What Every American Christian Should Know, Part 2

Recently, inspired by Eric Liu's project to list ten key things to know about American culture, I listed ten things to know about American Christian culture, ten events and ideas and people and phrases which explain why we act the way we do.

But I want to go one step further, and make a second list: ten things that American Christians should know, with the stress on the Christian part this time. In other words, what do we need to know about our culture, less as Americans and more as participants in a long tradition stretching back to the Apostles?

We American evangelicals have largely forgotten church tradition. In part this is because we (like our country) are a young and upstart bunch. We tend to focus on the present moment, not the past, but in doing so, we remain ignorant of very powerful pieces of our religious heritage.

Here's the thing: In Liu's article, he assumes that knowing about culture confers power, helps us participate in that culture. And I agree, but I would add that knowing about a culture doesn't simply help us participate in it, it can help us change it.

But to change Christian culture, there is an entirely different set of things we need to know. A list of things pointing towards who we are is not the same thing as a list pointing towards who we are meant to be. Put another way, there is a difference in what we need to know about a culture in order to participate in it (as is Liu's goal, and mine in my last post) and changing it. As believers, striving to be more like Christ and encouraging one another in godliness, it is our responsibility to change our culture, and in fact to change ourselves, when we have strayed from the narrow path.

And for us American Christians, to do that, we ought to draw on our rich Christian tradition, the tradition that has risen over two thousand years. My goal in this post is to list ten people and events and ideas and books from Christian tradition which can help each of us on the way to God.

A few notes before I begin:

When I say that it is our responsibility to change culture, I don't mean that we should change American culture. We are not a Christian nation; in general, the choices that non-believers make are not our concern. More importantly, pushing to transform the culture can blind us to where we personally need to change; it is possible to get so caught up in "taking back America for God" that we forget to take back ourselves for God.

Also, you'll notice that I've included neither Scripture nor doctrine in this list. Obviously, both of these are very important to know. My hope in this post is to list things which are less obvious, but still valuable as stepping-stones towards Christ.

So here's the list, with items listed roughly in historical order:

The Apostles' Creed. Yes, this item showed up on my previous list, of things which are important to understanding evangelical culture. It shows up again here because I think knowing the Creed, and reciting it regularly in church, is crucial to reminding ourselves where the center of our faith lies, and to maintaining unity in the body of Christ.

It's easy to get swept up in the various culture wars of our day. Yet the Creed begins, "I believe in God the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord," emphasizing that this is the heart of who we are as believers: Christ-followers, before anything else.

And when we recognize that Christ, we can enjoy fellowship with our fellow believers. "I believe in the holy catholic church," the Creed ends, "[and] the communion of saints." When we put Christ first in our faith, then differences over minor doctrine and cultural positions fade into the background, and we are able to be kind to one another, urging each other on in the Faith.

Augustine's Confessions. Perhaps the best-known Christian text, Augustine's conversion story is important for a number of reasons.

One, and most importantly, Augustine's conversion story teaches us to rejoice over the inexorable grace of God. Augustine is a stubborn sinner indeed, but even he is eventually caught by God's grace, and brought into the fold. To read of God intervening in Augustine's life, though Augustine was so resistant, gives me joy in God's grace, and it gives me hope that, even when I disobey, God will faithfully love me and draw me back towards Him.

Two, reading the Confessions reminds us what is and what is not important in our faith. Given that Augustine's story is the heart of Confessions, the immeasurable forgiveness of God in Christ, for all our sins, is most important. Pretty much everything else is less important by comparison. When I first read Confessions, I was startled to find that Augustine did not read Genesis literally, but allegorically. Since then I've come to see that a literal reading of Genesis is not actually a defining trait of the Christian life; being forgiven by Christ is. As with knowing the Creed, reading Confessions puts our attention back where it should have been all along: the Lord Jesus Christ.

Gnosticism. If you know about no other heresy, know about Gnosticism.

With Gnosticism, there's an intricate theology in which God is pictured approaching the world through a cascading, endless series of "emanations," but what the heresy boils down to is this: Body, bad. Spirit, good.

And this idea continues to corrupt the church and the society we live in, everywhere you turn. I see Gnosticism in some of the moral grandstanding of Christian fundamentalist churches. Rod Dreher sees Gnosticism in Caitlyn Jenner's transgenderism, which prioritizes internal feelings over the physical evidence of the body. Ross Douthat sees Gnosticism in the continual emphasis in American culture on finding the "God within," a la Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love, among other things.

