Review of Robin Meyers, Saving Jesus From The Church

Last updated on: April 20, 2009 at 4:59 pm by James F. McGrath

Review of Robin Meyers, Saving Jesus From The Church 2009-04-20T16:59:00-04:00 James F. McGrath

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Review of Robin R. Meyers, Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus (New York: Harper Collins, 2009).

Sometimes a book you didn’t expect to read, and hadn’t even heard of, crosses your path and makes an impact on your life, or at least an impression. Robin R. Meyers’ book Saving Jesus from the Church is such a book. What makes it valuable is that Meyers is a Liberal Christian and is unapologetically both, and is concerned to move beyond stating what he as a Liberal Christians doesn’t believe, beyond even stating what he does believe and value, to actually proclaiming the Gospel as he understands it. The cover flap provides endorsements from no less voices than Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Bill Moyers, John Shelby Spong, Fred B. Craddock, and Diana Butler Bass.

The book is full of so many eloquent and memorable expressions that I could run a series of “Quotes of the Day” for a week and still not be finished. I will try to share at least some of the best ones.

Meyers begins by asking the question at the heart of a recent debate on and around my blog: “Am I a Christian?” The book begins with a nightmare of all the horrific things people have done in the name of Christ, and the refrain that if that’s what being a Christian is, then I don’t want to be one. By the end of the book, the nightmare will have given way to a dream, the list of offenses and shortcomings to one of powerfully challenging ways of living out Christian discipleship, and a different refrain: If that is a Christian, then I want to be one.

The essence of Meyers’ vision is summarized well in the prologue. His is a call, akin to that of the Protestant Reformers, to get back to what Christianity looked like before “the fourth century, when a first-century spiritual insurgency was seduced into marrying its original oppresser.” Closely connected with this major shift in the nature of Christianity, as Meyers sees it, is a shift to focus on creeds: “Students who once learned by following the teacher became true believers who confuse certainty with faith…We have a sacred story that has been stolen from us, and in our time the thief is what passes for orthodoxy itself (right belief instead of right worship)” (p.10). The first chapter continues this theme, focusing on Jesus as teacher rather than savior.Here he clarifies his aim: not to offer yet another book on why fundamentalism is wrong, but instead to offer a positive alternative vision of what Christianity is, can be, and should be (pp.13-14). Meyers writes, “Consider this: there is not a single word in [the Sermon on the Mount] about what to believe, only words about what to do. It is a behavioral manifesto, not a propositional one. Yet three centuries later, when the Nicene Creed became the official oath of Christendom, there was not a single word in it about what to do, only words about what to believe!” (p.14). Meyers also identifies at least one reason why this shift occurred and continues to be so popular: “Christianity as a belief system requires nothing but acquiescence. Christianity as a way of life, as a path to follow, requires a second birth, the conquest of ego, and new eyes with which to see the world. It is no wonder that we have preferred to be saved” (p.15). And so it has become the case that, to many, “Being a disciple today often means little more than believing stuff in order to get stuff” (p.20).

Chapter 2 focuses on faith as “being, not belief”. Meyers points out that neither claiming to believe the virgin birth as a sign of one’s faith, nor claiming not to believe it as a demonstration of one’s critical thinking, necessarily leads to “a changed heart or a self-sacrificing spirit” (p.37). Meyers also has some wise words about wisdom to offer in this chapter, which relate to the subject of inerrancy and the Bible. Meyers’ Jesus-centered approach to the Bible translates into the following principle: “when there is a conflict between what the scriptures say in particular and what we have come to expect from the wisdom of Jesus, his wisdom wins. We hold the Bible accountable to the message of Jesus, not Jesus accountable for everything in the Bible” (p.45). In order to put such a principle into practice, of course, it helps to be using historical methods of study. But it isn’t necessarily essential. Even if one places the focus on Jesus’ teaching as found in the Sermon on the Mount, for instance, the point still stands, even though the sermon quite plainly represents teachings of Jesus redacted, rearranged, organized and interpreted by the Gospel’s author. And Meyers is aware of this, pointing out, for instance, that the “parables” of final judgment are found largely in Matthew’s Gospel and seem to reflect that author’s redactional and compositional activity (p.54).

