Diverse reading for the love of Christ.
In the past couple of years, I have been attempting to remove some denominational-bigotry in my life by purposefully reading theological (not necessarily in the “scholarly” sense) books by Christian authors from very different backgrounds with very different beliefs. Coming from a staunch Assemblies of God/Pentecostal upbringing, I was more or less taught to never trust anyone who is not pentecostal, has a different opinion on tongues or the “end times”, and that most likely baptists go to hell (I am not saying anything for AG’s official doctrinal stance, just sharing what I was taught by various lay/paid leaders throughout the years). Moving over to the reformed camp in the past several years, has opened my eyes to the rest of the Familia Dei. It has been a wonderful thing to learn more about the various denominations within Christianity, how they began, and what major themes move throughout each denomination. I have since purposefully read authors such as Thomas à Kempis, Brother Lawerence, Bonhoeffer, and St. Augustine (ok, maybe a little less surprising). I have been greatly blessed and enriched by this, and my mind has been stretched in a positive way.
There is definite value in reading an author that has arguments that rest on his audiences presuppositions that you yourself do not share. It is good practice for reading in general, as it gives somewhat of a detached perspective in which your reasoning can be less affected by your emotional sentiments for the author or his “camp”. Please note, that when I say value, I do not mean “better” — Reading a book from an author with whom you have developed a fondness for, who shares many ideologies and beliefs with you, is like having a great conversation with a close friend — However, the value that i’m referring to comes from keeping your own mind sharp by carefully tracing arguments, placing yourself in the audiences shoes by learning some about their presuppositions and challenging your own presuppositions that might be keeping you at a distance from them and the author.
This journey is best traveled with history as a companion. With any book, understanding the author — his world at the time of writing, his upbringing, his influences, etc — can bring much light to the work itself. Good things to learn about an author who is writing theological material are:
- Time period - Different periods in time will have overarching worldviews. These worldviews are shaped by many things including theological ideas, civil structures, broad educational methods, scientific knowledge, etc.
- Location history - Where was this author born, what cultures did they live in before writing this work, during?
- Influencers - Who where this author’s parents, what authors did this author read and enjoy, what mode of education did they receive, who where their “heroes”?
- Denominational History - What denomination did this author associate with at the time of writing, where they born into this denomination, if not, what were the circumstances that lead to their affiliation?
Terminology also plays a huge role. Simply picking up a book ad hoc, and diving in can be a dangerous thing, especially with our vary ambiguous English language. In the book How to Read a Book by Adler, he explores the idea of “Coming to Terms” with an author. He defines a term as seperate from a word, a term is a certain meaning of a word. A word can have several meanings and scopes, when you have discovered the correct meaning, you have come to terms with the author. When that author says that “Everything burnt down”, you know that his use of the word “everything” is actually referring to all of the objects within a single house. This concept becomes much trickier when you are dealing with Christians who have a notoriously ambiguous “sub-language” where one Christian’s meaning of the word “faith” might mean something totally different than another’s.
All of these challenges may seem to make the whole idea too much work. It may seem safer and easier to just stick reading books put out by publishers that you trust and authors that you respect. This may not seem to have any “practical” purpose other than filling your head with knowledge that may be incorrect. Well, allow me to counter that argument with two points.
Your knowledge about Christianity and the bible is flawed. There, I said it. it’s ok, mine is too. See, us being finite created beings who have been created by an awesome and mysterious God and also have been subject to a corrupted nature by sin, none of us knows the bible perfectly. None of us has a perfect picture of what Christian love should look like, or how a church should be run, or how Christians can be a blessing to the world around them. It is disgracefully arrogant to see Christians act as if their way is the tried and true “Way”, and the 80% of other Christians have it wrong. This arrogance typically shows it’s ugly head in us when we are in our 20’s, but for some, it can continue their lifetime, causing untold damage to Christians and non-Christians alike. I am not arguing for a weaker idea of truth.
Your love for other (and different) Christians is poor. And you look like a jerk. Mine is lacking too, and I am a jerk. We are known to the world by our love for one another. Jesus and the New Testement writers put so much emphasis on brotherly love for each other, that you’d think maybe we should be extra careful in that area. We may disagree on Author Y. about his proposed ideas about prayer, but perhaps he has some great insight on raising children. We might not like a lot of major beliefs in Denomination Z, but they seem to really be taking care of their local community. What can we learn from them? When we have our glorified bodies, there will be no denominations, for now we know in part, but then we will know fully. The quibbles about what the heck Paul meant here or there will be gone. The arguments about if barcodes or microchips will be the mark of the beast will finally cease. Until then, learning other people’s opinions gracefully and with charity is what should mark the believer’s life on earth. This is best accomplished by understanding your fellow believer. And this is best accomplished by reading what they read, and what their pastors (or pastorettes?) read.
If you made it down here, I hope I did not lose you. I am not arguing that truth should ever be seen as relative. Truth by definition is absolute. I am also not arguing that denominations have no value, as I fully see and embrace their value. They are a necessary evil to keep unity. What I am saying is that in the end, whether we or our fellow believers have been right or wrong on secondary issues, it matters less than our call to love them now. Read. Open your mind. Challenge your own dogma, challenge other’s (lovingly!) dogmas. Stop assuming negatives about your “opponents”. Stop assuming positives about yourself. Speak less, listen more. We all have a lifetime of learning ahead of us, it’s much easier when we have friends to help us along the way.