Regardless of where Gnosticism is found, the point is that it is alive and dangerous. A sound knowledge of Gnosticism can help us avoid it, remembering that "every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer" (1 Timothy 4:5).

Martyr stories. I get the impression, talking with my students, that many believers know Christians were martyred (usually they cite the martyrdoms under Nero), but few know particular stories. Every story is worth knowing, but three stand out to me:

Ignatius, one of the Church Fathers, when arrested by the soldiers who carried him to Rome for martyrdom, invited the soldiers in and fed them a sumptuous meal.

Polycarp, another Church Father, when given a chance to escape by denying Christ, is said to have responded, "86 years I have served Him, and He has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?"

Hugh Latimer, a church official in England during the reign of "Bloody" Queen Mary, encouraged his fellow martyr Ridley when they were burned at the stake, saying, "Play the man, Master Ridley, and we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out."

In these stories I see men so wholly sustained by the lovingkindness of Christ that they can face terrible death with peace. Their stories remind us that the same divine love will touch our lives, and the lives of modern-day martyrs around the world. In the story of Latimer and Ridley, I also see men committed to a faith with real-world ramifications, who hope that their obedience to Christ will bear real fruit, though they themselves are not around to see it.

Dante's Divine Comedy. Dante's work goes largely untouched, with the exception of a few short passages from Inferno. This is a shame.

I find it hard to clearly explain the value of reading the Divine Comedy without being so general that I reduce what is a powerful story to a moral fable. The truth is, while the Dante gets important theological concepts across in his epic, that he does so by introducing us to spirit after spirit who either turned away from God or towards him makes the story memorable and compelling, enriching our own journey heavenwards.

Among other things, here's what I recall: the story of Francesca and Paola, who wind up in Hell simply by putting emotion ahead of reason; the heretic Farinata, strong and prideful and (scarily enough) admirable even in Hell; the demons in the lower level of Hell, who find tormenting sinners absolutely hilarious; the sense of peace which pervades Purgatory, despite its suffering, after the torment of Hell, simply because God is near.

Incidentally, reading The Divine Comedy also makes a bunch of other Christian texts make sense. Lewis, for instance, draws heavily on Dante in his own novel, The Great Divorce. When you're familiar with Dante, you're equipped to understand and benefit from other Christian literature.

Since reading The Divine Comedy can be daunting, I recommend finding a good translation. I recommend the Esolen translation, which uses down-to-earth language (of the kind that Dante himself, writing in Italian instead of Latin, would have used) and has detailed notes about who's who in heaven and hell.

Martin Luther. I realize that Martin Luther is already well-known, but my impression is that he's primarily known as an anti-Catholic.

Yet there's so much more to the story than a rejection of Catholicism. Luther was not (at least not at first) rejecting Catholicism, only corruptions within it, notably Indulgences. Thus, Luther's story is not so much about how Catholicism is a false, works-based religion; it's about how only through divine grace can we draw near to God, and it's about how legalism and pride and greediness have no place in a life of true faith. Protestants today stand in need of these stories as much as Catholics do.

It's also worth knowing Luther's defiant, "Here I am, I cannot do otherwise," his refusal to back down on his religious convictions in the face of death (Spoiler alert: He didn't die.) Luther's commitment reminds us, on the one hand, that few things besides God's grace are of true importance to our faith, but on the other, that Christ deserves our total, sacrificial commitment.

Great Awakenings. Yes, this also figured into my earlier list. But given that the Great Awakenings were key in shaping the practice of religion in America, I think it's important for American believers to be familiar with them, in order that we may distinguish between what is truly part of our faith and what is simply cultural.

Among the practices normalized by the Great Awakenings were

• Dramatic, about-face conversions 
• An emphasis on the role of emotion, over the intellect, in faith
• An emphasis on the individual, over the community or denomination, in faith
• A rejection (or at least skepticism) of ritual and tradition as a sign of spiritual deadness
• Celebrity preachers
• Evangelistic campaigns
• An altar call
• Total abstinence from alcohol  

Obviously, some of these practices are a part of legitimate Christianity; Augustine had a dramatic, about-face conversion.

