Introducing a New Favorite

I have read two books, but I am overwhelmed by the idea of sitting down and reviewing them. I am beginning the process of tough love. So far, it has been toughest on me, the parent. But, I found a neat little, no longer active blog that I thought was still worthy of sharing on my book blog.

Your Home Library

... because I am always in need of book storage ideas!

The Unknown Sanctuary

I have finished a book! It is hard to read when you find no joy in doing so. Life has been overwhelming. Reading, for a time, became obligation. Thinking deeply on any one topic became work. Life is more settled now. I hope that I can update this blog more frequently.

The Unknown Sanctuary: A Pilgrimage from Rome to Israel

Perhaps many people will find my choice of book odd -- an out of print autobiography by Aimé Pallière, a 19th century Frenchman who ideologically left Catholicism and became a Noahide. He continued to take the Eucharist and participate in the life of the Catholic church despite the fact that:

"Do you believe in the real Presence, in the Sacrament , as the Church teaches it to you? I asked myself, and with implacable clearness I was forced to answer: No, I do not believe it. Do you believe in the incarnation, in the divinity of of Christ? No, I no longer believe it. I had at that moment an absolute emptiness. I felt with a sudden and amazing clarity that nothing of my Christian faith remained. "

I have struggled with the concept of the Trinity. I heard a sermon recently in which the man sharing the gospel emphatically stated that Christianity only has one God, the Father. Then, there was confusing and convoluted logic about deity and divinity. I wondered how his explanation fit with the idea of the Theotokos, God-bearer. I wondered if this man like Aimé Pallière and myself has struggled to fit the trinity into their understanding of Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Eḥad - Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is One!

I had hoped in this autobiography to find a way to balance my own understanding of God with the teaching of the church. I didn't find it in this book. In a church where the members believe and confess the real presence of Christ in communion, there is no way I could sit by and dishonor their beliefs by participating in their church in that way. I have attended a Protestant Church all my life, most recently, my family and I have been attending a Baptist church. Our church's communion is open to everyone who confesses Jesus and the elements are considered symbolic. I do take communion. I teach Sunday school to preschoolers. There isn't much of a chance that I will need to discuss abstract concepts like the Trinity to my class of 4 to 6-year-olds. I am most comfortable describing God as one God who has acted in three ways in history -- as Creator/Father, the Spirit who enlightens the world and in his incarnation as Christ. I found myself standing silent as the rest of the church sang, "God in three persons, blessed Trinity." I am not at home. 

One of Aimé Pallière's contemporaries and confidantes was Père Hyacinthe. I suspect I would agree most with him when he said of Jesus:

The chief reason why the Jews do not accept Christianity is that the latter departed from its origins in creating a God of secondary importance, as Justin Martyr said. And little by little, after having made Jesus equal to the Heavenly Father, have we not practically substituted him for the Heavenly Father? As to Jesus, there is still a difference between us concerning him. If I mistake not, he occupies a minor place for you, and even in this place is subject to much criticism. For me, Jesus remains a mystery which I cannot explain to myself, but he also remains an object of admiration and of love. I know him by the footprints, incomplete though they may be, that he has left on history, and also by the poetic radiance of his person, in the legends of his birth and of his death. I know him again by the profound effect that this enigmatic being has exercised over me, throughout the course of my life, and above all, since my priesthood. In order to detach myself from him I must renounce my very self, and have torn from me a large part, not only of my feelings, but of my mind, I was almost about to say my very flesh and blood. This is why I am a Christian despite the many reservations that I make, not only regarding Catholicism, but regarding Christianity itself. If I am mistaken God will come to the help of my weakness and my integrity. If Loetmol [Aimé Pallière wrote under the pen name Loetmol] is right on the subjects on which we differ, though they do not divide us, he will obtain for me a ray of the Shekinah. The gods, said the ancients, give to men only the light as they need for each day.

For me, Jesus remains a mystery which I cannot explain to myself ~

Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians in the Higher and Middle Classes in the Country Contrasted with Real Christianity

While reading this book and researching a completely unrelated topic, I ran across the General Laws of the State of Minnesota that had been published in 1895.William Wilberforce wrote Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians in the Higher and Middle Classes in the Country Contrasted with Real Christianity in 1829. It appears that the 50 years that separated these two books saw little change in publication standards for law texts. Wilberforce, a politician familiar and apparently comfortable with writing laws, used the exact same format to write this book. Truthfully, he could have used a good editor. The style of writing detracts from the over all message of the book and a book that could have been great and timeless is made mediocre. Wilberforce's arguments are unnecessarily wordy and poorly written.

