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45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a Book!, October 17, 2004
This review is from: Against Christianity (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.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quick short thrusts to the heart, November 14, 2006
This review is from: Against Christianity (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.
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37 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Robbins needs to lighten up!, April 27, 2004
This review is from: Against Christianity (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!
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