I became an instant fan of Tony Jones with his latest "The New Christians" so I was ready for another fun ride in the second of the Jossey-Bass "Living Way" Series: Pagitt's "A Christianity Worth Believing";
Imagine my disappointment then when I discover:
1) Pagitt plays very fast and loose with his interpretation of history (he wants to set right 1800 years of Greek (i.e., "bad") theology) that has lead the Christian church astray from the original Hebrew intent,
2) He utilizes a very limited reading and selective use of biblical citation to make his points--(e.g., atonement really wasn't in the cards for Jesus-as-lamb; that was just a cultural imprisonment of the metaphor attributed to the angry Greek gods--never mind John's Gospel and Paul's gospel affirming that metaphor (of course, Pagitt would claim that is my aberrant reading of the original)),
3) Proof-reading missed so many typo's that I suspected there was a rush to get this book to print (Not Pagitt's fault, I know) I can understand maybe 2-3 misprints in a big-name publication, more for a smaller budget press)--third sentence in the very first chapter: "But I have problem...."; a minor point to some perhaps, but quality thinking from a quality press deserves quality print; I noted 6-8 of these that only made it harder to take this book seriously
Finally, 4) the "straw men" set up, the theological perspectives that Pagitt sees hampering the Christianity-worth-believing, which reflects Jesus the Messiah, which he seeks to knock down, are so simplistic I hardly recognized them as faith perspectives worth worrying about.
Perhaps Minnesota is a hotbed of churches and people who still think the four spiritual laws is the gospel, but there were so many instances of Pagitt describing "what's wrong" in ways that I thought, "of course that clouds the gospel, but I've not met anyone like that since I was a teenager in the '70s"
Pagitt glosses over an attempt to discern strands of theological value from long-standing traditions like the Orthodox church; he never touches on other contexts such as Coptic view of the spirit, Moravians and worship, Anabaptist view of community, or even Methodists and grace; each with their variant metaphors and cultural contexts--he just keeps harping on "Greek" thinking as reflected in "Augustine, Aristotle and Calvin" and rails against antiquated 14th and 15th century "confessions". Those targets are too easy.
There is much I find unbelievable throughout the history of the church, statements of belief, declarations on the supposed nature of discipleship; however, I think Doug throws the proverbial baby out with the bathwater and, though emergent is about conversation, from his perspective of Christian Theology, there is much that he has taken off the table and cannot be discussed.
Anyway, I found reading this book actually diminished my affection for the emergent/emerging church movement.
Pagitt came across like a teenager complaining about things he's already biased against; similarly, perhaps due to his youth, he has not had the worldly experience that exposes his whole being to the nuances and harmonies in Christianity or in the rest of the world.
For example, I've known about sub-atomic particle physics for 20 years and how these energies have a "preference" in behavior, rather than following hard rules; also, holistic medicine is a long-standing, authoritative resource to my 49-year-old thinking. So what's the big deal with taking a holistic view of life, the body, creation, etc AND talking about the lordship of Jesus, spiritual disciplines and even, careful now, the Trinity?
I think Pagitt's "issues" stem more from a dislike for traditional metaphors than for the theological concepts behind them--Pagitt goes to great lengths to get away from the "distance" language of God-across-the-chasm and seeks to engage a language of "re-integrating relationships". That's fine with me, if it's a both/and, not an either/or proposition for the metaphors--not everyone feels "dis-integrated" in a stressed relationship, sometimes my wife and I just feel "far away" from each other, but we are still married; lighten up, Doug!
This isn't to say there are some brilliant, inspirational passage on some important themes--I just don't think the book warrants a lot of praise; for a book touting the holistic view and critiquing the supposedly too-intellectual "Greek" view, I think the tenor of this book swings too far into an emotional view, rather than healing the rift.
In the end, contrary to the expansive and proactive spirit I felt while reading Tony Jones'
The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier, I found "A Christianity Worth Believing", well, unbelievable.
So, I recommend you borrow Pagitt's book or buy it used and see what you think of it. If my review is off the mark for you, then no harm done.
If you find similar concerns, well, I've saved you some cash to put toward other thoughtful books, such as:
Why We're Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be or
Life with God: Reading the Bible for Spiritual Transformation.