This is a worldview book. And, despite being hard to read, I found myself interested in knowing what Wilberforce believed to be true about God, the world around us, humanity, death, evil and suffering, right and wrong and human history. It gives the reader a clue into the heart of the politician, philanthropist and abolitionist.

Apparently, there were many nominal Christians -- Christians who had an inadequate view of God, an inadequate understanding of their own guilt and whose lives did not reflect God's power. I was well into the book when I concluded that this treatise could have been written by some modern day church leader. Many of the conclusions and arguments are true today; I have complained about many of the same things. So, I was amused to read this about dueling:

But, it seems hardly to have been enough noticed in what chiefly consists its essential guilt; that is is a deliberate preference of the favour of men, before the favour and approbation of God, in articulo mortis, in an instance, wherein our own life, and that of a fellow creature are at stake, and wherein we run the risk of rushing into the presence of our Maker in the very act of offending him. (page 174)

That certainly doesn't fit into my thoughts about this book being timeless! It seems there wasn't a golden age of Christianity. The problems facing the church today aren't a new; there is nothing new under the sun.

So, what motivated Wilberforce?

He had a relatively high view of man. While Wilberforce recognized man as having "fallen from his high original, degraded in his nature, and depraved of his faculties," he also states:

Examine first with attention, the natural powers and faculties of man; invention, reason, judgment, memory; a mind "of large discourse," "looking before and after," reviewing the past, thence determining for the present, and anticipating the future; discerning, collecting, combining, comparing; capable, not merely of apprehending, but of admiring the beauty of moral excellence: with fear and hope to warn and animate; with joy and sorrow to solace and soften; with love to attach, with sympathy to harmonize, with courage to attempt, with patience to endure, and with the power of conscience, that faithful monitor within the breast to enforce the conclusions of reason, and direct and regulate the passions of the soul. Truly, we must pronounce him majestic though in ruin.(page 22)

His salvation theology wouldn't have fit neatly into the grace-based, sloppy agape, say and pray and be saved salvation that is taught in many evangelical churches: 

Again we see throughout, in the system which we have been describing, a most inadequate conception of the difficulty of becoming true Christians; and an utter forgetfulness of its being the great business of our life to secure our admission into Heaven, and to prepare our hearts for its service and enjoyments. The general notion appears to be, that, if born in a country of which Christianity is the established religion, we are born Christians. We do not therefore look out for positive evidence of our really being of that number; but putting the onus probandi (if it may be so expressed) on the wrong side, we conceive ourselves such of course, except our title be disproved by positive evidence to the contrary. (page 231)

Not For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade -- and How We Can Fight It

"When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said: 'O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.'" (Nehemiah 1:5-7)

Not For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade -- and How We Can Fight It by David Batstone tells the story of modern slavery through first person accounts of horror and degradation. Oh, that we could all be like Nehemiah! Upon reading these stories, we would sit down, weep and mourn for several days. We would fast, pray and confess our corporate sins; we have not valued human life. We do not view and treat each person as the crowning glory of God's creation -- image bearers. Then we would act.

I chose this book to read during the preparation time for Pesach/Pascha/Easter. I realize that season has come and gone. I am not quite finished with my reading. I put more books on my reading list than I had time to read! I am a Christian who has traded in bunnies, bonnets and dyed eggs for a Passover Seder. During this season of preparation, I chose to focus on slavery. I cannot tell the Passover story without using the word slave. The original Passover is the story of how God heard the afflictions of the Hebrews in bondage in Egypt and miraculously their freedom. The Passover in Jerusalem is the story of how God heard the afflictions of mankind in bondage to sin and death and miraculously freed us.

The ancients understood slavery in a way I do not. Slavery is illegal and hidden. I read this book to better understand what slavery is. Although the author makes reference to several Christian individuals and groups who act as modern abolitionists, the book is mostly secular. Still, this book, more than any of the other books I read, has acted as a catalyst to thinking differently about the Passover story. In each chapter, Batstone tells the story of a slave, their owner and the person or group who is responsible for helping the slave find freedom. It is an excellent book.