Lately I’ve found myself thinking that Jesus’ humanitarian emphasis in his saying about the sabbath law could be applied tothe whole Law and indeed the whole Bible: “The Bible was made for human beings, not human beings for the Bible. Therefore a human being is lord of the Bible.” Humanitarian concerns (themselves articulated in the Bible) must be allowed to determine and shape our own humane use of the Bible. But I digress…

Chapter 3 focuses on the cross, and notes the tendency of much contemporary Christianity in the direction of docetism. “Yet when Jesus ceases to be human and becomes only Christ the God Man, we can choose to believe it or not to believe it, but we cannot follow. We can admire, but we cannot emulate” (p.71). When we emphasize Jesus’ humanity, we pay him a great honor, since his impact on history becomes all the more remarkable (pp.71-72). The chapter touches on, among other things, the relationship between the cross and violence.

Chapter 4 is on Easter as “presence, not proof”. As readers have probably had enough discussion of Liberal Christian understandings of Easter in recent weeks, I’ll not say more. Chapter 5 is about the concept of original sin, and ends with a call for a new Reformation that restores the notion that creation is blessed and in the process shifts the focus back away from beliefs about Jesus to following Jesus (p.116). Chapter 6, entitled “Christianity as Compassion, not Condemnation”, focuses on (among other things) the limitations of words and the danger of our professions of faith, since we are prone to assume that, if we are talking about something all the time, then we must in fact be doing it (pp.117-118). Meyers suggests that, rather than speaking of Jesus as “the Answer”, perhaps we ought to think about him as “the Assignment” (p.120). It is in this chapter that he dives into politics. His approach to the subject of homosexuality is remarkably succinct: “Until we have homosexuality all figured out, shouldn’t we practice radical hospitality? As long as we see “through a glass darkly,” isn’t it wise to err on the side of inclusion and compassion, rather than condemnation?” (p.137).

Chapter 7 is about discipleship, which he points out seems to require relatively little sacrifice on the part of most Christians in affluent societies of our time. I will not quote in detail the humorous analogies between the contemporary approach to church attendance and between the dating game on the one hand, and a familiar airline script on the other (pp.141-142). Here the emphasis on practice and obedience rather than doctrine once again comes to the fore. It continues into chapter 8, on justice, where the contemporary Christian silence on the subject of greed, and even at times aberrant encouragement thereof, is shown to be a recent phenomenon. He eloquently points out that many of today’s Christians are silent on matters about which Jesus spoke, whereas on matters about which he was silent, they condemn (p.177). The fact that the faith of which Christians have historically spoken was in most instances trust is also mentioned (p.179). When we claim unconditional faith in our own “side” and its “rightness”, we in fact are not showing trust but mistrust, in both God and other human beings (pp.179-180). Chapter 9 focuses on the prosperity “Gospel”.

Chapter 10, on “Religion as Relationship, not Righteousness”, devotes a significant amount of attention to Buber’s famous distinction between “I-Thou” and “I-It” relationships. Having earlier mentioned the “airport theology” of Christians who celebrate only, or focus primarily on, Christmas and Easter (he calls it that because it is all about arrival and departure), Meyers here notes the details of Jesus’ human life that are omitted from the creeds. Looking at the Apostles’ Creed’s affirmation that Jesus was “…born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate…”, Meyers sums it up well: “The world’s greatest life is reduced to a comma” (p.207). By the end of this chapter, Meyers is summing up a powerful vision of a different way of being Christian, focused not on doctrines but on discipleship. “Christianity requires no sacrifice of the intellect; it can withstand any question we dare to ask and any answer we are brave enough, in the service of truth, to answer” (p.218). A concluding epilogue rounds the book off with a dream to replace the nightmare with which it began.