But some of them are not, and it's worth knowing which is which, so we don't conflate our faith with our patriotism. Separating what is American from what is Christian helps us know what is essential for moving closer to God and to our brethren around the world. 

A good missionary biography. At first, I was going actually pick a particular missionary, someone who was influential in the development of modern missions. But there are so many inspiring missionary stories, I couldn't choose.

I've really enjoyed A Passion for the Impossible, a biography of Lilias Trotter. Trotter was one of the first missionaries to the Muslim world. Out of her deep love for Christ she made great personal sacrifices in order to live among Muslims in the Algerian desert and bring the Gospel to them. She also pioneered modern missionary methods. Her artwork and devotionals are also excellent, thoughtful reflections on our dependence on Christ.

My mother has really enjoyed this two-volume biography of Hudson Taylor.

The point is, the whole Gospel is about us leaving all behind to follow Christ. In one sense, then, missionaries are a living embodiment of the Gospel.

I'm not saying that to follow Christ we have to be a missionary, nor that missionaries are spiritually stronger than the rest of us. But reading about the men and women who truly did leave everything behind out of love for Christ is good for us. It reminds us that we too are called to the narrow way, to uncomfortableness and difficulty and life everlasting.

Textual criticism of the Bible. By textual criticism, I mean the study of manuscripts in order to locate transmission errors, determine the original wording, and determine the reliability of the Scriptures. 

The Bible is the scaffolding of our faith, supporting how we live out our faith as individuals and in community. It makes sense, then, that we should know how the Bible came to be and why it is reliable.

The best textual criticism of the Bible shows (among other things) that the early manuscripts have literally thousands of surviving copies from early in the church's history, remarkable compared to other important documents (the Iliad, for instance), which have just a handful; that consensus developed very early that God inspired the New Testament as well as the Old; that the canonical texts are by far more reliable than non-canonical texts such as the Gospel of Thomas. All of this assures us that Scripture is trustworthy, and gives us the confidence we need to obey Christ's Word.

If you're not sure where to start in this field, here are two books I'd recommend:

• Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels, by Craig A. Evans. This book compares the canonical Gospels to the non-canonical ones (the Gospel of Thomas, etc), ultimately showing that the canonical books are a far more reliable record of Jesus's life than the non-canonical ones.
• The Heresy of Orthodoxy, by Andreas Kostenberger and Michael Kruger. A bit scholarly in tone, this book debunks the idea that there was no right way to believe until at least AD 400. As proof that early Christianity coalesced around common, orthodox beliefs, it shows that the first manuscripts of Scripture, which assert the importance of right doctrine, are far more reliable than popular culture teaches.

C.S. Lewis. American Christianity is saturated with Lewis, so I almost didn't put him on this list. Still, when most people think Lewis, they think Narnia, and there's so much more to Lewis than Narnia. And Lewis is excellent at explaining how the ancient, longstanding essentials of our faith play out in modern culture. 

Of his oeuvre, here's what I recommend:

• The Great Divorce. This book changed my life. Modeled on Dante's epic, Lewis's story teaches that if we "insist on keeping earth, we shall not see Heaven": or, as Christ put it, that "you cannot serve God and mammon". In a world where ads urge us to Have it your way! and when faith demands very little of us, Lewis's story is a good reminder that following Christ means real sacrifice, and offers real reward. 
• Out of the Silent Planet. Really, the whole science fiction trilogy is worth it, but this one happens to be my favourite, just because it's a great story. It also gets across Lewis's view of sin as not utterly distinct from goodness but simply bent goodness, a view which warns us against letting the good things we love be corrupted.  
• The Four Loves. "Love" these days is largely defined as romantic attachment. Lewis's description of the four kinds of love calls us to reconsider how we accept and give love to our friends, and how we accept love from our Lord.

It was hard limiting this list to only ten things. I wanted to include the novels of Marilynne Robinson (an excellent modern story of Christian commitment), Milton's Paradise Lost and Areopagitica (a Christian defense of freedom of the press), Thomas Aquinas and the seven deadly sins and the seven virtues, but I had no space. Christianity has two thousand years' worth of tradition, and if I were to list everything from that tradition which is helpful, I'd be writing the blog forever.

So here is where I end. I'd love to hear what you would add, though: What else from Christian tradition is worth knowing, as we seek to follow Jesus in our lives and communities?