As I read through this book in light of Passover, this book opened my eyes to two distinct spiritual truths.

First, the Bible teaches that like the Israelites awaiting the Passover in Egypt, we are born into slavery.

"When the matriarch of the family was asked, where she was from originally, she gave a puzzled look and replied, 'The rice mill.' She explained that her father had been pressed into labor when he was in his twenties, so she had worked in the rice mill her entire life. She raised her own children as laborers in the same mill." (page 92)

We are born into slavery and we don't know how to live as free men.

The story of the Passover in Egypt is dramatic and fully reveals the power of God. The story of the Passover in Jerusalem, the death of Christ - the Lamb of God, motivates even nominal Christians to go to church once a year to worship. The stories begin in degradation and end in praise. All of us want to be rescued. Sadly, the Christian community as a whole doesn't value "aftercare" nearly as much. International Justice Mission defines victim aftercare as, "access to material, emotional, and spiritual aid that can help them transition into new lives that they can sustain long into the future." (page 85)

I think God is smart enough to figure this out. Aftercare is what Pentacost, the giving of the Torah and the descent of the Holy Spirit is about. It was what the forty years of desert wandering provided for the Israelites; it taught them to be free. Halakhah, the rules that define our religious traditions are not legalistic. They are designed to spiritualize even the most mundane parts of our day making our life an act of worship and a daily reminder of who we are. 

The book mentions other groups involved in the modern abolitionist movement. They are listed here for those interested in learning more about what you can do to fight slavery.

• NightLight
• Hagar Shelter
• World Vision's work in Northern Uganda

The Life of Olaudah Equiano

The 2006 film Amazing Grace contains the following dialogue:

Barbara Spooner Wilberforce: I met the African.

William Wilberforce: Equiano.

Barbara Spooner Wilberforce: He came to town with a hundred copies of his book. They sold in an hour.

The book being spoken of is The Life of Olaudah Equiano, a slave narrative.

This may seem like an odd choice for my Lenten reading. Bradshaw and Hoffman's Passover and Easter: Origin and History to Modern Times postulated that after the destruction of the Jewish temple in 70 AD, two Passover narratives emerged, one Christian and the other Jewish. The Christian story evolved into what is today Easter. The understanding that Christ is our Passover seems to have been lost in the Western church. In my past, the Paschal mystery was not at the heart of the Christian story. Christmas, Santa Claus and consumerism replaced Christ's passion. As an adult, I have sought to change my focus. My family celebrates Passover, the preparatory period before Passover, and the count down toward Pentecost.

Each year as I prepare for Pentecost, I make reading selections to teach me spiritual truths. One year I focused on leavened and unleavened bread. Another year I read the church fathers. This year, I am immersing myself into understanding the concept of slavery. Because, the truth is, I don't know that I have ever come to a point where I understand myself as a slave to sin or a slave to God. I rarely hold a mirror up and gaze at the ugliness of my heart. I don't understand what it means to be a slave to God. I only understand slavery in a negative sense. What does it look like to have a benevolent master? And what does it mean to be a faithful servant?

Equiano was born in the Republic of Benin in West Africa. He was kidnapped and forced into domestic slavery as a young boy. After a time, he was brought to the coast where he encountered white men for the first time. He was sold to slave traders and later bought his freedom. His story humanized the African slaves and assisted the abolitionists cause.

One of the first things that caught my eye when I read this book was Equiano's description of the religion on his youth, Vodun. My children are Haitians living in diaspora. They were adopted and brought to the United States. Some conservative Christians openly voiced their belief that Haiti's recent earthquake was a punishment from God; Haitians are cursed because supposedly their ancestors made a pact with the devil. In my rebuttal, I pointed out the similarities between the West African monotheistic religions and ancient Judaism.

And, here I cannot forbear suggesting what has long struck me very forcibly, namely, the strong analogy, which, even by this sketch, imperfect as it is, appears to prevail in the manner and customs of my countrymen and those of the Jews, before they reached the Land of Promise, and particularly the Patriarchs, while they were yet in that pastoral state which is described in Genesis -- an analogy which alone would induce me to think that the one people had sprung from the other.

And, I was struck by Equiano's understanding of Romans 8:28. Oh for eyes that see.

