 '09, p62. [8]
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ORIGINS
"The Big Ida: The Rise and Fall of Another Missing Link and Other Media Hype" by Casey Luskin -- best summarized in his sidebar "Overblown Missing Links" (p37), Luskin leads: "The public likes to think of the scientific community and their publicity division, the mainstream media, as a trustworthy source of information. Unfortunately, history is replete with examples of missing links being touted to the public as proof of Darwinism, only later to be shown to be fake, suspect, or dramatically overstated." Four examples are briefly noted: Piltdown Man, Archaeoraptor, Tikaalik, and Australopithecus anamensis.
Luskin's essay however, summarizes the latest case - Darwinius Masillae - a small, long-tailed primate fossil "dubbed 'Ida' by her discoverers." The fossil's discovery "was introduced to the media as the 'eighth wonder of the world' whose 'impact on the world of palaeontology' would be like 'an asteroid falling down to Earth.'"
Luskin follows the development of the story and the let down when reality set in and Ida became just another embarrassment. Salvo, 10 - 2009, pp36-38. [10]
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POP PROPHECY
"The Mayan Apocalypse of 2012" by Lee Penn -- begins by reviewing "some of the leading promoters of the 2012 Mayan apocalypse fad," including Jose Arguelles, Terence McKenna, Whitley Strieber, Adrian Gilbert, Daniel Pinchbeck, and Lawrence Joseph. Penn follows this with an historical summary of Mayan civilization and its calendar. The author concludes with a discussion of three reasons to reject New Age/"Mayan" prophecies: 1) "The New Age interpreters of Mayan tradition are not reliable spiritual guides;" 2) "There is no reason to believe that Arguelles et al. are accurate in their understanding of Mayan civilization and tradition;" and 3) "Mayan civilization and its spiritual traditions are not sources of beneficial spiritual understanding and wisdom." SCP Journal, 33:1 - 2009, pp4-21. [12]
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Sources, Monographs:
1 - A New History of Early Christianity, by Charles Freeman (Yale Univ Prs, 2009, hardcover, 400 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/yjnojgu>
2 - A Time to Embrace: Same-Gender Relationships in Religion, Law, and Politics, by William Stacy Johnson (Eerdmans, 2006, hardcover, 330 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/ylpp9tm>
3 - The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics, by Robert Gagnon (Abingdon, 2002, paperback, 520 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/yzs5v3e>
4 - Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped America, by Mitch Horowitz (Bantam, 2009, hardcover, 304 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/yzypbeu>
5 - The 2012 Story: The Myths, Fallacies, and Truth Behind the Most Intriguing Date in History, by John Major Jenkins (Tarcher, 2009, hardcover, 496 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/yljbhla>
6 - Paul Was Not a Christian: The Original Message of a Misunderstood Apostle, by Pamela Eisenbaum (HarperOne, 2009, hardcover, 336 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/yjj77ql>
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