Against Christianity [Paperback]

Peter J. Leithart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 2003

How could a conservative Christian—an ordained minister with a beard, no less—be against not only Christianity, but theology, sacraments, and ethics as well? Yet that is the stance Peter Leithart takes in this provocative "theological bricolage."

Seeking to rethink evangelical notions of culture, church, and state, Leithart offers a series of short essays, aphorisms, and parables that challenge the current dichotomies that govern both Christian and non-Christian thinking about church and state, the secular and the religious.

But his argument isn't limited to being merely "against." Leithart reveals a much larger vision of Christian society, defined by the stories, symbols, rituals, and rules of a renewed community—the city of God.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Peter Leithart (Ph.D. Cambridge) is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and a senior fellow of theology and literature at New St. Andrews College, Moscow, Idaho. He is the author of A House for My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament, The Kingdom and the Power and Blessed are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper. He and his wife Noel have ten children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 154 pages
• Publisher: Canon Press (June 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591280060
• ISBN-13: 978-1591280064
• Product Dimensions: 0.4 x 5.3 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #488,347 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 57 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Book! October 17, 2004

By D.P.

Format:Paperback

This book is a book that should be read by all Christians, but sadly probably will not be. When Leithart says he is against "Christianity" he does not mean the the Christian faith, but the privatized, individualized religion that turnes everything into propositions and is reductionistic in its outlook.

He uses many weapons in his "deconstruction" of "Christianity" from John Millbank to Henri de Lubac to Alasdair MacIntyre to Stanley Hauerwas. He shows that Church is supposed to be a city, a polis, where we opperate as a community, not as a schismatic, divided body. Unfortunately today, it is seen as better to have the body of Christ divided, but this is not what Jesus prayed for.

The church is supposed to the the civitas dei, the city of God, as Augustine taught. However, with our privatized faith, this is impossible to have. We want to defend "truth" from error, yet we err in our fundamental understanding of what the church is. This is a greater error than all the other erros that we point out in others.

Dr. Leithart also does a great job showing the political implications for the gospel. This sounds bad in post-Social Gospel America, but the Gospel does have social implications. Leithart also argues that the body of Christ is a tangible body, which is entered into by baptism. This is a terrific teaching, and has terrific implications for all of life. May we all take what Dr. Leithart says seriously.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Quick short thrusts to the heart November 14, 2006

By Nathan Brunaugh

Format:Paperback

This the second book by Pastor Leithart that I have read (A House for My Name is the other), and here he has written a book that is quite difficult to read. Not because he uses bad English or his composition skills are lacking, but because he taking on such an overarching subject. I think one of the main things I took away from reading this book is that we must constantly be aware of false assumptions. When we go to church, when we read the Bible, when we pray, when we think about God, or when we write book reviews about good books we've read we must (by faith) seek to understand everything from the right perspective.

The most glaring false assumption this book pointed out to me was the assumption that the "Christianity" that I am surrounded by here in 21st Century America is 'prima facie' the faith once delivered to the saints found in Holy Scripture. If you are looking for a book that may help you, anger you, confuse you, and edify you all at the same time: this is your book.

42 of 53 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Robbins needs to lighten up! April 27, 2004

By Jacob Mearse

Format:Paperback

Peter Leithart is by no means a heretic. John Robbins of Trinity Foundation seriously overreacts when he says that this book is heretical. It seems the "heresy of heresies" in modern Christendom (if you read the book you get that) is to tell the truth. Leithart attacks "Christianity" as we have fashioned it. He is not attacking God, nor is he attacking the Church. He is attacking the silliness that naturally ensues when men try to fashion either in their own image.
Leithart attacks the false dichotomies we have drawn in order to systematize the teaching of scripture. (For example: "Is baptism a symbol or a reality?" - Clearly a false question. It is both). What Leithart seems to be arguing is for a life-encompassing view of Christ, one which does not submit to Procrustean systematization or "sacred vs. secular" compartmentalization. The Church is called to be a culture of her own, and to eclipse all other cultures with hers. Leithart argues that "Christianity" sets itself up as just one more popsicle stand within a broader culture, the "real" one we live in. He writes,for example: "Contextualization be damned. The Church's mission is not to accomodate her language to the existing language, to disguise herself so as to slip in unnoticed and blend in with the existing culture."
Leithart argues for a belief in a Christian culture, one in which Christ is recognized and honored as the head of all things, in which worship is once again narrative, retelling (rather than systematizing) the mighty acts of God, and one in which the idea of modern "Christianity" is gone from our minds. Amen, come Lord Jesus. Thy Kingdom Come!