Customer Reviews

The Church Impotent

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Many people have noted, and worried about, the fact that men are so much less likely to regularly attend church in the West than women. In this book, Leon Podles examines this phenomenon from a historical perspective, and concludes that it is not a new problem, but one that extends all the way back to the thirteenth century! Immediately following that, the author takes a powerful look at masculinity (as opposed to maleness, the mere fact of being a male of the species) from the viewpoints of biology, developmental psychology, and anthropology. Then, there are chapters that trace the evolution of Judaism and the first millennium church, neither of which suffered from a lack of men. Finally, the author examines the changes in Christian thinking that began in the thirteenth century, follows trends in masculine development in the absence of Christian influence, and finally provides some suggestions on reversing this "feminization" of the church.

As a man, I found that this book spoke to me. The author's examination of masculinity was powerful, striding far beyond what I have read in other "men's" books. The problem that the author proposes is both subtle and profound. I believe that the author's examination of the men produced outside of Christian beliefs (e.g. love, hope and charity) means that women should also be concerned about this problem. Therefore, let me recommend this book to all believers.

There is a scene in C.S. Lewis' Narnia Chronicles in which one of the children says to another, about the Christ-figure Aslan, "After all, you know, he isn't a TAME lion." And I believe it was Lewis also who said that perhaps Goodness was a more terrifying thing than we had imagined. Mr. Podles' book reminds us of at least one reason why men do not go to the modern mainline and Catholic churches: it is because those churches have tamed Jesus Christ, and NO LONGER TREMBLE BEFORE HIS MAJESTY. Those Churches are, fundamentally, not serious about what they are doing.

How many people realize that, in the whole of the Gospels, aside from his greeting Nathaniel with the words, "Behold, an Israelite in whom there is no guile," Jesus never praises his disciples, never says that they are good people, never allows them to celebrate themselves; he promises them rewards, but those are for giving up all they have and following him. Indeed, Jesus is often quite sharp with them: "If you, WHO ARE WICKED, know how to give good things," "Get thee behind me, SATAN," "O YE OF LITTLE FAITH." Yet the disciples follow him. Why? Mr. Podles knows why -- men look up to those who love them enough to strengthen them, to discipline them, to make them undertake the arduous adventure. Podles' description of the Penitentes in New Mexico made me wish that I, too, could show my love for Christ in such a drastic way; it nearly made me weep.

But I suppose what most endears this book to me, and what most infuriates me about the rather niggling criticism it has received in two of the reviews here, is that it bothers to take the winning of men's souls seriously, something which the Churches, in their lukewarm love, have found too inconvenient or upsetting to do! How comfortable our mainline Churches have become -- old biddies' clubs! Niceness and smiley faces are not going to save the soul of the tattooed man on the streetcorner: who, by the way, probably has a man's keen and ruthless insight into what is merely sentimental and phony. If he is to be saved, Christ must do the work -- and the one who preaches Christ to him had better have Authority in his -- and I use the pronoun advisedly -- voice.

The reaction of the "READER BEWARE" review is not surprising. Yes, some people are going to say this book is highly distorted or narrowly focused. The book does not perfectly address the gender issues in Christianity. But it is, unequivocally, a scholarly analysis of the feminization of Western Chrisianity. The book is highly educational, without getting too abstract or theoretical. If you are a Christian and have any common sense at all, you will agree with much of what Podles has to say. Every pastor, church leader, or lay minister should read this book.

The author of this book writes from a Catholic perspective (very definitely Roman Catholic, not the Orthodox churches), and there are times I feel that he totally ignores the rest of Christendom. The entire book is often written for Roman Catholics, with little or no regard for evangelicals, Pentecostals, etc. I do believe, however, that this is a book that is long overdue.
Having been raised in a strict Pentecostal church, as a young child I would see a sea of elderly women in the pews, with maybe one or two men here or there. The pastors were men, but it was remarkable to me how few men there were in the audience. I realize that women outlive men for various reasons, especially the elderly, but I do believe there are some real shortcomings in the Western World when it comes to total commitment on the part of men to the Christian faith. The author, L. Podles, concentrates on western Christianity, and compares it to the eastern Orthodox churches and non-Western churches to show how much more "masculine-involved" the non-Western churches are. I believe that this is a little unfair, for you can attend a Russian Orthodox church (or Greek church) anyday and find elderly women and young children "ruling the pews", so to speak. You only need to see pictures of the Orthodox church in Russia to see many elderly women in the congregation, with almost no men. The only men around seem to be the priests.
I blame part of this on the women, for many are church-goers with no real solid Christianity to begin with. They go because all their women friends are there, and it is a great place to meditate and get "away from it all". Such shallowness will not convince someone else to go, and, to put it bluntly, the vast majority of men depend on women for support, especially as they age. The author doesn't quite state my opinion here, but he makes an excellent point that Christianity originally was intended to be a "masculine" religion - self-sacrifice, loving others to the point of going to the grave, total commitment to a cause, these can be thought of as masculine qualities.
The church needs both genders, because without the female, men tend toward nihilism and without the male, the women tend toward pantheism and panentheism, a view I can agree with. Witness the goddess revolution, mostly by women, who embrace a New Age kind of belief that all people will be ok, with universal salvation and no judgment to answer to.
My only hope is that someone of another Christian persuasion, other than Catholic, would write a book on this topic.