The book is not entirely free from the sorts of moments that are liable to make a Biblical scholar cringe – such as connecting Nineveh with the Arabs, or getting a little too excited about the possible influence of Mithraism on what later Christianity developed into (pp.26, 28). But this is a book by a preacher, and books by conservative preachers are no less prone to get historical details wrong here and there. Whatever minor shortcomings Meyers’ book may have, it performs a useful service, since it is not enough to say that Liberal and Progressive Christians are not committed to inerrancy, to exclusivism, to various doctrines and dogmas. We must be for something, just as Jesus was not merely opposed to the Pharisees or to various religious authorities, but was for the outcasts, the marginalized, the “sinners” and the “unclean”. What makes this book so valuable is that Meyers is a Liberal Christian with a liberating Gospel to proclaim, and is eager to unleash its power into the world, transforming not merely individual lives but also social structures.

What makes Meyers’ vision for Christianity so powerful is that it at once combines an openness to contemporary issues and concerns (including, but by no means limited to, modern science and scholarship) and a rediscovery of the message of Jesus. The latter is there in the Bible, and I suspect that the greatest fear of conservatives is not that people will dissect the Bible and challenge it with the tools of historical critical investigation or other methods of academic investigation. Their fear is that people will read the Bible for themselves and, whether asking critical questions or not, will discover that the voice from its pages that calls to them to follow is not talking about the issues conservatives generally concern themselves with. And so the issue is not whether Meyers’ vision is “Liberal” or “Conservative”. He is offering a call away from many of the things that both ends of the spectrum share and have confidence in in contemporary society, calling us to follow Jesus with the expectation that our lives will be transformed not by our strongly-held dogmas but by the surrender and self-sacrifice of discipleship.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

April 20, 2009

Biblical Studies Carnival 41

Next Post

April 21, 2009 Inerrancy, Historicity, Maximalism and Minimalism

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 1 Corinthians 1 John 1 Peter 1 Samuel 1 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Corinthians 2 Kings 2 Peter 2 Samuel 2 Thessalonians 2 Timothy academia Acts of the Apostles afterlife Akhaten Alcatraz American Academy of Religion Amos Anglican Arabic Aramaic archaeology art artificial intelligence astronomy atheism atonement Babylon 5 Baptists Battlestar Galactica Bible Biblical Studies Carnival biblioblogging Black Mirror Blade Runner Book of Job book review Buddhism Call for Papers China Christianity Christmas Christology Chronicles Coptic creation Daniel Deuteronomy Doctor Who Dune Easter Ecclesiastes economics education Eldad Keynan Enoch Seminar Ephesians eschatology Esther Evangelicals evolution Exodus Expanse Ezekiel Ezra fantasy Fringe fundamentalism Galatians games Ge'ez genealogy Genesis Gnosticism Gospel of Jesus' Wife Gospel of John Gospel of Judas Gospel of Luke Gospel of Mark Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Peter Gospel of Thomas Greek Harry Potter Hebrew Hebrews Hinduism historical Jesus history Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Holidays horror Hosea humor incarnation India inerrancy information literacy inspirational Intelligent Design Ireland Isaiah Islam Israel Italy James Jeremiah John the Baptist Jonah Joshua Judaism Jude Judges Judith Lamentations languages Latin Leviticus libraries literature Lord of the Rings LOST Mandaeans Mandaic memes Methodism Micah monotheism morality Mormons movies music mythicism NASSCAL Nehemiah new perspective New Testament news Numbers Orthodox paganism panentheism pantheism Patheos Paul and his letters Pentecostals Philippians Philippians 2:6-11 philosophy physics Planet of the Apes podcast politics Progressive Christianity Protestantism Proverbs Psalms pseudoscience racism religion Revelation Roman Catholicism Romania Romans Ruth scams science science fiction Secret Gospel of Mark Society of Biblical Literature Song of Songs Star Trek Star Wars Stargate Swahili Syriac Taoism technology Terminator The Handmaid's Tale The Hobbit The Matrix theodicy theology theory Timeless Titus tomb Torchwood travel TRON Uncategorized United Kingdom Westworld X-Files young-earth creationism Zechariah

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 February 2007 January 2001

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz