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Apologia Report 16:5 (1,055)
February 10, 2011
Subject: History contradicts idea of Buddhist tolerance
In this issue:
APOLOGETICS - non-conservative praise for McGrath's Heresy
BUDDHISM - historical infighting among its different groups reveals "philosophical tender points"
CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT - a rare call for balance and sanity
MESSIANIC JUDAISM - adherents who don't want to be called "Christian"
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APOLOGETICS
Heresy: A History of Defending the Truth, by Alister E. McGrath[1] -- an unexpectedly and uncritically positive review for such a stridently non-conservative Bristish journal. Early in his assessment, Simon D. Podmore (Trinity College, Oxford) reports that "McGrath succinctly embeds his erudite text within a prevailing postmodern cultural suspicion towards orthodoxy: a contemporary milieu which frequently seeks the retrieval of the authentic, yet malevolently suppressed, secrets of Christianity within the rediscovery of more (anachronistically) 'liberal' Gnostic texts and a facile valorisation of 'freedom of choice.' McGrath's book effectively breaths new life into 'orthodoxy' by challenging, on historical and theological grounds, the vague contemporary notion that 'Heresy is a Promethean liberator of humanity from theocratic bondage.' ...
"With consummate historical and theological acumen, McGrath scrupulously and charismatically considers the key 'classic' heresies ... and the issue of power that frequently underwrites the notion of heresy itself.
"Towards the end of the book, McGrath also devotes a compelling and timely chapter to 'Heresy and the Islamic view of Christianity.' ... [B]y acknowledging that the Qur'an critiques a heretical or *inauthentic* form of Christianity [by its errant focus on tritheism], the latter may be able to open further inter-faith dialogue with the former on the nature of authentic Christianity. ... [P]erhaps the central existential issue at the heart of heresy [is] the question of offence. It is this often volatile and obstructive passion that McGrath's excellent book seeks to counter with an admirable theological passion for understanding and empathy." Expository Times, Dec '10, p153.
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BUDDHISM
Buddhism: A Christian Exploration and Appraisal, by Keith Yandell and Harold Netland [2] -- this favorable review by Paul D. Larson reports that the first three chapters "follow Buddhism's historical development, from its birth in India to its ongoing transformation as it spread into China, Japan, and then the West. ...
"[T]he language and tone of the work is self-consciously guarded and fair. That is the measure of a good work of inter-religious polemics, one too often ignored by popular religious diatribes in their search to make the top-seller lists, and one found regularly among the finer apologists in Christendom.
"Guarded and fair language, though, does not substitute for honest analysis, and here the book is at its best. The careful doctrinal exposition coupled with rigorous, though not too technical, philosophical examination provide just the necessary background a Christian needs for evangelistic dialogue and the skeptic for informed assessment of Buddhism. But there is a surprise in strategy. Buddhism's philosophical tender points are presented through the historical infighting of one Buddhist school against another, thus shattering monolithic notions about the religion and appeals to it as a paradigm of creedal tolerance while allowing the authors to probe philosophical issues through historical narrative. ...
"The last chapter's topical contrast of Buddhism and Christianity succeeds in clearing away the fashionable falsehoods that gloss over the marked disparity between the two religions." Trinity Journal, 31:2 - 2010, pp317-319.
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CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT
"How to Be Charismatic Without Being Crazy" by Greg Surratt -- subtitled: "A third-generation Pentecostal's take on staying Spirit-filled without the hype."
In particular, Surratt explains that "While I am eternally grateful for the movement that shaped me, over time I have become more and more disillusioned with some practices within the charismatic-Pentecostal world. Three things have raised questions in my mind: "1) An inconsistency between claims and results. ...
"2) An inability to justify extravagant lifestyles of faith stars. ...
"3) An overemphasis on the bizarre or gimmicky shortcuts to faith. I have to be honest - when I've read about the latest angel sightings, gold dust sprinklings, teeth fillings and crazy revival antics, it's felt more like National Enquirer material than New Testament experience."
In response to the title's challenge, Surratt begins: "Let's look at principles in Acts 15 that helped the early church avert a detour from the destiny God had for them.
"First, they didn't allow a small group of people to hijack the vision of the church. ...
"Second, they weren't afraid of a healthy debate. ...
"Third, the early church decided to keep the 'tent' big" (i.e., avoid the exclusion of others). In the case of Acts 15, it was the gentile believers.
While Surratt only briefly discusses each of the points above, it's nice to see Charisma magazine run a piece like this once in a while. Surratt remains committed to the movement, but is clearly troubled by its excesses. Charisma, Nov '10, pp42-45. <www.j.mp/gnBDjY>
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MESSIANIC JUDAISM
"Terms of Offense" by Eitan Shishkoff -- the contents page summary reads: "Why calling a Messianic Jew 'Christian' isn't just potentially offensive, but also incorrect." At issue is the perception of the non-Christian, especially in Israel today.
Shishkoff puts it this way: "We have not converted to Christianity. We have returned to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through His Messiah, Yeshua." The key here is how "Jesus has made us more Jewish than ever."
The wrong idea many get, claims Shishkoff, is that evangelism is "turning Jews into Christians." He prefers to communicate that "we see ourselves as those who have neither rejected their heritage nor converted to another religion" and prefers the term "New Covenant Jews." Charisma, Oct '10, pp57-58. <www.j.mp/gu1cvT>
Fine. So how does one go about determining the majority view here among Messianic Jews?
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SOURCES: Monographs
1 - Heresy: A History of Defending the Truth, by Alister E. McGrath, (HarperOne, 2009, hardcover, 288 pages) <www.j.mp/f9hVob>
2 - Buddhism: A Christian Exploration and Appraisal, by Keith Yandell and Harold Netland (IVP, 2009, paperback, 230 pages) <www.j.mp/dVRIn4>
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