Now every leading providential circumstance that happened to me from the day I was taken from my parents to that hour, was then, in my view, as if it had but just then occurred. I was sensible of the invisible hand of God, which guided and protected me, when in truth I knew it not: still the Lord pursued me, although I slighted and disregarded it; this mercy melted me down. When I considered my poor wretched state, I wept, seeing what a great debtor I was to sovereign free grace.

Oh, and the actor who played Equiano in Amazing Grace is an amazing vocalist!

Passover and Easter: Origin and History to Modern Times

As an adult I have tried to reclaim Pesach/Pascha/Easter as the very heart of my religious year. I attend a non-liturgical church. When Eastern, Western and Messianic Christians were following Christ to his Passion, our church began a a capital campaign, a kick-off to a new building project. I am a novice when it comes to church liturgy, church calendars and sacred times. Passover and Easter: Origin and History to Modern Times by Paul Bradshaw and Lawrence A. Hoffman is an very good resource for those interested in looking back to ancient traditions of the church to influence how they live out their faith.

Until I was in Junior High School, I grew up in a home that was marginally Christian. My mom identified herself as Lutheran Home. My father was Episcopalian. I don't remember going to church except on religious holidays. I understood that Easter was related to the Christ story. Still, Easter mostly meant bunnies, new dresses, visits to relative's homes, candy and colored eggs.

While in the Catholic tradition the rites belonging to this season had undergone major mutations, in the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century they were almost entirely swept away, as part of the Reformers' general rejection on the use of all ceremonies in worship that were at best not understood by ordinary people and at worst interpreted in a highly superstitious manner. All that were usually left were the names for the more significant days together with the traditional biblical readings belonging to them. Special liturgies as such tended to disappear entirely: thus, ash was not used on Ash Wednesday, nor palms on Palm Sunday, and the Easter vigil vanished completely from sight, leaving Easter Day much like any other Sunday of the year. (page 5)

I am continuing to learn how to ensure that the paschal mystery, which this book defines as, "the incarnation, passion, resurrection and glorification of Christ, and the sending of his Spirit" remain the center of our family's eternal hope.

I was a little disappointed in that I felt Christian was used to define primarily Western Christianity. There was very little of the book related to the liturgy and traditions of the Eastern church. And, I do not believe the last supper was a Passover Seder and I do not believe there is a discrepancy between the synoptic gospels and John. In my opinion traditional calendarization of the Great and Holy Week misinterprets Jewish traditions.

• I believe Christ's triumphal entry occurred on Sunday, Nisan 10; the same day the Passover lambs were chosen (Exodus 12:3).
• The Jewish day starts at sunset. On Wednesday at sunset, the beginning of Nisan 14, I believe that Christ shared a festive meal with his disciples. Today, this day is traditionally kept as a Fast of the Firstborn. However, even today the fast can be broken to celebrate the completion of study.
• Thursday, Nisan 14, when the passover lambs were being slaughtered, Christ was crucified. Friday, Nisan 15, is the day that the Passover Seder is traditionally eaten. In Rabbinic Judaism, the Omer Count is started on Nisan 16. But, Leviticus 23:15-16 lays out the instructions for counting the omer, "from the morrow of the sabbath." Saturday, Nisan 16, would have been the regular weekly Sabbath. The morrow after the sabbath is Sunday, Nisan 17. This is the day I contend is First Fruits -- the day of the wave offering of barley and the day we start counting the Omer. 
• Christ rose on Sunday (Mark 16:9), Nisan 17. Did you know that Nisan 17 is the day the ark rested? It is also the day the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and entered the promise land. Salvation is finished.

While the author's assumptions and narrative did nothing to disprove what I believe to be true about Christ's last week, neither did they discuss the possibility of a crucifixion occurring on a day besides Friday.

This Blog Has Not Been Abandoned

I will be blogging here soon. I think anyone who reads here regularly knows that situations in my home are stealing my joy. I have not even been able to find escape in books. But, I have developed the habit of reading books during the time leading up to Pesach/Pascha/Easter that help me understand the Passion of Christ. This year, I am again following Christ to his crucifixion, resurrection and glorification; I am healing.

I have started my next entry. But, my children told me that I had to "quit blogging and feed [my] kids or lest we'll die!" So, I will finish later.