15AR20-27

AR 20:27 - Founding fathers, "theistic Enlightenment rationalists?"

Apologia Report 20:27 (1,256)

August 5, 2015

In this issue:

AMERICAN HISTORY - were the founding fathers "theistic Enlightenment rationalists rather than orthodox Protestants or deists?"

DIALOGUE - the "beautiful unlikely friendship" behind an urban church partnership

LEWIS, C.S. - his wife Joy's journey through Judaism, Marxism, alcoholism and Scientology to mere Christianity

------

AMERICAN HISTORY

Inventing a Christian America: The Myth of the Religious Founding, by Steven K. Green [1] -- reviewer Brian Sullivan, Alfred Univ. Lib., NY, explains: "Historian of religion and politics Green (law, Willamette Univ.) proposes that the familiar narrative of America's Christian origins is a deliberately constructed myth, consciously created in the first half of the 19th century. Although the word myth is provocative, Green is not saying that the story is an untrue fable but rather a simplified account that provided transcendent meaning and a foundation upon which to forge a national identity. His main thesis is that it is only when one fully understands the contextual and rhetorical underpinnings of this narrative that they can accurately appreciate America's religious heritage, which is neither purely Christian nor secular. Green calmly explores the realities behind key components of the founding myth such as the quest for religious liberty, the Puritans/Pilgrims, the revolutionary impulse, and the Constitution. In one of the strongest sections, Green makes the case that the founders are best generally characterized as theistic Enlightenment rationalists rather than orthodox Protestants or deists. VERDICT This accessible and clearly reasoned study offers a wealth of nuanced insight to readers seeking a better understanding of the role of religion in America's founding." Library Journal, May '15 #2, n.p.

---

DIALOGUE

Unlikely: Setting Aside Our Differences to Live Out the Gospel, by Kevin Palau [2] -- "In 2007, a dozen evangelical pastors wanted to meet with Sam Adams, the gay, newly elected mayor of Portland, Ore., one of America's most liberal cities. 'I assumed most evangelicals were judgmental ... and unwelcoming,' Adams writes in the foreword to Palau's first book. What follows is a beautiful unlikely friendship. No foot soldiers in the Christian culture wars, instead these pastors asked, 'How can we better serve the city?' The slightly shocked mayor, facing deep cuts to his city's budget, was not shy: he asked for their help with schools, hunger, health care, and the foster-care system, to start. By August 2008, more than 27,000 volunteers from hundreds of churches became involved - and CityServe <cityservepdx.org> was launched, developing a church-civic partnership to provide community service. Palau, son of the internationally known evangelist Luis Palau, tells engaging stories in a simple, unpretentious way. With funny asides about the IFC show Portlandia, Palau sketches his search for a model of evangelism different from the barn-storming crusades of his father. CityServe became that model. The goal, says Palau, is not to 'fix' Portland, but through 'visible unity ... humble leadership, sustained effort,' to serve neighbors at the points of their need in the name of Jesus, a formula as old as Christianity itself.'" Publishers Weekly, May '15 #2, n.p.

---

LEWIS, C.S.

You, too, may be "surprised by" ... Joy: Poet, Seeker, and the Woman Who Captivated C. S. Lewis, by Abigail Santamaria [3] -- "In this impressive debut biography, Santamaria traces the life of Helen Joy Davidman (1915-1960), a woman who likely would be a historical footnote if not for her marriage to the noted writer C.S. Lewis. In the 1993 film Shadowlands <www.goo.gl/5EXwxb>, director Richard Attenborough portrayed their love affair. Poet, essayist, critic, and novelist, Davidman was a rebellious, abrasive, precociously intelligent woman with no social skills: 'She'd look at you intensely and ask inappropriately intimate questions out of the blue,' one acquaintance recalled. It's no wonder that she felt herself an outsider, even as a child. Her parents, secular Jewish immigrants, prized education and pushed her to excel. She became a teacher but hated it. In 1938, searching for a community with like-minded political views - and also hoping to meet men - Davidman joined the Communist Party. While she participated in meetings and social events, she devoted herself to her true vocation: writing. She won a Yale Younger Poets Award, contributed to the Marxist journal New Masses as well as other venues, and even went to Hollywood to write screenplays. By 1946, she and her husband, William Gresham, became deeply disillusioned with Marxism and gave up their Communist Party membership. Joy shifted her focus to religion, first thinking she would 'become a good Jew,' then enthusiastically embracing L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics. But suddenly she discovered C.S. Lewis, whose writings on Christianity she found compelling. She wrote to him and soon fell obsessively in love, traveling to England with the aim of marrying him. Her marriage to Gresham, roiled by his alcoholism and infidelities, ended in divorce. Although Lewis first bristled, he warmed to her attentions and was devastated when, months after their marriage, Joy was diagnosed with bone cancer. With access to unpublished documents and family papers, Santamaria has fashioned a compelling narrative, remaining cleareyed about her subject's many personal failings." Kirkus, May '15 #2, n.p.

Publishers Weekly (May '15 #2, n.p.) adds: "The marriage [to Gresham] was rocky, with Davidman dissatisfied with life as a conventional housewife and Gresham struggling with alcoholism. The couple dallied with Dianetics before Joy, already interested in C.S. Lewis's writing, became smitten with him after the two began corresponding. As her marriage dissolved, she left for England hoping to start a relationship with Lewis. Joy succeeded, divorcing Gresham in 1954 and marrying Lewis in 1956. Though Santamaria describes their relationship as 'blissfully happy,' some details indicate that Lewis may have been more ambivalent (he buried their wedding announcement in the Christmas Eve edition of the Times, where few would notice it). Readers enchanted with the version of Davidman and Lewis's romance presented in the film Shadowlands may be disappointed that the facts don't fully support what Santamaria calls 'one of the 20th century's greatest love stories.'"

-------

SOURCES: Monographs

1 - Inventing a Christian America: The Myth of the Religious Founding, by Steven K. Green (Oxford Univ Prs, 2015, hardcover, 312 pages) <www.goo.gl/OliMvR>

2 - Unlikely: Setting Aside Our Differences to Live Out the Gospel, by Kevin Palau (Howard, 2015, hardcover, 224 pages) <www.goo.gl/kEfztS>

3 - Joy: Poet, Seeker, and the Woman Who Captivated C. S. Lewis, by Abigail Santamaria (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015, hardcover, 432 pages) <www.goo.gl/KpvJwF>

------

( - next issue - )