19AR24-37

( - previous issue - / - next issue - )

AR 24:37 - Why showmanship and repentance don't mix

In this issue:

ASTROLOGY - is the New York Times feeling cultural pressure to cave?

AUGUSTINE, BISHOP OF HIPPO - his continuing example and influence

WORD-FAITH MOVEMENT - consider how (fill-in-the-blank) formula faith, is similar to the health and wealth gospel

+ Is Benny Hinn renouncing his aberrant theology?

Apologia Report 24:37 (1,445)

September 18, 2019

ASTROLOGY

"Like a Virgo: How The Times Covers Astrology: The paper's analysis of the zodiac is practical and deliberate" by Amanda Svachula (New York Times, Aug 31 '19, pA2) -- an inside look at the Times' approach to the perennial occult fad.

"The subject of astrology began to regularly appear in newspapers during the 1930s and 1940s, often in the form of horoscope columns. ... When Princess Margaret of Britain was born in 1930, [R.H. Naylor] wrote a column for Britain's Sunday Express titled, 'What the Stars Foretell for the New Princess,' which became a recurring feature."

However, "Although many newspapers run a horoscope column, The Times never has. [Jeff Roth, who manages the files of newspaper clippings in The Times's morgue] said he believes this is because it is not supported by science. ...

"'We don't write about astrology to legitimize it as an area of science, because it's not scientific,' Bonnie Wertheim, an editor on the Styles desk, said. 'But we write about astrology to the extent that it reflects popular culture or personal anxieties.'"

The brief item ends: "But one celestial forecast is certain - The Times will not be printing daily horoscopes anytime soon." <www.nyti.ms/2ktiDRq>

Could this earlier feature - "Now Therapists Have to Figure Out Astrology, Tarot and Psychedelics" (Aug 28 '19) - have influenced the Times' decision to explain itself? <www.nyti.ms/2kG4ro7>

---

AUGUSTINE, BISHOP OF HIPPO

On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts, by James K. A. Smith [1] -- awarded a "starred" review by Publishers Weekly (Aug 5 '19), Smith analyzes the ancient African thinker's "influence on philosophers including Arendt, Camus, Derrida, Descartes, and Heidegger, demonstrating that Augustine's philosophical arguments about issues such as authenticity and alienation continue to resonate with modern thinkers. Smith emphasizes Augustine's description of Christianity as 'a journey of emigration,' in which Christians are migrants searching for home, aware of their dependence, vulnerability, and need of a faith community to help them 'nourish new habits' and live faithful lives. Seeking Augustine's wisdom on questions - such as 'what do I want when I want to be noticed?' or 'to belong?' or 'to be rational?' - Smith illuminates Augustine's certainty that people find freedom and truth when they find themselves in God's story. By following Augustine's model and sharing his own faith journey, Smith makes Augustine's guidance accessible to a new generation of seekers."

The publisher's bio explains that Smith "teaches philosophy and theology at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI, having previously taught at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He has been a visiting professor at Fuller Seminary, Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando and Regent College in Vancouver, BC. Originally trained in philosophical theology and contemporary French philosophy, Smith's work is focused on cultural criticism informed by the Christian theological tradition."

---

WORD-FAITH MOVEMENT

"Joshua Harris and the sexual prosperity gospel" by Katelyn Beaty (RNS, Jul 26 '19) -- formulas for failure. Here's a new take (for us at least) on the "purity culture" movement. Beaty begins: "All over the world - and among 1 in 3 American Protestant churchgoers - Christians believe that God rewards good behavior with health and wealth. [Which] also implies that if you are poor or face health setbacks - well, that's ultimately on you, friendo."

Of the expression "sexual prosperity gospel," Beaty explains that it is her term for "a core teaching of the purity culture that erupted in the 1990s, telling young evangelicals that True Love Waits. It holds that God will reward premarital chastity with a good Christian spouse, great sex and perpetual marital fulfillment." Its proponents "held out the ultimate one-up to secular licentiousness: God wants to give you a hot spouse and great sex life, as long as you wait.

"The giveaway of any prosperity teaching is an 'if/then' formula: If you do this, then you will get this. If you put a $100 bill in the offering plate, then you will get tenfold back. If you stay chaste now, then you will later be blessed by marriage and children. ...

"Last week, Joshua Harris - arguably the poster boy of the sexual prosperity gospel - announced that he and his wife, Shannon Bonne, are separating after 19 years of marriage. ...

"Harris in recent years disavowed his ... courtship model and acknowledged that it set many Christians up for disappointment and pain. ...

"Most of us will never know the details of Harris and Bonne's separation. The fact that their marriage is ending is not an occasion to gloat. Nor does it suggest that chastity itself is bad.

"But as a new generation of Christians works out a sexual ethic in the wake of purity culture, it's worth recalling that formulas cannot shield us from the pain, frailty and disappointment of being human in a broken world. Sooner or later, life catches up with us, and we can either shake our fists at an unfair God, or recognize that God never promised fairness in the first place. It is we, not God, who come up with the formulas." <www.bit.ly/2kqjD8B>

"Is televangelist Benny Hinn renouncing the prosperity gospel?" (RNS, Sep 6 '19) -- his announcement <www.bit.ly/2lFOQFb> followed by distrust, rumors, claims, counter-claims. What to think? Too soon to tell. Sadly familiar. <www.bit.ly/2lJHXme>

Also see:

• "Observers take wait-and-see approach to televangelist

'correcting' his prosperity gospel theology" by Adelle M. Banks and Emily McFarlan Miller at RNS <www.bit.ly/2lJHXme> - key quote, from Debra J. Mumford: "As recently as three weeks ago … Benny Hinn Ministries posted a video in which the televangelist said 'a financial miracle demands a financial act.'"

• "Benny Hinn Renounces His Selling of God's Blessings. Critics Want More" by Daniel Silliman (Christianity Today, Sep 7 '19) <www.bit.ly/2lNuJVs> - key quote, from Costi Hinn: "It's very sensational. … When we are repenting, we're humble. We're very low. We're not being sensational when we repent. We're being broken. We're being contrite. There was a lot of showmanship in the statement."

-------

SOURCES: Monographs

1 - On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts, by James K. A. Smith (Brazos, October 2019, hardcover, 256 pages) <www.amzn.to/2kr56tt>

------

( - previous issue - / - next issue - )