Why is a woman more likely involved in Christendom than a man? That's the question. Chapter six suggests that for the first thousand years men and women were equally involved in the life and leadership of the church. Through the influence of the Scholastics and their Aristotelian reasoning a feminization begin to take hold. That's the answer. Podles has a Ph.D from Virginia in English and it is clear he has done his homework. I highly recommend the book. I gave it four stars instead of five because I am not sure the book will convince anyone or change any minds! I read it as a conservative and resonated with it. But I had to ask myself what would be the reaction of my more liberal thinking friends. I do not think it will change their minds about much. This is a book for everyone. Conservatives will enjoy his answers and liberals will enjoy his questions! And all of us need to ask, along with the author, "If Jews Muslims and the Eastern Orthodox have solid participation from men, how can the church impact men in western Christendom?"

The primary thesis of Leon Podles' book is that the current state of the church, that is, dominated by effeminate, feminist or homosexual clergy and a majority female laity, derives from a failure of the church to properly ascertain masculinity. A failure the author traces to Bernard of Clairvaux and the bridle mysticism he championed; scholasticism (for the separation of logic and faith); and the rise of the medieval female orders. In particular Podles rejects the "Aristotelian" differentiation of masculine and feminine in terms of initiation and reception. In place of this he suggests that masculinity is a process (struggle) of initial union, separation, and then reunion; while femininity is a maintenance of unity [p. 45] (cf. "In a Different Voice" by Carol Gilligan). He contends that the church has failed to grasp this essence of masculinity and has thus failed to offer men a masculine path/struggle into faith.

Provocatively Podles relates this view of masculinity/femininity not only to the church, but even the Trinity: collectively the church is feminine (the bride) but individually we are masculine; God in the communion of the Trinity is feminine, but the individual persons of the godhead are masculine [p. 86]. When one recalls that he is not speaking of maleness but masculinity this is more tolerable, yet not without problems. Ultimately, if the model of masculinity rests on God's nature (which he asserts) the aspect of initial separation either suggests pantheism (if the separation was creation) or that the fall into sin was a positive event (if that is the separation that constitutes a part of God's masculinity).

Further marring Podles' work is his willingness to lean on some of the most hopeless rubbish produced in the field of developmental psychology and the tortured literary analyses of the academy for corroborating evidence. Thus his book careens from the insightful, or at least thought provoking, to the most absurd of academic gibberish. Much of this is then further marred (in the eyes of this convinced Protestant) by his ardent Catholicism. This latter element is most troubling in his inability to see significant variations in Protestantism, notably the world of difference in matters of feminism and gender roles between conservative and liberal Protestants (though occasional accidental incites slip in: pp. 14; 119; 196; 204; 242 note 95.). This failure of differentiation brings into question his entire thesis: for his examples of rampant feminism, effeminacy, and homosexuality all seem rooted in mainline liberal denominations or the Roman church. While these are far more accessible for statistical analysis, the fact remains that many evangelicals will conclude that Podles has failed to rightly define "the Church" in his research.

All in all, I am glad I read (in some places slogged through) this book, and am still intrigued by his slant on masculinity/femininity - but won't be recommending it to others. His presuppositions and broader commitments prevent him from going very far in the right direction that some of his thinking points. The answer to the feminization of the church is met more easily then his academic/psychological formulations: preach the authority and mercy of God as revealed in Jesus Christ to men, as men, and, by God's grace, they will respond as such.

I found this book shortly after completing my MA in Biblical Studies. I was impressed by Leon Podles accademic competence, his brilliant insight, and logical train of thought. This book is a must read for all men in the Christian faith. Not only does it deal with a long running issue dating back to the Middle Ages, it also offers some brilliant insights into the male and female mind; a factor that proves critical in our method of approach to the Christian faith.

Leon Podles writes in a long over due attempt to re-balance the masculine side of Christianity, long since missing, but entirely present in the New Testament era. This book is a blessing to Christian men, I thoroughly recommend it.

As an Episcopal priest, I've long recognized and been concerned about the absence of men in the life of the church. Dr. Podle's book is an outstanding contribution to our knowledge about how this situation came about. His handling of sex and gender issues, his knowledge of the Bible and the literature of medieval mystical writers is impressive. I urge pastors and priests, as well as concerned lay leaders, to read this book in the hopes that Podle's contribution will provoke a wider and more serious discussion of these issues.

I would maintain that much of the Church has been blushingly blind to the very problem that the author addresses in this fine and thoughtful book.

The gentle side of Jesus is wonderful, but not to be emphasized over and above his manliness and masculine, JEWISH humanity. Along with His compassion and love, Jesus could be bold as the Lion of Judah. He was the furthest thing you can imagine from a wimp (but not at all in the sense of being "macho"). He was courageous and (can

you imagine it?): AUTHORITATIVE.

Let's put the MAN back in the Son of Man. And let's see men within the Church, not "motherly" or "finely feminine," but men who take the responsibiity of loving and kind leadership and headship seriously. Men can confront and correct sin, deception, compromise, and hyprocrisy: Because that's the kind of Man Jesus was (and IS).

I HIGHLY recommend this book to every layman and church leader.

Read carefully the review "READER BEWARE" above to learn how contemporary religious feminists react when someone talks straight about God, the Bible,Christian spirituality, and gender. To find out *why* they squeal, read Podles' book.

Podles' book is not, I hope, the last word in this area. It is a critical book, because in so many ways it is the first word that speaks plainly, truthfully, and helpfully about a deeply ingrained deficiency in Western Christianity--whether Catholic or Protestant. If Podles succeeds in getting ivory-tower encased religious academics to come down in the pews and do some serious Bible study and theology, all Christendom will be richer for it. It took a little boy willing to say, "The Emperorer has no clothes" before folks could break out of the spell of duple-think. Podles has said (truthfully) that Mother Church dresses all her children in skirts and pinafores. Until we recognize how bizarre this is, there will be no real hope of changing the "fashions" of Western Christian spirituality. Podles is opening a door to that hope.